On Saturday 18 June, the trade union movement will be taking to the streets to demand action on the cost of living - a new deal for working people – and a pay rise for all workers.
Families across the country are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living storm. Every worker – public and private sector – needs a real pay rise in 2022.
Back in 1891 the Catholic Church acknowledged the essential role of Trade Unions as the only reliable way to protect the rights, safety, and well-being of workers and their families. Pope Leo XIII used his encyclical Rerum novarum to depict the plight of the urban poor and condemn unrestricted capitalism. Chief among the remedies it prescribed were the formation of trade unions and the introduction of collective bargaining.
Unions would go on to successfully lobby for the creation of a five-day work week, eight-hour work day, pensions and benefits for families, living wages for workers, and safe working conditions.
Trade Unionism was also a driving force in the creation of the YCW. Our founder, Joseph Cardijn, originally called the growing movement in Belgium the “Young Trade Unionists” and it was the plight of workers that drew Cardijn to his lifelong mission of fighting for justice and the empowerment of young workers.
