Workers Solidarity Movement

Workers from the IMPACT union marched from Cork University Hospital to the HQ of the HSE on Model Farm Road on Wednesday June 11th at 1 pm to protest against the ongoing recruitment embargo being orchestrated by the HSE. 

In a timely statement on May 1st, nurses in Cork city's A & E service poured scorn on the HSE. Part of the reason why they did this was because of the ongoing situation at Cork's Mercy Hospital. In their statement, the nurses said that it was their "collective view that patient care is being compromised and that it is only a matter of time before there are serious issues and incidents ..." A month on from that statement there has been no resolution in the Cork area. The Workers Solidarity Movement look at the issues and how the impasse could be resolved.

A series of anarchist posters in Cork have begun to make a dent on the deluge of Vote Yes posters that appeared in Cork just over a week ago courtesy of Fianna Fail and the business organisation, IBEC.

In mid April, Cork dock workers took action in support of the crew of The Defender, a cargo ship owned by Forestry Shipping from Riga, Latvia but registered in Cambodia. The Defender had nine crew on board and was carrying cargo for delivery in the Cork area.

Abortion is a criminal offence in Ireland, even in cases in which a woman is carrying a non-viable foetus, is pregnant as a result of rape or incest or where pregnancy threatens her health. The state has not clarified the circumstances in which abortion to save the life of the women is permissible. The following is an interview with a member of the Cork Women's Right to Choose (CWRTC), an activist group campaigning for abortion rights in Cork (first published in Rebel Worker).

Issue #1 of Cork's newest anarchist publication, the Rebel Worker will be appearing bimonthly (when possible) and will be distributed both on its own and as an insert in the WSM's long-standing free newspaper, Workers Solidarity. The current issue features articles on the health service, May Day, abortion rights in Ireland and info on the WSM's involvement in ongoing workers' and community struggles.

Date: Thursday 24th April 2008
Time: 8.00pm

March for your rights at work

Sicko is the name of the new Michael Moore film exposing the US health service for what it is – a profit hungry machine that puts money first and people second. In the good ol’ US of A, if you don’t pay when you get sick then it’s tough luck. Beacon Medical Group is our very own Irish version of Sicko. They are the spearhead of Mary Harney’s new ‘co-location’ plan for the hospital service in Ireland and in January they submitted a proposal to build a large ‘private’ hospital on the grounds of Cork’s University Hospital (CUH) in Wilton.

As many people know May Day is international workers day. Across the world it’s a day of protest and struggle. It’s also a day to celebrate solidarity. In Cork a new May Day Committee that includes the Independent Workers Union is meeting regularly to make May Day in Cork even bigger and better. We need you! If you are interested in helping to organise events, or if you have ideas or you just want to meet and help out, we’d love to see you along. The May Day Committee meets every fortnight at the IWU offices on North Main Street.