Strikes across Offaly against new pension levy

While further job losses in the private sector were announced for Offaly this week, civil servants around the county staged a one day strike over the pension levy yesterday (Thursday). It was the first industrial action of its kind in Ireland for almost 20 years. The Civil and Public Servants Union members were protesting at the Government"s introduction of a pension levy and the decision to withhold wage increases. The union said these measures is the equivalent of a 12% pay cut. The three Social Welfare offices in Tullamore, Edenderry and Birr were closed yesterday as staff protested outside, while in Tullamore, workers in the Department of Finance and the district courthouse were all out picketing. Around 50 off-duty members of the Garda Representative Association travelled on buses from Tullamore and Birr to protest in Dublin. The 1,000 members of the GRA marched from Parnell Square to the Dáil, also in protest against the pension levy. Clerical worker William Healy from Ballycommon, Tullamore, was one of the large number of Department of Education staff in Athlone who mounted a picket outside the office yesterday (Thursday) to vent their anger at the introduction of the new pension levy. 'We"re just fed up with it all, we can"t keep taking hits, you know we have to live as well. We just feel that the people who made all the money in the so-called good times are getting away with it,' he said. 'We"re down the lower scale and we"re getting hit. You just have to make a stand, unfortunately,' he said, adding that his wages will feel the affects of the cut from this week. 'People are very, very unhappy. Bankers, corporate people and builders made the money in the good times, now, because they have got hit it comes back to us to bail them out. It"s totally wrong.' Offaly County Councillor Molly Buckley said that while there was a need to make €2 billion in savings from current spending, Fine Gael had proposals which were more balanced and involved a more equal spread of savings. 'The pensions levy is unfair and unbalanced. The public sector should not be penalised because they have permanent jobs,' said Cllr Buckley. Meanwhile, taxi drivers were also on strike in Tullamore on Wednesday, but on a different issue. Local taxi drivers staged a demonstration and handed a letter into the Taoiseach"s office demanding a moratoium on taxi licences be introduced.