The talks between the government and
ICTU have collapsed following pressure from the FF back benches. Apparently
they had been pressured from “the private sector” to oppose plans for unpaid
leave proposed by the union leaderships. Make no bones about it. What this
really means is that the Irish bourgeoisie and the multinationals are putting
on the pressure and demanding that the public sector takes huge cuts. It raises
the temperature in what is already a charged situation. If the Irish Congress
of Trade Unions had a fighting Socialist leadership; Ireland would be on the
brink of a general strike. But that is far from the case.
The public sectorworkers have demonstrated, struck and were ready to strike again. 250,000 were on strike on 24th November; that was the background to the talks
over the last few days. But instead of using the militancy of the workers as a
battering ram to stop Cowen and Lenihan from attacking the working class; David
Begg and McLoone preferred a polite knock.
Talks about talks
We have
criticised the union leaders for their over reliance on social partnership and
it’s obvious that their political outlook and programme has brought them to
this stage. The programme of “unpaid leave” was as much dressed up to give the
membership the impression that something had been won, as anything else. As we
explained last week it was short time working by any other name. Remember that
we have had talks about talks for months now and each time the outcome has been
more cuts. Sisyphus was a character in the Geek myths who was forced to push a
boulder repeatedly up a hill for eternity, just to watch it roll down again
every time it got to the top. This is the same scenario that the ICTU
leadership find themselves in. Each time they try and resurrect the long dead
promises of social partnership and troop in to see the Taoiseach they end up
with more cuts and levies.
The
bureaucratic apparatus in the unions are in the main extremely conservative in
their outlook. Leon Trotsky in one of his last articles made the point that the
union leaders will always try to find some sort of common ground or mutual
arrangement with the state. It is after all the line of least resistance. But
under conditions of crisis these cosy arrangements will always tend to fall
down. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the bourgeois are determined not
to pay for the crisis and secondly, but most significantly, the working class
can’t accept the burdens placed upon them. At a certain stage the workers are forced
to struggle.
Pressure
This is the
point that we’ve reached today. The trade union leaders meet on Monday 7th
December to discuss what to do next. Such is the pressure that they are under
from the workers that they are most likely to call for further strike action.
The alternative will be mere meek acceptance of the cuts, this would throw the
movement backwards. The Irish working class deserves far more than that. But
simply repeating the strike on the 24th would not be enough. Trade
union organisations in every town and city must organise demonstrations and
public meetings. Support must be garnered from workers in the private sector
and plans put in place to maximise the affect of any action. The government
must feel the bite of the action, the time has long gone when “letting off
steam” will suffice.
The role of
leadership in any struggle is of huge importance. To date the trade union
leaders in Ireland have proven themselves to be very weak and indecisive. It is
possible that Begg and McLoone could lead the magnificent movement of the
public sector workers to a defeat. There is still time however to galvanise the
movement and defeat Cowen and Lenihan. The FF/Green Coalition has a wafer thin
position in the Dáil a protracted industrial struggle could topple them. But
that needs decisive action. One thing is for certain, Socialist and Marxist
ideas will play an increasing role in this struggle.
·
No Wage Cuts
·
Defend every job
·
Make the Bosses pay
