Workers Solidarity Movement

Thousands of civil service workers in Northern Ireland have been taking part in a 24-hour UK-wide day of strike action today. Members of Nipsa, Unite, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and the University and College Union (UCU) are protesting against pension cuts.  Workers have been picketing outside job centres, tax offices, passport offices and other public sector workplaces. Several hundred attended lunchtime rallies in Belfast and Derry.

Tens of thousands of public workers from the North are expected to take part in the UK wide industrial action this Thursday in protest over cuts to pension and attacks on living standards. In the North, civil servants are expected to join immigration officers in the day of action while healthcare workers are taking limited action over lunchtime, involving Nipsa and Unite! members. While this latest strike action is sending out a message that we won’t work longer, pay more into the pension fund and get less, it is significant climb-down from the public sector strike last November which was the largest in decades.

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.

Belfast city centre was brought to a standstill this morning after up to 100 metro workers took unofficial wildcat action in protest against the suspension of a work colleague over ’misconduct.’ Those on strike parked their empty buses outside City Hall in a show of solidarity for a driver they say has been suspended for allegedly damaging the disabled ramp of a bus. Talks were then held between Translink bosses and union representatives in a bid to resolve the dispute. Following a meeting on the grounds of Belfast city hall between workers and union officials with angry words being exchanged over a range of issues including working conditions, workers agreed to return to work following assurances that the sacked driver would be immediately re-instated.

Lagan Brick workers from Cavan stepped up their campaign over the Lagan Group’s failure to pay established redundancy terms by occupying their headquarters at Lagan house on the 4^th April. More than 35 Lagan Brick workers and their supporters entered the company’s offices at Lagan House, Clarendon Road following a refusal by the company to accept a letter requesting its participation in negotiations.  Workers at the Lagan Brick manufacturing plant in Kingscourt were informed it was closing only hours before it ceased operation on Friday, 15th December.

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.

“When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose’  - Bob Dylan

Last year the word and action, “Occupy”, was imprinted on our minds, from Tahrir Square in Cairo to Zucotti Park in New York. This year Occupy has come home to us in Ireland. Sure, we’ve had the valiant efforts of people bringing attention to the great injustice being visited on us all by camping outside the Central Bank, but the amoral character of the boss class is never better displayed than when you get made redundant.

Workers at Primark stores in Northern Ireland are to strike this weekend. USDAW union members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in protest at the company’s decision to impose a two-year pay freeze. Union representatives at Primark met last week to confirm industrial action by staff following a ballot which showed 88% of members in favour of going on strike.

Breaking News : the picket has been postponed due to management offer.

Primark workers in eight stores across Northern Ireland are set to strike over pay and conditions, setting a precendent for private sector workers. Despite a pay freeze the company has made a staggering 644 million in profit in the last two years.  The Union of Shop and Distributive Allied workers (USDAW) represent around 85 percent of the Primark workforce in Northern Ireland and that fact that 93% of its members voted for strike action sends a clear message to management that enough is enough.

Up to 200,000 public sector workers took part in the largest one-day industrial action in Northern Ireland in decades along with millions across the UK, demonstrating that when we withdraw our labour and stand together in defence of our rights we have real strength. Belfast was a sea of red and colourful rainbow coalition trade union flags for a change, as up to 15,000 workers rallied outside the city hall against the cuts and attacks on pensions. From the early morning, picket lines  involving public sector workers from transport workers to teachers dotted the city’s landscape in a show of unity.