September 2009

Dublin: Social Solidarity Network - Building a Network of Resistance

Date:

Job losses, wage cuts, cuts in essential public services, pension levies..... Our living standards and our social services are under huge attack.

No to Lisbon - A Treaty for the Rich

Date:

The WSM is calling for a No vote in the 2nd Lisbon referendum on the grounds that people in Ireland can do a lot better than a choice between the clowns in the Dáil or those in Brussels. We oppose the EU's policies of privatisation, militarisation and attacks on workers' conditions but don’t insult people’s intelligence by saying that our current society in Ireland with its severe recession, diabolical public services and corruption is anything better. The major lack of democracy in our lives is not between us and the EU but between the Irish government and us.

The employers’ offensive - Striking back gets results

Date:

Thomas Cooke workers refused to go quietly when they were tossed onto the dole. Cooks had made £400m profit in 2008 and their boss, Manny Fontela-Novoa, took home €7 million. This was not a failing business.

Lisbon Referendum & the development of the European Union

Date:

One of the great problems that people encounter in making up their minds about the Lisbon treaty is that, depending on who you talk to, the treaty can appear to be an altogether different thing. According to those who are campaigning for a Yes vote, it merely serves to tidy up the existing European treaties, with a few changes to allow the EU to function more efficiently.

Lisbon and Democracy - Do We Really Have a Say?

Date:

It’s the time of year where we plebs get a chance to rectify our impertinence in rejecting the Lisbon Treaty. In itself, rerunning the referendum is hardly an affront to democracy. After all, people are simply being asked to confirm the decision made.

Dublin: Dock strike protest at City Hall

Date:

To all supporters,contacts etc,

A motion in support of the striking workers and calling for intervention to end the dispute will be put before Dublin City Council at Monday evenings meeting. We will be hoping for unanimous cross party support for this but nothing is guaranteed yet. We are calling on supporters to gather at City Hall before the meeting to demonstrate our support for the workers.

Monday 7th September

City Hall (end of Dame Street)

6.15 - 7.15pm

Dublin: Dock strike protest at High Court

Date:

In relation to the injunction taken by MTL to prevent the naming and shaming of scabs, see media links below, and update on the official site website .

The case is to resume again next Thursday 10th September at 11am.

We are calling on supporters to demonstrate at the High Court , gathering between 10.30 and 11am. This may be a full hearing of the case, and will likely continue for a number of hours.

Thursday 10th September

High Court

Assemble: 10.30 to 11am.

The indications from the Labour Relations Commission is that of cautious optimism, to use a near meaningless cliche. There is still a way to go, and we cannot be certain of the companies true intent. We will keep you updated.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eycwojaukfql/rss2/

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0904/1....html

http://www.mtldockers.com/

WS111 - No to Lisbon

Date:

A special issue of Workers Solidarity, no 111 is now online. It concentrates on making the argument for a No vote in the second Lisbon referendum as part of the WSM 'No to Lisbon' campaign.

Download Workers Solidarity 111 - No to Lisbon (Southern edition)

Bord Snip targets workers and pensioners

Date:

The McCarthy or “Bord Snip Nua” report on public spending outlined a range of proposed cuts in government expenditure. Of the €5.3b in possible savings, it can be safely said that at least €4b of this (and probably more) targets the working class. Indeed, a full third of the cuts are aimed at pensioners and unemployed. In the private sector, attacks on our class continue in the form of pay cuts, short time and lay-offs.

The WSM Is 25

Date:

The Workers Solidarity Movement is twenty-five years old this autumn. A quarter of a century ago anarchists in Ireland came together to establish an organisation to promote and fight for our ideas.

Vote No to Lisbon

Date:

The Workers Solidarity Movement is calling for a No vote in the Lisbon referendum. It is a treaty for the rich, people in Ireland can do a lot better than a choice between the clowns in the Dáil or those in Brussels.

We oppose the EU's policies of privatisation, militarisation and attacks on workers' conditions but don’t insult people’s intelligence by saying that our current society in Ireland with its severe recession, diabolical public services and corruption is anything better. The major lack of democracy in our lives is not between us and the EU but between the Irish government and us.

The upcoming Lisbon vote is one of the rare occasions that the people get a direct say. But it’s only a very limited say. We get to choose between either a gombeen republic or an embryonic European state, neither of which makes for an exciting prospect.

Whichever way the vote goes, there is no indication that either a yes or a no vote will substantially alter the exclusion of the public from major public decisions. That requires a rethinking of the kind of society we want.

The problem is not the treaty alone but the EU as an institution.We call on people to Vote No to Lisbon but also to organise to take more control of our lives and to build real democracy in our communities and our workplaces.

Will the real communists please stand up

Date:

Today the word "communism" is most often associated with the totalitarian one-party states of Soviet Russia or China. Nothing could be further from the anarchist goal of a stateless, free society. So the association of anarchism with communism seems, at first sight, perverse.

Sammy Wilson attacks victims

Date:

The DUP’S Sammy Wilson has recently accused anti-racism groups of exaggerating the scale of racism to access public funding. This statement comes not long after more than 100 Romanians were forced to flee their homes in South Belfast due to racist intimidation and attacks.



Press Statement: Anarchist organisation calls for No to Lisbon

Date:

The Workers Solidarity Movement(WSM) has called for a No vote in the Lisbon referendum, referring to it as “a treaty for the rich”, and claiming that “people in Ireland can do a lot better than a choice between the clowns in the Dáil or those in Brussels”.

Dublin: Protest Mounjoy jail 6pm

Date:

Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington has received a 3 months sentence todayin court. She is currently en route to Mountjoy,there will be a protest at the jail from 6pm

Retired teacher Maura Harrington jailed for 4th time this year over opposition to Shell refinery

Date:

Retired school principal Maura Harrington has been jailed for the fourth time this year in connection with her opposition to Shell’s experimental inland refinery and high-pressure pipeline in north Mayo.

A veteran Spanish anarchist speaks of revolution, war and bad coffee…

Date:

During his recent visit to Dublin, Workers Solidarity took the opportunity, over “bad coffee”, to chat to 93 year old Roma Marquez Santo about some of his experiences of the Spanish revolution. In 1936 Roma was a metal worker and a member of both the UGT trade union and the POUM, an anti-Stalinist communist party.

A biography of an Irish anarchist- Doctor John Creaghe

Date:

A few years ago a comrade from Leeds introduced me to the life and times of this colourful figure, Dr John Creaghe who helped spread the flames of anarchism across three continents. In the words of the famous Italian anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti this pamphlet is dedicated to the ‘nameless in the vast crowd of nameless ones.’

NAMA = Class Robbery = Capitalism At Work

Date:

NAMA is nothing short of straight class robbery – robbery from ordinary workers in order to shore up the property developers and big bankers who got us into this mess in the first place. It can be described as unfair, it can be described as immoral but in reality it’s naked capitalism at work.

Press Statement: Anarchist Organisation launches ‘No to Lisbon’ poster campaign

Date:

Anarchist organisation Workers Solidarity Movement (WSM) has launched two ‘Vote No to Lisbon’ posters. One features pictures of John Gormley, Bertie Ahern, Brian Cowen and Mary Harney under the slogan ‘Would you buy a second hand treaty from these chancers?’ The other urges people to vote no to Lisbon but also to ‘Organise For Real Social Change’.