April 2010

Public Sector Agreement - exposing the real transformation agenda

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WSM member and UNITE activist Dermot Sreenan gives his initial opinion on the (Draft) Public Sector Agreement. "We must reject this deal and when we vote for rejecting this deal – we are going back to what we voted for back in October, Strike. If the leadership cannot allow, contemplate or enable us to do that – then we replace them. Our Unions are still ours. It is time to clean house – it is time to get back to injury to one is the concern of all."

The 1916 rising and class struggle in Ireland 1886-1923

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 Money issued by the 1919 Limerick Soviet

Articles on 1916, the War of Independence and related issues published by the WSM as well as material by other anarchists and documents from the period.

Image: Money issued by the 1919 Limerick Soviet

Report from Easter Rising Commemorations in Cork city

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James reports from the Workers Party, 32 County Sovereignty Movement, Republican Sinn Fein and Sinn Fein commemorations at the republican plot on Easter Sunday in Cork's St. Finbarrs cemetery.

US forces kill journalists, ambulance crew, shoot children in Iraq

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Al Jazerra have released this video that shows US Apache helicopters use a mini gun against a group of journalists & civilians in Iraq.  When a van arrives to evacuate the injured that is also shot up, killing the driver.  When US troops arrive on the scene the pilots laugh when they run over a body and then  when they are told that the injured include two children laugh again saying 'you shouldn't bring your children to a war.'  Except of course those they have killed were not in a war, they were walking down a street before being  gunned down from the sky without cause or warning.

PALESTINIAN LAND DAY commemoration

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Grand Theft Veto

A number of WSM members attended the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) commemoration of Land Day – March 30th which has become a symbolic day of support both in Palestine and throughout the world. This marks the day when strikes were organised in many Palestinian towns in Israel back in 1976 as a reaction to the expropriation of more land by that aggressor state.

INTO Teachers union splits down middle on proposed public sector deal

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The conference of the Irish National Teachers Organisation conference has split down the middle on the question of whether to accept or reject the Public Sector Agreement negotiated by the trade union bosses.  Delegates voted 304 for and 308 against an amendment which would have meant the rejection of the deal.  Delegates who oppose the deal are now meeting up to start the organisation of a No campaign in the INTO. 

Dublin Bus sacks union representative

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The sacking of Eugene McDonagh by Dublin Bus management and his simultaneous suspension by the National Bus & Rail Union from its national executive shows the true face of ‘social partnership’.  Eugene has been a bus driver for 21 years and has an unblemished work record. The bosses and the senior union bureaucracy have come together to attack effective trade unionism in Harristown garage. 

Captain Jack White on the Easter rising

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These opinions and reactions are just a small sample of what is out there. This Easter Week, we should look at the event not just as a week long insurrection, but as an event that would ricochet on through the troubles that followed and continue to spark debate long after the last bullets whizzed through the Dublin sky.

Report from a WSM member at the INTO Congress

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In what is being described by RTE as a blow to the leadership, delegates at the INTO annual Congress in Galway today (Tuesday) passed a motion which declared that the Public Sector Agreement 2010 -2014  is contrary to INTO policy.  After a lively debate, it was agreed to endorse the union leadership's decision to put the deal to a ballot of the membership but the section of the motion which called for a recommendation that members reject the deal in that ballot was defeated by just 4 votes - 308 to 304.

Leadership comes close to losing 2nd PSA ballot at INTO conference

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INTO Conference has again had a narrow vote in relation to the Public Sector deal. After another lively and angry debate, Delegates voted by 306 votes to 248 against a section of a motion which would have had the effect of postponing the ballot on the deal until the full details of any revised teachers contract were made available.

Dublin Rally in memory of Toyosi Shittabey (15) murdered on Good Friday

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Toyosi ShittabeyA rally will taken place in Dublin, Saturday 10th April at 14.00 in memory of of Toyosi Shittabey (15) who was stabbed in an attack at Tyrrelstown, north-west Dublin on Good Friday (April 2nd 2010).  It will be followed by a march to the Dail and has been called by the Toyosi Memorial Committee.

MANDATE members at Connolly Shoes Dun Laoghaire on strike

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For the second time in six months, workers at Connolly Shoes Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin, members of the Mandate trade union, have taken to the picket line.  The strike began on Tuesday 6th April following the dismissal of two workers.

The dispute has its origin in attempts by management last September to introduce short-time working. 

The workers on strike are getting great support and solidarity from members of the public.  The leaflet being handed out by the strikers reads as follows:

Public Service 'deal' under huge pressure. Vote at SIPTU executive crucial

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Following the vote by the Central Executive Committee of the country's largest public sector union, IMPACT, that they cannot recommend acceptance of the public sector deal in the forthcoming ballot of members, the deal is under huge pressure.  IMPACT's outgoing general secretary Peter McLoone has been one of the principal advocates of the deal and the failure of his union's executive to back the deal will have serious ramifications not alone within IMPACT but in other public sector unions as well.

O'Reilly owned Providence Resources drills for oil off Dalkey

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Providence Resources the energy exploration company owned by the multi millionare O'Reilly family has announced that it is to start drilling for oil only 10km to sea from the city of Dublin.  If it does hit oil then like all the other energy exploration companies it will not have to pay one cent in royalities thanks to the Great Oil & Gas Giveaway deal created by Minister Ray Burke (subsequently jailed for corruption) and Bertie Ahern among others.  The O'Reilly family also own a huge percentage of the Irish media, the same media that has failed to cover this Great Oil & Gas Giveaway and that in the case of the Sunday Independant in particular has actively attacked the few journalists like Fintan O'Toole that have dared to speak out.

Impact CEC rejects Public Sector Agreement

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In a major setback for the government the executive of Impact, the country’s largest public sector union has rejected the deal which was negotiated last week.

Strikes in Spanish Railways

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On 31 March 2010, workers in the Spanish public railway companies Renfe-Operadora (public transport operator) and ADIF (infrastructure administrator) carried out a 24 hour strike.The strike was organised by the Federal Railway Union of the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), a radical anarchist influenced union.

Athy: May Day Festival 2010

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This is the first May Day festival in living memory in the welcoming and historic town of Athy, Co. Kildare. It is taking place at a time of great uncertainty within our country and where a biased media whips up anti-trade union sentiment almost on a daily basis.

Report on Memorial Public Rally for Toyosi Shitta-Bey

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Over a 1500 people gathered at the Garden of Remembrance Saturday afternoon in a Rally organised and called by the Socialist party to remember the 15 year old, Toyosi Shitta-Bey who was stabbed to death in Tyrrelstown on good Friday. Today was an important day for people to stand up and show that there are people who say racism and thuggery have no place in the Ireland that we want. It was a day to remember a young inspirational life – this boys death may make us face up to the racism that exists in our society so that we deal with it, and extinguish it.

Do you want Geoengineering with your climate change?

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This weeks New Scientist carries an editorial calling for "robust public debate on geoengineering". Geoengineering is the idea that if climate change cannot be avoided through a reduction in carbon emissions its worst effects can be avoided through large-scale engineering of our environment. The failure of the Climate Summit in Copenhagen has seen many scientists look to what is perceived as the only possible alternative.

Why Education workers should Vote no to the Public Sector Agreement

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This text is currently being distributed in leaflet form by the Vote No to the Public Sector Agreement campaign within the Irish National Teachers Organisation. As well as arguing why the agreement is bad for education workers in the public sector it also explains why it is also bad for other public sector workers.  If you want to distribute the leaflet you'll find a link to a PDF of it at the bottom of the text.