A WorkersSolidarity108 March/April 2009 Twenty-Five Years of Irish Anarchist News They Didn’t Share the Wealth WHY SHOULD WE SHARE THE PAIN? There is no money left in . At least that’s what you might think after listening to Brian Cowan, Enda Kenny, IBEC and the parade of capitalist economists and pundits who parrot this nonsense. Yes, we are heading into a deep recession but guess who is expected to pay the cost?

The Government has no problem finding money to bail out bankers and speculators, it’s only when cash is needed for spe- cial-needs teachers, the sick, or to improve run-down schools and hospitals that nothing can be found. The attack on pay & pensions is class struggle by employers and the government against working people.

It may sound old-fashioned to talk of class struggle, but what else do you call it when one class wants to preserve its wealth at the expense of the other class? When private sector work- ers see 90% of pension funds they paid into for years going down the tube, Brian Goggin of Bank of Ireland thinks he is hard done by because he will “take home less than €2 million” this year.

We had a financial regulator, Patrick Neary, who waltzed off with a golden handshake of €600,000 and a pension of €140,000 per year. That pension alone is the equivalent of what four workers and their families on the average industrial wage live on. And what did Neary do to deserve this, apart from turning a blind eye to massive financial ‘irregularities’ in Even children know who should pay for the recession the banking industry? Workers in the public service are told to suffer a €1.4 billion a right. The attack on the public sector is just the start. Private cut in wages, those on €35,000 will see their pay cut by €43 sector wages are being driven down too. Even the Minimum a week. Yet the wealthiest 1%, with €87 billion in assets, pay Wage of €8.65 an hour is criticised as too high by Fianna Fail nothing at all. To add insult to injury the government has torn ministers like Billy Kelleher, who ‘earns’ a cool €139,266 before up the Public Sector Pay Agreement, denying 260,000 workers expenses (and that’s after his 10% cut). their small but agreed pay increases. Their goal is to subject working people to a Thatcher-style de- At the same time billionaire businessman Sean Quinn can feat. They want wholesale wage cuts across the economy. If lose €1 billion and say it’s no problem “you win some, you we don’t fight back they will keep coming back to take more lose some”. When you have an annual income of €500 million out of our pay packets, close down more of our services and that’s very true! give our children a lower standard of living than we had. The rich are good at looking after their class interests – we should IBEC’s aim is to reduce Irish wage rates and to make us think take the same attitude. They didn’t share the wealth in the that a reasonable pension in old age is a privilege rather than Celtic Tiger years, why should we share the pain today?

Derry Direct National Strike Waterford Shows Inside: Action NOW! the Way Anarchist News & Analysis WorkersSolidarity 108 Campaigning to Defeat College Fees Free Education for Everyone held its At the end of the protest, FEE led a three first National Conference on Saturday, hundred strong breakaway march to the January 31st. Over forty student ac- Dail where a token sit-down protest was tivists traveled from UCD, TCD, May- held for just over an hour. Afterwards, nooth, Galway, Limerick and Cork. the group went en masse to the USI ‘campaign training’ open meeting in the The morning’s session was devoted to an Dublin Institute of Technology where we internal debate on what kind of campaign made the point that February 4th should is needed to defeat fees, reports from the be the start and not the end of the cam- five FEE branches around the country up- paign to defeat fees. Interestingly, in his dating everyone on their recent activity photo by Paula Geraghty (indymedia.ie) speech Dave Curran mentioned the pos- and a discussion on developing a nation- sibility of a one day nationwide third al structure for the campaign. A public Fees’ organized by USI. FEE put a lot of ef- level education shut down, a tactic that forum entitled “How can we defeat fees?” fort into building for this protest - both FEE had been encouraging USI to take for followed with a panel consisting of Dave to ensure the biggest attendance possi- weeks. Curran, Vice-President of the Union of ble, and to make crucial points about the Students in Ireland (USI), Aidan McGrath, need to go beyond this demonstration, With Batt O’Keefe bringing his proposal chairperson of the National Youth Organ- and build a real movement across the for third level fees to cabinet in April, time isation, Julian Brophy (UCD FEE) and Aine country that can genuinely defeat fees. is not on our side. Get involved, email FEE Mannion (Galway FEE). In the end, a slightly lower than expected at [email protected] but positive number of 15,000 students February 4th saw the long anticipated and marched through the J. Carax ‘National Day of Action against Student streets of Dublin.

