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Belfast city centre was brought to a standstill this morning after up to 100 metro workers took unofficial wildcat action in protest against the suspension of a work colleague over ’misconduct.’ Those on strike parked their empty buses outside City Hall in a show of solidarity for a driver they say has been suspended for allegedly damaging the disabled ramp of a bus. Talks were then held between Translink bosses and union representatives in a bid to resolve the dispute. Following a meeting on the grounds of Belfast city hall between workers and union officials with angry words being exchanged over a range of issues including working conditions, workers agreed to return to work following assurances that the sacked driver would be immediately re-instated.
Lagan Brick workers from Cavan stepped up their campaign over the Lagan Group’s failure to pay established redundancy terms by occupying their headquarters at Lagan house on the 4th April. More than 35 Lagan Brick workers and their supporters entered the company’s offices at Lagan House, Clarendon Road following a refusal by the company to accept a letter requesting its participation in negotiations. Workers at the Lagan Brick manufacturing plant in Kingscourt were informed it was closing only hours before it ceased operation on Friday, 15th December.
Workers of the games retailer GAME are continuing to occupy shuttered stores across the Republic of Ireland to protest at the unfair and disrespectful treatment by their former employers. The Workers Solidarity Movement fully support the workers in this direct-action. Here is an interview with the staff in Cork's Patrick Street store, Liam Duggan and Amanda.
Workers at Primark stores in Northern Ireland are to strike this weekend. USDAW union members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in protest at the company’s decision to impose a two-year pay freeze. Union representatives at Primark met last week to confirm industrial action by staff following a ballot which showed 88% of members in favour of going on strike.
Breaking News : the picket has been postponed due to management offer.
As has happened for the last two years, Solidarity Books and Cork WSM hosted an event on the 8th of March to celebrate International Women's Day. This year, Cork WSM members and other activists got together to put on an evening of food, film and discussion in the city's premier radical bookshop and meeting space. Meals were prepared on site and served by Veg Out! and Lentil Disorder, and was enjoyed by a multitude of women and men from the Cork activist scene and beyond. The food fuelled an hour or more of convivial chat, as people reminisced over previous celebrations and cast an eye over feminist-themed displays in various places about the shop space.
Up to 20 people took part in the name and shame tour on Saturday of some of the biggest names on our high street including McDonalds, Primark and Top shop organised by Youth Fight for Jobs. Protestors, including members of the WSM and the Socialist Party, visited these high street stores during the busy shopping day giving speeches and handing out leaflets to members of the public, to the chants of ’No Pay no Way’.
Print workers threatened with redundancy at the Belfast Telegraph have started a campaign to save their jobs and keep the print run of the newspaper in the city beginning with a rally outside its premises on Saturday.
An estimated 5,000 people marched in the streets of Cork yesterday to show their support for the former workers of the Vita Cortex factory, who have spent nearly 60 days occupying their former workplace as part of a struggle to get their former boss Jack Ronan to pay a €1.2m redundancy package that had been promised to them since last September. The march, organised by the Cork Council of Trade Unions, left from Connolly Hall on Lapp's Quay and concluded at the plaza at the southern end of Grand Parade, via Parnell Place and Patrick St.
Housing Executive workers held a successful lunchtime protest yesterday outside their offices in Adelaide street in Belfast city centre to demand their bosses keep to their commitment that a £250 payment be given to low-paid workers who earn less than £21,000 per year.
Primark workers in eight stores across Northern Ireland are set to strike over pay and conditions, setting a precendent for private sector workers. Despite a pay freeze the company has made a staggering 644 million in profit in the last two years. The Union of Shop and Distributive Allied workers (USDAW) represent around 85 percent of the Primark workforce in Northern Ireland and that fact that 93% of its members voted for strike action sends a clear message to management that enough is enough.