Workers Solidarity Movement

Workers at Aer Lingus are being told to accept worsening conditions and low pay rises. This does not apply to the man who who does the telling, chief executive Dermot Mannion. Last year he was paid a massive €982,000.While its staff are restricted to this year’s ‘Towards 2016’ pay increase of 2%, the bosses at drinks firm C&C had no problem bumping up their own pay. Development director James Muldowney saw his jump from €452,000 to €568,000. Finance director Brendan Dwan upped his to €705,000 and chief executive Maurice Pratt added €200,000, bringing his pay packet to €1,400,000.

The Health Service Executive has handed back €87.7 million to the government. This was cash which was given for building new health facilities but never spent. At the same time the HSE have refused to give the National Maternity Hospital the money to employ a few more cleaners.

Disney has made a lot of money over the years from that strange substance known as ‘Disney Magic’. But don’t be fooled. At the end of the day, they are just another fat corporation with a heart of ice. Recently in California they have lodged objections to a residential development near its Disneyland fun park in Anaheim. The development was to have a set proportion of its housing stock aside for ‘low income’ families. But Disney, has lodged objections and charged a high-powered legal team to fight its corner.

Workers who pick tomatoes for McDonalds in Florida have not had a significant pay rise in 30 years. The company says it can’t afford to pay even one cent more per pound of tomatoes picked. Yet, this year, McDonalds managed to find the money to give over $15 million in bonuses to their CEO and two other top bosses.

So, what well-known industry does this refer to? “It is our philosophy that well-managed companies in this sphere of business will continue to experience considerable capital appreciation during good and bad markets. We consider these industries to be nearly recession proof.” The promo piece is taken from a brochure by Mutuals of Dallas, a stocks and bonds firm. And the industry, of course, is none other than military manufacturing!

This article is from Workers Solidarity 98, July/August 2007

PDF file of Workers Solidarity 98