4th Dublin Anarchist Bookfair Contacts Campaigning Groups Seomra Spraoi Liberty Hall Free Education for Everyone March 6th March 7th Anarchist Organisations Campaign to stop the reintroduction of college fees and to promote the right to Workers Solidarity Movement Film, debates, workshops, meet- free education for all. PO Box 1528, Dublin 8. ings, and lots of anarchist & [email protected] www.wsm.ie radical books. Guest speakers http://free-education.info/ [email protected] include Martha Ackelsberg, au- [email protected] | [email protected] thor of Free Women of Spain; and Shell to Sea Ashanti Alston, a member of the Campaign to move Shell’s gas pipeline Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Black Panther Party in the 1960’s offshore from Co. Mayo. Group and early 1970’s. http://www.shelltosea.com PO BOX 10785, Dublin 1. http://ragdublin.blogspot.com/ Admission is free. More informa- Hands Off the People of Iran tion at www.wsm.ie/bookfair Anti-imperialist network for solidarity with Libertarian Networks Iranian trade unionists & the women’s rights movement. Organising The Fightback Indymedia Ireland http:// www.hopoi.org Alternative user-generated Irish news. How do we combat the employers’ offensive http://www.indymedia.ie Choice Ireland Abortion rights action group Seomra Spraoi A Waterford Crystal worker, Denis [email protected] Keane (Executive member, Civil & Dublin Social Centre http:// www.choiceireland.org 10 Belvedere Court, Dublin 1. Public Services Union) and Julian http://www.seomraspraoi.org Brophy (Free Education for Every- Alliance for Choice (NI) one) share their personal views, http://allianceforchoiceni.org Galway Social Space alongside a speaker from the Workers Solidarity Movement. 24 Middle Street, Galway. Residents Against Racism tp://www.galwayspace.org Opposing racism and deportations. Saturday 7th March, 3pm 24 hour helpline: 087 666 2060 Liberty Hall, Dublin WorkersSolidarity Raytheon: 108 This time it’s 9 Derry Women! There was the whiff of something in the Derry air. The constantly rising ci- vilian death toll in Gaza had already produced the same outpourings of rage on the streets of Derry as it had around the world. Thousands of sig- natures had been gathered calling on Raytheon to be given the boot, while ever larger crowds had gathered for vigils at the cenotaph, marches through the city, rallies at the Guild- hall and at a nonviolent blockade of Raytheon itself. Now more and more of us were becoming determined that we do not have to resign to feelings of helplessness in the face of Israel’s war atrocities. Our burning rage was ignit- ing something positive.

