Click on the link to hear about the latest council meeting
Check out my blog about the November city council meeting
5 11 2009Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : Ballyfermot, Brid Smith, Cutbacks, Drimnagh, Dublin Bus, Dublin City Council, Irish Politics, People before Profit, Unions, elections
Sack The Government Not the Workers All Out on November 6th
3 11 2009The People Before Profit Alliance is calling for full support for the ICTU national protest on November 6th.The protest should be used to mobilise the growing public anger at a government that gives billions to banks at the same time as slashing billions from public services.
The government has launched an onslaught on public sector workers with the intention of cutting wages and the numbers working in vital services. It also wants to slash payments to social welfare recipients. The McCarthy Report has clearly shown what’s in store for us.
The government wants us to believe that nurses, teachers, firefighters and other public servants caused the economic crisis, to justify more attacks on wages and conditions. This lie must be rejected. Workers in both the public and private sectors are under attack. Services to communities with greatest needs are being withdrawn. We should not pay for a mess which we did not create.
It’s time now to call a halt. November 6th should see the widest mobilisation of working people, the unemployed and all those affected by the refusal to fund community and public services. November 6th should not be the usual stroll round O’Connell Street but must involve work stoppages which show the government that we are serious. It must be the first step in a determined campaign of protest and work stoppages to get rid of this government.
In February the ICTU mobilised tens of thousands of people across the country. It then called off further protest action and entered ‘social partnership’ talks with the government. These talks have been a charade with no concession given to the unions.
The April budget saw the government reach into the pockets of PAYE workers and help itself to almost €1.5 billion in extra taxes. The government did this because it thought we were weak. It is now clear that there is no partnership. The establishment of NAMA shows that the government will look after their banker and developer friends while we are all left to struggle with inflated mortgages.
There is no NAMA for our public or community services even though our schools, hospitals and local services desperately need investment. The government has made it clear that it will not take any action to make the rich pay for the mess they created. Its key concern is to satisfy international lenders that it’s bailing out the banks and putting the boot into public servants and welfare recipients.
People Before Profit says only a determined campaign of protest and industrial action can protect us from further attacks: All those unions who have mandates for industrial action should call stoppages on November 6th An early date should be set for a 24 hour national stoppage Action committees should be established in every locality with the aim of bringing workers, the unemployed and those affected by cuts into the campaign
Ultimately we need a political movement that puts the interests of workers and the unemployed before those of the rich and greedy. People Before Profit is working to build such a movement. Join us in this important work.
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Categories : An Bord Snip, Ballyfermot, Brid Smith, Budget, Cutbacks, Irish Politics, McCarthy Report, People before Profit, Unions, elections, union
YES vote will have grave consequences for Ireland and Europe
8 10 2009Time for limits on corporate spending
The People Before Profit Alliance today said that the outcome of Lisbon 2 is decisive
Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett said “The people have voted and we accept the outcome. We have had neither an honest or democratic debate on the treaty and its grave consequences for the people of Europe and Ireland. We saw an unprecedented mobilisation of resources on the Yes side with corporate heavyweights ploughing hundreds of thousands into their campaign. Its now time for limits to be placed on corporate involvement in referenda.
We saw an absolute refusal by the YES side to debate the details of the Treaty. But worst of all the YES side scared the people into believing that their jobs and the economy were doomed if they voted NO. We have seen unprecedented levels of political irresponsibility. It is shocking that the Labour Party joined this heavy gang of scaremongers given so much is at stake for the people they claim to represent.
We do not believe that this treaty will help solve the economic crisis. Indeed it will make it worse. The policies enshrined in the treaty are the policies that caused the recession.”
Councillor Joan Collins said “This Treaty will have grave consequences across Europe for public services and workers rights. It will lead to the further militarisation of the EU. We will be working with other progressive forces to oppose the implementation of these policies.
We will continue our campaign for a new direction in Europe: a Europe which focuses on eliminating poverty, which prioritises spending on health and education over military spending, which gives primacy to job creation and the rights of workers.”
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Coca Cola Protests continue, show your support
8 10 2009As you will know coca cola workers are in their 7th week of dispute with Coca Cola H.B.C. in Ireland, as part of our ongoing protest to the companies dismissal of 130 workers while on official strike and their refusal to accept an Irish labour court ruling.
