Workers Solidarity Movement

In mid April, Cork dock workers took action in support of the crew of The Defender, a cargo ship owned by Forestry Shipping from Riga, Latvia but registered in Cambodia. The Defender had nine crew on board and was carrying cargo for delivery in the Cork area.

Belfast WSM, along with members of Organise!, trade union activists and other left groups as well as workers from Delaney's itself, took part in successful pickets outside Delaney's restaurant on Thursday and Saturday.

In early December classroom assistants in the North returned to work after a series of strike actions which had gone on since September. This action by the classroom assistants showed in stark form the two faces of the trade union movement. On the one hand there was the tremendous bravery and solidarity shown by the workers themselves in standing up to attempts to bully and harass them back to work. On the other hand was the duplicitousness and skulduggery of some trade union bureaucrats who not alone did their best to undermine the dispute but actively worked with management and politicians to betray the workers.

In early December classroom assistants in the North returned to work after a series of strike actions which had gone on since September. This action by the classroom assistants showed in stark form the two faces of the trade union movement.

As the grey misty rain fell throughout the day – you truly knew it was winter. The fact that over 300 bus workers were gathered in this dog of an afternoon outside Dublin Bus HQ would indicate that we all have entered the season of discontent.

Workers at the Eye Cinema, Galway, members of SIPTU’s Galway No 1 branch, are in dispute with their employer - local property tycoon Gerry Barrett.

From June to mid-August, postal workers in the North and in Britain were taking industrial action. Management are on the offensive, and the action was to protect existing conditions.

In a display of cross-border common purpose An Post bosses are also having a go, with conditions under attack as a prelude to selling off parts of the service to private companies. So, An Post workers have a special interest in how the Communications Workers Union dispute progresses

In 1941 a bill was brought before the Dail which would make trade unions pay for licences to negotiate on behalf of their members. Without a licence workers and their unions could be sued by employers for loss of profits if they went on strike. This blatant attempt at extorting money from unions was not taken well. The Dublin Trades’ Council, representing 60,000 workers, called the bill ‘a partisan attack on the working classes’. The Irish Women Workers Union urged opposition to the bill and on June 4th 100 shop stewards endorsed their union’s stand.

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?