President Michael D Higgins is in Kilkenny today (Tuesday).
He’s due to speak at the opening of The Irish Congress of Trade Unions Biennial Conference
It’s on at the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny for the next few days with the theme of ‘Making Work Pay – Unions Transforming Work and Workplaces’.
Speaking ahead of the event Carlow Kilkenny Labour party chair Seán Ó hArgáin says the cost of living crisis is hitting all workers:
“We’ve got to a situation where when I got to know the president first, it would be unthinkable to say, as has been said many times over the last number of years, that a guard and a teacher wouldn’t be able to afford to buy a house together. But that’s where we’re at at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Congress President Kevin Callinan says urgent pay rises are needed to address the unacceptable decline in incomes and living standards.
He says they’re anxious to empower young people, who are among the hardest hit:
“We have two initiatives mainly aimed at younger workers to promote trade unionism. We’re setting up a digital media unit and we’re also having a major public relations campaign next October to explain what trade unionism is about and to invite workers to join us.”
