4 articles From WS 45 (1995) Perks Before People, DL Endorse Water Cut-Offs The formation of the "Rainbow Coalition" in December led to a number of promises of change in the double taxation service charges which have been vigorously opposed by residents' and community groups throughout the state since their inception. Legislation was promised to "delimit" the power of County Councils to disconnect water supply for non- payment of charges. Within hours of the government's formation, newly-appointed Minister of State Pat Rabbitte of Democratic Left was on RTE television pledging that "there will be no more disconnections" (or words to that effect). Rabbitte's statement came at a particularly emotive time. The previous three weeks had seen a massive campaign where the power of local residents' groups and the Federation of Dublin Anti-Water Charge Campaigns had combined to defeat attempts by South Dublin County Council to disconnect non-payers' water supply. ************* Empty promise ************* As we go to press however (early April) - over three months into the government's life - the government has just announced its proposed legislation and it is clear that the pledges in the Programme for Government represented no more than the usual empty political promises. The "delimiting" of the Councils' power to disconnect water simply means that Council officials will have to get a court order to allow them to do so. For Democratic Left this involves a total capitulation. Having made the abolition of service charges one of their main demands on entering the negotiations to form a government and having met with stiff resistance to this from both Labour and Fine Gael, they opted for the social democrats' usual response in sticky situations - fudge it, come up with a formulation of words likely to keep everyone happy for the time being. Thus the demand for complete abolition of the charges was quietly shelved, attention was focussed on disconnections and the word "delimit" made its appearance. To DL it meant that disconnections were finished. However to Labour and Fine Gael (and according to the dictionary) the meaning was somewhat different (DELIMIT: to fix or mark the limit of - Chambers's 20th Century Dictionary). It didn't take long for the County Managers to spot the loophole. With Councils throughout the State experiencing a dramatic fall-off in revenue as PAYE taxpayers took Pat Rabbitte at his word and joined the non-payment campaign (e.g. Meath County Council's income from charges fell from �122,000 in January 1994 to �79,000 in January 1995) Council officials launched an intensive lobby on government ministers to maintain the right to disconnect. Far from sweet As reports emerged that the issue of water charges and disconnections had led to several rows among cabinet ministers and crisis meetings between the leaders of the three government parties, it began to appear that the fudge was far from sweet. And when the legislation was finally announced - just days before DL's Annual Delegate Conference - the capitulation was complete. A party which had started out from a position of complete opposition to service charges had endorsed the right of Councils to disconnect water supply to non-payers - provided they got a court order first! The argument put forward - even by some DL activists who had been involved in the fight against service charges is that they are 'only a small party', that the issue would not even be on the agenda but for them and - of course - that it is 'a step in the right direction'. They should try telling that to the 900 people who had their supply cut-off last year or to the hundreds now likely to face court summonses. And while the DL Conference did pass an amended motion criticising the government for failing to call service charges double taxation, they overwhelmingly rejected a motion condemning the party leadership for not gaining a government commitment to abolish the charges. The lesson for anti-service charge campaigners - and indeed for all members of the working class - should be clear. Trust no-one but yourselves, the only way to victory is through solidarity action and through a continuation and intensification of the campaign. Those who claim to use "parliamentary democracy" to achieve change will eventually compromise and fudge - usually in the cause of something called "the national interest". We're not paying County Councils in Dublin and elsewhere know that the vast majority of people are not going to pay these charges in 1995 just as they refused to pay them in 1994. They also know that the threat of disconnections or court action doesn't worry us. When they tried their intimidatory tactics before, they were sent packing. Anti-service charge campaigners should now have but one message for those who would attempt to fudge the issue - stop trying to fool us, we know that your mercs and perks are more important to you than your principles (if you have any left). Continue the campaign The Federation of Dublin Anti-Water Charge Campaigns has outlined a strategy to render the new regulations on disconnections unworkable. This strategy will include *Every court case must be contested *No householder will be isolated and there will be a coordinated approach to all court hearings *Legal advice and representation will be arranged *In the event of disconnection being ordered, this will be resisted by peaceful protest *Where water is disconnected, reconnection will be arranged *Appeals will be made to local authority workers and their trade unions to continue to refuse to co- operate with disconnections ********************************************************* ** Water charge campaigners ready for action ** NEW THREAT OF CUT-OFFS DO YOU REMEMBER Democratic Left�s election promises? The party who contested the last election on an anti-service charges platform have convinced their Fine Gael and Labour partners to drag non-payers through the courts instead of immediately cutting off their water. Hooray! Like all professional politicians, DL see no reason to stand by their election promises. According to their way of doing things, voters are merely sheep who can be told anything to get their votes and then promptly forgotten about. Before the Act was even passed householders in D�n Laoghaire/Rathdown and Fingal got letters threatening them with instant court action if they didn�t pay up without delay. This scare tactic was intended to frighten people into paying. It didn�t work. 