There was the definite smell of something very good cooking among those who had been to the last Derry Anti War Coali- tion meeting. There was a buzz about the evening before when text message went around asking people to meet the next ish military while eating a bag of chips to raptuous applause from the crowd, day at a location not far from the Raythe- with some friends in the Bogside. As is but only after securing an undertaking on plant. Something serious was going usual in these cases, the State “investi- from the police that they would not be to be done, and there were a hell of a lot gated” itself and exonerated itself. Helen arrested or charged and that bthe police more of us around to do it this time. We would have a very keen sense of what it would instead investigate Raytheon for all made plans to go down there to see if feels like for ordinary people to be treat- its complicity in Israeli war crimes. we could support, or perhaps do more. ed as expendible sub-humans. No one seriously believes that the Police I was just putting on my shoes the fol- She also knows that the state doesn’t just are going to go anywhere with that, but lowing day when the next text message grant justice out of the goodness of its it allowed the women to make the point went around. “9 women from the Derry heart. Justice has to be fought for by or- that it is the Raytheon Corporation and Anti War Coalition have gained access 2 dinary people, hard. I knew she’d be de- the likes of the Israeli State that are the the building of Raytheon Systems. Please lighted with the news of the occupation. real criminals in this world, not the ordi- cm 2 Raytheon 2 support them”. This was And I was delighted with myself for being nary people who fight back. Not bad for followed by “ 9 women chained together able to pass-on this information. an afternoons work and an unplanned between doors in Raytheon, get down action by 9 women, I said. Not so, said when you can”. Unbelievable! I ran out At this point I was outside Raytheon, Goretti Horgan of the DAWC, “We had and jumped into my friends car while where a large crowd had gathered in planned it deliberately as 9 women, as a sending-on the text to as many people as support of the women inside. The Police, kind of follow-on from the Raytheon 9, possible, my shoelaces were still undone. frustrated that the 9 women had out- who were all men, to show that women manoeuvred them, were trying to re- of all kinds can also take direct action”. One of the people I sent the text to was establish their authority by being heavy- Helen Deery who had asked to be kept handed. Then my phone rang. It was The 9 women have since been told by informed of protests. Helen had been Helen Deery “ I’m in here, ya dose!” . The the cops that a file has been sent to the very pleased to hear about the “Raytheon 9 women in there where not your usual Public Prosecution Service (PPS) with a 9” sabotaging the Raytheon mainframe suspects, your tie-died Citizen Smiths or view to pressing charges for “burglary, 3 years ago and was delighted when the your yoghurt knitters; they were 9 ordi- criminal damage and common assault (!)” Belfast jury acquitted them because it ac- nary working class women of different but all are well prepared to fight that, just cepted their defence that it was done in ages and political experience! as the Raytheon 9 fought and beat the order to impede further war crimes being charges against them. A great day then committed. Outside, the police arrested 5 people, as- for direct action, for women’s struggle, saulting one pregnant woman in the pro- for anti-militarism, and for working class Helen knows a thing or two about pow- cess. The media would do their usual job politics. More of this kind of stuff please! erful military machines killing unarmed in focusing on the arrests instead of the civilians. In May 1972 her 15 year-old occupation or the reasons for it. After 5 brother Manus was murdered by the Brit- hours, the 9 women eventually emerged Shane O’Curry WorkersSolidarity This Strike is For Us All: 108 Every Worker Must Be Out on March 30th The national strike called by ICTU should be just the first day of action in what must become a strike wave across every sector until all pay cuts are with- drawn. The super-rich can shoulder the costs of their crisis themselves.

The bosses have spent months using the media to try and divide one set of work- ers form another and to set those still in jobs against the unemployed. They know that divided we are weak. March 30th is the moment we can throw that back in their face, a huge demonstration of class unity that can force them to back down or face the consequences. together we can take the lead and close calling for a claw back of the €8 billion down the country. That is the sort of in tax breaks given to private for-profit An effective plan could consist of one short, sharp action that can force them to hospitals, or for nationalising the Corrib day’s action one week, followed by two withdraw the pay cuts. gas field. Why? Would it be because they days the following week, three days the think that seizing wealth from the super- week after. On New Year’s Day the SIPTU Executive rich is going too far? said “In this our centenary year, we salute The low paid Civil and Public Service the courage, personal sacrifice, commit- When ICTU was talking to the govern- Union gave a lead with their national ment and solidarity of the women and ment about the ‘Framework Agreement’, strike on February 26th. Ballots have men who founded, built and sustained they accepted the need for cuts. When been taken by bus workers, civil servants, this great trade union. We are proud of Fianna Fail and the Greens proposed a teachers; and all delivered a resounding the organisation of tens of thousands of pay cut of 10%, the ICTU delegation sug- vote for strike action. men and women, the improvement of gested a ‘pension levy’ as being more ac- pay and conditions of work… ceptable. Whatever we choose to do, we need to work out a strategy to win. Trade union “In solidarity with each other, the mem- These people cannot be trusted. Taking leaders have sold us the myth of ‘social bers of our Union have confronted ex- back control of OUR unions is part and partnership’ for the last 21 years. We need ploitation and injustice and have sought parcel of the fight to protect what we to build an alternative sense of solidarity to transform society so that all our people have won over the years. whereby workers across all unions sup- enjoy dignity and respect at work and in port each other. The bosses are not our the community.” Capitalism is failing us; once more it is partners, our fellow workers can be. dragging us all into a crisis not of our That’s the sort of tradition we need to making. This crisis is deep and the reces- The government will be happy enough if build on. Unfortunately, many senior sion is likely to last for several years. If we all we do is have protest marches and a union leaders don’t see it like that. They don’t fight back, we might as well resign one-day only strike. They won’t even be are happy for us to “let off steam” and ourselves to ever decreasing incomes. If too upset by isolated strike days in differ- “make a point”, all they want is a show of we don’t start fighting to end the rule of ent jobs. support so they can go back into talks in the billionaires, we will never get away the hope of being given some small con- from the insecurity of the boom/slump For this reason every worker should be cession. cycle. out of work on March 30th, not just those in sectors directly affected and not even People like IMPACT’s Peter McLoone with It is true that if we fight we may not win just those who are union members. his €150,000 a year, plus €25,000 as chair everything we want, there are a lot of il- of FAS, do not share the same interests as lusions in the ICTU leaders and we have It is time for the trade union movement their members. That is why the top union gone through two decades with little ex- to stand up and defend the interests of officials on the ICTU executive can say, perience of struggle. It is absolutely cer- working people as vigorously as the gov- “workers did not create the problem, but tain, however, that if we don’t fight we ernment and the state is defending the will contribute to solving it…” willInternational win nothing. Anarchist website interests of the bankers and the employ- with news & discussion from all ers. There are 600,000 union members, They accept the system as it is. They aren’t five continents.Alan MacSimoin Find out more. Check out www.wsm.ie

