Class Struggle Roundup: 2 May 2021
International Workers' Day (a day late), Debenhams workers attacked, the IWU and ESB updates, and more.
Happy International Workers’ Day! (Didn’t manage to get this out yesterday. I was busy recognizing the high holiday.)
Material History
28 April: Workers Memorial Day.
1 May: International Workers’ Day.
3 May 1921: Partition. Not great. “How partition of Ireland derailed a revolutionary struggle for national and social liberation.”
Great discussion with Conor McCabe about the history of trade unionism in Ireland and the horrendous constraints on trade union activism on The Week at Work podcast.
Island of Ireland
Camphill dispute heads to mediation. Workers, SIPTU reps, and management have agreed to appoint a mediator to resolve issues over conditions at Camphill Duffcarig facility in Ballymoney, Wexford. This comes after industrial actions beginning in March when "46 SIPTU members in Camphill voted unanimously in favour of taking industrial action in a dispute over funding, staffing and working conditions." This comes after "Gardaí were called to Camphill at Duffcarrig last week following an alleged incident between a manager and a member of staff." The circumstances around the alleged incident are not very clear.
150 Kerry Group workers facing redundancy. SIPTU is calling on agribusiness giant Kerry Group to engage with the union through the Workplace Relations Commission to avoid industrial action. The jobs are reportedly in finance, HR, data management, and regulation based in the company's business centres in Naas and Charleville. RTE reports the jobs are being outsourced "to Malaysia and Mexico as part of a consolidation of its shared services division." SIPTU seeks resolution through the WRC on issues such as "the redundancy terms, the selection criteria and the transition arrangements"
PDForra and organising the RoI's Defense Forces. Members of the Defense Forces in the Republic of Ireland want their union, PDFora, to join up with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions umbrella organisation. This is one issue among many that have been brought to the attention of a Commission on the Defense force that is currently gathering information for a report to be presented to the government later this year. "The chairman of the Commission on the Defense Forces," former Secretary General of the Department of Justice Aidan O'Driscoll, "has said he and his committee members want to meet as many military personnel as possible in the coming months and will be “actively encouraging them to speak their minds."
More than 500 submissions have been made to the Commission already. PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said, "A common thread running through our association's interactions with interested parties was the recognition of the government's failure to provide members of the Defense Forces with appropriate pay, allowances and conditions of service.". Reports of abuse and mishandling surfaced earlier this year, which I assume will be addressed in some form. Apparently, the Commission has no obligation to talk about pay, but they acknowledge the military has difficulties retaining trained workers who leave for the private sector.
Universal Basic Income. The idea of a Universal Basic Income was tossed around in a couple of places recently. Once in a letter to the editor in the Irish Times, and then again in the most recent episode of Nervous State on Dublin Digital Radio.
"To create an inclusive and fair society and move toward a just society, post-pandemic, there is a need to implement UBI in the next budget. UBI is a regular payment to every citizen regardless of circumstances, without any means test or work requirement, and would replace the State pension and the majority of social welfare payments which are divisive and maintain dependency. A UBI of €350 per week for all citizens over 18 years resident in this country, with an opt-in, opt-out mechanism, is appropriate given the benefits it would bring to all recipients, the savings achieved and the multiplier effect in the economy, together with the creation and expansion of all types of employment. It is surprising that the trade unions, other lobby groups and social charities are not insisting on the implementation of UBI. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Minister for Finance need to be brave enough to do some real budgeting and make the necessary cuts of wasteful expenditure to ensure the implementation of UBI to create an inclusive, fair and just society. – Yours, etc,"
There was segment on a universal basic income for artists in RoI, in the most recent edition of Nervous State. The segment featured writer Conor McCabe, a Green Party member Catherine Martin and rep for the National Campaign for the Arts, and artist Tara Carroll. The whole show is worth a listen.
Debenhams. A lot has happened with the former Debenhams workers in the last week and half or so. As many of you already know, there were shocking scenes of heavy handed raids on pickets by police in Blanchardstown, Dublin, and Tralee recently. Much ink has been spilled on the use of public service police as private security working on behalf of the liquidators from KPMG, protecting the interests of corporations over those of workers. Alan Kidney writing for lookleft says:
"Until now, as the State steps in firmly on the side of the liquidators. The provision of a Garda escort for strikebreakers and, more recently, the physical removal of the strikers from their picket at Henry Street, Dublin, and in Tralee, has confirmed what a year of struggle has made quite clear.
The ‘objectivity’ claimed by the State and the establishment parties is, in practice, synonymous with the defence of the rights of private property and capital."
At a May Day demonstration dozens gathered in support of the Debenham's workers at the Henry Street location in Dublin. Among those who spoke, a former Debenehams shop steward and People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett expressed dissapointment in the lack of more aggressive support from Mandate, and that the former Debenhams sworkers embodied the militant spirit the trade union movement in Ireland desperaately needs in order to reinvigerate the movementn toward a working class politics in Ireland.
Irish police attack sacked Debenhams workers, via World Socialist Website.
Arrests as protesters try to prevent Debenhams' stock removal, via RTE News.
Gardai break up workers’ picket at Debenhams on Henry Street, via Dublin People.
Protesters lock themselves inside Debenhams loading bay, via The Irish Times.
In the midst of this, Ingrid Miley thought "Pickets increase cost of Debenhams' liquidation - KPMG" was an appropriate headline. She could have gone with something more accurate like "Capitalists hate workers evident by wasting money instead of admitting labour is source of profit."
The Canary tied the police action against workers picketing to the "Kill the Bill" movement in the UK.
