ICTU chief says Labour/Fine Gael 'point scoring' at Sinn Féin undermine fight against Tory cuts

THE Assistant General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said that Fine Gael and Labour Party leaders’ attacks on Sinn Féin regarding the Stormont impasse over Tory welfare cuts are “cheap soundbites” undermining opposition to “these flawed and vindictive proposals”.

Writing in The Irish Times letters page on Monday, Peter Bunting said:

“Not only are Charlie Flanagan and Joan Burton declaiming from positions of ignorance on the policy matter, they are undermining the functioning of the NI Assembly in order to score points in Leinster House.”

He said he was alarmed to hear the leader of the Irish Labour Party “accept the spin of the Tories and their enablers” that those opposed to welfare changes “seem relentlessly opposed to any measures to help people back to work”.

●  Peter Bunting

The ICTU Assistant General Secretary said:

“The trade union movement in Northern Ireland has been relentlessly opposed to these flawed and vindictive proposals, especially since their disastrous enforcement in England, Wales and Scotland.

“We have led a major civil society campaign highlighting the injustice and unworkablility of the Tory vision of the welfare state.

“Alongside allies in the churches, academia, and the community and voluntary sectors, we have lobbied, leafleted, picketed and protested at these pernicious ‘reforms’ – at least some of which will be abandoned after next year’s general election, unless the Conservatives pull off a most surprising win in the current political environment.”

Every political party in Stormont has been lobbied in the trade unions’ campaign work, he said, and has resulted in support from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Green Party and individual MLAs from the UUP and DUP.

“The ICTU in Northern Ireland has never supported any particular political party. Trade unions that support working people are relentlessly opposed to policies that affect and afflict the working poor. That is our function.

“It is a sad day when our work is undermined by politicians in the Republic of Ireland desperate for a cheap soundbite.”