INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

DUBLIN STRIKE SUPPORTERS INVADE DOCKYARD GATE:

Molly has often expressed the opinion that strikes are best carried out by the most militant methods possible, with the caveat that violence should be avoided if at all possible. In the long term view all strikes are episodes in a class war that demands both the greatest initiative on the part of the dispossessed and also the demonstration on their part of a superior moral sense.

A recent action in Dublin Ireland fulfills both these criteria. Supporters of the striking Dublin Port Workers have invaded the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd. Here's the story from the Irish Times.

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Supporters of striking port workers breach Dublin dockyard gates:

TIM O'BRIEN
IN an escalation of an eight-week dispute, supporters of striking Dublin Port workers breached dockyard gates in the south port yesterday, entering the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd.
Up to 600 marchers attended a rally in protest against Marine Terminals’ demands for compulsory redundancies and new pay and conditions at the cargo handling facility.

Marchers had heard that the owners of Marine Terminals Ltd, UK firm Peel Ports, had brought in outside labour, when about half of the attendance breached the company gates, shouting “Dockers in, scabs out.”

A number of people entered booking offices before a large crowd moved to the gates of a container yard, and then to Marine Terminals’ administration offices, where their way was blocked by a Garda.

Rally organisers asked the crowd to respect the Garda and not to cause any damage, while a number of speakers, including two members of Dublin City Council, addressed the crowd from the doors of the administration block.

Windows in the block were locked and blinds closed during the protest, but nearby cameras on Portakabins rotated to follow the crowd.(Oh really, I wonder how many of these cameras are set up to catch criminals in the rough areas of Dublin rather than protesters ?-Molly)

Earlier, Siptu general secretary Joe O’Flynn had told protesters that if a solution was not found to the dispute, damage to businesses in the port would spread to the wider economy.

He accused Peel Ports of “bullyboy tactics” against decent employees, many of whom had worked in the company for years.

Mr O’Flynn said the company has consistently set its face against serious engagement with the workers, “steamrolling through mass redundancies and threatening further job losses, as well as cuts in pay and conditions”.

Even before the strike began, he claimed, the company had brought in strike-breakers from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“I can tell them now that we do not need investors with that mindset in Ireland and if they are not prepared to change it, they should leave now and hand over the facility to a company that will behave within decent business norms,” he said. (Uh, say "duh", a much better "threat" would be to say something about handing the business over to a producers' cooperative of the dockworkers. This, of course, is beyond the present horizon of the official trade unions )

Peter Bunting, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said members would “name and shame” the “scabs” in their own communities and addressed his comments in personal terms to a Marine Terminals manager, John Rafferty.

He was also critical of the media, saying that if the unions had treated the State’s industrial relations machinery with the same disdain as Marine Terminals had, the unions would be “excoriated”.

Messages of support were read from dockers’ unions in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, where it was claimed members of the FNV union occupied the head offices of Peel Ports’ subsidiary BG Freight at Bondgenoten for three hours from 10am to 1pm Irish time.

FNV has also served three weeks’ strike notice on BG Freight, as required by Dutch law, to begin industrial action there if the Irish dispute is not resolved in the meantime, it was claimed.
In a statement issued after the rally, Marine Terminals Ltd said “encouraging a crowd, including children, to enter a busy industrial site is dangerous and irresponsible and as a negotiating tactic can only be counter-productive.”

The company said “unions must recognise that, for the port of Dublin to remain competitive in a deteriorating market, changes must be made. Their intransigence will only hurt their members’ interests.”

A spokesman insisted six workers had been offered in excess of €70,000, while 16 had been offered in excess of €60,000 and “the average payout is €35,000 to €40,000”.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

THEY CAME AT FIVE IN THE MORNING:

A workplace occupation by employees of Thomas Cook Travel Agency was evicted by a police raid staged at 5:00 am this morning. The Thomas Cook occupation was one of the many such actions that are becoming increasingly common across the world as management takes advantage of the present economic crisis to attack their workers. Here's the story of the occupation from the Anarkismo website.

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Thomas Cook workers arrested in Dublin occupation:
Tuesday August 04, 2009 14:56 by Jack Carrigan - WSM (personal capacity)
In the early hours of the morning dozens of Gardai (Irish police) sealed off a section of the city to smash their way into the Thomas Cook offices which were being occupied by the workers resisting the attempt by management to shut down the offices. The text that follows was written before the events of this morning,

Victory for the Thomas Cook Workers is a Victory for Us All

In a bid to close its outlets in Ireland, the Thomas Cook travel agents has begun by attempting to sack 44 workers at its two offices located on North Earl St. and Grafton St. in Dublin’s city centre.

