Workers Solidarity Movement

Just a very brief report on the Dublin Shell to Sea gig last night (Friday 29th February) – A really good turn out of eighty or so paying customers on a maggoty, windy, rain spattered night – about eight WSM members spotted by this observer! I think roughly 500 euros was made by Dublin Shell to Sea. I took no pics so yea’ll have to do with ones lifted from myspace! First up were Section 4 of the Criminal Justice act featuring Rosport Camp Veteran Bob on bass.

Upcoming events taking place as International Women's Day approaches:

Building on the success of the last two years Dublin's third annual Anarchist bookfair will take place on the 15th March in Dublin at the Teachers Club Parnell sq. More info as it becomes available at www.wsm.ie/bookfair

Shell to sea benefit with an enormous selection of musical styles - flyer and more info plus more bands to follow

Roughly 300 people turned up to the launch of the 'Campaign for a Decent Public Health Service' on the evening of the 11th February in Liberty Hall. The public meeting was organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions and the campaign hopes to bring together health workers and their trade unions, patient groups, hospital campaigners, the trade union movement in general and the general public to demand a civilised health service.

Ever wished for an anarchist discussion board dominated by an exchange of argued out political views rather than insults? So did we, so we decided to do something about it.

Under the guise of fighting poverty, the Government is set to attack the welfare of lone parents.The Irish Government is planning to replace the ‘One Parent Family Allowance‘, a welfare payment for single parents of children under the age of eighteen with the ‘Parental Allowance‘. The primary difference between two is that while the OPFA ends when the parent's youngest child is eighteen, the PA ends when the youngest child turns eight. At this stage the parent will be transferred to an ordinary unemployment benefit, and will thus be forced into the job market. At present the policy is on trial in Kilkenny and Dublin, but the Government hopes to apply it throughout the state in the next Budget.

In early December classroom assistants in the North returned to work after a series of strike actions which had gone on since September. This action by the classroom assistants showed in stark form the two faces of the trade union movement. On the one hand there was the tremendous bravery and solidarity shown by the workers themselves in standing up to attempts to bully and harass them back to work. On the other hand was the duplicitousness and skulduggery of some trade union bureaucrats who not alone did their best to undermine the dispute but actively worked with management and politicians to betray the workers.

After almost three years of prisoner support activity by various
concerned individuals only, Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow was finally
reorganised as a functioning group last summer, as criminal persecutions
against anarchists in Russia reached their highest level in years.

Porsche has given a bonus to its entire full-time staff. The 11,000 people who actually build cars got €5,200 each. The six person management board, none of whom has ever built a car, awarded themselves a whopping €113 million.