The Workers Party has expressed its condolences to the family and friends of veteran civil rights campaigner Ivan Cooper, who died earlier today.
Ivan was an early member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and a tireless campaigner for social justice. He was also a consistent and outspoken critic of terrorism and state violence.
His legacy will be the courageous and politically pioneering work he undertook in the late 1960s and early 1970s and his commitment to securing civil rights for all.
Workers have always had to fight for their rights. Nothing was handed to them on a plate
The recent decision by the Court of Appeal which upheld an earlier finding that thousands of PSNI officers and civilian staff are entitled to holiday back pay going back over 20 years, has implications for workers right across Northern Ireland
Should workers entitled to holiday back pay now receive that money? In a word ‘Yes’. Everyone has an entitlement to be paid for their work and to have their terms and conditions of employment honoured.
This is all the more important because this is not an isolated case of workers rights being eroded or ignored.
It comes against a backdrop of zero hours contracts, 51 week employment periods, struggles to secure even a minimum wage, unpaid internships, no pay trial shifts and a host of other dubious employment practices.
Contrast that economic culture with the immediate and unquestioning bail out of banks and other financial institutions to the tune of £955 billion.
This is not a level playing field and we are not all in this together.
Workers Party Northern Ireland 