Why Two Years...?
national |
worker & community struggles and protests |
opinion/analysis 
Tuesday April 03, 2007 19:57
by Hugh Murphy - Sacked by ITGWU
The Truth Will Out, But Only Because Men Are Dying.
ON THE WATERFRONT
To claim to be a Trade Union SIPTU must condemn the corruption which took place in Belfast.
After a relentless campaign which took TWO YEARS, Arthur Rafferty supported by the Sunday World, Utv Television and to a large extent indymedia has been victorious.
ON THE SIX O'CLOCK NEWS, HIS UNION, SIPTU, IN THE PERSON OF JOE O'FLYNN [GENERAL SECRETARY] HAS AGREED TO BACK HIM IN HIS FIGHT FOR DAMAGES FOR CONTRACTING ASBESTOSIS.
This will put them in conflict with the previous union leadership in Belfast who became corrupt and sided with the employers against the dockers. Joe O'Flynn is attempting to set up a meeting with the previous officials to ask why this happened - and why they ordered the dockers to work at asbestos.
While he's at it he might ask them why they formed an unholy alliance with the employers to sack their own members, myself included.
And WHY they ignored an Industrial Court ruling that the dockers had no Contract of Employment and were ordered to supply them.
This meant that anyone sacked by the union / employers court could NOT be sacked. Therefore anyone deprived of their livelihood by this court was the VICTIM of a Criminal Conspiracy to deprive them of their jobs.
CORRUPTION RULED IN BELFAST. For 30 years the Dublin leadership knew this and did nothing about it. Even when the Belfast Dockers were dying they still did nothing for TWO YEARS, but eventually had to bow to pressure.
Due to the media and the perseverance of a dying man, Arthur Rafferty, they MUST face up to the criminal past of the Belfast officials.
After all this time they MUST accept that what I told them over 30 years ago is TRUE.
LARKIN and CONNOLLY would be ashamed of today's so-called Dublin leadership.
By being forced to support Arthur, this puts them in direct opposition to the previous CORRUPT union administrations in Belfast.
If the leadership in Dublin doesn't call for criminal charges to be laid against these previous Belfast officials, then they're saying we agree with everything they've done.
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4As a member of Atgwu if my union forms an alliance with Siptu I and many of my friends will leave. I don't know what sort of union Siptu is to treat dying members this way.
Because of their actions everything what Hugh Murphy and Arthur Rafferty is saying about the union CORRUPTION must be true.
Also why would Mick O;Reilly not meet Arthur Rafferty.
I was all for Partnership at the start but had I realiased what it could lead to I would have been against it. Who instructed ITGWU 30 YEARS AGO to enter Partnership with the Belfast employers and to sack union members.
The Siptu officials can't say what was done in Belfast was corrupt when they've done it themselves down here.
WE WILL LEAVE IF WE JOIN WITH SIPTU.
siptu are a joke and dont deserve the name of trade union. sure down here in the south they have signed up to a pay agreement which in real terms sees the worker lose money. i put that to one of their reps last week and he said it was the membership who said yes and that the leadership were'nt for it. they negotiated it, then put it to the membership and now are washing their hands of it. the stories i've heard around the sites in dublin would make a crook blush. they are too cosy with employers and are in serious need of new leadership.
getting back to the article in question, fair play to all involved. it's a hard road you have travelled and hopefully the old bastards who stitiched you up get their just desserts.
At long last what we had to put up with at the Belfast Docks is being exposed.
A recent article in North Belfast News states that the present day union officials are bemused at why the Dublin Leadeship won't support Billy Brown, Arthur Rafferty and all the other Dockers dying from asbestosis.
THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE.
The union ORDERED us Dockers to discharge this deadly cargo.
WHY will the SOCIALISTS down there in Dublin not COMMENT on this corruption.
BY their SILENCE are they saying we deserved to be persecuted.
I WANT TO HEAR FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY, THE LABOUR PARTY OR THE SOCIALIST PARTY TO HEAR THEIR OPINION ON THIS CORRUPT TRADE UNION.
IN the case of a CORRUPT TRADE UNION to remain SILENT is not an option to supposed followers of Larkin and Connolly.
All I can say is SIPTU is a disgrace.
Why haven't ICTU taken action against them, or the Left disowned them.
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