Workers Solidarity Movement

In this  Radio Soldarity  we explore the recent rupture between people and the Irish Catholic Church due to the recent turmoil and revelations which have been exposed. 

May - June 2010 Edition of the Workers Solidarity freesheet.

PDF of Workers Solidarity 115 Web Edition 2.14 Mb

Deal or No Deal - It's a Scrap Either Way
Public Service Pay Deal - The Battle Lines are Drawn
State Repression Continues in Mayo
A day out of the ordinary- The Dublin Anarchist Bookfair!
That's Capitalism
Successful International Women’s Day Celebration
Lessons of Pride
Iranian Protesters at War with God
Thinking About Anarchism - Should the Catholic Church remain in control of our schools?

This May sees the return of the annual Anarchist Bookfair to Dublin, our fifth Bookfair to take place in the city to date. Starting from humble beginnings in the St. Nicholas of Myra Hall in The Liberties five years ago, last years Bookfair was arguably the most successful to date. Over one thousand people passed through Liberty Hall during the day with ten different meetings and workshops held discussing a wide range of topics ranging from Palestine to Left Unity, Iran to Shell to Sea, Social Centres and beyond.

WSM member Gregor Kerr on why teachers should vote no to the Croke Park Agreement. Speaking at a debate organised by the North Dublin branch of the Irish National Teachers Organisation.

As the economic crisis continues, the WSM has been busy in a variety of campaigns against measures attempting to impose the costs of the crisis on workers and the poor. WSM members in the public sector trade unions have been active in organising against cuts and pressing for a no vote in ballots on the “Croke Park” agreement. We have also been involved in getting the anti-water charges campaigns up and running in both Dublin and Cork and attended a protest organised by these campaigns at the Green Party annual conference in Waterford.

"..the Dublin Trades Council stoppage against the tax system is happening. This will be unlike the stoppage we had in April. Tokenistic gestures from the union leadership! Did the ICTU follow up on the last stoppage with any real action? Thousands of workers had been mobilised on April 13th "Transcription of an article from the June/July 1983 issue of 'Resistance'. The paper of the Dublin Anarchist Collective.

We must reject this deal, which is worse than the status quo. It is so bad that the executives of a number of unions have even gone against their negotiators by recommending rejection of the deal. The union leadership has forgotten how to fight and even those amongst them those who argue for rejecting the deal simply want to get back to the table for further negotiations.

A pay cut, a ‘pension levy’ and a refusal to pay agreed wage rises has been the lot of public sector workers.   Well, not quite all of them.

Former Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes has refused to give up his €100,000 Dáil pension despite earning even more as the state-appointed chairman of the nationalized Anglo Irish Bank.  He was directly appointed by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in March.

The Dublin Anarchist Collective actively supports the Women’s Right to Choose Campaign. The right of everybody to self-determination is a basic of Anarchist belief. Women in particular are denied this right. In this society we have little or no control over the issues which affect are daily lives. Transcription of an article from the June/July 1983 issue of 'Resistance' the paper of the Dublin Anarchist Collective.

The long days and nights of bargaining between government and union top brass at Croke Park ended when the participants emerged and presented the fruits of their deliberations. It is a pretty awful deal, which rubber stamped the pay cuts already handed out to public sector workers and added a whole layer of new working conditions, essentially extra hours and responsibilities for the same or lower pay. Over the couple of weeks that followed, the various public sector unions in conference or at executive level recommended either accepting or rejecting this deal, with the final call resting with the membership. As we go to print the final result of these ballots are still unknown but recent experience should warn us that, in either case, the battle is far from over.