Workers Solidarity Movement

On the anniversary of the Wall Street occupation which sparked a global movement and captured media attention, Occupy Belfast acquired a second building.  A statement released on the groups Facebook page reads ‘members of the Occupy Belfast Movement took a step towards expanding the movement’s reach by taking control of a multi-unit residential property in an undisclosed location in Belfast.

The major job losses will affect Belfast and Larne which is already struggling with decades of under-investment and high employment.  FG Wilson has received a staggering 12 million in various state handouts via the quango Invest NI, and last year doubled its pre-tax profits to £7.8m. Caterpillar’s share price rose by 1.2% after the announcement on Thursday. According to one inside source who spoke to the Belfast Telegraph ‘That 1.2% rise would have kept the people they were going to sack in a job,” (1)

 €1,600 billion.  That is the figure for Irish Oil & Gas reserves already licensed revealed this morning in a detailed report from Shell to Sea using the energy corporations own reports and estimates.  People in Ireland will see almost no benefits from this incredible wealth because the Irish state gives these reserves to the corporations at the cheapest terms in the world.

A Civil Rights march from Coalisland to Dungannon was organised on Sunday 26 August 2012 to commemorate a similar demonstration 44 years earlier and to highlight existing abuses. The march finished in Anne Street, Dungannon with speeches from Councillor Barry Monteith, Rev Fr. Raymond Murray and IWU trade union representative Gareth Mackle. 

As the latest youth club in Belfast is threatened with closure, it is clear some of our local politicians and fat cats have never had it so good. The Irish News has revealed that DUP Health minister, bigot and creationist Edwin Poots and his advisors flew business-class to a five day healthcare conference in Boston. Earlier this year it was also uncovered that 400,000 had been spent on overseas training for 50 managers.

Northern Ireland unemployment figures rise again as our local sectarian politicians engage in petty point-scoring over the latest hot potato that dominates the political discourse. Latest figures have revealed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in July was 63,200, an increase of 400 with this figure being the second highest among the 12 UK regions. The NI rate now stands at 7.6% with that figure rising again once you include the fact that over 20% of the population our classed as ‘economically in-active’- the highest in the UK.

The Amber Women’s Refuge in Kilkenny was set up to support women facing domestic violence.  Although the Centre has never been as busy it is now facing massive cuts.  The workers at the Centre are fighting to save the service.  Earlier this week the workers, members of SIPTU, placed a daily two-hour picket at the Centre to highlight the situation they are facing.  They are looking for support.  Following the intervention of the Labour Relations Court, talks have taken place between the workers and management.  Although daily pickets have been suspended pending the outcome of these talks, the fight for the Centre is still very much on.  In this interview Claire O’Neill talks about what has happened and the background to the dispute.

We don’t know a lot about the personal life of this son of a small farmer.  He was the richest man in Ireland in 2008 with an estimated wealth of €4.7billion and now he is only out of jail because the Judge wants him to help the Irish Resolution Banking Corporation (IRBC) recover some of the €2.8 billion that he owes them.  You may never have heard of IRBC but you will know of it’s previous alias: Anglo Irish Bank,winner of the dodgiest bank award in a state where there is stiff competition for that prize.   His son is in prison, (plush Training Unit in Mountjoy) serving a sentence for what the Judge called ‘outrageous’ contempt of court as he sought to put money/assets beyond the reach of the bank.  His nephew Peter is supposed to be there for the same reason but has gone missing.  All we know about Sean – the daddy of the empire is that he’s big into the GAA and he likes to play poker for a few quid with his friends. Along with his love of poker, I would guess that Sean senior fancies the odd western.

Undoubtedly, Greece is the country that has suffered the most during this last and totally unrestrained wave of liberalization and fierce devaluation of labour which has been sweeping Europe since the start of the financial crisis in 2008. At the same time there are a multitude of political anti-systemic oppositional forces which have managed to maintain a living presence in Greek society.

The third world war

is coming

That's what they say

Fuck

This ain't gonna be

a class war either

David Cameron plans to end housing benefit for claimants aged 16-24. The ‘proposal’ forms part of wider recommendations to begin being implemented next year as part of the new Welfare Act. Further plans being rolled out including linking regional play with regional benefits, breaking the link between benefits and inflation, and considering linking benefits to average earnings and cost of living amounting to a further attack on worker’s rights and conditions.