Derry City Council employees have staged a demonstration outside the council’s offices on Strand Road in protest at redundancies planned by the local authority.
Council employees taking part in the lunchtime protest.
Members of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) are angry the council is pushing ahead with plans which will see a number of senior managers lose their jobs through compulsory redundancies.
Up to 150 employees took part in the protest which was staged during their lunch break at the rear entrance to the council offices.
A spokesperson for Council said had been made aware by the union at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon of the planned demonstration and that it respected the wishes of staff members who wished to take part in the protest.
NIPSA members have already voted unanimously to commence a statutory ballot which will include strike action and action short of strike action.
NIPSA official, Alan Law, said a formal request to make a presentation to the council’s Staff Committee has been “turned down” by Town Clerk Sharon O’Connor.
Mr Law said: “NIPSA has been demanding management withdraw the redundancy notices and embark on negotiations to resolve this dispute.
“We are calling on councillors who have contacted NIPSA to voice their opposition to the redundancies to demand a stop to these plans. NIPSA has requested an assurance that there will be no more compulsory redundancies, however Ms O’Connor has refused to give this commitment”
Several senior staff have been presented with redundancy notices in recent weeks what the City Council says is part of the ongoing restructuring of the local authority under the Transforming Derry City Council programme.
Tags:
