PaPer of the SocialiSt Party
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Water CharGeS
SINKING WHEN WE MOBILISE
May 2016
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How long can Kenny’s government last?
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2
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
Water charges suspended
news
Protest movement & boycott force climb down Socialist Party & AAA role in water charges battle: as well as participating in this mass protest movement against irish Water, the Socialist Party and the aaa have been to the fore, through our elected positions and campaigning work, in consistently arguing and popularising a mass boycott of the charge. this is acknowledged by some media commentators: "So that makes [Paul] Murphy, his fellow members of the AAA-PBP Alliance [sic] and a number of Independent deputies the only politicians to emerge with honour in the Irish Water saga, no matter what people might think of their campaign. They’ve done no Uturns. They haven’t flip-flopped with the prevailing populist wind. It’s their victory. Not Micheál Martin’s and not Gerry Adams’s" – Miriam Lord, Irish Times, 30 April 2016
Protests & mass non-payment of the bills were the main factor in the decision to suspend the charges
“W
By Katia Hancke
hat parliament does, the people on the streets can undo”. mick Barry tD accurately described the key reason for the embarrassing climb down forced on the establishment parties – the massive movement that developed in towns and cities across ireland over the last two years.
Victory for people power Water charges have been suspended as a result of this people power movement. After two years of dominating the political agenda in this country, the political establishment has kicked the issue to touch, into the dark hole of Dáil commissions and committees who will eventually have to report back to the Dáil. Any recommendations will then have to be voted on by all TDs in the Dáil –
but that is months, possibly years away. We have not won yet, but if ever there was proof that the mass and anti water boycott charges/meters protests across the country have the establishment on the ropes, this is it. This is an embarrassing and significant climb down on the part of the establishment parties, and we can be guaranteed that politicians from various parties will be clambering over each other to claim this as their “victory”. We cannot allow Fianna Fáil and Co, those same parties that implemented austerity cut after austerity cut and never had any issue with water charges (indeed Fianna Fáil planned to implement water charges back in 2010!), to be credited with any of this.
No trust in Fianna Fáil It is disappointing to see part of the anti-water charges movement looking towards Fianna Fáil as a
party that can be trusted to stick by their election promises, or in any way to represent the interests of working class people. Let’s be clear: if the establishment thought they could get away with it, they would re-establish water charges in a heartbeat and a significant part of them certainly still hopes that this will be the outcome of putting the issue on the long finger. We need to remain vigilant by keeping up the pressure and reminding them that they will have some battle on their hands if they dare to start charging for water again in any form. Satisfying as it was to see Alan Kelly, surrounded by the remnants of the Labour Party, having to stand up in the Dáil and sulk like a toddler who has lost his favourite toy, this battle was not fought in parliament but in our communities. This embarrassing climb down was forced upon the parties of austerity because of the majority of people refusing to pay this unjust charge,
"The political pivot on which swings the eventual outcome of talks to facilitate government formation between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is that Dublin South West by-election result. Then, a very small party, with a single TD in Joe Higgins, moved the entire political dialogue on water sharply left. It’s an underappreciated achievement.” – Irish Examiner, 27 April, 2016 because of the women and men organising their communities against Irish Water, because of the hundreds of thousands joining the protests against Irish Water, because of the one million plus people who made this an issue in the recent election by voting for a candidate who said (s)he was against water charges. Let’s take that lesson to its logical conclusion – through continuing the mass pressure and making sure they can’t forget what we want and need: abolish the charges and the quango that is Irish Water altogether. Stop the metering programme. Refund all charges – often those who paid were scared into paying by the continuous bullying of Irish Water and the political establishment. Drop all charges against protesters. Invest in our water infrastructure to bring it up to scratch – and we would suggest
to look in the direction of the Sunday Times rich list this time if the political establishment wants to tax anyone for this. That is the type of victory we must aim for.
Blow to neo-liberal agenda For the first time since the start of the crisis in 2008, ordinary people have struck a significant blow against the neo-liberal agenda of never ending austerity. It shows us how we can similarly force this agenda to retreat on crucial issues such as housing, health, education and workers’ rights. The battles that are ongoing on the need to Repeal the 8th and to separate church and state should grow more confident in the knowledge that if we can mobilise the broad support on these issues into an active force, we can win victories.
Mental health services savaged by austerity By Colm McCarthy
t
he government’s raiding of the budget allocated for mental health is just the latest incident in the irish state’s long and unedifying tradition of dealing with mental health. €12 million intended to be spent in the area was cut as a result of an “overspend” in the Department of health. it has since been revealed that a “ring-fenced” increase of €35m in health spending was planned to be cut from last year’s budget. however with the election out of the way, the minister for health leo varadkar, proceeded to wield the axe. Spending on mental health is noticeably low by international standards at 6.2% of the health budget. This is half the percentage spent in Britain, New Zeland and Canada. Whilst spending was low
throughout this period, it was one of the areas to suffer particularly vicious cuts as the Fianna Fáil / Green and Fine Gael / Labour governments implemented austerity. This further raid will simply worsen this situation. One of the clearest measures of the effects of the failure to seriously deal with this is the suicide crisis. From the years 2000-2014 nearly 7,500 people have died as a result of suicide in Ireland.
Outcry against indifference The debate in the Dáil on the issue at the end of April saw an outcry as people instinctively responded to what they saw as a nearly empty chamber as typifying the way that the issue had been treated by successive governments. Ireland has a shameful history in
Protest for mental health services outside the Dáil in April
dealing with mental illness going back decades with those with mental illness frequently subjected to institutionalisation in so called “lunatic asylums”, incarcerating thousands of people. Leo Varadkar has carved out a niche for himself, commenting on
his own failures as a Minister as if he were a baby viewing it whilst suspended in space. He would publicly wonder how people were protesting on issues such as the water charges instead of the number of people on trollies as if he didn’t have direct responsibility for it.
Change on these issues is not given by craven politicians easily, but there is a need to build people power campaigns that fight for a publicly run National Health Service where mental health services are given the resources they need.
3
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
Resilient in the face of threats…
JoE CArriCK, driver & shop steward, explained the latest with the dispute:
LUAS worKErS continue to show the way in terms of fighting for a recovery for workers, writes PAUL MUrPHy Td. They bravely rejected by 99% a proposal that would have seen the introduction of a two-tier workforce and increasing the working day from nine hours to nine and a half hours. The response of the company, Transdev, has been vicious. Threat has followed threat. workers have been threatened with being locked out for continuing industrial action. They were written to directly and threatened with massive financial penalties to pay for the company’s losses – something not even legal within ireland’s restrictive industrial relations law! The latest threat is that workers’ pay will be cut by at least 10% if they continue with a work to rule. The Luas drivers have become even more resolute in the face of this aggression. They returned to the picket lines on Thursday 28 April, where The Socialist interviewed picketing workers.
Luas workers have demonised by right-wing media for fighting for entitlements from a profitable company
EddiE ByrnE, a Luas driver and Trainer told his story: “i started work with the luas on 4 January 2004. like everybody else who started at that time, we were all really interested in luas wanted to make it a success. at the start, luas was shocked by the success of it. We all helped to make it what it is now by doing extra hours and helping out. But, while the revenue was far more than their projections, we haven’t got a pay increase since 2011. What’s being put out there about us is not the truth. “The bullying approach is very disappointing. Gerry Madden [the Managing Director of Transdev] has been sent over here to do a job of sorting us out. He was previously with Royal Mail, he made cutbacks, implemented outsourcing 2014: €24 million there and brought in yellow packs. Now he’s doing it here. If he thinks there’s 2015: €82 million going to be a split here he’s wrong. There’s definitely no split. The drivers are rock solid together so we are.
Transdev’s profits:
Gerry Madden, Managing Director, is trying to divide the workers
Luas drivers vilified: Challenging the myths soared by 30% and the share of GDP going to profits rather than wages has increased.
2) “the luas drivers are greedy”
1) “the luas drivers are highly paid” Luas drivers have a pay scale which ranges from €29,000 to a maximum of €43,000 after 10 years. This isn’t a high wage when the cost of living and the profits of the multinational Transdev, that operate Luas, are considered.
However, because bosses in Ireland have been successful in driving down wages and have created a low-wage economy for many workers this seems like a high wage. The median wage in Ireland is €28,000 but for many workers minimum wage or low paying jobs are the norm. Wages have stagnated in Ireland while profits have
The Luas drivers are portrayed as being greedy for seeking their pay rise. The idea that they need to lower their demands to what is being put across as ‘reasonable’ levels is being touted by big business. Bosses in Ireland are engaged in a race to the bottom in wages. They want to keep wages down. This was emphasised by IBEC’s calling the measly 50c increase on the minimum wage as a ‘mistake’. If bosses are going to be forced to give pay increases they want them to be minimal to protect their profits, that’s why it is imperative for them to portray the Luas drivers’ demands as outlandish. They want to instil in workers that they must be ‘sensible’, other-
workplace news
Luas workers defy race to the bottom
“We had a meeting with the company the other day, but they just keep saying that drivers are not in a space to negotiate, because our demands are above the Wrc recommendation that we rejected. the company is not willing to backtrack on the demand for new entrants to come in at a lower rate or the nine and a half hour shifts. that’s contrary to what Gerry Madden has been saying on the radio. “They issued a letter directly to the members, telling them to question their reps, saying how the workers’ reps have achieved nothing and that they will get less and less. The agenda is clear – to divide and break us, to humiliate us. They are now threatening to cut pay by 10% in punishment for our work to rule. They say they are cutting it because of only part performance of our job. But we are performing our full duties. “It’s all scare tactics. The drivers are the main cog in the system and Madden knows how united we are. At the meeting tongiht, over 160 drivers attended and every signal indicated that all of them are more resolute and determined than ever. They will not succumb to threats and bully tactics and are more united than ever to see this through. “The workers know they’re doing the right thing by striking. The strikes will go ahead as planned. Then we will probably have to ramp it up if they don’t make a reasonable offer.”
By Dave Murphy
wise there could be a risk to the supposed ‘recovery’, this is just an excuse to hold back workers’ demands and to protect their profits. Transdev’s profits internationally have soared over the last year – their attributable profits from Ireland more than tripled from 2014 to 2015 from €24 million to €82 million. The workers are demanding a share of these profits.
3) “other workers are more deserving of pay rises” During the strike, memes have appeared comparing Luas drivers’ pay with that of nurses and doctors and portraying them as more ‘deserving’ of pay increases. This is a classic “divide and rule tactic” of the bosses that we must not accept. We should not fall into the trap of seeing one type of work as being more valuable than another type of work, all workers deserve decent
pay and conditions. Nurses and teachers, particularly new entrants, have had their pay slashed over the last number of years and a two-tier workforce introduced with new entrants getting less pay. Of course, nurses and doctors should be paid more but it is not a situation where if Luas drivers get paid more that nurses then lose out. In fact, if the Luas drivers are victorious it will increase the pressure on the government to restore nurses pay. One of the key reasons why the drivers rejected the offer from the WRC was that it created a two-tier work force with lower pay for new entrants, the exact same tactic which was used to reduce nurses pay. The Luas workers have taken a stand against this race to the bottom by refusing to accept new workers getting lower pay. If the Luas drivers win it will increase the pressure on the nurses’ unions who accepted the two-tier system to put up a fight against it.
4
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
analysis
How long can Kenny's government last? a
By Kevin McLoughlin
Fter the election enda Kenny strutted around repeating to himself, “i’m still the taoiseach”. it’s taken two months but now this “emperor” is staggering not strutting, barely wearing a fig leaf and making concessions to Fianna Fáil so they can cobble together a minority government. He’s likely to creep over the finishing line and become the first ever Fine Gael Taoiseach to be reelected but any sense of achievement won’t last; it’s likely to be all downhill from there. This isn’t a “Grand Coalition” of the two traditional establishment parties, but it’s a very close first cousin. It’s a turning point forced on the capitalist establishment, much more significant than the Tallaght Strategy of twenty nine years ago.
The (not so) Independents
Historic deal between Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil is a sign of their weakness
Historic decline of FF & FG Then Fianna Fáil was just three short of a majority and both parties combined had 132 of the 166 TDs. This is a forced arrangement because they have less than 50% of the popular vote. These parties (with Labour’s assistance) used to operate as alternate governments, the first and second eleven of the establishment, now they have to combine to field one team. This arrangement is also completely unrepresentative of people’s desires for change, made up as it is of the defeated parties from the last two general elections. It seems the deal struck will mean that any proposals from the new commission for water charges will have to be agreed to by the Dáil. It’s therefore possible that
The new government will also be made up of ‘Independents’, some reports speculating that ten or more of the 23 Independents will not be able to resist the temptation of doing the state and themselves, “some service” by coalescing with Fine Gael. Such an involvement of Independents can raise a serious question over the value of Independents who just support the establishment parties and the system, and can help push forward the understanding of the need for a specifically Left alternative. Few governments in Irish history have started out from such a weakened state and it’s hard to see this arrangement lasting for the duration. In fact, it’s entirely possible that it could be collapsed out of office much sooner than that; possibly a result of unpopular policies provoking a new challenge from the streets or a decline in the economic situation smashing it against a wall.
this new government could still perish on the rock of water charges, just like the last one. While Fianna Fáil spurned the trappings of office this time, and they will claim credit for the suspension of water charges, if they
support Fine Gael for two years plus, they will be implicated in the policies imposed and in the crises in housing and public services which are set to get much worse because of chronic under-funding.
Build a real left
If Britain voted to leave the EU in the June referendum, that would propel Kenny’s weak administration into completely unchartered waters and could cause significant economic and political instability, after only months in office. Harry McGee’s comments in the Irish Times regarding what’s in store are perceptive, "The AAA-PBP alliance will continue with its unaltered course of outright opposition. Sinn Féin will have to start nuancing its response, to avoid being
Sinn Féin will have to be mindful of dizziness as their leaders chart a zig-zag course of posing as a firm opposition, while at the same time signalling to the establishment that they can be trusted. The Socialist Party, as part of the Anti-Austerity Alliance and the AAA-PBP, believes it is essential to popularise the need for a genuine Left government to challenge capitalism as the only way to resolve the key issues facing Irish society. Inside and outside the AAA we will outline the need for socialist policies which take the key wealth and resources of society into democratic public ownership and use them to put people’s needs before profit. In order to fight for a left socialist government, a new party or movement for all working class people also needs to be built. Speed that day.
real change and there is increasing confidence that the capitalist establishment can be defeated and society organised in a different
way. Sinn Féin don’t echo that confidence, they are moving in a different direction – one of accommodation with the establishment.
“Turbulent journey” lies ahead
The support of some Independents for the new government exposes their true political colours
accused of being opportunistic and cynical. Fianna Fáil might find itself in the dock as an “accessory before the fact” with nothing to show for it. Fine Gael might end up looking like a party that has been shorn of all its policies and principles. And into that mix will start a succession race in Fine Gael, which will start nanoseconds after Enda Kenny is nominated as Taoiseach. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a turbulent journey." Gerry Adams convened a meeting for all ‘progressive’ opposition TDs in the Dáil on a Wednesday, but the previous Sunday on The Week in Politics, when the government negotiations looked bogged down, he offered that Sinn Féin was open to discuss the possibility of government with either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.
Sinn Féin’s rightward drift continues By Dave Vallely
t
he general election saw the labour party routed, and there is now a realignment taking place as forces jockey to fill the vacuum. sinn Féin has put forward the idea of leading a “progressive opposition” in the Dáil.
Largely silent on Luas strike The mass movement against water charges has served to increase the confidence of working class people and has led to an increase in industrial struggle. This has predictably led to huge hostility from a frightened establishment, best demonstrated by the demonisation of the Luas strike in the billionaireowned press. It is moments like this where solidarity is essential. Unfortunately, Sinn Féin refused to sign an emergency motion in support of Luas workers threatened by
scab labour when it was put to South Dublin County Council. While workers have faced a barrage of abuse and hostile media coverage, Sinn Féin has remained largely silent.
Embracing the establishment The excessive pay for TDs is a deliberate policy by the capitalist establishment to insulate its representatives from the brutal realities of their own policies. They don’t care that workers can’t make ends meet, with house prices over eight times what the average person earns in a year, but Left TDs should share that pain so that they are prepared to fight for change. Sinn Féin, however, has announced that it will review its policy of paying representatives the average industrial wage. Justifying the change in position, Mary Lou McDonald missed the point when she said TDs had to “live in the real world”.
This is all part of a pattern, where Sinn Féin seeks to demonstrate their non-radical credentials to establishment critics. Further proof of this is Gerry Adams clarification that Sinn Féin’s were willing to enter talks about government formation between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Speaking in An Phoblacht, Adams said “Sinn Féin's position is very straightforward – we will talk to anyone and everyone. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are the parties who have said they won't talk to us.”
Need for a socialist opposition Whatever the arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the next government will be another austerity regime. Both parties will seek to block real progressive change. There is a need for a genuine socialist opposition in society and in the Dáil. Working class people have demonstrated their appetite for
5
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
No amendments, no “Citizens’ Convention”
t
By Ruth Coppinger TD
he DemanD for repeal of the 8th amendment abortion ban is growing throughout irish society. it has become a key issue among young people, although recent polls by amnesty show support for change across every age and region. More than ever before, there is a chance to remove from the Constitution a sectarian, misogynistic law that has endangered the lives of women. This law stigmatises and criminalises women who daily leave the country for abortion, or those who take medical abortion pills in their own homes which they've had to order online. There is a democratic deficit that, while 80% favour a referendum to repeal the 8th, this is not reflected in the Dáil, the only place a referendum can be triggered.
Backward political establishment The political establishment in Ireland is particularly backward, having clung to the Catholic Church since the state's foundation. Ninety years on, the church controls health, education and key sectors of life, despite their weakened sta-
Ruth Coppinger TD during a ROSA day of action, sending “Knickers For Repeal” to Enda Kenny
tus. It's incredible that the Angelus is broadcast twice a day by the national broadcaster, and that a Catholic prayer is said daily in the Dáil! The political parties don't reflect the shift in attitudes that's taken place. Fine Gael wants to establish a “Citizens’ Convention” to kick the issue to touch and evade responsibility. Fianna Fáil opposes repeal, but it's not just the two big traditional parties. Labour had ample opportunity in government but chose not to vote for repeal and, belatedly, favours abortion with
restrictions which would see women still criminalised. Sinn Féin, despite a large youth vote, has been slow and contradictory on this issue and must be challenged. A year ago, the party wouldn't even support abortion for women suffering the trauma of fatal foetal abnormality! While TDs, including Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams, now pose for photo ops at pro-repeal events, northern leader, Martin Mc Guinness, spoke at their Ard Fheis of a party which only favours abortion in very “exceptional situa-
ROSA day of action for repeal
tions”. He also told the BBC that a mechanism had to be found to stop abortion pills being accessed online. Of the parties in the Dáil, only Anti Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit (of which the Socialist Party is part) and a small number of independents have a full pro-choice position.
No more hypocrisy! Firstly, we should be clear a “citizens’ convention” is a ruse and undemocratic, taking responsibili-
ty out of the hands of those elected. How will a representative sample of ordinary citizens be chosen? Will it have a majority of women of childbearing age? Will the Catholic Church be represented? Will decisions even be acted on or simply ignored as other recommendations of conventions have been.? And why is it called a “citizens' convention” in the first place when this issue affects non-citizens in an acute way? It is likely a convention can recommend change but of a restrictive or even rotten kind: a referendum linked to restrictive legislation, possibly even with Constitutional status, or, worst case scenario, an amendment to the 8th Amendment itself. The pro-choice movement in Ireland has always called for a referendum to simply repeal the 8th amendment, with no other wording, as this has proved disastrous. The Dáil should then either regulate or legislate the grounds for abortion. Abortion should be completely decriminalised. It's clear that to bring pressure on the Dáil to reflect the new reality and to move with urgency, an active campaign involving wide layers of society is needed. Otherwise, we are doomed to decades of more hypocrisy.
Poland: abortion rights under attack
Nasze ciała, nasz wybór!
“Nasze ciała, nasz wybór“ (Our bodies our choice)
By Monika Janas
o Rosa (for Reproductive rights, against oppression, sexism & austerity) ranks as the most active pro-choice group and demonstrates that activity on this issue now can be very successful. Two key events organised by ROSA – the abortion pill train and bus – played an important role in demystifying the abortion pill, promoting it as an option and challenging the archaic abortion ban. Weekly street actions aim to interact and discuss the issue of abortion with the widest possible number of people. The response has enthused all concerned. The 16 April day of action by ROSA in Dublin saw a large number of new participants and an incredibly supportive and progressive response from the general public. At one point, there was a queue to sign the petition and write a message on knickers to politicians - a humorous action
that matched with working class people's attitudes that the politicians deserve ridicule for such interference in people's personal lives.
Activism needed now Groups of people actively campaigning now, not waiting for a referendum itself, is important. Firstly, to win more and more people to a prochoice position. Secondly, to build the necessary pressure on TDs. And thirdly to develop key arguments to win a referendum. While lobbying the politicians and forcing them to advance their positions is important, social change has always come about from activism on the ground. for more information on roSa visit www.rosa.ie
nce again the catholic church is trying to take over women’s wombs. this time its target are polish women. at the moment in poland, abortion is illegal in most circumstances, with the exception of the pregnancy endangering a woman’s health or life or if the foetus is severely malformed. it is one of the most restrictive laws in europe. already women are unable to make choices about their own bodies but clearly that is not enough. At the end of March, new legislation was proposed to the Polish government which would ban abortion completely. This legislation is supported by, amongst others, the Prime Minister; Beata Szydło, and the leader of the majority party, Law and Justice: Jarosław Kaczyński. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this is only one of the attacks waged on
women by the conservatives. They have also rolled back legislation allowing for the morning after pill to be available without prescription, and funding to in vitro services in public hospitals has been cut.
