People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
“We are in the greatest cost of living crisis in generations but the DUP and loyalist paramilitaries are trying to drag us backwards into sectarian violence and division.
“They have nothing to offer those in our communities facing destitution. They have nothing to offer workers taking strike action for real pay rises.
“We need unity now to challenge poverty, to demand above-inflation pay rises for all workers and to demand proper funding for vital public services that are under threat.
“The DUP and the Executive parties specialise in the politics of division. The failure of the entire Executive to stand up for workers and the least well-off in our communities has been laid bare by the cost of living crisis. For decades they have promoted privatisation, tax cuts for big corporations and pay cuts for essential workers.
“There is another way. We urge people to reject sectarian division and to refuse to be pushed into communal corners.
We need a real alternative based on class not creed, based on putting people and planet before profit, and, based on genuine equality for all.”