Workers Solidarity Movement

A recent WSM public meeting in Dublin about anarchism saw something a bit different; members of Fine Gael turning up to defend capitalism. We were told it’s a great system and the rich are simply enjoying the rewards of hard work.

Everybody knows what property is, property is something that we own, but why is this such a major issue for anarchists and the left as a whole? You see when most people think about property it’s not such a big deal because what most people don’t realise is that there are two kinds of property, there is personal property and private property.

So then what is the difference then between personal property and private property?

Recent arrests of protestors, both north and south of the border, has shown that political policing is alive and well within our society. 

Workers at Aer Lingus are being told to accept worsening conditions and low pay rises. This does not apply to the man who who does the telling, chief executive Dermot Mannion. Last year he was paid a massive €982,000.

The Southern general election saw six parties make it to the Dail. Five of them were open to coalition with any of the others, the PDs being willing to share power with anyone except Sinn Fein. They all looked for votes on the basis that they would be better managers of the present system.

An Post workers have been on the receiving end of a series of substantial blows which have held down pay rates and undermined rights with regard to status. The late 1970’s and early 1980’s saw strikes and protests by the workers to improve conditions, but recent years have seen management back on the offensive. The latest attack comes in the shape of “deregulation”, just another word for privatisation. If it isn’t stopped it’s going to impact on all of us for the worse.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International reported, earlier this summer, the end of a strike of more than 7,000 workers against CAC – the largest forestry and pulp producing company in Chile.

The Chilean Timber Workers Union won a raise in wages of 12% for the highest earners and a 52% rise for the lowest earners. All other demands had been met prior to the strike, which was called in response to the company's offer of a 5% raise.

We all know that the health service is in a terrible state. Elderly patients on trolleys and in chairs for days while they wait for a bed. Operations cancelled, stressed staff, people having to wait years just to see a consultant.

Why? Ireland is now a wealthy country, there is a lot of cash out there. But, as long as the rich and the politicians have their private hospitals, like the Blackrock Clinic and the Bon Secours in Cork, why should they care about what happens to the rest of us?

People's apathy, particularly young people's, towards elections is normally presented as some sort of failing in civic responsibility. However, indifference towards the outcomes of elections is actually a sensible position to have - it recognises that the emperor has no clothes.

The issues of Workers Solidarity published in 2007