They will be holding a protest march in Dublin city.
The march will assemble at Liberty Hall at 12 noon Wednesday the 14th of October and proceed to Coca Cola headquarters at 38-39 Lower Baggot street.
All welcome. Please come and show your support for these workers
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Categories : Brid Smith, Cutbacks, Irish Politics, People before Profit, Strike, Unions, coca cola, union
8 10 2009
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Categories : An Bord Snip, Ballyfermot, Brid Smith, Budget, Cutbacks, Drimnagh, Irish Politics, McCarthy Report, People before Profit, Strike, Unions, elections
10 Reasons to Vote No to Lisbon
2 10 20091. We voted NO before and not a single word of the Treaty has changed. Make the political establishment RESPECT the will of the people.
2. The Irish are the only people who are allowed to vote. Let’s use it on behalf of millions of Europeans denied a vote. EU Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy admitted 95 percent of other countries would vote NO if they had a chance.
3. This referendum is NOT about membership of the EU. If we vote NO, we cannot be thrown out of the EU. So don’t be blackmailed.
4. Lisbon gives the EU more powers to control how governments manage their budgets and run their public services (Art 16 and 115). Competition and price stability are the only priorities of the European Central Bank (Art 254a) – not jobs.
5. The Lisbon Treaty copper-fastens the removal of restrictions on the movement of capital between member states and third countries. This allows speculators to move money around at will, wrecking economies and lives in the process.
6. The Lisbon Treaty allows for the privatisation of health and education by giving the EU Commission more power to do deals at the World Trade Organisation. (Art 188c)
7. Lisbon offers no protection for workers rights and offers nothing to millions of unemployed across Europe. In the Laval and Viking cases, the European Court of Justice has undermined the right of trade unionists to take effective action against contractors who import cheap labour to undercut registered agreements.
8. Spend money on welfare on warfare. The Lisbon Treaty demands increases in military spending but the is no such requirement for healthcare or education. (Art 28)
9. Stay out of EU battle groups and EU wars. The Lisbon Treaty demands we supply troops for ‘tasks of combat forces in crisis management’. It forces us to come to the aid of other countries who are subject to a terrorist attack. (Art 28)
10. Stop the building of an undemocratic EU super state. Lisbon gives the EU a “legal personality”, a president and a foreign minister and changes the voting balance in the EU in favour of larger countries like Germany and France.
The policies enshrined in Lisbon are the very politics that created this crisis. Across Europe governments are robbing people to pay for bank bail-outs. This is our chance to hit back. Use it so that they get the message that NO means NO.
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Categories : Ballyfermot, Brid Smith, Cutbacks, Irish Politics, Lisbon Treaty, People before Profit, elections
Time for Change – Women Say No To Lisbon
30 09 2009The privatisation of health services and cuts that the Lisbon Treaty facilitates will directly affect women. An example of this is what is happening now with cervical smear testing. In 2008, the HSE awarded US company Quest Diagnostics a contract to analyse smear tests – a company that had to pay out $40 million in fraud settlements over the past 10 years and $302 million over faulty test devices. There are consequences for women from this outsourcing. When smear tests are analysed abroad indigenous laboratory expertise is lost and, worse for the women concerned, their medical records are not readily accessible – or perhaps not accessible at all.
If Lisbon is passed on Friday, we’ll get more of the same because Article 207 of the treaty removes the veto governments now have on the EU’s international proposals to liberalise health, education and social services. Keeping the power to veto proposals could help us tthat would let even more multinationals make profits from essential services.
In addition, Article 136 strengthens the EU’s powers to set policy for member states who don’t adhere to the Stability and Growth Pact – the reason for the cuts proposed by Colm McCarthy. This means more pressure to cut public spending. This resulting cuts in services will directly affect women who are primarily responsible for childcare and care of the elderly.
Proinsias De Rossa MEP has accused Women Say No to Lisbon of isolationism and a lack of solidarity with the victims of people trafficking. We reject his false and shallow accusations. While he praises the Lisbon Treaty’s provisions for enhanced cross-border police co-operation, we believe the needs of these women should be put at the heart of our response to tackling trafficking. Policing targets the gangs responsible, but it does not tackle the circumstances that bring women into their orbit.
Extreme poverty is a prime reason for this. And research shows that women from Eastern Europe, where EU competition policies have devastated indigenous industry, are one of the largest groupings to be trafficked into and through Ireland.
The Lisbon Treaty, if passed, would not help to alleviate the poverty which has brought them here. Far from it. It reaffirms the primacy of competition: enterprises which can’t compete must be let close, whatever the social cost.
Lisbon is informed by the economic policies that have led to the crash. It would deepen the race to the bottom and push more people into poverty and more women into trafficking and the sex trade. Ireland has opted out of the policing provisions of Lisbon.
But opt out or opt in, more policing won’t change the poverty which drives women into prostitution. This treaty is out of date and out of step. It’s time for a change of direction. It’s time to say No – again.
Women Saying No To Lisbon – Again Ailbhe Smyth, People Before Profit Therese Caherty, People Before Profit, CAEUC – Sayno.ie Íte Ní Chionnaith, Lecturer, School of Media , DIT, Iar-Uachtarán, Conradh na Gaeilge Mary Crotty, People’s Movement Mary Cullen, historian Margaretta D’Arcy, writer and peace activist Bernie Dwyer, Radio Cuba presenter and documentary film maker Rita Fagan, community activist Carol Fox, Peace and Neutrality Alliance Maura Harrington, political activist, Shell To Sea Sinead Kennedy, NUI Maynooth Patricia McKenna, People’s Movement Eilish Moore, singer Cathleen O Neill, educator and community activist Bronwen Maher, former Dublin City councillor and political activist Marie O’Connor, author and health policy analyst Jo Tully, Irish Nurses Organisation, executive member, personal capacity Bairbre de Brun, Sinn Fein, MEP Cllr Rosaleen Branley, Sinn Fein, Donegal Cllr Joan Collins, People Before Profit Cllr Catherine Connolly, Independent Cllr Colette Connolly, Labour, Galway Cllr Rose Conway Walsh, Sinn Fein, Mayo Cllr Ruth Coppinger, Socialist Party, Mulhuddart Cllr Edel Corrigan, Sinn Fein, Louth Cllr Clare Daly, Socialist Party, Swords Cllr Criona Ni Dhalaigh, Sinn Fein, Dublin Cllr Jane Dillon Byrne, Labour Dun Laoghaire Cllr Kathleen Funchion, Sinn Fein, Kilkenny Cllr Marie Terase Gallagher, Sinn Fein, Donegal Cllr Graine Mhic Geidigh, Sinn Fein, Donegal Cllr Cora Harvey, Sinn Fein, Cllr Fiona Kerins, Sinn Fein, Cork Cllr Louise Minihan, Independent Cllr Imelda Munster, Sinn Fein, Louth Cllr Cathy McCafferty, Sinn Fein, Clare Cllr Rachel McCarthy, Sinn Fein, Cork Cllr Sandra McLellan, Sinn Fein, Cork Cllr Therese Ruane, Sinn Fein, Mayo Cllr Jane Suffin, Sinn Fein, Roscommon Cllr Brid Smith, People Before Profit Cllr Pauline Tully McCauley, Sinn Fein, Cavan
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Categories : Brid Smith, Irish Politics, Lisbon Treaty, elections
Lisbon Treaty Can Be Defeated
29 09 2009
Lisbon offers more of the same failed economic policies
Lisbon Treaty offers more pain for ordinary people
New direction needed for Europe
Today during a street meeting and canvass on Grafton Street, Dublin, The People Before Profit Alliance called on its supporters for one last heave against the Treaty.
Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett said
“We can still defeat this treaty. Across the country it is very clear that the working people, the unemployed and the poor are against this treaty. Our job now is to get the vote out.
“Where there has been a real debate on the treaty people are against it. The Yes said have failed to seriously engage in a debate on the content of the treaty.
“People know there are no jobs in this treaty. This treaty offers us the same failed economic policies which have caused the recession.
“Undistorted competition and profit maximisation are at the core of the EU. “The European Central Bank (ECB) is supporting NAMA and, in a document published in February, has warned against the perils of nationalisation. The ECB is concerned about “the risk of banks’ objectives being diverted from profit maximisation to alternative goals”. Is this focus on profit maximisation not the source of our current problems? Surely we need a new model of banking were the need for investment in social infrastructure takes precedence over the greed of bankers.”
