Workers Solidarity Movement

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.

Thomas Cooke workers refused to go quietly when they were tossed onto the dole. Cooks had made £400m profit in 2008 and their boss, Manny Fontela-Novoa, took home €7 million. This was not a failing business.

Long-term Rossport campaigner, Sean Mallory, gives his views on the give away of Ireland’s natural resources and the recession. While the Irish economy was built on a construction boom and massive inward investment, it seemed to go unnoticed that, by our governments own February 2009 estimate, there is €315b euro worth of oil and gas deposits all along our western seaboard. At the same time, the government tells us that it has no money to pay for cervical cancer tests and the construction of specialised multiple sclerosis units, amongst other vital services.

When Brian Lenihan announced his budget last October, two of the measures in particular were met with howls of outrage and his government was forced to back down post haste. The first of these - and the one most people remember because of the dramatic pictures of the Age Action meeting in Westland Row church where Minister of State John Moloney was booed off the stage – was the attempt to take away the automatic entitlement of over-70s to medical cards.

A bully is strolling across a schoolyard in Clara. He steals from, humiliates and hits the other kids. Whatever you decide is the best way to deal with him, there is one thing you probably won’t do. You won’t sit down with him over tea and biscuits and try to hammer out an agreement about how to convince everyone else that bullying is inevitable and might even be good for them.

The Visteon occupations show that we are far from apathetic when it comes to defending our jobs, wages and standard of living. Workers began occupying the Finaghy plant on March 31st, after administrators announced the loss of around 600 jobs at Visteon/Ford plants at Belfast, Basildon and Enfield in England. Davy McMurray, from the Unite trade union, said the way the job cuts were announced was "brutal." Workers were given six minutes notice of their sackings, being treated like mere commodities to be bought and sold, then discarded by our bosses when necessary.

That the very threat of a national strike was enough to force government and IBEC to change their position demonstrates the power the working class holds when we threaten to withdraw our labour. For all the media attempts to convince us we are powerless and that class struggle is a thing of the past when faced with the reality of the organised working class standing up both bosses and state were keen to avoid any confrontation that could illustrate and encourage our collective power.

The national strike called by ICTU should be just the first day of action in what must become a strike wave across every sector until all pay cuts are withdrawn. The super-rich can shoulder the costs of their crisis themselves.The bosses have spent months using the media to try and divide one set of workers form another and to set those still in jobs against the unemployed. They know that divided we are weak. March 30th is the moment we can throw that back in their face, a huge demonstration of class unity that can force them to back down or face the consequences.

“People who got mortgages they can’t afford to pay back were greedy and foolish and should suffer the consequences…They signed a free contract, they’re adults and they have to take responsibility for their actions”. This is the kind of thing that gets thrown around a lot in recessions. It conveniently ignores a few things.

As soon as possible we need a unified day of strike action across the entire public sector to demand withdrawal of this pay cut. One day of strike action is unlikely to be enough to force a change of government policy. So this needs to be followed up with an ongoing campaign of strike action. Join us for the march on Saturday at the Parnell monument from 1.30.