As a low paid worker in the health service and with 3 children losing a days pay in the run up to Christmas is something that I could certainly do without. But what else can I do, where did the politicians leave us?
“Yes my pension is under threat. I will have to work longer and pay more to get less but this day of action for me is also about more than pensions. It’s about public servants and the service we provide being used as an “easy touch” for the government to feed the greed of the bankers who caused this crisis.
“In my 19 years in the health service I have seen staffing levels dwindle to the bare minimum and staff having to depend on anti-depressants to allow them to do a days work.
“We need to stand up and be counted. We need to say no to these immoral cuts that leave the weak and vulnerable completely isolated. Our health service as a whole is under threat as it is being sold off bit by bit to the highest bidder with no thought for the patients.
“By standing together we can stop the cuts. It is our responsibility as public servants to protect the service that generations have fought for. November 30th should only be the start.”
Grainne Lawlor, Clerical Officer Royal Victoria Hospital
11 February: From the revolution of the oppressed 1979 to the new wave of resistance 2010
“Anger is at boiling point”. This comment made by one of the workers at the Falls Road bus depot over the 70 job cuts proposed by Translink clearly sums up the feelings of many bus workers across Belfast.
Thousands of workers took to the streets of Belfast on 23 October in probably the largest non-sectarian demonstration in Northern Ireland since the anti-war movement. They marched in opposition to the £4 billion cuts to public spending in Northern Ireland which were contained in the comprehensive spending review.