Straight Talking by John Douglas

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Politicians have no right to close emergency services in hospitals, or close schools, they have no right to remove the services of special needs assistants and they have no right to fill the airport departure lounges with our brothers, sisters and friends. The hospitals, schools and other services belong to the Irish people. They are not the property of the political elite either here or in Europe. There is no justification for these cuts, Ireland is awash with money and wealth, but our politicians elected here and in Brussels have decided to give the money to the banks, bondholders and speculators. They have decided that the wellbeing of bankers, bondholders and speculators takes priority over the wellbeing of its own citizens.

Government is about policy priorities – it’s about prioritising those on welfare, or those facing eviction or those unable to pay bills or put food on the table, it should never be about balancing the books regardless of the consequences and pain for citizens. This new government needs to prove that it understands the hurt and pain of the Irish people, it needs to stand up for workers and for jobs, it needs to tell the Troika that their austerity agreement is unacceptable and that the Irish Government is going to put Irish citizens first.

The Irish trade union movement also needs to reinvent itself, it needs to get back to basics, it needs to reconnect with members and their communities and it needs to give a voice to those suffering in silence.

Some work is already in hand in this context. Over 700 trade unionists representing workers in retail and services from across Europe met in Toulouse, France at the Union Network International Europa Conference and sent a clear message to the IMF and the EU that the austerity measures being imposed on Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain are not working – they are in fact driving tens of thousands of workers onto the dole and penalising the most vulnerable in our society.

There is also important work happening on the ground here in Ireland.

One of our members wrote to me recently saying that he had been advised by his multinational employer that they are seeking a 10% pay cut and if the staff don’t concede there will be job losses. This member and his colleagues have said enough is enough and, with the help of their Mandate shop steward, they are organising their shop and contacting other shops.

“We are not going to lie down, we are going to fight back. The members are the union, it is our responsibility to mobilise our workmates and our union against the cheap shots by employers – our union is the only line of defence between a decent living and poverty.”

This type of fightback on the ground is exactly what’s needed.
We’re also taking the fight against austerity and the right wing consensus to Leinster House. Mandate has been strongly lobbying the Government to introduce legislation which would underpin a new system of protections for workers in the service sectors such as retail, hotels, cleaners and security. Sinn Fein was first off the blocks on 7 October 2011 introducing a Bill to the Dáil to re-establish and protect a new JLC system. While the Bill is not perfect, Sinn Fein is to be commended for taking the initiative and its Bill should form a good foundation on which other parties with an interest in protecting workers’ rights can build on at committee stage. As Mandate General Secretary, I was delighted to speak to an open meeting of Deputies from Sinn Fein, United Left Alliance and Labour in the Dáil and join a protest with workers, unions and community groups demanding an end to the race to the bottom.

The trade union movement as a whole needs to engage in this type of local and national organising and campaigning and smash the myth that “we are all in this together” because clearly we are not all in this together. The wealthy and those with assets are not being asked to pay. What is needed is a redistribution of wealth through a progressive taxation system which targets those on high incomes and those with assets.

As we approach the centenary of the 1913 Lockout, when union busting bosses locked out and starved thousands of Irish workers we must ask ourselves, has much really changed? We have today 450,000 workers locked out of employment, denied respect and a decent income. Workers still do not have a right to have their unions collectively bargain on their behalf.

Jim Larkin’s words in 1913 are equally appropriate today:

“The great only appear great because we are on our knees … let us arise”