Workers Solidarity Movement

TUF unions to hold protest outside Leinster House over NAMA plan to bail out banks on backs of workers

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.

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.

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

John Fleming, the west Cork businessman who began his career making sheds and ended up owing the banks €1 billion – the tab for which we will be picking up, no doubt – is a great example of how the other half is dealing with the recession. Whereas you and I have to pinch and scrape, John Fleming can still call on plenty of spare coins – despite his massive debt.

Analysis from Workers Solidarity 1 (1984) of the National Plan that was put forward to get Ireland out of the 1980's recession.

Article from Workers Solidarity 1, 1984 about the recession and the companies & individuals who were making millions

Working people continue to bear the brunt of the economic recession in terms on job cuts, poverty wages and house repossessions, while the rich and powerful in our society are bailed out again. This is state capitalism and comes under various forms from thatcherism to neo-liberalism.

The Belfast Anarchist Communist Discussion Group, set up by the Belfast branch of the Workers Solidarity Movement recently invited Michael Reinsborough to give a talk on the topic of neo-liberalism.

The public meeting took place on Wednesday 17th June in the Belfast Unemployment Centre.

When?: Saturday The 27th of June
Time?Time : 3pm
Where? Lissadell Suite, Sligo City Hotel

The Workers Solidarity Movement is hosting a talk on the financial crisis and other systemic crises faced by global capitalism including the ongoing destruction of the ecological base and the speedy approach of hard resource limits to capitalism's "infinite growth" model, all of which demand an urgent transition to a more sustainable, just and equitable social model.

Working people continue to bear the brunt of the economic recession in terms on job cuts, poverty wages and house repossessions, while the rich and powerful in our society are bailed out again. This is state capitalism and comes under various forms from thatcherism to neo-liberalism.

The speaker will present a brief overview of neo-liberalism and how it affects working people and the environment. Is neo-liberalism just naked capitalism under a different name? Does increased state involvement in the economy signal the end of neo-liberalism, or is it just a temporary measure?