Workers Solidarity Movement

SIPTU members at the MTL depot in Dublin Port have been on strike since the beginning of July, resisting forced redundancies and pay cuts. The company shipped in scabs from the North and Britain on day one to steal the dockers’ jobs, and also got a High Court injunction preventing effective picketing. The Port Workers Support Group (local trade union & community activists, including the Workers Solidarity Movement) held its second march of solidarity today (Monday August 10th).

After hearing about Slugger O’Toole’s day in the Orange, I jumped at the chance of finding out more about this annual event which brings hundreds of thousands onto the streets across Northern Ireland. As the day progressed I was converged with a mixture of emotions, soon drained away by tiredness and an element of boredom.

On RTE news on 18/5/09, Mary Hanafin stated, in her usual Orwellian fashion, that the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) had now provided a financial incentive to encourage those under 20 to go into training or education. This ’financial incentive’ involved cutting the dole to €100 per week for new claimants under the age of 20.

On Monday July 6th Shell to Sea protesters broke through a weak spot in the armada deployed to defend the Solitaire, the supply port in Killybegs.

Shot this on Saturday morning, someone from the Rossport Solidarity Camp narrates the various components of the Shell armada in the bay and what they have been used for

The occupation of the Visteon motor parts factory in Belfast ended on May 3rd when the company gave in and agreed pay extra compensation of between six month’s and nearly two year’s money to the workforce for the loss of their jobs.

The Workers Solidarity Movement is calling on our fellow workers to support the national TEEU strike. This is an important battle for all of us, the first big blow against the employers’ wage-cutting agenda.

The strike is about an overdue 11% pay rise. The 10,500 TEEU members employed by electrical contractors at about 240 sites and factories have not been paid their agreed increases for more than three years. And now their employers want a 10% wage cut as well.

In the aftermath of the racist attacks that forced over 100 Romanians to flee their homes in South Belfast, the local Workers Solidarity Movement branch is hosting an afternoon of discussion about how we can tackle racism. This will be happening in the city centre on Saturday July 18th. Watch out for posters or check www.wsm.ie for the time and venue.

The recent racist attacks in Northern Ireland against migrant workers are an indictment of the status-quo which thrives on blaming minorities for the problems inherent in capitalism. It is the political class and sections of the tabloid press who constantly provide the ammunition for racist attacks.

This is a 10 minute interview with Fin conducted as a lock on was in progress on the road blocking a Shell convoy.