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| Demonstration through Dublin last Saturday |
It’s a sign of the times. The Public
Service Executive Union has voted 71% to 29% in favour of up to two days of
strike action against the government’s pension levy on a 75% turn out. It comes
after the recent vote by the Civil and Public Service Union to take action this
Thursday February 26. The pension levy is just the first attack on the public
sector as the government tries to place the burden of the crisis on the backs
of the working class.
Such is the mood however in Ireland that
there is no guarantee that they will get away with it. Saturday’s mass
demonstration was originally called to oppose the pension levy, but it struck a
chord with the working class as a whole and the result was a monster of a
march.
Other groups of workers like the teachers
are being balloted at the moment. The key thing however has to be unity in
action and a strategy to draw the widest possible numbers into the fight. This
is absolutely vital if we are going to stop Cowen’s government dead in its
tracks.
Public sector workers need maximum unity
and a strategy to escalate the action. Saturday showed the potential that
exists to fight these plans; we need to win every strike ballot. As for united
and coordinated action a one-day public sector general strike would unite the
movement and take it onto a higher level.
The first step though is to ensure full
support for this Thursday’s Civil Service strike.
– All out on the 26th
– No pension levy
– Make the bosses pay for the crisis
