On Saturday 21 February 120,000 workers marched in Dublin against the imposition of a pension levy on public sector workers’ wages by the Fianna Fail government. League members and supporters report from the demonstration
The economic crisis is hitting Ireland hard, and workers here are not taking it lying down. The actions of the government and private sector employers to save money by cutting back on spending, including jobs, is a typical capitalist measure to get themselves out of the crisis. Now ordinary people are being made to suffer, many of them being thrown out of work and with a shrinking labour market it is not clear where employment can be found.
The scale of anger at the government was clear, which is why the demonstration was so big. Irish workers have told Taoiseach (prime minister) Cowen that enough is enough. Hard on the heels of swingeing Budget cuts, the government is imposing a pension levy on incomes which amounts to a dramatic wage cut. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was compelled to organise a protest as workers flooded their unions with furious complaints.
Every union was represented from every part of Ireland. The Dublin Fire Brigade band led the march down O’Connell St and pride of place at the front was given to the Waterford workers still in occupation of their plant for the third week. Directly behind the Waterford contingent came the SR Technics workers from Dublin Airport facing the loss of 1,100 jobs. It was clear from talking to these workers that occupation is on their minds and thanks to Waterford it is now a serious option for all workers facing job losses.
Public Sector union banners dominated and placards displayed trade unionists’ anger. ‘Charge the Fat Cats’, ‘Stop Fleecing Working Families’, ‘Give us the Pensions we Paid for’, and students faced with higher fees made solidarity with their ‘Students and Workers Unite and Strike’. Workers chanted ‘the workers united will never be defeated’. This was a rousing expression of working class rage not just against the pension levy but the whole range of attacks raining down on workers.
Trade union leaders desperately hope that this might be enough to change the government’s mind. David Begg general secretary of ICTU even entered talks about implementing the cuts not rejecting them outright. They bleat on about everyone making a sacrifice, rich and poor alike but this social solidarity is not what trade unionism is about, it’s about workers solidarity! We didn’t cause the crisis, the capitalists did and they should pay for it.
Begg is not really interested in supporting workers action, after the march he said. ‘its time to demonstrate the power we hold, at the ballot box’ as if the next government wont try to make workers pay for the recession. Impact leader Peter McLoone says we need ‘a fresh approach within the context of the Social Partnership model’. But the government reneges on social partnership when it does not suit them as it did on the agreed pay rise!
No one could dispute the mood for action on Saturday. Some trade union leaders have already called ballots for industrial action. CPSU civil servants will be striking this Thursday against the levy. Dublin bus workers will be striking against hundreds of redundancies from this weekend. Demonstrators on occasions joined in the chant for a one day national stoppage. The recently formed National Public Service Alliance has called for this, as have the People before Profit/SWP.
A leaflet from the League for Fifth International was widely distributed on the demo and welcomed a possible one day public sector wide shut down but asked the question would it be enough to win? The government can easily weather one day action hoping it will let off steam. Socialists should be at the fore in arguing ‘All Out till Victory’ and making sure that an all out indefinite public sector strike rolls back all the attacks since the draconian Budget. It is clear that Irish workers face a determined enemy in Fianna Fail but equally their trade union leaders sucking up to the government is a massive millstone round their necks if they are to strike out and achieve victory.