Bordering on ridiculous: striking, shopping and the absence of politics

An unusual news story hit the headlines on Tuesday, one that is unverifiable by any means: public sector employees were selfishly destroying the economy.

Tuesday November 24 was a ‘national day of action’ for members of public sector unions. Understandably this issue was the news story of the day, dominating the airwaves as commentators and the public lined-up to debate whether or not strikes were appropriate during a recession. This in itself is a fairly empty dialogue but things took a turn for the surreal when the media started spreading the notion that the striking workers were in fact all in Newry shopping rather than manning the picket lines.

The story started with claims of six kilometre traffic tailbacks south of Newry. This in itself may have been true: Newry has always been a popular destination for Southern shoppers and roads leading to Newry from the South are always congested anyway, due to the ongoing construction of the motorway. Alas, common sense did not prevail. Immediately the story spread that the tailback was the result of striking public servants skipping the protests and heading off to gorge themselves using their inflated wages. A simpler explanation might be that entire families had travelled to Newry, and having been forced to take the day off work to mind their kids, decided to make practical use of the time by shopping for Christmas.