Unite the Union, Ireland Region

April 13th: Unite, which represents workers across Ireland, today said that the package of fuel supports announced last night by the Government would do little to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis being faced by ordinary PAYE workers.

The union said that workers were still counting the cost of a budget which failed to inflation- index tax bands for workers while distributing over a billion euros in tax giveaways for hospitality business and developers.

Unite’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Instead of providing a package of support to households and moving to rein in profiteering by energy providers, the Government fell back on its old playbook and focused on buying off sectional interests.

“PAYE workers have been left behind yet again. 

“With war in the Middle East showing no signs of abating, the cost-of-living crisis is set to worsen. The best way for workers to defend their living standards is to organise in a union, develop workplace power and secure inflation-busting pay increases at the negotiating table or on the picket line”.

Trade union action needed to force Government to address spiralling cost-of-living crisis   

Unite member consultation to assess energy cost impact 

Unite, which represents workers throughout Ireland, said today (Sunday) that public support for the fuel protests reflects anger at the government’s pitiful response to spiralling energy prices, and demanded that the ongoing cost-of-living crisis facing workers be front and centre of any new package of measures developed by the government.

Last month, Unite released the results of a survey of public sector workers showing that 80 per cent of respondents had to cut back on essential spending over the past year, with a third forced to borrow to meet household costs. The survey was largely undertaken before the current crisis began.

Unite’s Irish Executive Committee is clear that backing our members at this time of crisis is a priority, and the union is currently engaged in direct consultation with members across all sectors of the economy to identify the impact of the latest energy price rises.

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