Following the announcement to the workers of the planned closure of the outlets on September 6, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) balloted members of the union to strike. The proposed strike was approved with a 100% vote in favour.

The events that have led to the present occupation began on Friday July 31, with the revelation by the company’s UK management (brought in especially for the occasion) that the offices would be closing ahead of schedule. The North Earl St. staff were brought to the Grafton St. branch for a meeting with management. Thereupon the bosses produced a letter stating that the workers were out of the job and detailing their redundancy package (five weeks per year of service, dropping to two weeks unless workers accept their demands).

It was recalled by one of the Thomas Cook workers that someone shouted, “lock in,” at which point the workers rushed for the safe room within the building that the management could not enter for lack of the required security code.

The Occupation of the Thomas Cook offices on Grafton St. has been in progress since. On Saturday Thomas cook were granted an an interim injunction, this was upheld in a high court sitting on Monday afternoon. The workers, in defiance of the over paid judges, have voted to carry on the sit in.

The workers have been eating and sleeping in the building, with some taking it in shifts to return home to recuperate. According to a second Thomas Cook worker and TSSA member, “the atmosphere is good, people aren’t going anywhere. We’re tired and hungry, but we’re staying as long as it takes.” The workers have access to a television, however, they say it has barely been switched on as they are too excited to watch it. The occupying workers have been continuously supplied with food and drinks through an upstairs window, and small employers from the local area have also been providing some assistance.

The workers at Thomas Cook are fighting for a better redundancy package. Of the approximately €700,000 offered by the company, the workers are asking for an added €300,000. This is being asked in light of the fact that the Thomas Cook boss in Ireland, Manny Fontela-Novoa was given €7m during 2009, and company profits reached £400m profit in 2008.

Gerry Doherty, General Secretary of the TSSA has stated that “If Aer Lingus can give a redundancy package of nine weeks pay for each year, and Tesco seven weeks when it made 140 people redundant at Dun Laoghaire, Thomas Cook, whose chief executive, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, received a bonus of £5 million, can certainly afford a decent redundancy package for its workers.” Mr. Doherty, while representing the workers at the High Court today is also himself expected to face charges by the Gardaí for allegedly physically removing a photographer for the Thomas Cook company from the premises on Grafton St.

The occupying workers have been supported by most of the Left, with members of Eirigí, the Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Sinn Féin and the Workers Solidarity Movement present at varying times since the start of the occupation. The culmination of this support, so far, has been the solidarity demonstration on August 3. Attended by approximately 200 people members of the Left, trade unions and the general public, the demonstration was prepared in order to obstruct a High Court order for the workers to leave the premises by 2pm on the day. While over 100 people remained on the demonstration throughout the afternoon in order to blockade the office from invading court bailiffs and Gardaí, the state’s agents failed to arrive.

According to demonstrator and member of the Workers Solidarity Movement, Donal ó Fállúin, “the fighting spirit of the Irish workers is alive and well. It’s still fresh in our minds how the Waterford Crystal workers took action, as well as the Ford / Visteon workers in Belfast, and now we see a similar occupation in the heart of the capital. It’s great to see people taking direct action and not relying on politicians.”

The workers at Thomas Cook in Ireland are simply demanding a larger redundancy package. The bosses, however, know that a victory for the workers means something greater than an additional €300,000, so they will fight the workers to the bitter end. They know that a victory for the Thomas Cook workers would set a precedent for workers everywhere, that you can take collective action and that direct action gets the goods. The workers are continuing their occupation until their demands are met. A victory for the Thomas Cook workers, is a victory for the working class and is a victory for us all.

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The workers arrested at the occupation have all been released without penalty by a judge no doubt aware of the political implications of their case. Here's the story from the Irish Times via the Labour Start website.

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Thomas Cook workers released:
IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
Former staff of Thomas Cook who were arrested this morning after staging a sit-in at the company's shop in Grafton Street in breach of a High Court order have been released without penalty after they purged their contempt of court.

The protesters appeared before Mr Justice Michael Peart as a large number of supporters staged a protest outside the Four Courts.

Mr Justice Peart ordered that group of 27 workers, along with officials of the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association be released from custody. People before Profit Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett, Socialist Party Councillor Matthew Waine and PBP volunteer Sara O’Rourke were also freed. The judge said that while the breach of the order was unlawful, given the undertakings the court received he decided it was not necessary to commit anyone to prison or to impose a fine.

Mr Justice Peart, acknowledging that the workers had felt badly treated by their employers, said that in a democratic society the rule of law “cannot be broken” or else there would be “anarchy.”(and we can't have that now can we ?-Molly) However the Judge said that he was satisfied that the undertakings given by all parties was sufficient to purge their contempt.

