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Title: For starters (WS46)
Author: Workers Solidarity Movement
Date: 1995
Language: en
Topics: Ireland, Workers Solidarity
Source: Retrieved on 28th November 2021 from http://struggle.ws/ws95/start46.html
Notes: Published in Workers Solidarity No. 46 — Autumn 1995.

Workers Solidarity Movement

For starters (WS46)

THERE IS A new mood out there. It is demonstrated by the magnificent

support for the Dunnes Stores strike, and the occupations at Sunbeam and

the Irish Press. As management push ahead with redundancies, yellow pack

jobs, contract working and casualisation, workers are pushing back. When

your back is against the wall you have to push back or be squashed.

However this should not be confused with a fight for a better life. For

many, expectations of job security and a decent standard of living are

being shattered. And some are determined not to take it lying down.

Not only do we all need to hang on to our jobs, wages, promotional

outlets and all the other things that we won over the last twenty five

years, we also need to rebuild the solidarity and strength that allowed

us to win these things in the first place.

Victories achieved in defensive battles will encourage others to resist

the bosses’ offensive. They will also contribute to rebuilding the

confidence needed to fight for more of the good things in life. If you

can not defend what you already have, it is much harder to believe that

you can win improvements. But if you win on one issue, then you are open

to the idea that you can win a lot more.

Charlie and Bill

“Begrudgers, throwbacks and die hards”. That is what the media called

anyone objecting to the official state visit by Prince Charles. Their

consensus had decided that anyone who would object must be “living in

the past”. You would think that the British ruling class had done

nothing at all to stir up the troubles, that Prince Charles’ Parachute

regiment had never murdered 14 civil rights marchers on Bloody Sunday.

And we were supposed to feel privileged that a filthy rich parasite was

condescending to have a free holiday here at our expense.

Not everyone swallowed this forelock touching embarrassment,

orchestrated by the politicians and their Dublin 4 media friends. 2,000

republicans, socialists, anarchists and anti-royalists took to the

streets of Dublin on May 31^(st). The Workers Solidarity Movement played

its part by giving out 5,000 leaflets urging support for the march, and

organising a lively contingent on the night.

Demonstrations like this play a useful role. They remind us that there

are rich and poor, workers and bosses, rulers and ruled. To recognise

this and object to it is not begrudgery but realism! We know how things

are now and we are declaring we want something better.

When Bill Clinton comes over on November 30^(th) he should not be able

to live the high life without encountering a protest or two. It will

certainly give heart to dissident Americans to know that in Ireland

there are those who oppose the US state’s intervention in other peoples’

countries and support for dictatorships in the third world. One question

is whether Sinn Féin will be on the streets or at the dinner? Will a

handshake for Gerry Adams be more important than taking a stand against

injustice?