A full index of all articles published in Workers Solidarity in 2005 (issues 84-89)

Articles from Workers Solidarity in 2005

Workers Solidarity 89

[Download the PDF]

Why are they still running our schools?
It's taken decades for the mask of evil to finally be fully exposed. The report by the inquiry into child sexual abuse by pervert priests in the Ferns diocese has at last exposed the suffering endured by huge numbers for people.

Pushers Out! - The inside story of Dublin's anti-drugs movement
Pushers Out tells the story of how people living in the North Inner City and the South Inner City organised to save their communities from heroin. Not relying on the state to solve their problems, they started to organise themselves. One such working class organisation is Coalition of Communities Against Drugs (COCAD) A review of the book by by Andre Lyder

Elections in Haiti - What about Democracy?
The 30th of September marked a new anniversary of the first coup against Aristide in Haiti. That day, activists in 47 cities around the world, held an international day of solidarity with Haitian people who, once again, are suffering from the effects of a coup and a bloody occupation under the command of the UN

Irish Ferries: Time to break the law
The dispute at Irish Ferries is about greedy bosses, very greedy bosses who want to replace their staff with modern day galley slaves.

Bad things happen: Tales from the frontline in Iraq
"It was when we started killing innocent civilians. We killed over thirty of them in a three month time period when I was there, in a clear violation of the Geneva conventions."

Thinking about anarchism: Anarchism and human nature
It is a very sincerely held belief by many people, that we are "naturally" greedy, rotten feckers and, in the absence of government, some mad form of capitalism would be inevitable

Swedish and Finnish Commuters Take Direct Action for Free Public Transport
In Stockholm, Gothenburg and Helsinki commuters are taking the initiative in the fight for decent, free public transportation. Here Oisín Mac Giollamóir interviews Anna from the planka.nu campaign.

2 Years In Jail For Criticising Islam
Text of a letter recieved by the WSM from the Workers Communist Party Of Iraq.

All below this line are on the old Struggle site

[Print out the PDF file of WS88]

Tescos Exploits Foreign Workers
During July and August, major Polish newspapers, TV and radio stations carried a story about two Polish workers, who were dismissed from TESCO in Dublin, because of their fight for workers' rights.. One of sacked warehouse attendants, Radek Sawicki tells us about the struggle against TESCO and its consequences.

Why Would Gays Want To Marry?
The issue of gay marriage has come to the fore again recently with both Canada and Spain approving bills to make it legal. In this interview we talk to Judy Walsh, from the Equality Studies department in UCD about how marriage and partnership rights are currently constructed in Ireland.

Politicians - We Don't Need Them!
Unelected bodies 'quangos', have responsibility for a wide share of Irish society from the health service, to tourist promotion, to inland fisheries. And who gets appointed to these boards? The wealthy and the powerful.

The Price of Being Reasonable
There were fewer strike days last year than in any year since the 1920s. At the same time the number of disputes referred to the Labour Court was up 21%. Does this mean that 'going through the procedures' and being 'reasonable' is paying dividends of workers?

Solidarity - The Working Class Weapon
Sympathy strikes are a workers' best weapon as individually we have little power compared to the boss. Standing together, however, we can defend our rights. The bosses know this, hence the attack on even the barest form of solidarity by workers

Popular Response to Shell's Pipeline Shows Way Forward
Over the Summer in a small corner of Mayo a mass campaign of non-violent direct action systematically, and in part spontaneously, shut down a major development being carried out by several multi-national corporations and the state.

Rebel Girl: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn's Autobiography
Though born in the US, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was of Irish descent and came from a long line of rebels and revolutionaries. She begins her autobiography describing the exploits of some of her ancestors who joined the French when in 1798 they landed in Killalla Bay to help free Ireland from British rule and set up an Irish Republic.

As Capitalists Waste Earth's Resources...... Organise for a Free Society ...For Anarchism
As another summer draws to a close, it's worth taking a snapshot of the state of the Ireland as the dawn of the 21st century casts its light upon us. The struggle for equality and justice continues unabated, whilst our elected 'leaders' and their corporate paymasters keep their head in the sand.

Thinking About Anarchism: Organisation
There is no one right form of anarchist organisation. Rather, different forms are used for different purposes. What all these forms have in common is a desire to avoid the creation of any hierarchy while at the same time making sure that whatever needs to be done gets done.

That's Capitalism
Crazy bosses, tax cheats and starving children

People Power Confronts Shell
The jailing of 5 Rossport men for refusing to allow Shell to install a potentially lethal pipeline has suddenly focussed attention on the whole project. But it has done more than highlight safety issues. It has highlighted the cosy relationship between business and the Irish State.

Dangerous Men Loose in Dublin
Garda Brutality : Business As Usual with the death of Donegal man Richie Barron and other cases

Found: CAZ and Barracka Books share premises
New radical spaces in Cork city - The Cork Autonomous Zone (CAZ) and Barracka Books, a workers' co-op.

Gama Workers' Strike Wins Back Stolen Cash
The striking Gama workers got back the part of their wages which had been stolen by their employer and hidden in a Dutch bank; and at the end of May they voted to accept terms relating to overtime. A big bullying multinational construction firm had manners put on it.

Review: 'Anarchism & Environmental Survival' by Graham Purchase..
The book sort of falls between the polemical and academic stools. It's too short and under referenced to be truly academic yet lacks the bite and poetry of good polemic. That said there are some new and fairly fascinating ideas here.

