The Leaders Alliance welcomes suspension of Section 39 strike action

The Leaders Alliance has today welcomed the intervention by all parties involved in talks late into the night to stop the Section 39 workers indefinite strike action which was due to start from this morning. The strike action was called off in the early hours of this morning after almost 12 hours of talks at the Workplace Relations Commission. 

The Leaders Alliance is a national group of Disabled People who have come together for the specific purpose of helping people understand the critical nature of disability rights and services and putting a stop to unnecessary strikes or service stoppages.

Spokesperson for The Leaders Alliance, Leigh Gath said, “If this strike had gone ahead, it would have sent a devastating message from the Irish government that it is acceptable to treat People with Disabilities as second-class citizens, yet again with people left far too long wondering what would happen with their support this morning”.

“While we cautiously welcome today’s intervention that has seen today’s indefinite strike action stopped, we feel it is important to reiterate that it should never have been allowed to come to this. Across the country these past weeks and particularly this past weekend, disabled people have been concerned that they would be left to languish without vital supports. This is unnecessary added stress and anxiety on people with disabilities.”

Leigh Gath continued, “The ongoing lack of pay parity has been negatively impacting our services for years. People doing the same work deserve to be paid the same and we hope that the Government goes all the way now to fully addressing the degradation of our services that has been allowed to happen.  

“All support workers, regardless of the organisation they work for, deserve to be treated equally, to have pay parity to be able to continue to work in their services and to have parity of esteem.

“What we need to see now is a commitment from the Government towards a sustainable pathway for the services we rely on to live a life of our choosing.”

About the Leaders Alliance

The Leaders Alliance is a national group of Disabled People who have come together for the specific purpose of helping people understand the critical nature of disability rights and services and putting a stop to unnecessary strikes or service stoppages.

The Leaders Alliance is independent and is not affiliated or connected to any one disability sector organisation or Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO).

The group spans the twenty-six counties of Ireland, with many members of the group campaigning for 20 to 30 years in different spheres to progress the rights of Disabled People in Ireland.

ENDS