{"id":26618,"date":"2022-06-25T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26618"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:06:34","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T14:06:34","slug":"protests-against-rising-cost-of-living-to-be-held-at-stormont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26618","title":{"rendered":"Protests Against Rising Cost Of Living To Be Held At Stormont"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said that this demonstration was the start of a six-month cost-of-living crisis campaign in the run-up to Christmas (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A cost-of-living protest is due to take place at Stormont over \u201cspiraling costs\u201d in Northern Ireland, with a union umbrella group predicting an increase in pay claims being lodged over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said that this demonstration was the start of a six-month cost-of-living crisis campaign in the run-up to Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At noon on Saturday, demonstrators are expected to assemble at the main gate to the Stormont Estate, and march up to Parliament Buildings for the union-led demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rally will then take place in front of Parliament Buildings, with speeches given by various workers about how the soaring cost of living is affecting them and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant general secretary of the ICTU Owen Reidy told the PA news agency that wages and state supports were already behind where they needed to be before the inflation crisis hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cForget about this year \u2013 over the last decade wages have fallen behind in Northern Ireland. If you look at inflation in the Republic it\u2019s about seven per cent, but it\u2019s about 9.1 per cent across the UK, and they reckon it\u2019s going to go to about 11.1 per cent before the year is out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTeachers, civil servants, other public sector workers are going to be lodging pay claims over the next number of weeks and months, and private sector workers at firm level are trying to bargain with their employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut in some cases, employers have their hands tied behind their backs because there\u2019s no state support and we need to see that state intervention as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut again, you have to have a government in Westminster that cares and is interested, and quite frankly, they\u2019re not, and you have to have an Executive that\u2019s able to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Reidy said one of the things that the Executive could do once it returns is to make access to collective bargaining easier for workers, with wages possibly negotiated at a sectoral level to ensure that agreements are made to create \u201cminimal floors\u201d for workers\u2019 conditions, not \u201cceilings\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is only the start of the campaign,\u201d he said, adding that it would continue until the Christmas period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThings are bad enough in the summer \u2013 what\u2019s it going to be like in the autumn and winter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in secured a historic victory in last month\u2019s Assembly elections, emerging as the largest party in Northern Ireland for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the DUP has blocked attempts to restore the power-sharing Stormont assembly or to form an Executive as part of its protest against the protocol, which has created a trade border in the Irish Sea in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in and the Alliance Party have criticized the DUP for its decision, arguing that it prevents MLAs from taking action on the cost of living and other issues such as long waiting lists for healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after Stormont\u2019s main parties met to discuss what a potential program for government might look like if power-sharing returns, Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Michelle O\u2019Neill said: \u201cThe reality is that the DUP\u2019s blockage of the Executive is preventing us from being able to agree a budget and is preventing departments from the ability to be able to plan for what is going to be a very, very difficult period ahead, certainly the winter months are going to be probably the most challenging the people have ever seen in terms of the cost-of-living crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has argued that the protocol \u201cis pushing up the cost of living for people here and restricting choice on the shelves\u201d.<\/p>\n

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