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The Grey Blur
4th February 2007, 21:52
http://www.wewontpaycampaign.com/

In Northern Ireland the government is in the process of intoducing charges for water which will come into full effect as of April 1st. As we already pay for water through our rates as well as to fight the privatisation of yet another public service an anti-water charges campaign has grown and is gathering some strong momentum. We currently have 70,000+ signatures, the support of the trade unions (which usually doesn&#39;t count for much... <_< ) as well as an excellent response in all the working-class communities we have gone into.

The political ramifications of this from a broader working-class sense are immense - this is the first coordinated, cross-community campaign in a while. Since the two main sectarian parties Sinn Féin and the DUP have both supported the introduction of these charges we have been able to point out plainly their hypocrisy to working-class people. The Socialist Party and Socialist Youth have grown around these developments, coming into contact with the real layer of working-class people who are disaffected by the petty sectarianism of the mainstream parties as well as a desire to end the rule of the rich.

We recently shut down the recruitment day of the scab debt collection agency "Echo".

http://www.wewontpaycampaign.com/test/wp-content/uploads/gallery/echo-cancelled-web.jpg

The major anti-water charges march is on the 31st of March and any local comrades are welcome along as well as international solidarity.

http://www.wewontpaycampaign.com/test/wp-content/uploads/gallery/MayDaymarch.jpg

lithium
4th February 2007, 21:58
Solidarity, Comrade. There&#39;s been talk of water charges down here in the Republic iirc. Let us know how the campaign goes.

Whitten
4th February 2007, 22:20
We&#39;ve had privatised water in England for some time. There is, however, a law here which makes it illegal for a water company to shut off your supply if you dont pay...

The Grey Blur
4th February 2007, 22:45
Solidarity, Comrade. There&#39;s been talk of water charges down here in the Republic iirc. Let us know how the campaign goes.
Thanks man. Yeah they attempted to implement them down south in the mid-nineties I think but work fom the Socialist Party and others beat it (I think Joe Higgins got elected around this time). Mass non-payment is the only method that defeats privatisation efforts like this.


We&#39;ve had privatised water in England for some time. There is, however, a law here which makes it illegal for a water company to shut off your supply if you dont pay...
Yeah exactly, they can only take you to the magistrate&#39;s court which can only be done on a case-by-case basis - so an organised, effective and en mass non-payment campaign will just totally clog up the system, making the charges unprofitable and impratical for the government to implement.

Fawkes
4th February 2007, 22:46
We&#39;ve had privatised water in England for some time. There is, however, a law here which makes it illegal for a water company to shut off your supply if you dont pay...
Than what&#39;s the point of paying if they won&#39;t shut it off?

Whitten
5th February 2007, 15:05
Originally posted by [email protected] 04, 2007 10:46 pm

We&#39;ve had privatised water in England for some time. There is, however, a law here which makes it illegal for a water company to shut off your supply if you dont pay...
Than what&#39;s the point of paying if they won&#39;t shut it off?
Exactly my point.

Vargha Poralli
5th February 2007, 15:25
What is the stance of the Main opposition party(liberal ones) ? Will they help ?


How is the quality of water ? Is it properly treated to prevent contagiuos diseases ? In India we have two systems paid one directly to hames which will be properly treated and unpaid ones which is poorly treated.

Edit:

Solidarity with this struggle....

Anton
5th February 2007, 15:49
Solidarity

PRC-UTE
5th February 2007, 22:17
Great photos, good to see this growing.

Here&#39;s another article on the same subject. (http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=61907)