Staff in thirteen community organisations in county Donegal will strike on Thursday, 22nd September to highlight their demand for a first pay rise in 14 years.
The striking workers will hold a protest march and rally in Letterkenny on Thursday, 22nd September.
The march will leave from outside the SIPTU office on Port Road, Gortlee, at 12.00 noon and conclude with a rally outside the Intreo Centre on High Road.
The issue surrounds the lack of pay increases for many community workers in the past 14 years.
In Donegal, workers in the following organisations will go on strike: Letterkenny Community Development Project, Ballybofey and Stranorlar Chamber of Commerce, RCEP Remelton Community Employment Programme, Donegal Local Development Company CLG, Letterkenny Together CES CLG, St Johnston and Carrigans Family Resource Centre, An Grianan Theatre, Congress Resource Centre CLG, Donegal Youth Services LTD, Falcaragh Community Employment, Inishowen Development Partnership, Milford and Kerrykeel CE Scheme and Rathmullan Enterprise Group LTD.
SIPTU Organiser, Kevin McKinney, said: “They are struggling to make ends meet in the face of a worsening cost of living crisis while also seeking to maintain services for some of our communities and some of our most vulnerable citizens.
“In July, strike action was taken in selected care and community organisations in counties Donegal, Waterford, Galway and Meath. Unfortunately, the Government, which controls the funding of these organisations and so has ultimate control over whether the wages of workers can be increased, has failed to positively respond to our demand for pay justice.”
He added: “Due to the Government’s intransigence, workers in several more organisations in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Cork and Kerry will now go on strike on a rolling basis from 21st to 23nd September, as part of the Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign.”
The Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign is supported by the ICTU, SIPTU, Fórsa and the INMO.
