ICTU close unemployed resource centre

mayo | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Friday January 26, 2007 17:38 by Keith Martin- Councillor - Westport Branch Labour Party

The ICTU in Mayo is closing down the Westport Centre for the Unemployed.

It is doing so without any consulation with the labour movement in Westport or in fact with anyone.

Staff turned up for work on Monday to find the place cleared out by the ICTU Board of Managment which is based in Castlebar. This is an astonishing behaviour from an employer but from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions it is unbelievable!

The ICTU say the centre is not paying its way which I thought was not the purpose of resources for the unemployed provided by unions.

There are no other resources like the Centre in town. We have no Citizens Advice Bureau, Money Advice and Budgeting Service, FAS, Consumer Affairs or Trade Union offices in Westport.

Needless to say Castlebar are keeping their centre for the unemployed even though they have all of the above resources in their town ditto for Ballina.

Just two years ago Westport lost 325 jobs at Allergan the town’s largest employer. The town is also home to over 600 to 800 non national workers who travel here to work in Westport’s service industry and they too rely on the centre for CV’s, employment information and rights information like the minimum wage and advocacy information.

How are we as a party to be expected to standup to the downsizing of businesses, job losses and relocation of labour if Westport is abandoned by the ICTU and the union movement?