Campaign on home loans could include 'mortgage strike'

A “MORTGAGE strike” could form part of a campaign, backed yesterday by Irish Congress of Trade Unions, aimed at seeking relief for homeowners who took out large loans for their main residences over recent years. Delegates at the conference supported calls by a number of unions for the initiative, which would seek to have mortgages on main private residences revised downwards to the current value of houses.

Dave Hughes, deputy general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, who put forward the proposal, said there should also be legislation to make financial treason a specific crime, as well as a charter of fundamental rights to guarantee healthcare, education and accommodation.

Mr Hughes said he was not talking about individuals failing to pay their mortgage as part of the proposed new campaign.

“We are proposing a collective web-based action which would not commence until 100,000 people have signed up and are prepared to go along with the action.

“The key to this campaign will be to separate your income stream and your saving from your mortgage account so you have freedom over your ability to pay or not to pay your debt.

“It would then involve a series of incremental actions which would allow those who need to know that there is a collective action going on, and that we can move in unity with financial transactions.

“If that does not shock them enough and cause them enough reason to renegotiate then we would go to a mortgage strike.”

He said the demand of the campaign should be “relief for those people who were fooled into paying enormous prices for over-valued houses and for whom the banks funded those loans”.