And the liquidators keep trying to make as much money as possible.
Independent Workers Union affiliated ESB technicians. Independent Workers Union affiliated ESB technicians continued industrial actions this week. Actions have increased from work to rule orders to rotating 24 hour pickets. The workers are seeking recognition of their union and claim there has been "a lack of consultation over work to be outsourced to the private sector." The IWU claims to represent more than 500 of the estimated 1,250 network technicians, which would certainly merit consideration for recognition on its own. Not being affiliated with the ESB Group of Unions or ICTU, means they could be seen as less likely to agree with the prevailing notion of Social Partnership between unions and bosses.
In the case of ESB Networks, the IWU maintains that a significant number of technicians left the Connect union in 2015 as they were unhappy with a deal that had been struck with management.
The workers initially went to Siptu but later were asked to return to Connect after an intervention from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu). It would appear a number of workers instead joined the IWU which is outside both Ictu and the group of unions structure in the ESB.
"A statement from the IWU claim they were striking to prevent the privatisation of the ESB.
“The work of Network Technicians is being handed out to private contractors. The technicians have not been consulted (as is required by the Consultation and Information Act 2006) as to what areas of their work are to be contracted out and so they have refused to cooperate with the process since last Monday.
“From today they will organise a series of work stoppages, in order to prevent the elimination of their jobs, the abandonment of apprenticeship training and the eventual privatisation of the company in order to make profits for vulture funds and greedy corporate entities.
“The people of Ireland do not need another Telecom Eireann like disaster,” the statement claims."
Industrial action was also carried out in Tullamore.
"A number of ESB workers are protesting in the midlands today.
"They're members of the Independent Workers Union which represents technicians across Ireland.
"The Union claims that the company has failed to engage with them over the last 18 months and want their issues referred to the Workplace Relations Commission.
Work-to-rule may have affected 1,000 Dublin customers, ESB says, via The Irish Times.
ESB is threatening legal action against the IWU, claiming the strike is unlawful.
ESB Networks issues legal proceedings against IWU, via RTE News.
HSE not paying psychologists. The HSE "hired" psychologists on a "volunteer" basis, an act that solicitor and "employment law specialist" Richard Grogan called "reprehensible," The Times reported.
"The HSE advertised seven voluntary assistant psychologist (AP) positions this month, involving a minimum of two days work per week. The unpaid job posts are all based in Dublin and are across the HSE’s adult primary care psychology service, refugee and asylum seeker psychology service, and its children’s disability network team. The advertisement was shared via Google Groups rather than through the HSE’s job search portal."
"Stephanie Wall, 30, an applied psychology masters student at University College Cork, said she was “disheartened” when she saw the advert."
“This is why people leave to work in the field abroad. When you look at how other countries have more opportunities like the UK or even the Netherlands where people go for master’s programmes, and then you look at how Ireland treats us — Why would you bother staying here at all? It’s no wonder we have a mental health crisis.”
"She said her placement during her masters has been a “great experience”, but the possibility of having to take up unpaid work after her studies is frustrating. “When you want to start trying to earn after paying what I paid, €20,000 for my degree, and then see unpaid roles like this, it just feels like you are blocked from ever working in your field.”
The HSE really seems to hate paying workers.
School secretaries and caretakers seek regularisation. Forsa affiliated School secretaries and caretakers are seeking regularisation as public servants. Currently, they are employed by individual schools which leaves them outside of various benefits programs like pensions. Many school secretaries and caretakers go on the dole during the summer months or probably seek other employment. Forsa National Secretary Andy Pike expressed frustration and disappointment on behalf of the workers given the lack of progress in talks. The government has praised the work of secretaries and caretakers as essential workers throughout the pandemic, but their actions suggest how they really feel, which seems to be they don't care very much, if at all.
Other links.
WRC recovered €1.7m in unpaid wages for employees, via RTE News.
The WRC "recovered almost €1.7m in unpaid wages for employees, according to its 2020 annual report. During 2020, the WRC Inspectorate carried out 7,687 inspections, of which 5,202 were unannounced. It detected 1,760 employers who were in breach of employment law, and recovered unpaid wages totalling €1.66m."
Luke O'Neill: Shift workers 'twice as likely' to contract severe COVID-19, via Newstalk.com.
Hundreds of convictions for selling sex to be expunged, via Irish Legal News.
Ms McEntee said: “Given what we know about the levels of exploitation and human trafficking in the sex trade, it is very likely that many of those convicted in the past fall into the exploited category for a number of reasons, including because they were victims of trafficking.
“These vulnerable victims should also benefit from the legislative change regarding the sale of sex and be able to move forward and rebuild their lives.”
The Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) has welcomed the move while stressing that the 2017 Act fell short of its promises to fully decriminalise sex workers.
Paul Murphy: This May Day, imagine a world without weekends..., via theJournal.ie.
Republic of Ireland Presidnt Higgins's May Day address, via The Irish Times. He seems to like to talk a big game on International Workers Day.
International
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific, via WSWS.
Thousands of Colombians took to the streets on Saturday for International Workers' Day marches and protests against a government tax reform proposal, in a fourth day of demonstrations that have resulted in at least six deaths.
Unions and other groups kicked off marches on Wednesday to demand the government of President Ivan Duque withdraw the proposal, which originally leveled sales tax on public services and some food. read more
Deeply disturbing revelations that spycops infiltrated trade unions as far back as the 1970s must not be glossed over by a public inquiry, Unite says, via Morning Star.
The week in US unions, Apr 22-29, 2021, via Who Gets the Bird?