Mr Justice Peart had ordered their arrest when they refused to obey a court order issued on Saturday for them to vacate the premises. The staff, who are in dispute with the company over a redundancy package, had ignored advice from lawyers and their union to comply with the terms of the court order.

They were arrested at the Grafton Street premises before dawn this morning and taken to the Bridewell Garda station.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that a woman who is eight months pregnant was the first person to be removed from the branch. She was admitted to the Coombe hospital on the advice of a doctor, where she later gave birth to a girl named Chelsea.

The ex-staff occupied the premises after being told by management on Friday afternoon that the shop would be shut immediately as a result of actions taken by the TSSA which included a public protest against the terms of a redundancy deal offered to 77 Thomas Cook staff.

The shop and another, Direct Holidays, a subsidiary in Talbot Street, were due to shut on September 6th, but the closure date for the Grafton Street branch was brought forward.

The staff were holding out for a redundancy deal which would give them eight weeks per year of service. The company is currently offering five weeks per year of service.

The former workers claim that Thomas Cook is a hugely profitable company which paid its chief executive £7 million last year and can afford an enhanced redundancy deal.

Unite - the union whose members staged a seven week occupation at Waterford Crystal earlier this year - called this morning’s removal of workers from the Thomas Cook store as “a dark stain on the history of industrial relations in Ireland.”

“These are ordinary working people standing up for their rights”, said Unite regional secretary Jimmy Kelly. “They have a right to be treated with respect and for their employer to hold to a standard of engagement that in this case has merely been cast aside.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

PROTESTING IN DUBLIN:

What were formerly the wunderkinds of the false prosperity built on debt are falling even faster than other economies in the present financial crisis.this is true of Ireland in its post-boom phase, and the Irish workers are fighting back against attempts to make them pay for the crisis. Here's the story from LibCom about last Saturday's massive demonstration in Dublin.

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Huge protests against handling of the Irish economy:
About 100,000 people have taken part in protests in Dublin city centre yesterday (Saturday 21st) to vent their anger at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession.

They oppose plans to impose a 'pension levy' (real terms 10% pay cut) on 350,000 public sector workers. Trade union organisers of the march said workers did not cause the economic crisis but were having to pay for it.

In a statement, the Irish government said it recognised that the measures it was taking were "difficult and in some cases painful". However, the government said it reflects "the reality that we are not in a position to continue to meet the public service pay bill in the circumstances of declining revenue", it added.

Reports say the plan could cost the 350,000 public sector workers between 1,500 euros and 2,800 euros (£2,500) a year.

There were conflicting estimates of the numbers of people at the march, which began on the north side of Dublin in the middle of the afternoon. Police said 100,000 people were on the streets, while organisers said they expected 200,000 to protest in total.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), which organised the march, said it was campaigning for "a fairer and better way" of dealing with the economic crisis.

"Our priority is about ensuring that people are looked after, the interests of people are looked after, not the interests of big business or the wealthy," Sally-Anne Kinahan, ICTU's secretary general, told the BBC.

However, reports from the Workers' Solidarity Movement (an Irish anarchist organisation) says that:

"the idea of the so called 'Pensions Levy' come from some of the very Irish Congress of Trade Unions leadership who are supposed to negotiate on behalf of workers. This is one revelation that emerged on Saturday morning at a meeting of over 100 public sector trade unionists and two delegates from the Waterford Glass occupation. We were meeting in the Davenport hotel, Dublin to discuss a collective response to government attacks on workers and in particular the public sector pay cut.

The revelation that the source of the 'pensions levy' may have come from within the ICTU delegation was made by Civil Public & Services Union (CPSU) executive member Terry Kelleher, reporting on what their executive had been told by the CPSU General Secretary who was at the talks. It's claimed that when the proposed 10% pay cut was put on the table part of the ICTU delegation proposed the 'pensions levy' as being more sellable."

One protester said he was "sick and tired of the way this government conducts itself and what it's doing to this country [...] I've a mortgage to pay, I've children to put through school, and now I'm being told I have to take cutback, after cutback, after cutback."

Ireland, which was once one of Europe's fastest-growing economies, has fallen into recession faster than many other members of the European Union. The country officially fell into recession in September 2008, and unemployment has risen sharply in the following months.

The numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit in the Irish Republic rose to 326,000 in January, the highest monthly level since records began in 1967.

Yesterday's rally signalled the beginning of industrial unrest within the Irish public sector. Around 13,000 lower-paid civil and public servants are to stage a one-day strike on Thursday while thousands of workers in the education sector and in the civil service are to vote on industrial action.

