|
100,000 marched from Wood Quay to the
GPO today (Monday) in protest against the austerity measures outlined in the
four year plan despite the cold wintery weather. A few even
demonstrated in a curagh on the Liffey – the workers navy has arrived.
Meanwhile the government are behind closed doors discussing the
bailout package with the officials.
 The
contradiction between the reasons for the crisis and the government’s
so called solution is stark. On the one hand the bankers and the
speculators – the so called risk takers, put us here, but the risk has
been transferred onto the very people least able to take any more
“risk”. The minimum wage is to be cut by €1 per hour which amounts to
an 11.56% cut. It’s the sort of situation that people write songs
about, which is convenient as Christie Moore himself was on hand.
There were dozens of trade union banners from SIPTU, Impact, INTO,
TEEU and TUI among others and many home made placards in evidence also.
It is clear that the political crisis has put the class struggle back
on the agenda. The demonstrations against the pension levy in February
last year and the demonstration on November 6th 2009 were of
similar size, but this time the mood is different. The government is
on the retreat and the stakes have been raised massively because of the
intervention of the EU and the IMF.
Cowen and Lenihan have nowhere to hide, the by-election on Thursday
illustrates that. Now, 95 years after the Easter Rising the choice of
the GPO as the rallying point for the demonstration illustrates the
anger in the state over the government being forced to go begging to
Europe for a bailout. In an ex-colonial country like Ireland the memory
of foreign rule runs deep.
But the crisis in Ireland is a crisis of Capitalism and it falls
most heavily on the working class. That’s why there are big
demonstrations like this, and that’s why the FF and the Greens are
going to get banjaxed in the forthcoming election. But central to the
struggle against the austerity and the cuts has to be the trade union
movement and particularly its leadership. Whilst the trade union leaders
made some important speeches today, what they do tomorrow is the
important thing.
 The
cuts outlined in the four year plan will re-emerge in the budget. The
trade union leaders have a huge responsibility to defend the public
services and their members. The days of the Celtic Tiger have long
passed now. The idea that somehow “Social Partnership” can resolve the
problem has been shown to be an illusion. Everytime the trade union
leaders and the government have entered talks they’ve collapsed because
of the scale of the crisis. Now the Croke Park Deal is under threat
although the government has tried to avoid a direct conflict for now,
no doubt for fear of the reaction to further wage cuts. The government
intends to “fully implement” the deal, which means attacks on services
and workers conditions. The four year plan includes cuts in wages for
new entrants into the public sector. This is an attack on the Deal via
the back door. But it’s also an attack on young people, at a time when
emigration is on the rise and unemployment is over 400,000.
The movement has to campaign to defeat the cuts and drive the
government out of office. The demonstration today shows the extent of
worker’s anger. But the next step should be to galvanise the movement
against the cuts into a 24 hour general strike encompassing private and
public sector workers together. As the placards said today Fianna
Failed. Now’s the time to drive them out.
Source: Fightback (Ireland)
|