Solidarity across Europe These medieval changes were not met with quiet agreement but loud opposition. The same day that the legislation was proposed thousands of people went out on the streets to show their opposition. Shouts of, „Nasze ciała, nasz wybór!” echoed in Polish cities. In a matter of hours, Polish women gained support across Europe. Solidarity protests took place in Ireland, the UK and many other countries. The fight for the rights of women, as well as students and workers, cannot and will not be won in one country alone. Only through solidarity can we win against a system of exploitation and suffering.
abortion rights
Repeal the 8 now! th
May 2016
THE SO
special feature
6
Us ele
PolITIcal PolaRI
The Sanders campaign shows…
Historic potential for a new party of the Left It is evident that the (un)Democratic Party has done whatever it thought necessary to block Bernie Sanders from gaining the presidential nomination and to stem the grassroots movement intent on challenging the billionaire class that has developed around his campaign, writes Emma QuInn.
D
espite national polls continually showing Bernie sanders with the highest favourability rating of all presidential candidates it is clear the Wall street dominated Democratic party is no place for a real pro worker and anti-corporate challenge to the establishment. the completely undemocratic methods and structures the Democratic leadership imposes on the primary voting process, the fact only a tiny percentage of national voters participate, the use of super delegates, the power of Wall st money and the vehement attacks by the establishment media has made a sanders nomination virtually impossible.
A message gaining traction Despite the road blocks and rigging, momentum behind Bernie has been strong: in March alone a whopping $44 million was raised in small donations from working class people beating the corporate backed Clinton for the third month in a row a clear sign of the strength that continues to grow around his campaign. The demographics of the tens of thousands attending the vibrant rallies in support of Sanders are indicative. Young, working class, people of colour and women are stepping forward to support and get active in the movement, to the gall of Clinton. Bernie’s calls for a “political revolution”, a single-payer free healthcare system, a $15 minimum wage, free college education, massive investment into infrastructure and taxing big business and the super wealthy have resonated with tens of millions of ordinary people. Significantly it is working and young people who have been inspired by the self-professed socialist; who has no doubt contributed to a growing interest in socialism developing in the US, with young people in particular seeking an alternative to the failed capitalist system.
New interest in socialism The election and re-election of Socialist Alternative (sister organisa-
tion of the Socialist Party in the US) member Kshama Sawant to the city council in Seattle is evidence that this is not a fluke or freak occurrence but the result of a politicisation and increased disillusionment with the capitalist establishment. Over 800 people bought copies of Socialist Alternative’s paper at two recent Sanders rallies in Seattle showing a real appetite for socialism amongst his supporters. The successes of Kshama and Socialist Alternative in Seattle also shows that not only is it possible to have a powerful campaign outside of the Democratic Party, but actually a break from the undemocratic Democratic Party is exactly what is needed to allow the movement for Bernie to flourish. The fight for a political revolution must not be allowed to wane when, inevitably, Clinton is announced as the presidential candidate at the July Democratic Convention. Bernie must break free and fight right through to November. The Sanders supporters, and with them swathes of people that have become politicised via their support for Bernie, will not be content to row in behind war monger and Wall St backed Clinton. Sanders should not bow to the pressure of the “lesser evilism” argument to support Clinton against Trump. This would only serve to demoralise and disorganise the growing movement when in fact the best way to halt the revolting racist and sexist Trump is the building of a force that represents, fights for and unites working class people and crucially points the way to how we can make real change in society.
A party of the 99% We have reached a truly historic point. Never before has there been such an opportune time to begin building a new political party to take on the 1%, which both the Democratic and Republican parties represent. The type of party needed is one which rejects corporate money and influence, that has genuine democratic structures, which opens up Bernie’s campaign to become an organised movement of millions, a party which embraces Black Lives Matter, the student and environmental movements, the fight
Millions of workers and young people have been inspired by the radical demands of the Sanders campaign
A racist, sexis
Socialist Seattle city council member, Kshama Sawant
By Conor Payne
sanders must run as an independent socialist alternative (sister organisation of the socialist Party) and #Movement4Bernie are petitioning sanders to run as an independent or alongside Jill stein on the Green Party ticket, to call a conference amongst his supporters to discuss the launch a new party for the 99%. In just two weeks over 17,000 have signed. for $15 now, those fighting for women’s and LGBTQ equality and other struggles the young and working class are waging across the US; a party of the 99%. Such a force could deliver a powerful blow to the US establishment. Bernie not acquiring the Democratic nomination should not be the end; but the beginning of a
movement and the launching of a new party that takes on the 1% and inspires the working class in the US and across the world to fight for real socialist change. The movement behind Bernie shows a fightback can be waged; now we need a strategy and an organisation that can propel that movement forward.
The RIse of Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential Primary has been watched with horror by millions in the Us and around the world. Trump is standing on a platform of open bigotry. From describing Mexican immigrants as ‘rapists’, his plan to ban muslims from entering the US, his call for women who have abortions to face ‘some kind of punishment’Trump’s reactionary, racist politics are a threat to minorities, women and all working people. His success so far has already succeeded in bringing open racism and sexism into the political debate around the elections. A movement to challenge and defeat his agenda is urgently needed in the US.
Right wing populism However, the support Trump has gotten from a significant minority of the population also reflects the real anger that exists in US society. His message is appealing to a section of the white working class which is rightly alienated from the Republican elite and the entire
May 2016
OCIALIST
IsaTIon DeePens
Hilary Clinton: Candidate of war, Wall Street & Walmart By Aprille Scully
h
illary clinton’s bid to become to the first woman president has resulted in calls for progressively minded workers and young people across the Us to support her. the latter in particular, and significantly young women, have rejected this and instead have supported the candidacy of Bernie sanders. Several opinions have tried to deduce how this could be. Disgracefully, popular American feminist Gloria Steinem said that young women were just going where “the boys” are. The LA Times concluded that “getting a woman in the Oval Office has not ranked as high on [young women’s] priority list as putting Wall Street or the giant health insurance companies in their place.”
No “American dream” Crucially, the reason why young people are supporting Sanders over Clinton is that the latter is an establishment stooge and the former calls for a political revolution against the billionaire class. He is articulating the message of the Occupy movement, of opposition to the 1% in the US. This is much more appealing to a section of people who have broadly rejected the pro-war and pro-big business political establishment in the form of the Republicans, and Democrats such as Clinton. This generation in the US has been marked and politicised by the Iraq War, horrifying in its destruction for naked greed; as well as economic crisis and a meaningless “recovery”.
Hilary Clinton has received $140 million in donations from corporations since the crisis in 2008
Half of the population under the age of 35 believe the “American Dream” is a myth. With graduates leaving college with an average $30,000 of debt and earning approximately $25,000 per annum, they are worse off than their parents. Hillary Clinton has voted for war, not only in Iraq but also supported the bombing of Libya and Syria and is funded by Wall Street.
