'Stress leave from work increases' says SIPTU in Mayo on Labour Day

On International Labour Day, May 1, trade unions are shining a light on workers' everyday struggles. 

SIPTU representative for Mayo and Galway, Clem Shevlin, notices a certain 'apathy' taking hold of workers: "The struggle becomes very real, because when they're not able to support their families, when work starts to come and lay people off, or we take hours, or they're having to take six months of stress, like the amount of people that take stress leave from work, drastically increases.

And that's down to the circumstances that are involved, they're not able to afford the little things in life for their kids and for themselves, they're not able to afford to take time off when they're sick."

READ: Mayo woman (65) facing eviction says her life is 'in limbo'

Particularly the government's recent decision to delay the introduction of a living wage by three years until 2029 is not sitting well with workers, says Shevlin:

"To roll back on those commitments, it sets people back in what they have put their hopes for their government, covering their back, investing in them, giving them protection. The cost of it keeps increasing, the cost of everything around them keeps increasing that they have no control over."

SIPTU is calling on the government to honour its commitments to increase statutory sick pay entitlements and introduce a living wage, highlighting the overwhelming public support for these measures.

Greg Ennis, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, said: “This Government was elected on a platform which included an increase in Statutory Occupational Sick Pay from five days to seven days, a move towards the minimum wage becoming a living wage and the end to discriminatory pay rates for the young. It has thrown these commitments on the bonfire without the slightest concern for workers and their families.

SIPTU, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, is the largest trade union in Ireland. On their website, they claim "We represent workers in both the public and private sector in almost every industry in Ireland and at virtually every level. SIPTU caters for full-time, part-time, permanent, contract and temporary workers, as well as retired and unemployed members."

READ: Connacht Final Showdown: Mayo and Galway renew fierce rivalry