Workers Solidarity Movement

September is a terrific month for you to become more involved in the struggle to make access to abortion in Ireland free, safe and legal.

The print media on Sunday failed to give any prominence to the huge water charges demonstration that had filled O'Connell street the day before. This view shot from 3 locations in the rally gives an idea of the vast numbers, yet as shown the front pages of the main Sunday paper failed to mention it.

Last week, three children under the age of six slept rough in Dublin city centre while their parents stayed awake to watch over them. As of August 2015, this family is but one of 620 families in Ireland, including more than 1,300 children, who are homeless. The root of the current crisis of housing is the current crisis of capitalism. 

The wealthy and their media would like us to be forgetful.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of facts about Denis O’Brien...

Denis O’Brien is a media baron.

Child-care in Ireland is so expensive because it is so undervalued. Only through care-workers’ collective withdrawal of labour will those who rely on us realise how vital our work is.

Across the European Union, childcare costs around 12% of a family’s income, but in Ireland, it accounts for over 35% [1]. Where does that money go? With most childcare employees on minimum wage, it isn’t going to ordinary care workers. At a protest outside Leinster House in February, 2015, the Association of Childhood Professionals estimated that there are around 25,000 people in the early childhood workforce on an average pay rate of less than €11 an hour [2].

As Iarnród Éireann’s contract for operating train services is due to expire in 2019, the National Bus and Rail Union claims that it will vehemently oppose any move towards privatisation [1].

In recent months, the EU Commission has been pressing for changes which would see Irish Rail opened up to tenders from competitors [2]. The successful operation of the Luas by French company Veolia has convinced EU officials that there would be sufficient demand by other investors for the rail contract [2].

A letter accompanied a recent dole payment. It advertised a ‘networking and interview day for Irish Teachers DIRECTLY with UK schools’ (emphasis in original). The exclamation mark in the letter’s heading – ‘Teaching Opportunities in the UK!’ - illustrates neatly how readily, even enthusiastically the Irish state is prepared to export Ireland’s young people in order to preserve the status quo.

The Workers Solidarity Movement strongly condemns the arrests at Wednesday evenings pro-choice demo in Dublin city centre. In particular we condemn the casual and unjustifiable use of pepper spray on pro choice protesters, one of whom was being held immobile on the ground as he was sprayed.

Our demonstration was called to protest the arrest in Belfast of a woman who has been charged with assisting her daughter in obtaining an abortion. A sizeable crowd gathered to offer solidarity to her and to the many other women living in Ireland who suffer under draconian abortion laws.

Those arrested are known to us a dedicated pro-choice campaigners. It is our democratic right and duty to take an active part in the society that we live in. Such garda behaviour has no place in a democratic society. An injustice to one, is an injustice to all.