Mortgage strikes get ICTU backing

DELEGATES at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions biennial conference have backed calls for a “mortgage strike” by at least 100,000 people unless mortgages on primary residences are reduced to reflect current value.

Dave Hughes of the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation told the conference in Killarney that people’s fear over losing their homes due to inability to meet their repayments could be turned into a powerful bargaining tool for workers and mortgage payers in this country.

“I am not talking about individuals failing to pay their mortgage,” he said.