Councillor Joan Collins said that the treaty would inflict real pain on the public
“The EU fully supports the government policy of making ordinary people pay for the recession through a programme of savage cuts in services and wages. It is quite clear that the wide range of cuts proposed in the Mc Carthy report are aimed at meeting the limits on government spending set out in the EU Stability and Growth Pact. The Lisbon Treaty gives new powers to the EU Commission to ensure that governments do not breach these limits. This will mean real pain for the people I represent. The treaty calls for increases in military spending but not for health or education ”
Councillor Brid Smith said that public services and workers rights are under threat
“There can be no doubt that the Lisbon Treaty is a weapon in the hand of those who wish to open the provision of health and education services to private companies. The EU Commission is a strong advocate of liberalisation and the treaty gives it the tools to privatise essential services.
“The treaty copperfastens judgements of the European Court of Justice which place the rights of business above the rights of workers. Calling on workers to vote for this treaty is like asking turkies to vote for Christmas.
“The People Before Profit Alliance is arguing for a new direction in Europe. A Europe that puts spending on jobs, education and health before arms spending. A Europe that guarantees workers rights over the rights of big business. Only by voting NO can we open up a debate which can lead to a real change for the future in Europe.”
For more stories on the Lisbon Treaty Debate check out
Labour Party not reflecting workers concerns on Lisbon http://www.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/node/208
and Say No to Union Buster Ryaniar’s Michael O’Leary http://www.peoplebeforeprofit.ie/node/212
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Categories : Irish Politics, Lisbon Treaty, People before Profit, elections
The Poor can’t Pay
9 09 2009A new campaign ‘The Poor Can’t Pay’ is being undertaken by a range of charities, trades unions and community organisations. The objective of the campaign is to ensure that the cost of the economic crisis does not fall on the most vulnerable in society
Check it out http://www.thepoorcantpay.ie/
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Thomas Cook Occupations
3 09 2009
At 10.00am on July 31st management from Thomas Cook arrived at shops in Dublin to enforce closure. Members refused and occupied the shops. The context to this dispute is a company that seeks to consolidate and increase profits through the closure of more than 100 shops, the closures in Dublin fly in the face of these shops making more than £400 million profit during 2008.
The following are video clips were taken during the Thomas Cook Occupations. It shows the ability of workeres and communities to take a stand against the greed to big business
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr3YoddMVak&feature=channel_page
Day 3 of the occupation – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv8RbGdjlPM&NR=1
Day 4- Mass picket outside Thomas Cook this morning to stop any attempt by the courts to evict the workers. Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit was there throughout to show the support and commitment of People Before Profit to defend workers rights and jobs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svOFM0Q_UVw&NR=1
Gardai Arrests of Thomas Cook Workers
At 5 AM Aug 5th, over 150 Garda took part in an operation to remove Thomas Cook workers who had occupied the building. They sealed off the street, dragged peaceful demonstrators away from the front door, and smashed their way in with a battering ram.
First, around 25 Gardaí marched up to the front door of the building. Over 150 Gardaí followed them on foot and in riot vans. The latter placed metal barriers across the street, from Trinity College to the bottom of Grafton Street and more across the top of the street affectively sealing off the area. It’s estimated 50 to 60 Gardaí manned each line of barriers.
About a dozen protesters huddled together at the front of the building. When the Gardaí arrived they immediately used force to remove the protesters even though all of them repeated the words ‘…this is a peaceful protest…’ Women were dragged along the ground by their feet, and put into arm and wrist locks by Gardaí twice their size. One man was punched as he sat on the ground by the front door.
Once the Gardaí had managed to force the handful of demonstrators back, they immediately produced a battering ram and proceeded to break the door down by breaking the glass and also the doorframe.
Before they arrived there were a number of people inside, sleeping on the floor. It’s believed at least one pregnant lady was inside, and she was taken to the Coombe Hospital as she went into labour early.
Many witnesses who saw the events unfold before their eyes were horrified at the amount of force and manpower that was used to gain entry to the building. The workers inside, and the supporters outside, had said from the start that it was a peaceful demonstration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sW1DGa-WdQ&feature=channel_page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsSoNFSJbds&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi_Qo_XxL64&feature=channel_page
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