Strabane Workers Together hold protest

‘WE’RE coming for you’, that was the stark warning issued on Saturday as a group of concerned Strabane citizens congregated at both Lidl and New Look to protest at the job losses coming down the line following Lidl’s relocation.

Lidl plans to move from its current site on Bradley Way to the Strabane Retail Park. The relocation will see a possible four other businesses leave the town, with the prospect of up to 60 jobs being lost.

The protest, organised by ‘Strabane Workers Together’, a fledgling group borne out of a need to protect the rights of every Strabane employee, was attended by numerous speakers, including Irish Workers Union (IWU) members Patricia Campbell (president of the IWU) and local Tommy McKearney, independent councillors Paul Gallagher and Raymond Barr and Brian Forbes, the head of ‘Strabane Workers Together’. Also in attendance was People Before Profit’s Carol Gallagher.

Beginning at Lidl, a crowd gathered outside the store in full view of Saturday shoppers before travelling along Bradley Way to the retail park where speeches were made. All who spoke were extremely vocal of the pressing need for action.

Mr Forbes urged for a union willing to ‘step up,’ saying, “We need a union which is prepared to stand behind its workers and, at present, the workers in New Look don’t seem to have one who is willing to stand up to the task. We have a job of work to do to try and secure these jobs.”

He also issued a warning to the owners of New Look.

“If the powers that be in New Look believe they can close their doors, make redundancies, and open up again down the line as a pop-up shop, hiring workers on lower wages or zero-hour contracts, then we are here to tell them that they cannot. They’re not coming back to demean Strabane people like that. We in Strabane Workers Together will do everything within our power to shout for workers in the town where such injustices are being meted out. If we allow this to happen, then it sends out the message to other companies that Strabane is an easy touch. To the owners of New Look, I say this – we’re coming for ye lad! We know where your offices are, we know the email addresses we need to complain about these actions, and we will be vocal.”

Ms Campbell said she was honoured to stand with Strabane, citing the example of how two workers in Amazon managed to unionise the brand while Mr McKearney added, “The only way we can stop this happening is action. We are here for every working-class family in Strabane.’

During his address, Mr Forbes also took swipe at the main political parties in the town. All invited to attend the protest, he says it was ‘to their eternal shame’ that none could send a representative to at attend the event, if not speak at it.

Of the political representatives who did attend, Cllr Raymond Barr said he hoped this first protest can be ‘a catalyst’. “I would hope this is the beginning of something of a revolution. I have been extremely vocal in opposition to this relocation as I saw early on what the effects would be, having shouted about this for a long time but no one listened. Strabane is on its knees and has been for as long as I can remember, due to a severe lack of investment by successive governments. It is about time we began taking to the streets until these injustices are stopped.”

Cllr Paul Gallagher added, “This crisis is emerging through a catastrophic decision made in council. I have said it many times before that, if this happened in Derry, council would be all over it. We need politicians to be shouting for us a higher level, and they better start as this isn’t going away anytime soon.”