TRAVEL:

THE PRICK WITH THE STICK:

So much to say, and so little time. We leave Dublin tomorrow for 'The

Rebel City' Cork. It's amazing to be in a country where I don't have to automatically spell my last name every time I say it. Dublin is full of monuments, most of them to literary figures. My favourite so far is the Oscar Wilde monument. The "political monuments" in this city are all to enemies of the previous world empire, that of the British. But, as I have said, every monument in this city has its nickname. The monument to writer James Joyce off O'Connell Street pictured here has been affectionately dubbed "the prick with the stick".

Much more later,

Molly

TRAVEL:
MOLLY MALONE:

Molly's visit to the city of Dublin would, of course, not have been complete without seeing the famous statue of her namesake, 'Molly Malone', the heroine of eponymous ballad. The statue was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and erected in 1987 as part of the 1988 millennium of the founding of the City of Dublin. It lays at the top of Grafton Street, near Trinity College.
Whether there actually ever was an historical Molly Malone, let alone the details of her life is an unknown. Many are the legends that have grown up. Some say she was a fish monger by day and a prostitute by night. If so many of her nocturnal customers would have been students from the notoriously ill behaved students of same. Others say that she was one of the few chaste female street vendors of the day (the 17th century). Many have claimed to have found records of her birth and death, but none of these have been verified.
The song Molly Malone has become sort of an unofficial anthem for the City of Dublin. It is sung by sports teams and their fans at sporting events.
The statue itself is a life size bronze with quite a prominent bust, earning it various nicknames such as "the tart with the cart", "the dish with the fish" and "the trollop with the scallops". But really, most of the monuments in Dublin have some sort of rather earthy nickname as well.
A good treatment of the legend, its basis or lack thereof, can be found HERE at Irish Historical Mysteries:Molly Malone. There is a downloadable MP3 of the song HERE. at Raccoons. And, of course, here are the lyrics:..............
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In Dublin's fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh",
Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

She was a fishmonger,
And sure 'twas no wonder,
For so were her father and mother before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

(chorus)

She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

TRAVEL:
THE HARP OF BRIAN BORU:
Brian Boru (Brian Borumha) (c 941 to April 23, 1014) was originally King of Munster. He became High King of Ireland by overthrowing the power of the Ui Neill's, and later defeating the Vikings at their Dublin settlement on Good Friday, April 23, 1014. He, and a huge number of the nobility on both sides were killed in the battle, but he became legend after his death.
The reputed "Harp of Brian Boru" became the national symbol of Ireland and is housed in the 'Old Library' at Trinity College which we visited a couple of days ago. More on Trinity College, the Old Library and The Book of Kells later. The problem with 'Brian Boru's Harp is...............it isn't Brian Boru's Harp, despite all the legends that grew up about this item over the centuries. Ah, yet another illusion shattered. The harp, however, is the oldest harp extant in Ireland, dating from the 15th century. It certainly is of fine craftsmanship, and has recently been restored. It makes a beautiful sight in its display case.

BEER:
SHATTERED ILLUSIONS:
While wending our way back to the hotel last night with a comrade from the WSM (more on our enjoyable meeting with these people later) one of my long standing illusions was shattered. The venerable Guinness has a history as dark as the colour of their stout. It turns out that they were basically responsible for destroying the in-house brewing that used to be characteristic of pubs here in Ireland. They enforced their monopoly by various methods. Like in the Czech Republic where a bar serves only a very limited selection of beers from one company only they put supply pressure on the pubs, saying "no Guinness if you sell from the competition". They also used some more strong arm tactics at times, if you get the drift. Not that there aren't a number of microbrewery-like places here where you can get a much wider selection, but most of the pubs have a far smaller selection of Irish beers than you might imagine. Thanks to "Pepe" for this enlightenment.

TRAVEL:
MOLLY FROM DUBLIN'S FAIR CITY:
Well we made it here to Dublin, at the beginning of our visit to Ireland. This is something like hour 30 without any sleep, so things are rather buzzing. I'm presently cruising the Temple Bar section of town looking for a pint of Guinness that costs less than 4 euros (the cheapest I've found so far). Seems like a really hopping scene, and I understand there's a lot more to the nightlife in other sections of town as well. so much to see. So little time to see it in. This area of town is purulating with internet cafes, and it isn't even the University area.
Dublin is now a city of about 1 1/2 million people, and it seems fairly cosmopolitan, though not to the extent of many Canadian cities. I hope to meet with some of the people from the WSM later this week. More on that, and anarchism in Ireland, as time goes on. Love the cobblestone streets. Have yet to get into the whiskey. As I said, too buzzed.
The trip here was long and tiring, including a seven hour stop over in Minneapolis airport, and a too brief one in Amsterdam.
More later,