Nationwide Strike In Ireland

[Dóchas]

one of the teachers said offhandedly in my school today that all civil servants are striking for a day in two weeks or so. is this true? if it is what does this mean for the workers of ireland? i personally dont believe that one day of striking will make the government drop the pension levy but the country cant survive without the workers so im not sure what the unions are trying to do. sorry but i couldnt find any decent links but i you can it would be greatly appreciated. i just want to know what your views are? especially from the irish comrades on the board and those who are affected by these strikes

[LeninBalls]

My teachers have said the same but there is no real conformation.

I also don't believe that, oh no, one day, will make the government lift a finger. Try 2 weeks or more!

[Dóchas]

ye thats what i was thinking but they dont get paid so they would go 2 weeks with no wages :(

[ComradeOm]

Public service unions are calling for a one day strike on 30 March to protest the so-called 'pension levy'

[Dóchas]

Public service unions are calling for a one day strike on 30 March to protest the so-called 'pension levy'

one day of striking wont do much will it? it will be a slight irritation but everything will be back to normal the naxt day

[ComradeOm]

one day of striking wont do much will it?Not noticeably. Nonetheless every sign of working class militancy is to be welcomed and it may well aid, in however small a way, in further radicalising the Irish proletariat

[Dóchas]

Not noticeably. Nonetheless every sign of working class militancy is to be welcomed and it may well aid, in however small a way, in further radicalising the Irish proletariat

ye fingers crossed but it would be nice to see the unions taking more radical actions themselves without compromising the workers too much

[Coggeh]

My teachers have said the same but there is no real conformation.

I also don't believe that, oh no, one day, will make the government lift a finger. Try 2 weeks or more!
Their is confirmation . Theirs a general strike on March 30th . One day crap , anyway i get monday off school so I'm happy . :)

[redSHARP]

you should all be grateful for that one day strike!:laugh:
we cant do general strikes in the USA or sympathy strikes; at least where i live.
you should enjoy the day off, but what are they going for?

[LeninBalls]

They're just being children in general against the government (rightfully so, mind you).

[pastradamus]

Its great to see the teachers doing something against this government. Even though its the usual one-day crap it should still be welcomed by socialists in Ireland. It puts pie in the face of a government hell-bent on dividing public and private sector workers with its vile propaganda so blatantly rushed out by Mary Hanafin last week.

[Pogue]

Its great to see the teachers doing something against this government. Even though its the usual one-day crap it should still be welcomed by socialists in Ireland. It puts pie in the face of a government hell-bent on dividing public and private sector workers with its vile propaganda so blatantly rushed out by Mary Hanafin last week.

link?

[rosie]

you should all be grateful for that one day strike!:laugh:
we cant do general strikes in the USA or sympathy strikes; at least where i live.
you should enjoy the day off, but what are they going for?
Why can't we do general strikes here? I've never heard that? I'm from Michigan, so maybe it's different here??? I don't know.

[rosie]

Oh, I do have to say though, congrats on organizing the general strike! Maybe it'll send a message to the rest of the worlds workers...the first step is always a small one, it's also the hardest! Good jobs ladies and gents!

[Dóchas]

Its great to see the teachers doing something against this government


its not only teachers as far as i know it is all civil servants striking for the day

[joejoe]

there is something about it on the swp news paper.

[cyu]

but they dont get paid so they would go 2 weeks with no wages


If they could get the secretaries in charge of payroll (who are basically in the same position as they are) to join in civil disobedience, then they could go for any amount of period and still get paid.

[redSHARP]

Why can't we do general strikes here? I've never heard that? I'm from Michigan, so maybe it's different here??? I don't know.

in new york, there can be no sympathy strikes so if Union A strikes, Union B has to keep its fucking mouth shut (from what i understand i could be wrong). No union or factory can organize a massive walk out with another union or factory. So Union A cant team up with Union B and strike. that is in New York, and most likely some other states.

they can theoretically do it, but they will be fined and the leaders most likely arrested.

[PRC-UTE]

Ireland unlike most other countries in this recession is trying to avert the damage by cutting back spending and reducing budgets. instead of Keynesian economics to stimulate spending the 26c administration is trying to wait out the storm. the underlying reasoning is that Ireland must attract foreign capital, so it must keep a low corporate tax and shift the tax burden (along with reduced wages) onto the working class.