No champion of women’s rights “But why shouldn’t disadvantaged groups vote for members of their demographic? Voting for someone who has experiential knowledge of the obstacles to participation that affect you makes perfectly good sense…” These were the words of Emer O’Toole in her Irish Times article (April 11, 2016) pushing the “feminist” case for Hillary Clinton. Clinton was the only woman member on the board of viciously anti-
union Walmart from 1986-1992. Walmart is the biggest private employer in America and pays their workers so poorly they have to rely on food stamps. Their treatment of pregnant workers has been described as "inhumane". Clinton's presence on the board, with $100,000 of vested shares, made little difference to the women who make up 60% of the company's workforce. While it is important to have women representatives in all aspects of society, feminising the elite will not bring about any real equality for women as the capitalist system is incapable of providing this. When it comes to abortion Clinton is clearly moving away from a clear pro-choice position. In September 2015, she made overtures to antichoice Republicans, saying, “…if there’s a way to structure some kind of constitutional restriction [on abortion] that takes into account the life of the mother and her health, then I’m open to that.”
Attacking the poor
In the 1990s, Hillary Clinton backed her husband’s gutting of the welfare system which plunged millions of women into abject poverty. This had a particular damming effect on Black people. In 1996, Hillary Clinton referred to the Black youth as “superpredators” condemning Black people for violence in the US. Furthermore her refusal to back investment in a comprehensive single tiered healthcare system, accessible and affordable housing for all, and her implicit support for Walmart’s tactics for firing union supporters clearly contradicts any notion that she defends the rights of working people. Hilary Clinton cannot be supported in this Presidential election. The campaign has shown the potential to build an alternative to the political representatives of Wall Street and for the building of a party of the 99%.
st, billionaire, demagoge: How Trump can be stopped political establishment. Much of his support has come from some of the poorest regions of the US, and from areas devastated by de-industrialisation, mass unemployment and falling wages. Trump, like right wing populists everywhere, is attempting to direct this anger not against the bosses or the system but against immigrants and minorities. However, he is also attacking the ‘free trade’ deals which have destroyed so many communities and jobs, and denouncing his opponents as bought and sold by corporate interests. Any effective challenge must cut across his appeal by providing a real alternative to his politics. The Republican Party leadership bears a significant measure of responsibility for the rise of Trump. They have made conscious use of racist and chauvinist rhetoric as a means of winning support. Now a candidate has emerged who has taken that rhetoric further, and is outside their control. Trump winning the Republican nomination for president would represent a significant crisis for the Republican Party establishment. They are con-
sidering all sorts of tactics to block him, including a ‘brokered’ party convention and the imposition of a different candidate.
Crisis for Republicans However, it is likely that any moves of this kind would split the Republican Party. At the same time, Trump remains deeply unpopular with the broad mass of the American population and if he were the Republican candidate, they would be deeply damaged. They might lose not just the Presidency, but also control of Congress and the Senate. In Chicago, Trump cancelled a planned rally in the face of a mass protest. Twenty trade unions and political organisations have now issued a call for: “for a massive nonviolent mobilisation of working people, students, immigrants… to stand up to Trump’s bullying and bigotry,”. A mass protest movement against Trump is absolutely needed. However, the political message of the movement is also key. There are huge dangers in a contest between Trump and Hillary Clinton, as now seems likely.
Clinton is no alternative Clinton is the quintessential establishment politician, already discredited in the eyes of many by her links and enormous funding from Wall Street. Her candidacy will make it easier for Trump himself as the anti establishment candidate. While it is still very likely that Clinton would win, polls show a significantly smaller lead for Clinton over Trump compared to Bernie Sanders. This is a warning of the kind of traction Trump can get in the general election. Activists who want to take on Trump should not simply be drawn into cheerleading for Clinton as the only alternative. Trump’s campaign shows the growing polarisation in US society. Both of the parties of US capitalism are facing crises, with the Sanders campaign representing the first major left challenge to the Democratic Party establishment in decades. The development of such a significant movement behind Sanders has shown both the anger against the political establishment and the grow-
Donald Trump is almost certain to be the Republican nominee
ing openness to left and socialist ideas in US society. Sanders’ demands for a $15 minimum wage and decent healthcare and education and his sharp criticism of corporate politics have won massive support. A left and class-based approach is the only answer to Trump’s rhetoric which
special feature
ections:
can effectively cut across Trump’s base of support. The politics of ‘lesser evilism’ will not be an effective challenge to right wing populism. We need a continuation of the movement which has developed around Sanders and a new party of the 99% to provide a left, socialist alternative.
7
8
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
international
Repressive EU strengthens “Fortress Europe” The EU-Turkey deal will only increase the misery and the deaths of human beings fleeing extreme oppression. On 18 April , reports of up to 400 people drowning off the Egyptian coast as they set off to seek refuge in Italy on the one year anniversary of 800 drowning in one capsizing in 2015 off Lampedusa, bring into sharp relief the murderous implications of the EU's racist blocking of all routes to asylum for refugees.
By Laura Fitzgerald
i
mperialist intervention into the middle east by the Us and key eU powers, aided by the irish state with warplanes refuelling in shannon, is at the root of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. today, over 50% of syria's population are displaced, many of whom have already been bereaved of loved ones, have been traumatised by seeing their home towns and cities razed to the ground, and who have been victims of sexual violence as rape is used as a weapon of war.
Oppose fortress capitalist Europe
Crisis for EU
Over a million refugees came to the EU from Syria and other war-torn states in 2015. Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt have 2 million refugees from Syria alone, and Turkey already has 2.6 million. One million refugees constitutes under 0.2% of the EU population. Refugees in Lebanon constitute 20% of the population which would equate with the EU taking 100 million refugees. Nonetheless, the EU's refugee crisis has caused the biggest threat yet to the EU project to create a unified political and economic entity that acts in the interests of the major EU banks and corporations. With a central tenet of this EU project being the free movement of labour and capital, the move to enforce borders between EU states constitutes a major threat to the EU project and illustrates how the refugee crisis could be the issue that causes a breakup of the EU. The idea of a resettlement programme, preferred last year as a solution, has not transpired. The unwillingness of some of the richest countries in the world to provide the right to asylum to those fleeing for their lives, is an indictment of the EU and of each of its
Refugees in their millions are fleeing war and poverty in desperation
states, including Germany. Merkel who sought to soften her image by welcoming refugees was a central architect of the recent inhumane EU-Turkey deal, the latest attempt to "solve" the refugee crisis.
EU’s dirty deal Under the EU-Turkey deal agreed in March, Turkey, with the support of NATO ships are stopping people fleeing across the Mediterranean to Greece. This constitutes and even further militarisation of the EU and a further fortifying of racist 'Fortress Europe'. Refugees arriving in Greece are to be sent back to Turkey. In return, the Turkish government, a vile and increasingly dictatorial regime that is waging a war on the Kurdish people and is repressing any dissenting voices in Turkey, will receive some aid from the EU , have its EU accession-bid considered , and an agreement that a relatively small number of Syrian
refugees, (300,000 has been mooted) be accepted into the EU over time from Turkish refugee camps. Only Syrian refugees will be accepted into the EU under this deal. "…we are coming from a destroyed city. Not only is there war in our country but the situation in Turkey is bad for us. We endured four years of war, bom-
bardment, rocket attacks... I don't want to be sent back to Turkey because my father and two sisters are in Germany and I miss them." This is what Ahmed, a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, told Al Jazeera news on his arrival in the Greek island of Lesbos. No amount of walls, no amount of repression, can stem the flow of refugees.
