Tyrone public urged to get behind strike rally

MEMBERS of the public have been encouraged to join striking public service workers at a protest rally outside Omagh Courthouse tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

Local teachers and health workers, both due to take industrial action tomorrow, will be in attendance at the demonstration on Omagh’s High Street at 10am.

The unhappy public sector workers are all coming together as they are demanding fairer pay that matches the current soaring rate of inflation.

They also want better resources and funding.

It is expected they will be joined by Royal Mail staff from the CWU union, who recently voted to take further strike action in their own ongoing pay dispute.

The demonstration outside the courthouse in Omagh has been organised by members of several teachers’ unions, including the National Association of School Masters and Union for Woman Teachers NI (NASUWT NI).

Sally Rees, who is the NASUWT NI junior vice-president and will be one of the speakers at the rally, has urged members of the public to come along to the rally and show their support for striking staff.

She told the Tyrone Herald, “We need the support of the public at this rally. We would like to get as big a crowd as possible to show the Department of Education and the health trusts how the public is behind us.

“That is why we are having the rally outside the courthouse in Omagh. We are being joined by health care workers and Royal Mail staff. We are all looking for the same thing, fairer pay and more funding for services.

“Teachers have had to face a huge amount of cuts in funding to schools over the last ten years making the job far more difficult. This combined with falling real-time wages is making the profession much less desirable.

“There are less and less young people becoming teachers and this will have massive ramifications for the future.”

She added, “I would urge people to get behind public sector workers and show how invaluable the jobs they do are.”

The demonstration will begin at 10am outside Omagh Courthouse. A number of speakers will speak from a number of different unions who represent workers from across the public sector.