SIPTU launched the ‘Your County, Your Youth, Your Future’ local authority recruitment campaign at an event today (Monday, 2nd September) in Connolly Hall, Cork City, which was attended by county council workers from across the country. SIPTU Sector Organiser, Brendan O’Brien, said: “The ‘Your County, Your Youth, Your Future’ campaign is a major new initiative which aims to unite the need to recruit more local authority workers with the needs of young people seeking employment in their home counties. “Since the economic crash of 2008 the numbers employed by local authorities across the country has fallen by at least 20%. Over the coming months local authorities across the country must recruit more outdoors, roads and administrative workers if they are to fulfil their statutory duty to provide essential services.” He added: “The ‘Your County, Your Youth, Your Future’ campaign will be establishing working groups in every county in Ireland to campaign for policies which will tie together local authority recruitment and dealing with youth unemployment in their locality. These working groups will directly involve union activists, community groups and local elected representatives.” At the campaign launch, SIPTU Local Authority Sector President, Matt Henry, said: “The extension to the Public Service Stability Agreement, which was recently ratified by trade unions and the government, includes clauses which deal directly with the need to connect public service recruitment to dealing with the issue of youth unemployment. “We will be mobilising local authority workers across the country to ensure that these clauses are fully utilised so that councils once more have the resources to provide adequate services and that their workforces are replenished with young workers. This will ensure that local authorities will be able to operate effectively into the future.” SIPTU activists in each local authority area in the country will be running publicity and lobbying campaigns focused on services and employment needs in their own county or city. For more information see the ‘Your County, Your Youth, Your Future’ Facebook page.
SIPTU launches ‘Your County, Your Youth, Your Future’ local authority recruitment campaign