GloBal arMS trade 2016
1 Person
€1.7 trillion spent on industry of death By Thomas White The InTeRnaTIonal arms Trade is a massive industry which relies on war as its main market. It is such a hugely profitable industry with global military expenditure reported to be a staggering $1,711 billion, which is larger than the costs of eradicating poverty, which according to the network for sustainable Development of the United nations is approximately $1,400 billion per year. These resources are being wasted on war and destruction of human life when it could be used to help eradicate global poverty and improve living conditions for people the world over. Under capitalism; a system
based upon a small few profiting from the hardship of the many it is no surprise that war is viewed by corporate elites as a business opportunity rather than the horror that it is.
Capitalism and war The need for war, competition and above all profit, is inherent within capitalism. As the French socialist Jean Jaurès said "Capitalism carries war within itself as the cloud carries the storm". The capitalist class would rather invest in war and destruction than build a decent life for all, because to do so would not only be unprofitable, but it would threaten their place as “the masters of the universe”. They rely on the oppres-
sion and division of the working class to remain in power whether it is by nation, religion, race or any other possible divide. We should all strive for a world without war where the lives of human beings are put before the profits made from their deaths. A world where solidarity and not rivalry is at the core of international relations. This is a socialist world in which the key sectors of the economy are in common ownership are under democratic workers control and management, and where the rights of all people regardless of race or religion are guaranteed. This would allow for a conversion of the defence sector to socially beneficial goals while maintaining employment for the
This contrasts with the inspiring human solidarity shown by the ordinary working class and poor people of the island of Lesbos in Greece among many other places across Europe as they welcome and seek to aid the refugees who arrive. However, a hated political establishment across the EU that has presided over a neo-liberal attack on working class living standards and a recovery for the rich and for profits, is facilitating the emergence of a racist right-wing in many states. Further walls, borders and repression against refugees only serves to aid such dangerous political forces to grow. The emergence of resistance by refugees themselves in opposition to repression and coercion as they seek refuge in the EU, points to the only solution a working class struggle and revolt that works in solidarity with the refugees to challenge the whole political establishment and the status quo of capitalism. Such a left-wing and socialist challenge in Europe would seek to seize the wealth of the elite 1%, who have been shown to be thieves by the Panama papers with half of world trade passing through tax havens, with a view to eliminating the profit motive and to utilise the ample wealth and resources to provide for all.
dies every minute from armed violence. in that same minute,
15 new arms
are manufactured workers’ in that sector. In order to use the available resources, workforce and technological know-how in the defence sector to improve living conditions for
everyone. A break with capitalism is needed, or we will never be free of the profit-motive which causes many wars.
9
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
Panama Papers & tax havens
J
in today’s world. We are looking at the prospect of a whole age of stagnation because the rich are by and large not investing their wealth in productive areas. They are hoarding it in corporate cash-piles, keeping it hidden in tax havens, gambling using complex financial instruments, buying elections, or investing in useless or harmful areas. If somebody buys up something that everybody needs – housing, water, transport – and spends the rest of their lives drawing profits from this, that’s exploitation, not innovation. Even smartphones were developed thanks to statefunded university research. We actually subsidise the capitalist class through corporate welfare; tax breaks and state contracts. The capitalist class are not “wealth creators” but looters and hoarders of wealth. The real “wealth creators” are those who work, by hand or by brain, to provide services and create products.
By Manus Lenihan
Ust 62 capitalists own as much wealth as the poorest 50% of the human race. Between $21 and $32 trillion is in tax havens around the world. the panama papers reveal that 140 political leaders were clients of mossack Fonseca. this is just one law firm that is estimated to control just 5% - 10% of the global market in shell companies. how many more political leaders are named in the papers of all the other firms? Alongside the inequality is the fact that many of our “leaders”, who have been preaching at us to work harder for less, have their fingerprints all over these taxdodging and cash-hoarding activities. We know the facts, so now we need to talk about solutions – how we can take control of this wealth and use it for the good of humanity.
“Masters of the universe” Look at how easily money moves around the world. Compare that to how people trying to move to escape war and poverty are herded and penned, beaten and deported. Look at the massive sums of wealth in tax havens and corporate cash-hoards, and compare it to the suffering and squalor of life under austerity: social housing that doesn’t get built, beds and staff the hospitals don’t have, heavy austerity taxes, and whole societies like Greece
pushed to the edge of collapse. The despicable Donald Trump and his fans condemn people for expecting healthcare, education and social welfare services, which they trivialize by referring to them as “free stuff”. Similarly, in Ireland for keeping hospitals open or reversing cutbacks has been answered by establishment politicians with the question “Where are you going to get the money from?” The Panama Papers and the statistics about global inequality show us that this “béal bocht”/ “poor
mouth” on the part of the establishment is totally false, and nobody should fall for the idea that we somehow live in a period of dark-ages scarcity.
The PanaMa Papers have illuminated a shadowy netherworld of tax evasion and money laundering by world leaders and the multinational corporations and billionaire tax exiles whose interests they share. all of them were clients of the normally discreet offshore law firm, Mossack Fonsecca, whose 11.5 million leaked files have created a scandal of equally colossal proportions.
Luxurious lifestyles
322 companies named in the Panama Papers have recorded links with ireland. the largest is Pegasus trust / laburnum finance, which occupies a suburban house in drumcondra.
Unproductive system
Roy Grehan, a developer whose debts of $300 million were being taken over by Nama, used Mossack Fonseca to hide his $50 million stake in a Dutch casino.
Those who defend this situation claim that inequality is the price we have to pay for a system that creates wealth and jobs, develops new technology and rewards “hard work”. But these people are out of touch with what’s really happening
Frank Flannery, a major strategist in Fine Gael, contacted them when he wanted to buy an expensive house in London. He says he can’t remember why.
We found out that David Cameron owned shares in his father’s offshore investment fund, which for decades avoided paying any taxes in the UK and funding the public services the Tories are destroying. Numerous wealthy politicians have since had to publish their tax returns; exposing the vast gulf between their luxurious lifestyles and the living standards of working people they are lowering whilst cutting taxes for themselves. Iceland’s Prime Minister, elected on a platform of ‘defending Iceland’ from foreign vulture creditors and keeping Icelandic assets in Iceland, had secret offshore investments in the same banks that bankrupted the country, through-
out its devastating financial crisis. Public protests forced him to resign, however his government remains in office. Outside the West, the revelations have been equally repulsive. All the main candidates in the Peruvian Presidential election appeared in the Papers, including both frontrunners. What a choice for the seven million Peruvians eeking out an existence in dire poverty, unable to afford basic essentials.
