The Road to Recognition

national | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Tuesday April 03, 2012 20:00 by Paul Gavan - SIPTU

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A hundred years ago, workers came together to build a union that would fight for economic justice and equality; to give a voice to their communities that had been ignored, exploited and marginalised. Today, the fight continues as community and voluntary (C&V) workers organise with SIPTU to defend their projects, jobs & communities.

Workers in the C&V sector know why their sector is worth fighting for. Every day they see how the C&V sector has become a critical pillar in the provision of a range of vital services and programmes such as childcare, youth projects, community development, eldercare and training to name just a few.

Today we are suffering from the excesses of the Celtic Tiger with unemployment and social problems on the rise.

As the country struggles with rising unemployment and poverty, the community sector is needed more than ever. However instead of increasing funding to meet the needs of citizens, budgets have been severely cut forcing closures, service reduction, redundancies and pay cuts.

SIPTU members and activists have been leading the fight to protect jobs and services. If we are to defend our jobs, projects and communities we need to challenge the cut backs. If we are to have a positive influence over the future of the community sector, we need collective bargaining. Politicians and decision makers need to know the value of the community projects and programmes and understand that they make a real difference in the lives of people.

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