Slaving your life away just so you can make ends meet; having no say in the major decisions that affect your life; criminal politicians and businessmen plundering the country. Try to do something about it and they’ll lock you up. Yes, thats capitalism!BERTIE’S FAILING MEMORY
In April Judge Alan Mahon, of the Flood/Mahon tribunal on corruption, found it “extraordinary” that land speculator Tim Collins could not remember his profit from the sale of the Boyne Park. The Boyne site was bought for e3.4 million and then sold, just weeks later, to the Office of Public Works for e9.4 million.
Collins claims that he had no knowledge that the state would buy the land, let alone at that massively inflated price, and that he “never discussed it with the Taoiseach”. Bertie, in turn, has described Collins as “a local person” and “someone I know outside of politics”.
In fact Collins has been a Fianna Fail activist in Bertie’s constituency since the 1970s, a government appointee to the board of Enterprise Ireland (at Bertie’s insistence according to Mary Harney), and a trustee of Bertie’s own constituency headquarters.
GREEDY BANKERS
Bank of Ireland reported pre-tax profits of e1.6 billion for the year to the end of March, an increase of 31% on the previous year. When the effects of sell-offs and restructuring costs are taken out, profits are up 16% to just under e1.4 billion.
So what was the Bank’s reward for their staff? A wage increase of 16%? Not likely. Chief executive Brian Goggin declared that defined benefit pension schemes (which guarantee an income based on your final salary) were “a thing of the past”. New employees will now get a smaller pension after years of making big profits for their bosses.
GREEDY HYPROCRITE
Brian Goggin received a total remuneration (his pay, plus bonus plus pension contribution) of over e2.5m for the year 2005/2006, a 31% increase on the e1.9m he received the previous year. This included a pension payment worth e168,000 into his (definitely not “a thing of the past”) defined benefit scheme.
DON’T FEED THE HUNGRY
A new trend across the USA: Santa Monica.. Dallas.. Tampa.. Las Vegas.. Orlando.. Feeding the homeless in city centre parks is now a crime. Businesses don’t like poor people hanging around, and politicians have rushed to do their bidding. The anarchist Food Not Bombs network has vowed to continue feeding the destitute, despite members being arrested and threatened with $1,000 dollar fines and jail sentences of six months.
From Workers Solidarity 93, Sept/Oct 2006
