{"id":4758,"date":"2015-07-10T15:24:50","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T14:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=4758"},"modified":"2015-07-10T15:24:50","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T14:24:50","slug":"in-our-unity-there-is-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=4758","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn our unity there is strength\u00e2\u20ac\u0165"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s onslaught on tax credits will disproportionately impact Northern Ireland, Unite has warned.<\/p>\n

 
\nIf adopted in Northern Ireland, plans to scrap student maintenance grants would exclude a generation of working class youth from higher education.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ireland secretary Jimmy Kelly has asserted that the union must initiate a campaign to raise wages and maintain workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 income through industrial action in the face of attacks on workers.<\/p>\n

 
\nSpeaking from the ICTU Biennial Delegates Conference in Ennis, Co Clare, Kelly expressed his union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s determination to meet the challenges posed by the anti-worker budget introduced by Conservative Chancellor George Osborne.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs was expected, this budget was a harsh blow to workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe downward revision of growth forecasts and slippage on the date by which budgetary surplus will be achieved expose the failure of the government’s austerity policies.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bInstead of policies reducing economic demand, historically low interest rates offer government a golden opportunity to borrow to invest in critical infrastructural projects which would stimulate growth and facilitate a transition to a low-carbon, modern economy.<\/p>\n

 
\nKelly condemned the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cosying up to the rich in the latest budget on the backs of the poor.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile he could find the money to lower taxes for corporations, Mr Osborne considered it necessary to scrap maintenance grants for students coming from the poorest households,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf adopted by the Northern Ireland Executive, this move would effectively shut out many working class children from university education despite their meeting the entry grade requirements.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAs UNITElive has highlighted<\/a>, Kelly noted that cutting tax credits will \u00e2\u20ac\u015bresult in a dramatic loss of income for millions of working families across the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTax credits have lifted tens of thousands of children out of poverty. Inevitably, this will result in a step-change in the incidence of childhood poverty.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCuts to tax credits will be implemented automatically in Northern Ireland through the UK-wide HMRC system,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Kelly added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will be a devastating blow to those households who rely on tax credits to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bProposals for the adoption of a ‘Living Wage’ of \u00c2\u01419 per hour by 2020 fall far short of making up for these cuts.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTrade unions must now redouble their efforts in building industrial campaigns to compensate working people for the loss of income. Now, more than ever, workers need to join a union to secure their incomes and futures. In our unity there is strength.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Osborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s onslaught on tax credits will disproportionately impact Northern Ireland, Unite has warned.   If adopted in Northern Ireland, plans to scrap student maintenance grants would exclude a generation of working class youth from higher education.   Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ireland secretary Jimmy Kelly has asserted that the union must initiate a campaign to raise wages and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[177],"wps_subtitle":"Budget a blow for Northern Ireland workers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4759,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions\/4759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}