Recently we reported
on the vote of the public sector unions to back the Croke Park Deal. We
argued that despite the apparent victory of the ideas of “Social
Partnership” as espoused by Peter McLoone and David Begg; under the
present conditions it would be extremely difficult for any deal to be
brokered that was worth the paper it was written on.
As we explained at
the time:
“The
experience of the policy of “social partnership” has been that sooner
or later the illusions of the trade union leaders have been wrecked
either on the basis that the government have shown Begg and McLoone the
door as they did with the two week unpaid leave proposal in December, or
the pressure has built up from below and forced the trade union leaders
to organise demonstrations and actions, and in many cases against their
better judgement.
Trotsky
pointed out in the Transitional Programme written in 1938 that the
trade union and labour leaders represented the most conservative layer
in society. Again in 1940 he explained that no matter what, they would
try and reach an agreement – any agreement – with even the most
reactionary government. He explained further that under conditions of
crisis these agreements will always fall down on the basis of pressure
from the bosses or the workers. Those words ring very true today.”
Now
less than a couple of months after the deal was signed it is clear that
the cracks are beginning to show. Unions in the four Dublin local
Authorities and in the Health Service Executive West have voted for
action. The problem that the government faces is in trying to actually
implement the public sector reforms. The threat of job losses and
attacks on conditions, such as the increase in teacher’s working hours,
the revision of shift patterns in the hospitals and the redeployment
plan will inevitably create a reaction. In truth the scale and extent of
the “reforms” means that disputes could potentially break out all over
the place, at different times.
Its
quite obvious that sections of the Bourgeois Press in Ireland and the
Bosses themselves see the Deal as a problem. Their view is that it
represents a bulwark for the Trade Union leaders to lean on. As
the Sunday Post 1/8/10 explains:
“Unions
can’t bank the guarantees in the Croke Park agreement and then proceed
to muscle management with threats of strikes.
These actions are obviously a warning to the
government not to go too far with its public sector reforms.
So much for Croke Park .”
The
uncomfortable truth for Cowen, Lenihan and Peter McLoone and David
Begg, is that under the present conditions and for contradictory and
conflicting reasons, neither the bosses nor the Public Sector workers
can rest comfortably for long with the Croke Park deal. Many of the
unions that opposed the Deal are faced with a more immediate problem in
that their members never voted for it. But, given the national vote they
are expected to go along with the deal, and more significantly the
employers will expect them to.
As
we pointed out in the article quoted earlier:
“It’s
likely that the smaller unions in the Public sector will be forced to
fall in line with the decision on Croke Park . Unite has
done so recently. But the problems will emerge quickly once the
Government tries to introduce the “reforms”. The objective difficulty
however will be the “Deal”, which will be wheeled out whenever the
opportunity allows. In that sense the Deal will become far less a shield
to defend the members and far more a means for the government and the
unions to police the members.
It’s
quite likely that the deal will be faced by widespread opposition. But
unless the government blunders into an all out confrontation with the
public sector unions, it’s possible that the industrial mood might be
dampened down for a period. Having said all that, Ireland is a small
country with a limited internal market and a huge reliance on trade. If
the eurozone goes into melt down that all bets are off and it will
become increasingly evident that the deal and “social partnership “
isn’t worth the paper its written on.
The
next few months will test the Deal and “Social Partnership” to the
limits. The ongoing crisis in the Eurozone; pressure from the bosses and
opposition to the cuts and “reforms” from the working class mean that
there is little chance of peace breaking out. While localised struggles
and disputes in the various sections of the public sector will tend to
predominate, it’s quite likely that the Coalition will blunder into
another national confrontation with the unions. Privatisation, cuts,
attacks on pensions and working conditions are all on the order of the
day, as are further levies and tax rises. The Irish Trade Unions need a
resolute and determined leadership armed with a socialist perspective
and a programme to end the anarchy of capitalism and the crises it
brings in its wake.