[Sproule]

This is a great case of workers fighting back and a union not listening to its members they voted for serious industrial action but the head of the union will not listen they simply say one day is enuf these workers have to take a 10% pay cut across the bored for the top to the bottom there workering a 10 day fornight and getting payed for 9 how can this be fair? I encourge any students to go march with your teacher , Go experince the angery and passion that is still alive within these workers

Hold strong comrades

[LeninBalls]

TI encourge any students to go march with your teacher , Go experince the angery and passion that is still alive within these workers

No way, we're staying in bed. :p

[BOZG]

This is more than just a public sector strike. Private sector unions are also holding ballots for strike action against employers who are refusing to pay the national wage agreement.

[pastradamus]

link?

I've spent the past half hour looking and I cant find anything sorry. It was on RTE news just over a week ago when she (hanafin) kept up this knack of referring to the worker as either being public or private sector. She referred to the two groups as being "different" and with different "interests" . But we hear this all the time, I could'nt count on two hands how many people working private sector jobs I've heard complaining about how well paid the Nurse,Policeman and Teacher are and these people think they should be paying punitive taxes and levy's to keep us all afloat. This kind of tripe being spewed by the government divines workers and puts a serious dent into class struggle in Ireland.

[pastradamus]

This is more than just a public sector strike. Private sector unions are also holding ballots for strike action against employers who are refusing to pay the national wage agreement.

In Cork here in the IWU there's a lot of rumbling in the taxi driver's sector and I wouldnt be surprised if they decided to act and strike. One Taxi driver rep even said to me the Idea of blocking up roads and tunnels in order to force the government to put a suspension on PSV licence provision - which is crippling the industry. But this is all just talk and discussion at the moment.

[joejoe]

The national day of action, planned for a week from today, is likely to cause severe disruption at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
The national day of action, planned for a week from today, is likely to cause severe disruption at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
SIPTU, which is joining the day of action, represents workers in the airports' fire, police and security services.
The ICTU national strike on 30 March was organised to target employers, including the Government.
Unions are expected to serve notice of industrial action on behalf of thousands of workers today in protest at the failure of employers to comply with the national wage agreement.
Meanwhile, IBEC Director General Turlough O'Sullivan has urged unions to call off the planned action describing it as ‘entirely inappropriate’.
On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr O'Sullivan said a new national wage agreement was needed instead to deal with growing unemployment.
In his letter to ICTU General Secretary David Begg, Mr O'Sullivan said employers are extremely concerned by the vacuum in which Ireland finds itself ahead of the budget.
He says IBEC sees some merit in elements of ICTU’s ten-point plan for economic recovery and believes there is a basis for a joint accord on the way forward.
Mr O’Sullivan also warns that if the strike proceeds, the prospects for an accord would be seriously diminished.

[ComradeOm]

IMPACT fails to approve strike participation

Members of the country's largest public sector union IMPACT have narrowly failed to approve participation in next week's national strike.

The news is a setback to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions campaign of opposition to the Government's handling of the economy and the refusal of some employers to pay the national wage increases.

Under IMPACT's rules, a two-thirds majority in a ballot was required to sanction industrial action. It is understood that while 65% of those balloted approved industrial action, that figure falls short of the 66% majority and is not enough to justify a strike.

From RTE (http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0323/partnership.html)

[pastradamus]

Typical crap from Impact. Though many of its members will be still out on the streets.

[Hessian Peel]

Something workers should keep in mind is that the so-called "Labour Party" is opposed to this strike and as we speak the leaders of SIPTU and other major unions are trying to make a deal with IBEC and the government in order to avert industrial action. They should all be lined up.

[Hessian Peel]

All students in UCD and other universities have been asked to join the striking workers in order to protest against the re-introduction of 3rd level fees which seems to be on the cards now.

[Hessian Peel]

The strike has been called off by the ICTU.

[pastradamus]

Useless, Useless tripe. That shower in ICTU circulated massive quantities of leaflets to workers throughout Ireland who made plans to support them only for them to pull out and use the News as means of spreading the message. So what if Impact pulled out? Are none of these unions independent? Can they not make up their own damn minds?
It just goes to show that when it comes between the worker and the government they'd much rather work with the latter. ICTU have completely undermined a planned massive demonstration and have damaged both class-struggle and the credibility of organized worker demonstration as well as the Union movement itself. Hessian peel said it best :"They should all be lined up. " Amen.

[ComradeOm]

IMPACT had nothing to do with the decision. This was never more than a calculated ploy by the ICTU and Begg to exert pressure on the government in order to restart the social partnership talks

[pastradamus]

Impact pulled out but I think your hitting something here ComradeOm. However I dont think ICTU would have put such funding into this issue if they weren't even considering a strike.

[The Deepest Red]

Clearly the ICTU needs a change of leadership. The "social-partnership" arrangement is just a means of binding workers to their employers, the government and indeed their conservative and corrupt union leaders' interests. The ICTU needs to reschedule the national strike immediately.