Communities unite through SIPTU

antrim | anti-capitalism | press release Monday January 17, 2011 20:20 by PRO - SIPTU

Community activists from across the north are joining SIPTU to work together in protecting front line community services in their local areas.

That was the clear message on Tuesday 11th January as community leaders from across the north met at SIPTU's Belfast offices to assess the potential impact of cuts to frontline services in communities and to develop an effective campaign to protect these 'invaluable services' and the projects and centres which deliver them.

SIPTU Community activists meet in Belfast

SIPTU Lead Organiser Martin O'Rourke said,

"Communities are uniting through SIPTU, with the union bringing people together to organise for the safeguarding of frontline community services. We are deeply committed to working with all communities in the north to protect the invaluable services they receive from their local projects."

"There is a real fear at the moment, that the proposed Tory Cuts to the Assembly budget will have an impact on local projects and through that delivery of services. We want to lobby all the main political parties to highlight the essential and in many cases life saving services provided by community projects, how many people rely on these services daily, and how extremely cost effective these projects are, not to mention socially invaluable."

"SIPTU feel privileged too be working with such committed and dedicated activists whose vocation to their community is making a difference to thousands of people's lives each and every day. The selfless and collective ethos at the heart of the community projects is a key tenet of a fairer and better society, and we must play our part in protecting these frontline services and the very spirit that sustains them."