“Our freedom must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not help us they must fall; we will free ourselves by the aid of that large and respectable class of the community – the men of no property.”

Theobald Wolfe Tone

IRELAND: The four year plan has been announced, the cuts have been declared and the working class, particularly the poorest sections, are in the firing line once again. The minimum wage is to be cut by €1 per hour. So the poorest workers will face an 11.5% pay cut. VAT which affects the poorest far more than the rise will rise to 23%. The point at which workers will begin to pay tax is to be cut by €3,000 to €15,300 which means even more pain. There will be more pension cuts while the Corporation tax rate remains just the same at 12.5%. But even despite this draconian attack on working people the bond markets are still demanding their pound of flesh. The bond markets are demanding 8.91% for a ten year bond tonight.

The full text of the plan is available here: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1124/plan.pdf

However the coalition seems to have backed off from ditching the Croke Park Deal. Instead they are demanding full implementation. This is very significant as it represents a statement of intent that puts “reform” of the public sector on the table once again. The other issue of course is the need to get the budget passed and no doubt the Fine Gael leaders have their own plans as to how they might squeeze working people. Another issue where the government appear to have backed off is over the question of the old age pension, although work pensions will be savaged – again. This reflects the turmoil inside FF where TDs have said they would vote against the budget.

The attack on the public sector will also include big job losses and a 10% pay cut for new entrants into public sector jobs. This “two tier workforce” is a divisive policy designed to divide workers as well as saving money. The unions must oppose this measure and fight for the rate for the job. The plans outlined in the proposal are a recipe for an intensification of class conflict within the state. But under the current conditions it will be extremely difficult for the government to make any headway in terms of imposing cuts and reorganisations in the public sector. Many workers are enraged by the crisis which Cowen and Lenihan have walked straight into. The government has no authority and no one especially themselves imagine that they will be in a position to implement it.

Every step that the coalition has taken to stabilise the situation, every cut, every “reform” will do nothing more than further destabilise the situation. That is the lesson of the last two years and indeed the current proposals will deliver precisely the same outcome. Capitalism is in a deep impasse. The Capitalists and their representatives have no solutions. They are to use Trotsky’s words from the 1930’s “tobogganing to disaster with their eyes closed”.

The private sector worker, the public sector, the youth, particularly the students – who face a 25% increase in fees, the pensioners, the poor, all have been put on notice by the government’s proposals. Under the current conditions it is likely that there will be a big response. The trade union leaders have a huge responsibility to galvanise the movement and organise a giant campaign to drive the coalition out of office.

The demonstration against the pension levy in February 2009 brought up to 150,000 people on to the streets of Dublin drawn from all sections of the working class and from the whole country. The new stage in the crisis requires not only a demonstration on the same scale, but also a mass campaign of industrial action to stop the so called reforms in their tracks. The government has to go, but we don’t want more of the same from Fine Gael with Labour presenting a soft face to workers while going along with right wing policies. Labour must take the lead and demand an end to the domination of the state by the banks and the speculators.  As Wolfe Tone explained:

“Our freedom must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not help us they must fall; we will free ourselves by the aid of that large and respectable class of the community – the men of no property.”

Wolfe Tone’s words should be a wakeup call to the Labour and Trade Union leaders. We need a clear programme and a leadership that represents working people. Now more than ever the ideas of Connolly and Larkin, the socialist ideas that laid the basis for the development of the trade unions and the Labour Party itself are of enormous importance.

·          Nationalise the banks and big industry

·          Cancel the debts