Workers Solidarity Movement

Unless you're a economics geek you've probably never heard of Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. But that doesn't mean their work isn't affecting your life. A paper by these two prestigious Harvard economists has been a key justification for post-2008 austerity policies, with its oft-repeated claim that a national debt level of over 90% of GDP is fatal to growth. Yesterday we found out that paper was based on a spreadsheet that doesn't add up. Epic maths fail.

Government efforts to bully public sector workers into accepting further wage cuts and harsher working conditions have been decisively rejected today.  SIPTU, INMO and the INTO all announced that they had rejected the deal in votes today. The rejection by SIPTU members was the final nail in the coffin of the deal, the members voting against it despite the efforts of the leadership to force it through, the margin was narrow only a few percent but the INMO recorded a 95.5% rejection and in the INTO almost 70% voted against the agreement.

This is the latest bulletin from the Rossport Solidarity Camp about the struggle against Shell in Erris.  For the background and history to this stuggle see our huge archive of articles tagged Rossport.

Our members in Cork and Dublin have been active at local, regional and national levels in the Cam- paign Against Home and Water Taxes, helping with stalls, leaf- letting and demos, and arguing for greater grassroots democracy within the campaign. WSM members were also invloved in occupations of council offices and TDs offices in Cork and Dublin as part of the campaign.

Thousands took part in the CAHWT march yesterday on the EU Finance ministers march in Dublin castle.  You can see more photos of the protest in our Facebook  album of march on EU ministers.

Four unions have indicated today (Thursday) that they will not be bound by a majority vote by ICTU affiliated unions in favour of the new Croke Park agreement. The INMO, CPSU, IMO and Unite made this known after a meeting this morning which was also attended by representatives of the TUI, ASTI and AHCPS all of whom are advocating a rejection of the agreement.

On April 5, 2013 Mónica, a 70 year old woman with Alzheimer’s, was scheduled to be evicted from the apartment she has lived in since 1974. In the shadows of Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium located right around the corner from her apartment building, community members and organizers from the Popular Assembly of Tetuan of the 15M movement (indignados) and the Mortgage Victims Platform (PAH) gathered outside her building at 10AM chanting “This eviction! We’re going to stop it!”

The Government call it a Property Tax but it’s really a tax on the family home and once they get the foot in the door with this tax it will only rise. Along with the water tax (which comes in next year) households will be hit with bills of 1,000 euro a year and more before too long.

Five years of austerity have hammered ordinary people. No more. The Government must be stopped in their tracks on this one.

A regular bulletin that brings news from the struggle against Shell in Mayo. The list of rumors about what has happened to Shell's TBM is recommended.

Contents:
Izzy is Free!
Celebration in honour of Niall Harnett 23rd March (Dublin)
Good Friday Walk March 29th
Corrib project update and actions
Accommodation update
More events
Come to Mayo on 21st of June

The Dublin Anarchist Bookfair 2013 is almost upon us, taking place over the first weekend of April, and the schedule of meetings is currently being finalised.  This year’s Bookfair takes as its theme ‘1913-2013: Re-building a movement from below’.