Class struggle roundup: 7 February, 2021
More action from Deliveroo and other delivery workers, Debenham's workers pass 300 days on strike, and Trade Unionists call for an All Ireland Zero Covid Strategy.
Sunday, 7 February, 2021
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Material history
3 February, 1537: Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, also known as Silken Thomas, is executed by Henry VIII for leading a rebellion against him. Henry beefs up security on the Island of Ireland with the Royal Irish Army as a standing army.
4 February, 1868: Irish revolutionary involved in the 1916 Easter Rising, Contance Markievicz is born. She was the first woman elected to the UK Parliament but refused to take her seat in protest. Instead, she became the Labour Minister for the first Dáil Éireann.
30 January, 1947: Labour organiser and revolutionary socialist Jim Larkin dies.
5 February, 1987: The Wapping Dispute comes to an end. Rupert Murdoch’s News International and the Thatcher government score another major victory over organised labour as the strike, which had been ongoing for more than a year, collapses.
The Battle of Wapping, via Socialist Worker.
Legendary folk singer and labor activist Anne Feeney died with Covid 19 at the age of 69 on 4 February.
Ireland
Deliveroo riders and other app-based delivery workers are on strike again for the weekend of 6-7 February. Don’t cross the picket line. Collect your own takeaway or, as TULeftForum suggests, try making some coddle. There is a demonstration scheduled for 7 February at 8pm at The Spire on O’Connell Street in Dublin. Pay and safety are among the worker’s top concerns, including racist and xenophobic attacks and harassment.
The death of Thiago Cortes last summer resulted in increased awareness of delivery riders in Ireland. The 16 year old charged with his death will face trial in the circuit court, according to theJournal.ie. He is accused of dangerous driving, among other infractions.
The former Debenham’s workers have now been on strike for more than 300 days. They don’t seem to be any closer to winning their fair compensation as the forces of government, business, and the willing executioners of Capital at liquidator KPMG are stacked against them. Eddie Conlon writes about some various ways the Debenham’s workers can receive their “2+2” redundancy packages over at Rebel. Options include using the Social Insurance Fund, tapping the employers for more, and using the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation precedent. The IRBC precedent is an example of a liquidator prioritizing workers over other creditors to avoid industrial action, the very thing KPMG has been saying there are legal issues around doing in the Debenham’s scenario. The liquidator in the IBRC case? KPMG.
A new Oxfam report, “The Inequality Virus,” claims the wealth of Ireland’s nine billionaires has increased by around 3.3 billion euro, The Irish Times reports. From the report:
“The coronavirus pandemic has the potential to lead to an increase in inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began. The virus has exposed, fed off and increased existing inequalities of wealth, gender and race. Over two million people have died, and hundreds of millions of people are being forced into poverty while many of the richest – individuals and corporations – are thriving. Billionaire fortunes returned to their pre-pandemic highs in just nine months, while recovery for the world’s poorest people could take over a decade.”
Read “The Inequality Virus,” here.
Trade Unionsists for an All-Ireland Zero Covid Strategy, via Uplift.
“Trade unionists island wide call on the Executive Councils of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions - Northern Ireland Committee to demand that the Governments North and South move urgently towards pursuing a ‘Zero Covid’ -like strategy, as has been done successfully in places such as New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, and as is advocated for by the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group.”
Pandemic has left sex workers in ‘extremely challenging and riskier situations, via Newstalk.
Over 40% of childcare workers are actively seeking another job due to low pay, via TippFM.
UK General
According to The Guardian, incidences of Covid-19 are not falling as much in lower-income areas compared to wealthier parts of the UK.
“The rate at which cases of Covid-19 have fallen since the start of the year is dramatically lower in the UK’s poorest regions than in wealthier areas, according to detailed analysis of government data.
The figures, verified by the House of Commons library and compiled by Labour from official statistics, show that the number of cases of Covid infection per 100,000 people remained markedly higher in the last full week of January in many poorer parliamentary constituencies than in more affluent ones.”