Class struggle roundup: 5 March, 2021
Stories about beef barons and what they look like. More from the Deliveroo front. And, will the neoliberals make workers pay for the pandemic?
Fenians doing Fenian things, found at https://seamusdubhghaill.com/2016/03/05/the-fenian-rising-of-1867/.
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Material History
5 March, 1867: As part of the Fenian Rising of 1867, members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood launch failed risings in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. Radical republicanism and anti-colonialism were the main aspects of the rising, but there was a significant dose of class consciousness and internationalism included in the symbolic proclamation of a provisional government published in the London Times and written “on behalf of proletarian Ireland.” For this reason, the 1867 Fenian Proclamation is notably different from the more famous 1916 Proclamation. Read about in this article from Tribune by Ronan Burtenshaw and Donal Fallon. And here’s the proclamation:
The Irish People of the World
We have suffered centuries of outrage, enforced poverty, and bitter misery. Our rights and liberties have been trampled on by an alien aristocracy, who treating us as foes, usurped our lands, and drew away from our unfortunate country all material riches. The real owners of the soil were removed to make room for cattle, and driven across the ocean to seek the means of living, and the political rights denied to them at home, while our men of thought and action were condemned to loss of life and liberty. But we never lost the memory and hope of a national existence. We appealed in vain to the reason and sense of justice of the dominant powers. Our mildest remonstrance's were met with sneers and contempt. Our appeals to arms were always unsuccessful. Today, having no honourable alternative left, we again appeal to force as our last resource. We accept the conditions of appeal, manfully deeming it better to die in the struggle for freedom than to continue an existence of utter serfdom. All men are born with equal rights, and in associating to protect one another and share public burdens, justice demands that such associations should rest upon a basis which maintains equality instead of destroying it. We therefore declare that, unable longer to endure the curse of Monarchical Government, we aim at founding a Republic based on universal suffrage, which shall secure to all the intrinsic value of their labour. The soil of Ireland, at present in the possession of an oligarchy, belongs to us, the Irish people, and to us it must be restored. We declare, also, in favour of absolute liberty of conscience, and complete separation of Church and State. We appeal to the Highest Tribunal for evidence of the justness of our cause. History bears testimony to the integrity of our sufferings, and we declare, in the face of our brethren, that we intend no war against the people of England – our war is against the aristocratic locusts, whether English or Irish, who have eaten the verdure of our fields – against the aristocratic leeches who drain alike our fields and theirs. Republicans of the entire world, our cause is your cause. Our enemy is your enemy. Let your hearts be with us. As for you, workmen of England, it is not only your hearts we wish, but your arms. Remember the starvation and degradation brought to your firesides by the oppression of labour. Remember the past, look well to the future, and avenge yourselves by giving liberty to your children in the coming struggle for human liberty. Herewith we proclaim the Irish Republic.
The Provisional Government.
Island of Ireland
In the Dublin Inquirer, Sean Finnan looks at another aspect of the conditions gig-economy workers like Deliveroo riders contend with. He asks whether “The Deliveroo App Undermine Workers’ Safety and Solidarity?” in a piece examining the threats posed by the algorithm-as-manager model these multi-billion-dollar tech companies use to exploit workers.
Fiachra Ó Luain, an organiser with the English Language Students’ Union, which is helping to draw attention to the conditions of gig-based workers, says other potentially more dangerous situations also crop up because of this algorithm acting as a manager.
It often entices people to work in precarious situations, failing to account for staff safety, he says. “If I’m a manager, I have responsibility for the working conditions of my staff.”
During strikes at the end of January, workers turned off their Deliveroo app, meaning that there was more of a demand for workers and, automatically, the payments for delivery went up.
O’Luain describes this technology as “scabtech”, as it actively encourages workers to break strike actions by paying more during times when the supply of labour is low.
Tech can be used for union busting, says De Stefano, the professor in labour law, and although he wouldn’t be surprised if the application works as such, he can’t say for certain that such a mechanism is written into the app.
On the latest episode of Nervous State, Dublin Digital Radio’s current events and culture show , Lucas Spiro and Kerry Guinan talk to some Deliveroo workers on the streets about recent attempts to organise, the xenophobic violence against them, and other difficulties they face just trying to do their jobs. They also interview People Before Profit trade union organiser John Whipple about the specific challenges these workers face and the broader context of organising gig-economy workers in Ireland.
This week, The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), released a report with recommendations to the government on Ireland’s meat processing sector. The report, imaginatively titled Ireland’s Meat Processing Sector: From a low-road to a sustainable high-road strategy, “finds that meat processors and government policy for this sector has taken a ‘low-road’ approach over recent years. While turnover and employment both rose by 40% in the decade after 2008, investment levels remained low, leading to stagnating turnover and low-value added per employee – all against the backdrop of low wages and social security contributions and benefits.”
