Letter to our members on the fiscal treaty- John Douglas

Friday 25 May 2012

Dear Members,

The Fiscal Treaty Referendum takes place on 31 May 2012. Mandate Trade Union has studied the Fiscal Treaty closely and has looked at the Treaty in the context of the wider economy, in particular the domestic economy of which the retail sector is a part.

Irish workers and their families have been going through a very difficult time since 2008, we have been on the receiving end of five austerity budgets, another planned for December 2012. Your decision on 31 May is crucial for the future of our country and our society, so for that reason I urge you to exercise your right and vote.

There are no easy answers to our economic difficulties, much of them caused by the unsustainable bank debts heaped upon Irish citizens by the previous government and being replayed by the current government (in April/May 2012 alone we citizens will pay 6 billion Euros in private bank debt to bondholders and speculators).

The result of the Bailout Agreement and the resultant austerity budgets is that the domestic economy has shrunk by 28%. This has lead to over 50,000 retail workers losing their jobs, countless thousands having their pay and hours reduced and all facing reductions in services and the imposition of flat rate charges. There are 400,000 workers in Ireland without jobs, 25 million across Europe.

The austerity budgets and the Austerity Treaty is not working – we need a new plan for Europe, a plan that puts its citizens before speculators, which invests in growth and jobs, puts money back into people’s pockets and gets the economy spending again.

Yours fraternally

For Mandate Trade Union

John Douglas, General Secretary