Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)

This is absolutely critical because we are at a juncture regarding how we will shape our economy going forward. We cannot have an economy without workers. We need to stop viewing it as workers versus employers because the benefits of collective bargaining are huge. I commend the campaign in this regard which is being run by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, in particular, and the presentation yesterday in the audiovisual room. People will be surprised to see that although there is a constitutional right for people to be part of a union, there is no legal obligation on the employer to engage with that union. We have an imbalance there that needs to be addressed. Investing in SMEs and microbusinesses to rescue jobs and protect our communities should be a priority for all our parties. It is certainly a priority for Sinn Féin.

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