Amid this seemingly systemic demise of the sector generally, the report also notes how “Three processing groups - Dawn (including Dunbia), Kepak, and ABP (including Slaney Meats) - account for two-thirds of total beef processing,” though official investigators have found no evidence to suggest the existence of a cartel. The sector also receives massive amounts of public funding, suggesting there might need to be more democratic control over the industry instead of a few private firms, so-called “Beef Barons,” controlling the market to pad their own pockets at the expense f worker’s rights, wages, and health. While the report has an air of social partnership about it, and it’s key recommendations aren’t all that radical, at least ICTU says the next moves need to be founded on collective bargaining. How much influence the union has in the sector seems to be minimal based on just seeing the news unfold. Maybe it’s time revolutionary socialists and communists start salting work places and taking over the union.
Here’s People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy engaging Leo Varadkar on the floor of the Dail this week about the issue:
I have no idea who any of the people in this picture are, but I’m guessing not one of them’s a beef baron.
More links on the meat processing report:
Government urged to protect meat plant workers who have been 'treated appallingly', via The Irish Examiner
Meat processing sector’s viability falling even pre-Covid, Ictu says, via The Irish Times
In slightly related news, “EU funds under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must only be given to farm enterprises that respect labour rights when it comes to farm workers, MEP Chris MacManus has said,” reports Agriland.ie.
Workers in Bon Secours hospitals across the country, represented by Siptu, plan to participate in a national ballot to authorize industrial action including strike action. The ballot is to extend a “job evaluation process” to “support grade workers” including porters, cleaners, caterers, etc., which would continue to see their pay tied to increases related to HSE pay rises. The Bon Secours hospitals are among the richest private hospital groups in Ireland with ties to scandals such as the Mother and Baby Homes controversy.
Bank of Ireland announced they will be shuttering a number of branches across the Republic and Northern Ireland, citing a major shift away from in-branch banking. They’re likely just using the pandemic and the fact that less people can, you know, leave the house, to cut costs. Politicians and labour organisers have made calls to ensure workers are protected. It seems like BoI isn’t looking to axe a bunch of staff, yet. Meanwhile, it will likely have a bigger impact on rural, older, and poorer communities who lack access to online banking.
That last item about BoI closing down branches and the meat processing plants can be linked to a general trend of stories we’ve seen this week about lack of investment in workers. Unions and workers need to get organised and take control of the workplaces and democratize investment and socialize wealth to prevent employment crises from continuing to pile on one another. That all would need to happen before a neoliberal government could impose austerity on the working class in the pandemic aftermath.
Just over a quarter of workers believe they have skills for future jobs, via The Business Post
Firms perceived to be cutting back on skills investment - Accenture report , via RTE News
Michael Clifford: Who will bear the economic pain of the pandemic?, via The Irish Examiner
Last autumn, UCC economist Seamus Coffey wrote a piece in which he showed how income inequality in this country was bucking a trend. As the gap of inequality widens in most other wealthy countries, his analysis outlined, it has narrowed here.
His research was subsequently quoted in the Irish Times by the paper’s political editor, Pat Leahy. A few days later, Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer used it in a speech in the Seanad. Nothing unusual or controversial about any of that, all standard fare in the political-media ecosystem.
Except Ogle was outraged. His experience working in the community was, he felt, at complete odds with the idea that inequality was falling.
More importantly, he saw it as déjà vu all over again. After the economic collapse in 2008, austerity was imposed on those least able to bear it. He believes it could happen again when the bill for the pandemic comes calling.
You can hear a good discussion about the original inequality report and the uncritical mainstream media coverage of that report on a recent episode of The Week at Work, a Left Bloc podcast.
Need for focus on reducing deficit post-pandemic - Donohoe, via RTE News
“Tech, engineers and financial services among best-paid workers” in Ireland based on new reports from the Central Statistics Office, The Irish Examiner reports. The report also says there has been “an increase of 7.5% from the previous year” in the average pay packet in Q4 of 2020, but “The CSO cautions that "a relatively small number of high earners result in a positively skewed earnings distribution of employees in Ireland".”
Govt urged to act over youth unemployment, via RTE News
Labour launches bill that would give workers paid leave for early miscarriages or IVF treatments, via The Irish Mirror.
Minister welcomes progress on teachers’ pay negotiations, via Newry Times
UK General
Nurses' union anger over 'pitiful' 1% NHS pay rise, via BBC.
25 Days of the British Gas Strike, via Tribune
Unions fear huge job losses as 'saviour of steel' hits crisis, via BBC.
UK: Go North West launches strike busting operation to enforce fire and rehire contracts against bus drivers, via World Socialist Web Site.
International
All eyes are on Bessemer, Alabama and the BAmazon efforts to unionise workers at an Amazon warehouse. This would be huge. The tech giants have been teaming up to stifle the reporting on the issue from certain outlets. “Twitter Worked With Amazon to Block Payday, Labeling Payday & Other Labor Reporters as “Suspicious Content”, via Payday Report.” Payday Report has been going some great work covering this story. Veteran labour reporter Steven Greenhouse’s article in The American Prospect was also among the flagged content.
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, via World Socialist Web Site
The end of the UK lockdown and the way forward for the working class, via World Socialist Web Site.