February 15th: The five trade unions affiliated to the Right2Water campaign will be convening a special May Day Conference on Friday May 1^st and Saturday May 2^nd. The Conference will discuss a set of core principles which will underpin a Platform for Renewal in advance of the next General Election. These core principles will be the minimum standards a progressive government will be expected to deliver in the next Dail.

The unions involved – the CPSU, the Communication Workers’ Union, Mandate, OPATSI and Unite – will be putting this Platform forward in the interests of our members, their families and communities, and our country as a whole.

Trade unions, individuals, political parties and independents, NGOs, academics, representatives of the not-for-profit sector and community activists will all be invited to input into this Platform for Renewal.

Over the past five months, Right2Water has been proud to be involved in one of the greatest popular mobilisations Ireland has witnessed – a grass-roots movement which in reality has been about so much more than water charges.

It has been about reclaiming our democracy and re-writing the dominant conservative narrative. Up and down the country, people have sent a simple message: You will hear us.

• The communities ravaged by six years of austerity are seeing few tangible signs of the economic recovery being trumpeted by politicians and media alike
• Workers’ living standards continue to be squeezed by policies which favour the interests of business over the interests of people
• Since the start of the crisis, the numbers living in deprivation have doubled

The people have paid for a crisis not of their making. We are determined that they will not be forced to pay for the recovery.

In the interests of our members, and of our society as a whole, the five unions are calling on like-minded citizens to build this Platform for Renewal in a spirit of unity and solidarity.