Workers Solidarity Movement

In Spain there was an old saying to describe the inequity of that society; "some people eat but do not work and most people work but do not eat." It appears that this is the new type of society that the present Government wish to implement in Ireland.

At the time of writing 15 people have been in prison for peacefully protesting the imposition of this unjust bin-tax. On Oct 14th and 15th a co-ordinated action resulted in all the bin depots across all four council areas being blocked by demonstrators thus effectively shutting down the service. The campaign has always maintained that all bins have to be picked up. Until non-collection is halted similar actions will take place.

The State and the city councils are displaying to the whole country what we already knew, that they are ruthless bullies who will stop at little in their attempt to get away with this heist. The heist is to take a public service, change the laws so as to bring about non-collection, do everything to force people into paying the charge, so that they can make it a profitable business and then privatise it.

The government will continue to jail us for demonstrating against what we believe to be unjust. Another reason why the reaction has been so severe is that this is the culmination of a long campaign where we have won most of the battles. First they tried to make us pay, we refused; then they tried to bring us to court, we opposed them; then they tried non-collection, we blockaded them; then they tried to frighten us with injunctions and jailings, we broke that and activists were prepared to go to jail. This is the reaction of the state to direct action taken by a large community campaign.

But let's remember, despite all the media hysteria flying around that this is simply a case of democracy in action.

The majority of people in Dublin are against this double-tax and the harder they try to crush it the more that resistance grows. The council is like a cornered wild animal lashing out at all that's against them. They have asked their friends in the media to ensure a witch-hunt against the campaigns. It is because there is a genuine fear by the authorities that they are doing this. Lets remember that and ensure that we continue to take the fight to them by maintaining non-payment and preventing non-collection.

Further information:

087 283 7989 - Campaign Hotline number

www.StopTheBinTax.com and www.indymedia.ie for upcoming protests and meetings

Detailed reports and dozens of photos of blockades and marches at http://struggle.ws/wsm/bins.html

This page is from the print version of the Irish Anarchist paper 'Workers Solidarity'.

Print out the PDF file of this issue
This edition is No78 published in November 2003