Informacje i artykuly w jezku polskim dostepne na stronie www.wsm.ie/polska WorkersSolidarity 108 Thinking About Anarchism : Are We Irresponsible? “People who got mortgages they can’t afford to pay back were greedy and fool- ish and should suffer the consequences… They signed a free contract, they’re adults and they have to take responsibility for their actions”. This is the kind of thing that gets thrown around a lot in recessions. It conveniently ignores a few things.

The idea that getting a mortgage is voluntary comes from the same people who brought you privatisation and the financial markets. They like to call it a free and voluntary ex- change. You exchange much of the work you will do for the next 30 years or so of your life for a home in which to live and one day own.

Your second option is to exchange much of that work for a home which you rent and will never own. Your third option is to live on the street. What you don’t have is the freedom Private, fee-paying schools for the to put a roof over your head without making wealthy received more than €100 million any exchange at all. And they expect us to be from the 26 county taxpayer last year. thankful for that ‘freedom’? €99 million was spent on paying teach- ers’ salaries, and a further €2.1 million on an economy that you can’t control then you We had no say in deciding that those should ing to do with their own hard work and less to building works in 17 fee-paying schools have no control over whether or not you also be the choices we get in life. We don’t have do with brains. in 2008. in Dublin lose your home. the capital the banks have and we don’t have tops the list, receiving €3.9 million. Other the properties the landlord has. The only They got it from people like us who wanted schools receiving more than €3 million in The ones who do have control of your choic- thing we have to exchange for a roof over our a home to live in. The top 10% of Americans annual support include College es were the ones who were cheerleading the heads is our labour. It’s easy for the banks and own 90% of the wealth. Ireland’s not far be- (€3.5 million), St Andrew’s College (€3.4 property bubble up in the first place. Now the landlords to preach to us about how sa- hind. In other words, they own the houses we million), (€3.3 million) they’re blaming the workers who followed cred ‘freedom of contract’ is. They’re the ones need to rent and the money we need to buy and Wesley College (€3.1 million). Most of their advice. The wealthy are playing an old with the power to decide what your choices them. If you’re in the 90%, the only choices the schools in receipt of this free taxpay- game but we don’t need to fall for their dis- are going to be. It’s a completely unequal you have are those the 10% choose to give ers’ cash charge fees of about €5,000 per traction tactics. The only way we will get con- bargaining position. you. That’s no coincidence. year. trol of our lives back is if we refuse to take the bait by turning on each other. They will tell you that this is a coincidence. Or Real freedom means having a say in the deci- that those who own money and property got sions that affect your life. You have no real say Thai authorities are accused of tow- it through hard work and cleverness. We’ve in whether or not you’ll have a job tomorrow. ing hundreds of migrants out to sea on now seen how the property developers and You have no real say in how you get some- barges without engines and abandoning Lucy Parsons the bankers got their money and it had noth- where to live. If you lose your job because of them. Reports in the regional news me- dia say that hundreds have died and In- dian and Indonesian ships have rescued hundreds more, starving and dehydrated, after days adrift. Anarchism & the WSM Every cent invested in the National Pen- In February, the WSM continued its series port and released a statement, an extract of sions Reserve Fund last year, all €1.69 bil- of public meetings about why capitalism is which is quoted below. lion of it, was lost on the stock markets in crisis and why working people should re- yet the fund managers still took over €20 fuse to make sacrifices to benefit the rich. “In the last while there has been an unprece- million in fees. Limerick and Bray were the latest xxxxx. dented assault on our living standards. Huge We will be continuing our efforts to spread numbers of us have been put out of jobs or anarchist ideas in this vein over the com- put on short time; we have been told bluntly Of the $15 billion US taxpayers’ money ing months, with meetings planned for ‘Take a pay cut or your job is gone’. Our union given to Merrill Lynch/Bank of America, Drogheda, Galway, Derry, Navan, Tralee, leadership has reacted to this with offers of at least $3 billion has been used to give Tipperary and Ballina. Also, our next radio talks and with appeals for calm. While doing bonuses to top executives. show will be appearing on NEAR 90.3 FM, this they have leaned over backwards to meet a Dublin community radio station, in the the demands of the bosses and the Govern- near future. ment. Against this scenario, the Waterford The government’s National Employment Glass workers have said NO MORE. The time Rights Agency has revealed that of firms The WSM made its presence felt in a number for talking with your hands tied behind your inspected in 2008 they found