Workers Solidarity Movement

The campaign against double taxation bin charges is reaching a critical point. As the number of people joining the non-payment campaign continues to grow, and as an election grows ever nearer, councillors from all political parties are jumping on the bandwagon of opposition to the charges. No doubt by the time of the election, they'll all be proclaiming their steadfast opposition to the charges, and hoping that the voters will have forgotten their past actions in voting for them.

We live in a world where we are encouraged to be passive. We can either accept things as they are or, at best, we can ask someone else to do things for us. That someone can be a politician, a 'community leader', or even a full-time union official. The 'experts' will look after the important stuff and we can stay at home feeling dependent and powerless. Just as there are bosses and workers, there are also leaders and led; and we are supposed to accept it as somehow natural.

Campaign must fight on for complete abolition of service charges.

With the re-introduction of service charges in the three new Dublin Councils a year ago, the anti-service charge campaign spread to Dublin. Throughout the summer public meetings at which people pledged their opposition to these charges were held in a large number of areas, culminating in a conference in late September attended by approximately 130 people representing local campaigns and residents' associations.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY no doubt that voices will be heard telling anti-charges campaigners to trust one gang or another of politicians to abolish the charges if only we will wait until the next local elections and put them into control of the councils. It has been tried before. Our reply is "don't be conned again!".

• The average PAYE worker pays £3,565 in income tax each year, compared to £2,642 by the self-employed and just £575 by farmers.
• Last year PAYE workers paid £3,030 million - up £243.8 million on 1992 - due directly to the one per cent levy imposed by the same government which promised "tax reform".
• The tax inspectors trade union says that last year £2,500 million was outstanding in taxes, and that with increased staffing much of this could be collected.
• Instead the government gave the rich their second tax amnesty inside five years. While we have to pay 48% they were let off with 15% and no questions asked. Hundreds of millions of pounds were simply written off, over ten times the total service charges levied throughout the 26 counties.
• The government refuses to raise the Rate Support Grant by £35 million, which could see all local charges abolished throughout the country. Yet they had no problem finding£35 million for the beef tribunal, much of which ended up in the pockets of their barrister pals.

Considerable progress has already been made in laying the foundations for a campaign against the service charges. Throughout all three Dublin County Council areas, residents' associations and local action groups have been taking surveys and petitions, collecting bills for return to the Councils, and organising public meetings and protests. All the indications are that these efforts are meeting with a good deal of success. In the Fingal area, for example, figures are showing 77% non-payment up to mid-July. Results of surveys carried out in a number of areas in South Dublin show similar levels of non-cooperation.

JANUARY 1st saw County Dublin divided into three new County Council areas - Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown. Residents of all three new Councils now face the imposition of annual service charges of at least £85-£90.