• Comment: Fails WP:GNG, WP:BIO and WP:NPOL. Mentions in prominent media are not enough. Wikipedia notability requires significant coverage about the individual in reliable, secondary, independent sources. Most of the citations provided are essentially routine reporting of what Gates says in her role as a union leader. Paul W (talk) 14:16, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Fails WP:ANYBIO, requires significant coverage about the individual in multiple independent secondary sources. Dan arndt (talk) 07:33, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Carmel Gates is a Northern Irish trade unionist and socialist campaigner from County Tyrone. She is general secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA).

Career

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Gates was elected as NIPSA General Secretary in June 2021 from a field of four candidates.[1]

Prior to her election, she had served as Deputy General Secretary since 2019 and was a member of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in the Department for the Economy and prior to that in the then Department for Employment and Learning, where she was a Deputy Principle and worked on high profile roles such as the incorporation of Stranmillis University College in 1999.[citation needed] She is a member of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.[2]

Gates led NIPSA through a prolonged period of industrial strike action in 2023.[3] She appeared on national and local news outlets during the strike action,[4][5] calling for better pay for public servants and better funding for public services.[6]

During this time she had regular meetings with the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris to try and resolve the crisis in the public sector [7] and also met with the then shadow secretary of state, Hillary Benn, now the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the Labour Party (UK) government.

She has been a high profile campaigner for safe staffing in the health service, calling on the secretary of state to directly address the issueof safe staffing and the crisis in social work.

Ms Gates has also caused controversy when she accused the secretary of state of "sanctioning" public services in Northern Ireland [8] and damaging the public sector to try and force the NI Assembly back into sitting.

Gates is a regular contributor to local political programming on the BBC Northern Ireland show The View[9] and UTV programme The View from Stormont.[10] She is also a regular on local radio on The Stephen Nolan Show on BBC Northern Ireland and on Talkback where she has advocated for abolishing the House of Lords[11] and nationalising energy companies.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Carmel Gates: New NIPSA General Secretary Elected". NIPSA. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  2. ^ "NIC-ICTU Annual report" (PDF). NIC-ICTU website. 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  3. ^ "Strikes will get bigger and better until pay demands are met, union leader says". The Irish News. 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  4. ^ "150,000 public sector workers walk out on strike". Sky News. 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  5. ^ "Disruption at Sea Border as vets go on strike". GB News Youtube. 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  6. ^ "Cash Crisis waits for N. Ireland's restored Executive". Financial Times. 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  7. ^ "NIPSA Meets with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland". NIPSA Website. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  8. ^ "NI teachers and civil servants involved in biggest industrial action in a decade". The Independent. 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
  9. ^ "The View, BBC politics NI". BBC i-Player. 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  10. ^ "The View From Stormont, ITV politics NI". ITV Player. 2024-02-08. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  11. ^ "Is The House of Lords still an important legislative institution or is it now time to get rid of it?". BBC Sounds, Radio Ulster. 2017-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  12. ^ "Should energy companies be nationalised?". BBC Sounds, Radio Ulster. 2022-08-12. Retrieved 2024-03-14.