Irish Ferries Fly The Jolly Roger
Agencies like CF Sharp Crew (which was Salvacion's employer by the way) have been used by shipping companies for decades as a device to drive down sailors' pay, and to take the blame or legal responsibility for horror stories like Salvacion's . They operate in countries where labour laws are so unfair and so weakly applied that they facilitate this robbery from labour by ruthless profit-seekers.

The G8, Live 8, and Africa - Taking Hypocrisy to New Levels
There is always a temptation to welcome any well intentioned efforts to make the world a better place and those who concentrate on criticising others' efforts to improve the world can find themselves being easily dismissed as cynics and knockers.

That's capitalism
Includes Money for Bertie's make-up, Money for Bankers, Money for Management, Money for Nothing but No money for starving children

Anarchism and the WSM
Recently, members of the WSM have been agitating with the Dissent network in Scotland against the G8.We're also involved on a more local basis, from the "stand up for your rights campaign" aimed at unionising unorganised workers, anti-racism, and trade union struggles.

Thinking about Anarchism - Social Revolution
Anarchists often talk of the 'Social Revolution' as the event which will destroy hierarchical and exploitative institutions, thus opening the way to living our lives according to our desires.

INTO Branch Opposes Tactics Of Deportation Cops
The Dublin City North Branch of the INTO has passed a motion endorsing the call by outgoing union president, Austin Corcoran, that all schools become safe places for all children -to be given the status of embassies. It is hoped that more branches within the union will take up this issue and that by next year's annual congress a campaign will be launched in the union to make this a reality

Man Deported Because Of Garda Brutality Cover up
In the early hours of May 19th Michael Alabi was deported by the Irish State. Michael was resident of a hostel in Lower Gardiner street and was part of a group of Nigerian men who decided to go on hunger strike to protest against the department of Justice's draconian immigration policies.

The Murder Machine
Thousands of US soldiers desert rather than fight or die for Bush in Iraq

Postal Workers Under Fire
Interview: An Post and the Threat of Privatisation I hope things will come around and that at the end of the day we will manage to save An Post from privatisation. You don't want to think the opposite, because it is your job. But the truth is that all the signs, everything is pointing the other way around.

The great Housing rip off
Whether we pay rent or a mortgage, the cost of keeping a roof over our heads takes up a huge proportion of our income - those of us who are 'lucky' enough to be in a position to do so. Everywhere we look - both in Dublin and other cities and also in small rural villages and towns - the skyline is dotted with cranes and houses and apartments seem to be springing up everywhere.

The Iraqi 'Resistance'
A Closer Look at the Forces Fighting the US in Iraq. It is clear that there is no single 'resistance' in Iraq but rather a network of organizations often with conflicting end goals once you look beyond the question of removing the US presence.

International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) is on 8th March and is an inherently political event that started in 1910 when Clara Zetkin proposed that it be celebrated every year around the world at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women.

Book Review: Peter Kropotkin's Masterpiece 'The Conquest of Bread'
The first thing that really strikes you about the book is the simplicity of the arguments: the author describes clearly the basis of anarchist communism, without resorting to obscurities which, usually, veil one's lack of arguments.

Water Tax
They want to take more money away from us. The British government plans to impose a water charge averaging £340 a year in Northern Ireland. That's for 2006, and we can be sure it will rise every year.

Red Ink Bookshop
Review of the new Radical Bookshop in Dublin's Temple Bar

Cork City: Culture of Capital
A group of artists in Cork, aware of the lack of affordable work space, took over an empty building in the centre of Cork at the beginning of February.

Liberty
It is often said that there are two types of liberty, positive liberty and negative liberty, or, roughly, 'freedom to...' and 'freedom from...' This, I believe, is a false and meaningless dichotomy

Internet Review: Dissent Network Against the G8
The Dissent! Network was formed to provide a networking tool to co-ordinate radical resistance to the upcoming G8 (the 7 richest countries in the world plus Russia) Summit in Scotland. The network was founded in the autumn of 2003

Getting organised for a brighter future
We are social creatures. We cannot do many things on our own, we flock together, and in most cases we solve our problems together.

That's Capitalism
Bank Robbers and Robbing Bankers - Brazen Wolves, Obedient Sheep

Tricky Taoiseach Turn Pink
The madness of the 'socialist' beloved leader is there for all too see. Dear leader, socialism means more than letting the commoners into the parks. and the Botanic Gardens.

War and Peace
Let Them Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is

Shannon Activists Trial
The State Persecutes the Ploughshares People

Zapatistas: An Inspirational Decade On<
The importance of their rebellion is not in the brief military struggle that took place 11 years ago but in the society they have built in the years since.

Working in a Music Store
Who'd Have Thought Exploitation Could Be So Hip?

Social Space is the Place
Seomra Spraoi Initiative Aims to Create Radical Social Space

that's capitalism
Tax fraud and hospital beds

Devolution Ain't No Revolution
For almost a month in late November/early December we were treated to nightly reports from RTE journalists and others - delivered in bated breath - on the possibility of a return to "devolved government" and "power-sharing" in the North

Anarchism in 2004
Last year the Workers Solidarity Movement celebrated its 20th Birthday. It was also a year of firsts.

Communist anarchism
Anarchists have a rounded conception of freedom; it is not merely the absence of tyranny, but the meaningful opportunity to shape one's own life. As well as being free from, one ought to be free to do.