Striking staff at the largest unemployment exchange in Ireland supported by those unable to collect their social welfare payments.
Members of the Civil and Public Service Staff Association who work at the Department of Social Welfare unemployment exchange in Gardiner Street have gone on strike because of what they claim are antiquated and unhygienic working conditions.
The doors of Gardiner Street Unemployment Exchange remained closed this morning, to the dismay of the hundreds of people who arrive there every Friday to collect their social welfare payments.
Familiar with the conditions in the building, many joined the picket line in a show of solidarity.
The conditions they’re working in, rat infested holes.
The men and women who depend on the weekly assistance payments were left with the prospect of no means to support their families.
Who’s going to feed this child today?
Instructions from the Department of Social Welfare to request supplementary payments from local Community Welfare Officers were deemed unsatisfactory. The numbers on the picket grew.
Traffic was severely disrupted for a time.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 22 September 1978. The reporter is Pat Sweeney.
