Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We often talk in this House about sectarian division. I want to say a few words about the exact opposite. Some weeks ago, workers at the Hovis bakery in Belfast decided to take industrial action over the fact that they have been offered less than 2% of a wage increase this year. Catholics and Protestants stood united on the picket lines for the 12 days of the strike, after which they won an 8% increase over two years, despite the fact that they had received pressure from the PSNI to disperse on the grounds of Covid-19 regulations. The protestors organised their picket lines in a socially distanced and disciplined way, and won.

They were visited on the picket lines by crèche workers from Queen's University Belfast who have been taking various forms of industrial action since International Women's Day on 8 March. They are, this week, escalating to a one-day strike. This is in opposition to unilateral changes in their working conditions. There is a theme here of Covid being used as an excuse by the management to try to force through those changes. Workers stand in their way and workers are making a stand. I wish them well and give solidarity greetings from the Socialist Party to both the groups of workers. They are an example to us all.

See this speech in context