Picket at FF ard fhéis

national | worker & community struggles and protests | other press Tuesday March 03, 2009 10:47 by Brickie

Bail out the workers not the bankers

éirígí activists in conjunction with members of the construction branch of SIPTU picketed the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis on Saturday (January 28) in protest against that party’s continued attacks on workers’ pay and conditions.

éirígí activists picketed the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis on Saturday (January 28) in protest against that party’s continued attacks on workers’ pay and conditions.

The protest was carried out in conjunction with members of the construction branch of SIPTU, whose members have borne the full brunt of these attacks.

Fianna Fáil members attending the Ard-Fheis met with a vocal reception as they passed the picket-line where the activists voiced their outrage at the policies being pursued by that party. Banners and placards demanding the ending of the pension levy and a break with the anti-worker policies of the government were unfurled by both SIPTU and éirígí activists.

The Gardaí, playing their determined role as protectors of the privileged, attempted to intimidate, disrupt and prevent the protest from taking place. After unfurling their banners and placards, Gardaí corralled the protestors into a corner using steel barricades. Two éirígí activists then managed to unfurl a banner from an adjacent bridge, only to have Gardaí threaten the pair with arrest and trespass charges.