Workers Solidarity Movement

Up to 150 students, nurses, college lecturers and activists including WSM braved the wet and dreary conditions to voice their dissatisfaction at the government's proposed pay-cut to student nurse-interns. The protest held at the gate of Mayo General Hospital was organised by the Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation -Ireland's main Nursing union. Whilst good humoured, there was a palpable anger underlying today's protest which was one of many taking part nationwide. The message is clear from the student nurses and their qualified counterparts - NO PAY, NO WAY - NO TO SLAVE LABOUR.

Saturday 30th October saw the WSM take part in the latest 1% Network event, an after dark Halloween Treasure Hunt around Dublin's exclusive Shewsbury and Ailesbury roads taking in the mansions of multi millionare bankers, developers and financers as well as the HQ of Allied Irish Bank and the 32 million in tax avoidance of the luxury Four Seasons hotel. The tour was led off by a vampire capitalist accompanied by a contingent of Zombie bankers and developers and ghost estates with the vampire showing how much wealth was present at each stop and explaining the contacts between the 1%, the media and the government that enabled them to make hundreds of millions during the tiger.  The tour was accompanied by uniformed Gardai and a car of special branch political police.  The 1% network is a coalition of socialist groups including the WSM, eirigi, ISN and Semora Spraoi formed to highlight the fact that the richest 1% own 34% of the wealth.

Announcing their support for Saturday’s 1% Network ‘Halloween Treasure Hunt’, anarchist organisation Workers Solidarity Movement (WSM) has said that the government’s proposed €15 billion of cuts would not be necessary if the wealthy were “made to pay their share.”

Through a 'Freedom of information' request the pro-choice campaigning group Choice Ireland have revealed that over a thousand desperate women were denied an abortion last year because customs seized the medicine that they had ordered over the internet. In many cases these women were unable to travel to Britain because of poverty or because they were immigrants who felt unable to risk leaving Ireland lest they be refused readmission.

The first in a series of ‘Winter Talks’ organised by Solidarity Books in Cork took place last Tuesday night and was a big success.  Donal O’Drisceoil, the historian from UCC, introduced the ‘forgotten’ figure of Tadhg Barry who, as he pointed out in his introduction, had the largest funeral ever in Cork when his body was returned to the city following his death in 1921; Barry had died in suspicious circumstances at the Ballykindlar internment camp in Co. Down shortly before the Treaty was signed.

A battle is brewing between IMPACT cabin crew members and the management of Aer Lingus.  The cabin crew began a work-to-rule action yesterday against changes to rosters by the management which they see as going beyond what the “Greenfield” cost-saving plan had proposed. The IMPACT members will work on the old rosters, will not work on rest days, and will take all breaks and meals due to them. They will also decline to work the Washington/Madrid route. This route is voluntarily undertaken by cabin crew based in Ireland under Irish working conditions.

On three occasions in the last 6 weeks, over 3 million have marched against the government’s pension reforms in France, which are opposed by 70% of the population. The government, however, is determined to impose the changes. If we are to defeat the government and the architects behind these reforms, we will have to engage in real strike action. As the law is about to be passed in the Senate, renewed industrial action must be considered in all professional sectors. The renewal of the strike after October 12 is on the agenda in many areas: the railways, urban transport, chemical industries, ports, EDF, local authorities, education, culture and many more.

Last night in Dublin former US president Bill Clinton told an invited gathering of 575 of the richest 1% of Ireland's population that they were the greatest problem facing the world. They paid over 2500 a head to hear this as they chomped down on "Atlantic salmon, Connemara lamb and lemon posset, washed down with Chablis Domaine de la Mandeliere 2007 and Chateau Les Roches Gaby 2001."

Yesterday’s General Strike in the Spanish state was a massive success. Large areas of Spain came to a complete halt and Barcelona saw 70% of businesses shut for the day. In a sharp contrast to the situation in Ireland workers went out to make the strike effective. Picketing was serious and effective and it was clear that workers were not sitting back at any time. Barcelona was the scene of prolonged clashes between protesters and the police during most of yesterday.

Within hours of announcing that the real cost of the Anglo bailout was going to be 30 billion plus rather than the 1.5 billion first estimated the government was revealing its plan for further cuts in our pay welfare, and public services to pay for this. The bank bailouts, not totalling 45 billion, will push the budget deficit to 32% of GDP, the government has the intention of continuing to attack the living standards of workers in Ireland until this is reduced to the 3% required by the EU.