one in of protests in early January against the Israeli back are over! Workers did not create this cri- ten were paying less than the minimum assault on Gaza. We also supported the anti- sis and they sure aren’t going to pay the huge wage. They also found that almost half fees protest organised by third-level students price that is being asked to solve it!” were forcing staff to work longer hours in February, with a number of our student than legally allowed. Lawbreaking was members active in FEE (Free Education for Internationally, as the global recession deep- discovered in 85% of contract cleaning Everyone), a campaigning group in the uni- ens, there have been signs of increased resis- firms, 78% of hotels, 64% of shops and versities. tance by working people; with riots in Latvia, 62% of construction firms. Lithuania and Bulgaria. There was a general In a leaflet produced by the WSM for the edu- In Belfast, WSM members participated in pick- strike in France, while the government fell in cation protests, we argued that “we need to ets of Subway after management sacked a Iceland. As the economic situation worsens in The United Nations Development Pro- build a national campaign that can fight the pregnant migrant worker. The Belfast branch Ireland, our members remain active in their gram estimates that everybody in the battle to prevent cuts at all levels of educa- also held its inaugural ‘day school’ in Febru- unions, student organisations, communities world could have access to basic social tion, to demand more, not less, investment in ary, with talks on the history of anarchism and campaign groups to try and fight back services, clean water, food, housing, our children’s future, to stop the further limi- and how we can fight the recession. against the impoverishment and violence health care and education, for $80 bil- tation of access to third-level and, ultimately, that continues to be imposed on us and our lion per year. The seven richest peo- to push to improve the entire education sys- Meanwhile, we have seen the first signs of class by our rulers. We need you to join us in ple in the world have $1.54 trillion tem.” With this in mind, we held a meeting in workers taking direct action with the occu- this fight. between them. late February aiming to establish an educa- pation of the Waterford Glass plant. Our Cork tion workers libertarian socialist network. branch visited the factory to offer their sup- WorkersSolidarity Clear as Crystal... 108 Waterford Shows How to Fight The workers at Waterford Crystal occupying the population of the city attended a rally or- the plant are an example to us all. Rather ganised by the local Council of Trade Unions on than accept the closure of the business, the February 12th. loss of all the jobs and the destruction of the area’s premier industry; workers seized the The objectives of the workers are to keep the buildings making liquidation impossible for plant operating and protect the maximum num- the receiver. ber of jobs, insure the security of pensions and get decent redundancy payments for those be- The receiver issued notice of job losses without ing let go. Whilst some of the leadership of our first consulting the union as had been agreed. unions have been talking ‘partnership’ with em- Hired heavies were shipped in to prevent the ployers and government, others have been tak- workers entering the building. With very little ing a more direct approach. notice the shop stewards rallied as many of Waterford Crystal is a shining example of work- their members as possible and seized the plant ers demonstrating the best practice of direct ac- against the aggressive antics of the “security tion and solidarity. They want other workers to men”. They immediately set in place a rota to imitate their example, we should all take a leaf keep the furnace functioning and organised out of their book. staffing for the occupation. The working class of Waterford rallied to them James McBarron and provided all forms of support. A quarter of International Women’s Day: Why We Celebrate on March 8th There are a few ways in which International stood in front of bin lorries with women from the Women’s Day can be approached. It can be ig- estate I live on. I have met women as we marched, nored. This is what mostly happens in the main- leafleted, picketed and posters for the right to have stream media. Unlike Valentines Day and Moth- an abortion on Irish soil. ers Day, cards aren’t given and presents aren’t bought. With no profit to be made out of it, the There are many many ways in which life is difficult day is not exactly one that jumps out and grabs for women in Ireland, from our pay packets, to the the attention. fact that we get little support if we decide to have children and no support if we decide not to have International Women’s Day is an expressly political children. We have to wait weeks (and sometimes day. In 1907 women sweatshop workers marched in months) for something as simple as the result of New York and thus the first International Women’s our smear tests. Like men we live in a country which day was born. Often when women are celebrated it can’t provide housing, medical services, and secu- is because they are either cute (Valentine’s Day) or rity, basic human needs for all citizens. Yes there is a caring (Mothers’ Day). lot to be angry about and a lot to change.

