Workers Solidarity Movement

Stormont was back to business last weekend as they laid down the red carpet for a top member of the Communist Party’s politburo Liu Yandong as part of the ongoing normalisation drive to showcase investment and job opportunities in in the North. Before it was pandering to US capital but with a stagnating economy our local ruling class are increasingly keen to build relations with the next emerging global power, China, which is increasingly flexing its muscles in the US sphere of influence.

A bumper crowd of over 400 crammed into the largest function room of Cork's Metropole Hotel to be part of a rally to mark the end of the first phase of the campaign waged against the government's 'Household Charge'. The rally began with a humorous and topical song composed by a campaign supporter, John Murphy, then several speeches from the top table, and was followed by an 'open mike' session where members of the attendance expressed their outrage, anger, and defiance over the imposition of the Household Tax and the implementation of the austerity agenda.

“When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose’  - Bob Dylan

Last year the word and action, “Occupy”, was imprinted on our minds, from Tahrir Square in Cairo to Zucotti Park in New York. This year Occupy has come home to us in Ireland. Sure, we’ve had the valiant efforts of people bringing attention to the great injustice being visited on us all by camping outside the Central Bank, but the amoral character of the boss class is never better displayed than when you get made redundant.

In Cork the mobilisation for the National Day of Action against the Household and Water Tax saw a lively and noisy crowd of over 500 hundred march through the centre of Cork City.  At the rally beforehand members from some of the local areas involved in the Campaign in Cork took advantage of the open mic forum to explain why they opposed the tax.  Speakers from Farranree, Bishopstown and Cobh declared their intention not to register or pay the tax.  The fact that the tax is unjust and will rise sharply in a short period of time was highlighted.  It was also pointed out that the proposed Water Tax which will follow shortly on the heels of the Household Tax is also a major threat.  The proposed Water Tax in itself will be a major burden and one that will hit the majority households harshly.

The fiscal treaty, as agreed by EU governments, is clearly an austerity treaty and will impose serious levels of economic and financial pain on Irish workers for years to come.  In his blog ‘Notes On The Front’ Unite economist Michael Taft says “The Government, in signing the Fiscal Treaty, has effectively committed itself to introducing up to €6 billion more in tax increases and spending cuts in the medium-term, over and above what it has already planned”.[1]

"Once the corporations gain the benefit of the public paying the costs and taking the risks, they want to monopolize the profit. And the intellectual property rights, they’re not for small inventors. In fact the people doing the work in the corporations, they don’t get anything out of it, like a dollar if they invent something. It’s the corporate tyrannies that are making the profits, and they want to guarantee them."

Dublin last weekend saw about 400 people take part in a demonstration against the intention of Seán Sherlock, the Labour Party Minister for Research and Innovation to bring into law a requirement for Irish internet service providers to block access to sites that allow the downloading of copy righted material. This is a similar law to the SOPA and ACTA laws that Hollywood & music industry lobbyists tried unsuccessfully to force through the US Congress.  A second demonstration is to take place this Saturday.

A crowd of about 100 people gathered in the local GAA club in Cabra last Wednesday night (1^st Feb) and the message was simple and clear, we’re not registering, we are not paying.

Between 30 and 40 people attended a Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT) public meeting in Shankill, South Dublin on Thursday 2nd February. The meeting was chaired by Richard Boyd Barrett (People Before Profit/ULA TD) and was addressed by Cllr. Hugh Lewis (People Before Profit) and Gregor Kerr (Workers Solidarity Movement).

Hugh outlined the political arguments against the household tax, arguing that it was unfair and immoral and that the tax should be opposed by refusing to register and refusing to pay.