committee for a workers’ international The Socialist Party is the Irish section of the Committee for a Workers’ International, an international socialist organisation that organises in over 40 countries on all five continents. We fight for a socialist world free from war, poverty and oppression. Check out the website of the CWI, socialistworld.net, for more analysis on these stories and many others. Here is an article from our section in Israel / Palestine:
System exposed In China, nine of the country’s most powerful families, including the President’s, were exposed as owning offshore companies. Under Communist Party rules, investing in any foreign company is banned, yet China was Mossack Fonseca’s single biggest market. In Russia, Putin hid $2bn via a clandestine network of confidantes but denounced the leaks as a Western plot to destabilise the country – which now has the highest wealth inequality in the world. All mention of Panama was expunged from Chinese media and access to international news sites blocked. While the reaction in the West has been superficially more ‘responsive’ and ‘transparent’, the entanglement of political elites
Every cent in tax havens represents wealth that was extracted from society. We need to seize back this wealth. This means striving for a different way of organising society. The wealth is in the hands of the rich because the means of creating wealth (the factories, land, offices, machines, data etc), are under their control. These must be publicly owned and democratically controlled by working class people. This would allow us firstly to allocate the surplus wealth in society to tackle poverty and misery, and cut down the work week without loss of pay. Secondly, it would allow us to develop a plan of production to invest in new technology, social progress and sustainable development. Against this socialist vision, all capitalism has to offer is a prospect of stagnation, ecological disaster, violence and instability around the globe, and continuing horrifying levels of inequality.
Panama Papers & ireland
Lifting the lid on corruption & capitalism By Diana O’Dwyer
Seize their wealth
israel/Palestine Marxism & the Palestinian struggle www.socialistworld.net/doc/7566
Putin and Cameron: implicated in the Panama leaks
right across the globe in transnational tax avoidance and corruption and the centrality of that to the global capitalist system they administer has been exposed as never before. With more than half of world trade now routed through tax
havens, ‘offshoring’ has become central to global capitalism and the historic inequality and injustice it is generating. Like capitalism itself, it cannot be reformed or made ‘legitimate’ but must be exposed and there must be a struggle by working class people for its abolition.
Panama Papers
Super-rich hoard wealth
socialistworld.net
10
May 2016
THE SOCIALIST
“Bold, brave, undaunted”
feature
The socialist legacy of James Connolly o
n may 12 1916, a fatally wounded James connolly was brought by military ambulance to Kilmainham Jail and was later that day carried by stretcher to the courtyard of the prison. Unable to stand to face a firing squad after a bullet had shattered his ankle during the fighting of easter week, he was strapped to a chair and shot. Connolly was one of the last of the leaders of the Easter rising to be executed (Roger Casement was executed a number of months later). The circumstances surrounding his execution helped fuel the mounting public anger in Ireland against the brutal callousness displayed by the British government in the aftermath of the rising.
“Apostles of Freedom are ever idolised when dead, but crucified when living.” – James Connolly When the southern capitalist state was founded in 1922, its ruling class was forced to conceal its contempt for Connolly. Along with the six other signatories of the 1916 proclamation, he was elevated to the status of a national hero. In the decades following independence, his name would be given to schools, hospitals and one of Dublin’s central train stations. Many political figures and parties would unashamedly seek to claim his mantle. But they sought to ignore his role as an outstanding workers’ leader who founded the Irish Citizens’ Army (ICA) in order to protect the working class of Dublin from the brutal repression meted out by the police at the behest of the city’s capitalist class during the 1913 lockout. Crucially they sought to disregard his development of a socialist analysis of the national question, where he argued that the struggle for national liberation in Ireland was bound up with the need for socialist change.
Socialism & the national question This analysis was developed upon his arrival in Ireland in 1896 in various articles in his paper, The Workers’ Republic, and in his excellent pamphlet, Erin’s Hope written in 1897. In 1910, Connolly wrote his key work, Labour in Irish History, in which he elaborated his view about the role that working people had to and would play in the struggle against British rule. He contrasted it with the baleful and treacherous part played by Ireland’s propertied classes and the middle class leaders of various national movements against British imperialism in the 18th and 19th century. Ultimately, Ireland’s capitalist
class was unwilling to play to a revolutionary role in the struggle to free Ireland. Their conservatism flowed from the fact that as a class they were economically and politically subservient to British imperialism and consequently were fearful that such a struggle would threaten their economic interests. This subservience lead them to consistently betray rebellions against colonialism in Ireland. As a leader of the United Irishmen, Henry Joy McCracken, observed in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion: “The rich always betray the poor”. In the foreword to Labour in Irish History Connolly elaborated on this point when writing: “…the result of the long drawn out struggle of Ireland has been, so far, that the old chieftainry has disappeared, or, through its degenerate descendants, has made terms with iniquity, and become part and parcel of the supporters of the established order; the middle class, growing up in the midst of the national struggle, and at one time, as in 1798, through the stress of the economic rivalry of England almost forced into the position of revolutionary leaders against the political despotism of their indus-
James Connolly speaking to a crowd in Union Square, New York, on May Day in 1908
ed them in their daily lives – as seen in the grinding poverty that existed in cities like Dublin at the time. He wrote that: “The workers, though furnishing the greatest proportion of recruits to the ranks of the revolutionists, and consequently of victims to the prison and the scaffold, could not be imbued en masse with the revolutionary fire necessary to serious-
Connolly and women’s rights Connolly championed the cause of the Suffragettes in Britain and the Irish Women’s Franchise League in the struggle for votes for women, a key battle at the time. He was described by one suffragette Louie Bennett, who later became secretary of the Irish Womens Workers Union as being: “…one of the best suffrage speakers I have ever heard and a thorough feminist in every respect; he taught the Transport Union of Dublin to support women workers’ struggle for political rights.” trial competitors, have now also bowed the knee to Baal, and have a thousand economic strings in the shape of investments binding them to English capitalism as against every sentimental or historic attachment drawing them toward Irish patriotism; only the Irish working class remain as the incorruptible inheritors of the fight for freedom in Ireland.”
National & social liberation Connolly argued that because the Irish working class were the key force in the struggle to end colonial domination, that the struggle for national liberation needed to be intertwined with the struggle for social liberation. This was something the middle class leaders of movements in the 19th century, such as the Young Irelanders, had failed to do. Ultimately working people were driven by a desire not only for change in who would govern Ireland politically, but also by an aspiration for ending the horrendous conditions that confront-
ly imperil a dominion rooted for 700 years in the heart of their country. They were all anxious enough for freedom, but realising the enormous odds against them, and being explicitly told by their leaders that they must not expect any change in their condition of social subjection, even if successful, they as a body shrank from the contest, and left only the purestminded and most chivalrous of their class to face the odds and glut the vengeance of the tyrant – a warning to those in all countries who neglect the vital truth that successful revolutions are not the product of our brains, but of ripe material conditions.” Connolly lambasted nationalists who argued that independence, regardless of whether or not capitalism remained in existence, would bring about real change in the lives of the majority of Irish people. Writing scornfully and with characteristic irony he wrote: “After Ireland is free, says the patriot who won't touch Socialism, we will protect all classes, and if
you won't pay your rent you will be evicted same as now. But the evicting party, under command of the sheriff, will wear green uniforms and the Harp without the Crown, and the warrant turning you out on the roadside will be stamped with the arms of the Irish Republic. Now, isn't that worth fighting for?”
