– people who have often worked all their lives and now find themselves needing to apply for benefits. People who can’t work due to disabilities or commitments to children or those they care for. Currently the benefit system is inundated with claims as a result of the disastrous economic situation and at the same time the Department of Work and Pensions is threatened with job cuts and increased workloads. So it may not be a surprise that civil servants like myself are extremely angry at proposed cuts to our pensions.
I am actually one of the lucky ones, it seems, as the cuts should not affect me as harshly as younger people. However I worry about the next generation and the next after that one. They are the ones who will suffer in the long run.
I am not a member of any political party but I am prepared to lose a day’s wages to express my anger at government policies. And I, like many others, are prepared to strike again and again until our hard fought for rights have been safeguarded. It greatly saddens me to hear subdued people say that we must all sacrifice our rights for the greater good. Yes that’s true, but not to make rich people richer. Where do you think the savings from our pensions are set to go to? Yes that’s right – the banks! The institutions that caused this contrived recession in the first place.
So I will be joining millions of others on Wednesday the 30th to give support for working people. I hope that the government will listen to us and change their direction.
Kevin Montgomery
Civil Servant
Sean Carrothers was the third young person from West Belfast in a number of days to take his own life in the Colins area that has seen over 10 suicides in recent months. His father, Geard Mc Laughlin spoke out on why young people are becoming victims of suicide. He said it was because of the “hopeless” situation brought about by the recession.
How did Ireland's national problem arise? What was the reason for partition? Does the British ruling class really want to pull out? Must the working class always be divided on this issue? This landmark publication looks again at Irish history right up to the present. It refutes much of what has become the accepted wisdom of current academics who see no way of overcoming the sectarian division. It offers something unique - a programme on the national question to unite, rather than divide the working class. For those seeking ways in which the national problem can be overcome, this challenging book is a must. First published in 1995.