The growing crisis emerging from within the hostility sector has been rejected by the radical workers union, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The union which represents members within the hospitality and tourism industry locally firmly dismissed claims made by business leaders of an impending ‘labour shortage’ within the sector as “total nonsense”.
The IWW was first established in North America in 1905 was created by migrant workers and run directly by workers themselves. Amongst its pedigree radical leaders that helped shaped the ideas behind the union was revolutionary figures such as James Connolly and Mother Jones. The IWW in Ireland continues to grow to this day in a number of towns and cities across the country.
A spokesperson for the IWW in Derry slammed reports of a 'labour shortages' insisting, “These claims of labour shortages are total nonsense, it’s a smokescreen. When hospitality workers talk about why we are so slow to return to the tourism or hospitality industry, they tell a very different story. They talk of the poor conditions, the behaviour of their employers, the unpredictable hours, the blatant disregard for health and safety, and even basic workers rights.
“The reality is that while the bosses talk about a so-called "labour shortage" workers call it what it really is: a Wage Shortage.
"Let's be clear, workers are slow to return to the tourist and hospitality industry because of the detrimental impact on their personal lives, their health and general well-being.
“The North West is paraded as an economic blackspot year in year out, yet sold across Europe and the world over by bosses who value a low wage economy as a positive or attractive selling point. But who profits from that, certainly not hospitality workers.
“For ourselves as a grassroots union, run by and for workers themselves, we believe that workers within tourism and hospitality need to come together and unionise as we deserve better.”