Failure of capitalist independence It was for this reason that he argued for and championed the concept of a “Socialist Republic” as the only basis on which the needs of the working class could be fulfilled and a decent life could be provided for all. The history of the Magdalene laundries, industrial schools, mass unemployment and emigration, the enormous dominance of the Catholic Church over the state since its foundation, are all illustrative of the failure of capitalist independence and of the deeply backward nature of Irish capitalism.
opposing capitalist war Connolly’s writings on the First World War were searing in their denouncement of a war between Europe’s capitalist states over who would gain control of the world market and the colonies of Africa and Asia. “We have held, and do hold, that war is a relic of barbarism only possible because we are governed by a ruling class with barbaric ideas; we have held, and do hold, that the working class of all countries cannot hope to escape the horrors of war until in all countries that barbaric ruling class is thrown from power...”
It was a tragedy that when participating in the Easter rising, Connolly did not put forward a separate socialist programme on behalf of the ICA that outlined his vision of a socialist Ireland – to explain to a broader audience, as he had done on some many occasions, why revolutionary change needed to be both political and economic. Not doing so allowed
figures like Eamon De Valera – whose ideas were an anathema to Connolly – to later claim his legacy. The salient lesson to be drawn from Connolly’s writings today, one that the ruling class in this country would like us to overlook, is that real change means socialist change. The challenge, for those of us inspired by Connolly’s life, is to help to bring this change into existence.
May 2016
11
THE SOCIALIST
Bar workers face poverty pay as publican profits soar By Terry Murphy
By Cllr Michael O’Brien
t
he pressUre is building up for a restoration of public service pay after a succession of attacks during the economic crisis. The Lansdowne Road agreement which was passed by the public service unions in May 2015 provided for an average restoration of about one third of the pay that was taken away from public servants in various guises, in several stages up to September 2017, with a fresh deal to be negotiated for the start of 2018.
Sharp edge of anger However, since the Lansdowne Road agreement was passed the outgoing government beat the drum ever more noisily about the ‘recovery’. This, and a pick-up of pay demands in the private and semi state sector have together fuelled a desire for full and more rapid restoration for pay and conditions. However, the sharp edge of this mood can be located around the issue of the two tier pay system that the trade union leadership agreed
to during the crisis, which has new entrants in the public service starting on 10% less pay than their senior colleagues. This issue was ignored in the Lansdowne Road agreement. At the time that this sell out was pushed through there was a near complete recruitment embargo so it has taken a while for this to emerge as an issue, as new entrants have trickled into the system. The consequences of this betrayal of new entrants have been given major prominence recently, especially in the education and healthcare sectors.
Luas workers show the way In the run up to the INTO conference, young teachers told their stories of being unable to make ends meet because of the combination of short hours and being on 10% less than their colleagues. Reference was made at the INTO conference by Socialist Party member and teacher, Kate Relihan, to how the Luas workers correctly voted down the offer made to them that involved the introduction of a
two-tier pay system, and this was well received by young teachers. Having sold out on the issue in the first place, the INTO leadership has been compelled to commit to seek an end to the two-tier system but only when the current Lansdowne Road deal expires at the end of next year.
Recruitment crisis in health However, this passive stand of telling low paid new entrants that they have to endure this situation for more than a year and a half might be b r e a c h e d because of the pressures in the healthcare sector. Specifically there has been a procession of newly qualified nurses leaving the country and obtaining better pay and conditions around the world. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, in the last year responded to 19,000 queries from foreign
In The last eight years there has been an ongoing attack on the pay and conditions of workers across all sectors, and an undermining of collective bargaining rights. a recent article by John Douglas, General secretary of the Mandate trade union has highlighted the effect that this trend has had on Ireland’s 50,000 bar workers. At one time the trade unions negotiated rates of pay and conditions for bar workers with the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA). Now, the LVA have abandoned this process, and bar owners have waged a consistent war on workers in the sector, with falling wages, zero hour contracts, and a complete lack of adequate remuneration for working unsocial hours.
Race to the bottom Due to the lack of employment stability in the sector, employers have been able to adopt a hostile position towards the trade unions and col-
The average bar worker earned health authorities seeking confirma€9,924 in tion of the qualifications of Irish 2013 nurses who have applied for work. The Irish Nurses’ and Midwives’ Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (dragging SIPTU which organises some nurses behind them) could, with a determined industrial campaign, achieve near immediate pay
news
Young workers hit by two-tier pay system lective bargaining, and indulge in criminal neglect of their legal responsibilities. According to the National Employment Rights Authority, 60% of employers do not comply with workplace regulations, such as minimum wage requirements. Further, the NERA recovered almost €300,000 in unpaid wages in 2014. Workers from the industry have reported low pay, lack of breaks on long shifts, no notice of hours to be worked, denial of holiday and sick pay, and negligence on part of the employer with regards to basic workplace safety. These disgraceful abuses of workers are a product of the race to the bottom while major pubs across the country rake in growing profits. These workers were utterly failed by the outgoing government, who continuously failed to address the issues of zero hour contracts and poverty wages. The trade union movement in Ireland needs to step up and lead workers in a real campaign of industrial action to demand an end to rampant exploitation and for a living wage for all workers.
parity which in turn would serve to undo an amount of damage that is being done to the healthcare system because of the recruitment crisis. If the nurses can achieve a breach of the Lansdowne Road agreement this could give an impetus to others to challenge the more passive stand being taken by their union leaders. The mood at the recent Civil and Public Services Union conference was already one of fighting now for restoration rather than waiting.
End the abuse of animal act circuses By Carah Daniel
a
nimal act circuses are a horrific form of animal abuse and exploitation. no wild animal should be trapped in a tiny enclosure, dragged around the country and forced to perform for human entertainment. Training animals to do circus tricks can’t be achieved with positive rewards because tigers, for example, are naturally terrified of fire but are often forced to jump through hoops of it. Elephants don’t dance on their hind legs in the wild, and they often suffer joint problems from carrying all their weight. Many countries have banned animal circuses, leading to circuses like Belly Wien coming to Ireland with their chained up elephants, after being banned in the Netherlands. Irish Councils have banned animal circuses on Council
land but this isn’t enough. The circuses just set up on private land.
Government inaction must end Circus Belly Wien became a point of protest after their arrival in Ireland. With hundreds of peaceful protesters outside this notorious circus, the circus staff were feeling the pressure, assaulting a group of protesters, the youngest being a 15 year old girl. They attempted to intimidate protesters with abusive, misogynistic and racist verbal attacks, but to no avail. The circus arrived at the end of February, and planned to stay until November, but left, disgraced at the beginning of April because of the overwhelming opposition to them. Animal rights isn’t up to scratch in Ireland with issues like animal circuses, greyhound racing, hare
Consistent protests at the Bell Wien circus in Tallaght forced it to shut down
coursing and fur farms, to name but a few, still left ignored by the Irish government. One way to drag this country into the progressive
place it claims to be is by having a ban on circuses with wild animals. Belly Wien brought the issue of animal act circuses back on the
agenda and the urgent need to legislate to ban circuses with animals has never been more evident.
PaPer of the SocialiSt Party
iSSue 99
May 2016
HEALTH, EqUALiTy, FREEDOM, CHOiCE
over 100 people participated in Rosa’s day of action to repeal the 8th amendment. This pictur e was part of that action.
h t 8 E H T L REPEA REFERENDUM NOW JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY!
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