Irish trade union leadership have agreed an austerity programme for public sector workers.
WSM is arguing against this deal. This article gives some of the details and our arguments
against this attack on workers. ---- Early yesterday morning, the leadership of the public
sector committee of ICTU emerged from talks with the government claiming they had achieved
the best possible outcome from the negotiations. The best possible outcome in question
involves extra hours at work, cuts in overtime rates and allowances for unsociable hours,
delayed increments and revisions to flexitime arrangements and work-sharing patterns. ----
"We are living under extraordinary circumstances and people are suffering extraordinary
miseries.? ? Jack O?Connor on Today FM?s The Last Word. There?s more misery to come.
Much has been made of the fact that pay cuts will not be levied on those earning less than
?65,000. However, an increase of between three and four hours per week at the same rate of
pay amounts to a pay cut in real terms as does the delay of increments. As important to
many people is the fact that these changes will take away one of the main benefits of a
job in the public sector, flexible, ?family friendly? working arrangements. Extra hours on
the job, for front line staff that are already overstretched and over stressed will have a
significant psychological impact and services will deteriorate.
Acceptance of these terms would mean acceptance of decades of indentured servitude. The
?1billion euro of ?savings? from the public pay bill, much of which will be extracted by
making fewer people do more work, represents a direct transfer of wealth from public
sector workers to the bondholders. The gains of the labour movement in the 20th century;
the five day week, the eight hour day, holiday entitlements and in some cases where it
still applies, job security, are all under attack. For now the promise is that pay rates
will not be touched, but when this agreement has run its course, there will be nothing
else left to give.
The terms of the agreement also have to be looked at within the broader context of
austerity. While workers are coming home later from work with the same pay, they will be
handing over more of their salaries to the government through the mechanism of the
property tax and water charges. The sum total of these measures amounts to economic
blitzkrieg as a tactic in the class war. To date this war has been one sided. It is high
time we fought back.
We must prepare to strike and we must be prepared to stay out until we have struck a blow
so significant that it shakes the foundations of the state. We cannot rely on the union
leaders to organise resistance for us. They are not facing attacks on their living
conditions. Their careers rely on their ability to find a solution that is acceptable to
both bosses and workers. In this case that is not possible so we need to fight for
ourselves.
The discussion needs to start now in every work place on how we will conduct industrial
action. These discussions can provide the basis for strike committees. We need to argue
for the rejection of this agreement and for a participative approach to industrial action.
Provisions should be made to prevent scabbing. We should discuss things like refusing to
handle the implementation of the property tax and it?s extraction from wages and social
welfare. Moreover, we need to take the debate on to the street and win the argument among
the general population, to convince other workers that an injury to one, is an injury to all.
WORDS: Mark Hoskins
Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/psa
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