Thursday January 01 1970
Marking the 29 September European Trade Union Confederation day of action in Ireland
national |
worker & community struggles and protests |
event notice 
Monday August 09, 2010 12:54
by Joe Higgins MEP - Socialist Party
info at joehiggins dot eu
01-6795030
Organising Meeting
As you may already be aware, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European wide umbrella to which ICTU is affiliated, has named Wednesday 29 September as the date for European wide action under the title 'No to Austerity - Priority for Jobs and Growth'. See http://www.etuc.org/a/7407 for details on their website.
You will see from the link that a major protest is planned for Brussels that day and in terms of local actions a general strike will be taking place in Spain. It is likely that most other national trade union confederations who were party to the ETUC decision in naming this date will observe it with actions in their own country. For all the reasons that the CPSU officially endorsed the recent June Europe wide week of action against the cuts and bailouts initiated by Joe Higgins and other left MEPs, we feel international initiatives like this are a vital part of the fightback we need.
In Ireland however there is no firm indication that ICTU will organise any action for the 29 Septenber. The Community Against Cuts campaign which is run by SIPTU and IMPACT will be holding a protest that day against the job cuts this sector will experience arising from the cutbacks. We support and welcome their decision.
The CPSU Activist Group (a rank and file grouping that campaigns for a fighting and democratic union) and Joe Higgins MEP are jointly issuing an invitation to trade union activists, trade union branches, left parties and organisations to attend a meeting on Thursday 2 September at 7.00pm in the Teachers Club, Parnell Square to discuss the organising of action on the 29 September. The aim would be to mobilise as many trade unionists and working class people as possible to link up with the protest being organised by The Community Against Cuts campaign and thereby maximising the potential for getting big numbers out protesting on the day.
We would be grateful if you could indicate to us in advance whether you will be attending the meeting on the 2 September and please spread the word to others who you think would be interested.
Yours fraternally,
Terry Kelleher, convener CPSU Activist Group
Joe Higgins MEP, Socialist Party
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1My priority would not be on 'Work and Growth' so much as share the work( why should some be over-worked while others are kept idle in the reserve labour pool?) and share the wealth through a more equitable tax system( instead of relying on nebulous 'growth' to float our sunken boats).
That sounds like a re-run of the paper tiger carrot.
And that growth aint coming back in a hurry, except in the jobless variety, i.e. financial growth masquerading as economic development when it is actually impoverishing the general population to the benefit of (often absentee) profiteers.
I'm not in the 'workforce', and I got off me arse to hitch into Galway and march in support of the public service a while back. When the budget cut the welfare christmas bonus and chopped 8% percent off the disemployed there was not a lot of reciprocation from the union direction. I sometimes wonder when I'm hitching how many of the flash cars passing me by and looking the other way are driven by public service employees.Most of the lifts these days are from the immigrant community, who still have residual solidarity and who absorb more abuse from Irish workers for the crimes of the bosses than the fucking politicians and bankers put together. Some of the Irish workers are more boneheaded than their bosses, and make the capitalist's case for him.
The austerity didn't go away while the Tiger was pissing through, you know, it was just drowned out and silenced by the general greedfest of me feinism.
I still wish you luck, but do try and widen the union horizon. Globalised sweatshop 'competitiveness' is not going to release us from the cycles of emigration and poverty alongside obscene wealth. And cosy national agreement, that allows for resumed involuntary emigration to sustain the comfort of a section only, has to end. We need more radical analysis. And less cliched ideological formulae in place of language that alienates anyone with a grain of historical knowledge of the consquences of ideological lockstep. And we need to stop ignoring the global dimension as though a nationalist solution to our not unique situation can be found in some hermetic insular arrangement. National is the oxymoronic torpedo that keeps sinking socialist experiments.
Its 'work and growth' worship that divides the community in Shellmullet on the desireability of a gombeen acceptance of Shell's piracy. Microcosm for the global pattern.
Fire at will.
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