There is nothing wrong with being cute or caring, Thankfully, many of us, like those women who but on Internationals Women’s day we get to high- marched in the cold 102 years ago, are not willing light those of us who are politically active, those to make do with what we have been offered. In- who are fighting for a better world, those who know ternational Women’s day is a celebration of those that there can be a better world. I don’t know their women who make things better. names but I know I have linked arms with women at Shannon Airport protesting against the war. I’ve Aileen O’Carroll Dublin Feminist Walking Tour 2008 - This year’s tour takes place on Sunday 8th March. TV Review: Generation Kill In Workers Solidarity 105 we reviewed way to Baghdad. But it does contain a cri- David Simon’s ‘The Wire’. His follow on tique of militarism, most openly expressed project ‘Generation Kill’ which features when one of the marines observes that if some of the same actors is a 7 episode they behaved in the same way in civilian series following the United States Ma- life they would go to prison. rine Corps’ 1st Reconnaissance Battalion during the invasion of Iraq. It’s based The military is shown as a machine, the in- on the book published by Rolling Stone dividual killing units are at first hard to dis- journalist Evan Wright. tinguish from each other. Unquestioning obedience is central to discipline, even if Apparently the show is pretty true to events those issuing the orders are idiots. As with in the book and this is probably part of the ‘The Wire’, although many of the individual reason why it hasn’t received the popular marines are deeply unpleasant characters acclaim ‘The Wire’ did. There are no big sto- performing terrible acts, including the mur- ries beyond the backdrop of the invasion der of civilians for kicks, they are human de- of Iraq itself. As in the real war, while Iraq’s spite this. both military and civilians are slaughtered in large numbers the marines suffer almost The closing scene suggests that on an in- no casualties. Their story is long hours of dividual level most of the marines are not boredom as they drive through Iraq, broken die for Saddam and headed for the hills at to push on despite the known presence comfortable with what they did during the by occasional firefights against an enemy the first opportunity. of Saddam death squads in the area who invasion but there is no suggestion of a col- they massively out equip and out train. are executing soldiers who abandon their lective understanding developing. Much In the first episode this reality is portrayed posts. like ‘The Wire’ the sense is of a machine that On paper the risks are greater, in particular when the invading marines collect doz- will simply trundle on, chewing up people when their officers order them on missions ens of Iraqi soldiers who have abandoned This isn’t an anti-war serial by any means. and making the same mistakes over and that would be suicidal if the Iraqi army had their posts and are trying to walk out of the A of the war could probably sit over. stood and fought. But the vast majority of battle area. As in the war these ‘prisoners’ through it and enjoy the seeming invinci- Iraqi soldiers during the war had no wish to are abandoned as the marines are ordered bility of the marines as they slaughter their Andrew Flood