Workers Solidarity Movement

For the third year in succession the Cork branch of the Workers Solidarity Movement participated in the Cork Pride Parade. Anarchists have been involved in Pride organising in Cork since its beginnings in the mid-noughties and have long seen Pride as both an important civic festival and an opportunity to connect with Cork's burgeoning LGBT community. Cork WSM also distributed a leaflet on Pride and its politics at the parade (see below). The parade was the culmination of a week of hectic activity and celebration by Cork's LGBT community across a number of venues and across a range of activities.

The Cork segment of a European speaking tour with an Anarchist from Moscow who will talk about the anarchist movement in Russia, its successes and failures. Antti Rautiainen lived in Moscow for 13 years, participating in anarchist activities. His residence permit was revoked in March of this year, allegedly because he "called for a violent overthrow of constitutional order, or otherwise endangered the safety of Russian Federation or its citizens". He is member of Autonomous Action and the Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow.

Join us this Thursday 31st May at 8pm for a showing of "The Viking Way" (2012) ( 50mins )

 "In 2008, Iceland was confronted with an unprecedented economic disaster. The country's three banks collapsed, dragging to ruin the country's whole social, economic and political life. “The Viking Way”, is a documentary about how Iceland responded very differently to the crisis of the market and capitalism."

Start time is 8pm.

SIPTU issued a press release on 24/4/12 as follows: SIPTU members in the Musgrave Group are continuing their strike action at the company’s warehouse in Cork in a dispute concerning changes to their conditions of employment. The industrial action, which began on 18th April, involves approximately 135 salaried staff members withdrawing their labour at the Cork Chill warehouse.

Join us this Thursday April 5th , 8pm, in Solidarity Books for a screening of Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey (2011) Start time is 8pm. All welcome, donations appreciated. Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey (2011) This remarkable documentary, made over a nine year period, charts the story of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey’s political journey since her explosive entry into the public arena in the late 60's.

Workers of the games retailer GAME are continuing to occupy shuttered stores across the Republic of Ireland to protest at the unfair and disrespectful treatment by their former employers. The Workers Solidarity Movement fully support the workers in this direct-action. Here is an interview with the staff in Cork's Patrick Street store, Liam Duggan and Amanda.

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.

Join us Thursday, 29th March at Solidarity Books for a double-bill screening of “Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women (2010) – Jean Kilbourne”, followed by “Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman (2007) – Rosemary Feurer and Laura Vazquez” (details of film below).

Start time is 8pm.

All welcome, donations appreciated.

The Campaign Against the Household and Water Tax (CAHWT) is on the cusp of a very significant victory – as indicated by the recent announcement that less than 20% of households in the Republic had registered with the Government to pay the new unjust tax.  This low level of compliance with Government orders is clear evidence that the Campaign has managed to tap into a rich seam of discontent.  Admittedly these are early days and the struggle has a while to go yet, but nonetheless it is an important and notable success.

As has happened for the last two years, Solidarity Books and Cork WSM hosted an event on the 8^th of March to celebrate International Women's Day. This year, Cork WSM members and other activists got together to put on an evening of food, film and discussion in the city's premier radical bookshop and meeting space. Meals were prepared on site and served by Veg Out! and Lentil Disorder, and was enjoyed by a multitude of women and men from the Cork activist scene and beyond. The food fuelled an hour or more of convivial chat, as people reminisced over previous celebrations and cast an eye over feminist-themed displays in various places about the shop space.