60% (70,000 households) are refusing to pay in the three Dublin county areas. Under the legislation two further letters have to be sent, with at least two weeks between them. The third one has to be delivered either by hand or by recorded post. Only then can the county manager seek a court date. It looks like September may see the start of court cases, South Dublin Council having already sent out the first two letters to non-payers. The Federation of Dublin Anti-Water Charge Campaigns is ready for action. Local meetings have been held throughout the three Dublin council areas, some attracting over 100 people. If enough people stick together we can follow the hot summer with a hotter autumn. The courts can�t defeat us if we stay united, and we have already shown that the Federation can turn disconnections into reconnections within hours. Keep up the refusal to pay, get more information, contact the campaign at 494 7025 (Gregor Kerr) or 820 1753 (Joe Higgins). NATIONAL CONFERENCE Anti-Charges campaigners from Cork, Limerick, Dundalk, Galway, Offaly, Monaghan and the three Dublin council areas met in May. Over 80 activists shared information and reaffirmed their intention to resist double taxation, whether it be called �service charges�, �rates�, or �community development charges�. One particularly petty response to the campaign was reported from Limerick where the County Council is now charging people for waiver application forms. Waivers are supposed to be for people who cannot afford to pay the charges! Hopefully householders in the county area will take a lesson from the those in the Corporation area whose campaigning led to the abolition of service charges back in 1991. The Corporation had employed contractors to wreck water pipes leading into the homes of 140 non-payers on a Friday afternoon, the local campaign had every one of them reconnected by noon the next day. After that the politicians admitted defeat and abolished charges in their area. OUTRAGEOUS ACCOUNTANTS AND OUTRAGED TAXPAYERS When the government suggested that accountants be obliged to report tax evasion by their clients they held a mass meeting in Dublin�s RDS to protest at this "outrage". If some kid robs a car radio these are the sort of people who scream for harsher punishments and more garda� on the streets. When they are told to report major frauds involving millions of pounds they are indignant. Finance Minister Ruairi Quinn agrees with them. Section 153 of the Finance Act allows them to overlook �5,000 in tax fraud. Last year the average PAYE worker paid 34,115 in income tax. Last year also saw a tax amnesty for rich tax didgers and big business which wrote off at least �500 million. This amount would have funded all the service charges in the country for the next ten years. They had hardly started their meeting when a dozen people from anti-water charge groups took over the stage and hung up big banner inscribed with "When big business cheats, PAYE workers pay". The meeting was held up for half an hour while the accountants were given a lecture about how little tax the wealthy pay and how much is taken from working people. They all had to sit and listen as some dopey accountant had locked the door of the hall to stop more protesters getting in and then couldn�t open it again! ******************************************************* ** Have I got news for you ** SUNDAY MAY 13th saw the first national conference of anti-water charge campaigns from all around the country. In Dublin a majority of eligible householders are ignoring the law and refusing to pay. Similar figures are available elsewhere. Yet this conference received only one and a half column inches in the Irish Times, and no mention in any other paper. Meanwhile the Finance Minister, Ruairi Quinn, was bringing in a new law which will require accountants to report any of their clients who they discover are breaking the law by trying to cheat on tax. The accountants protested by holding meetings and issuing press statements. Their side was covered in all sections of the media: radio, newspapers and television. Special TV programmes were made about them, and they even had an accountant on Questions & Answers to plead their case. Biased reporting This is a good example of the way reporting is carried out. TV, radio and newspapers publish very bland accounts of what is going on. They may make a big deal, and give us all a laugh, out of the so-called sexual scandals of the British Tory party. We also see a lot of articles criticising working class people such as "dole spongers" or people claiming "too much" on their insurance. But serious investigative journalism is usually avoided when it comes to business or politics. In general, the mass media is pro- business and pro-state. It is not a conspiracy This is not a conspiracy theory. We do not belive there is a secret force controlling mainstream media reporting, intent on bending the truth one way or another. There are very good reasons why the media is as it is. It costs a fortune own a newspaper or TV company. Anybody who does so, like Tony O'Reilly, Rupert Murdoch or Conrad Black, is a millionaire. Media moguls are in the same league as the rest of the rich. They hang pout in the same clubs, they buy racehorses from each other and, more importantly, they have similar economic interests. They all want a stable economy, friendly to capitalists like themselves. They support each other in trying to lower their employees' wages and breaking strikes. They all want to see lower public spending on services like health, and more tax breaks for the rich. While it is true that they complete with each other for audiences and advertising, it is also true that they have far more in common with each other than with the rest of us. Power of advertising There is a more direct link that connects the ruling class with media coverage. That is advertising and shareholding. Most papers and broadcasting stations depend on advertising to stay afloat. It costs thousands of pounds to put even a short advert. on TV or in a national newspaper. That is why most of it comes from multinationals, banks, insurance firms, etc. If one newspaper published articles slagging off the Bank of Ireland, they would soon find the bank refusing to buy advertising space from them. There are only so many big advertisers. If a media outlet was to lose this advertising to a competitor they would quickly find themselves in trouble. Profits would fall, and the shareholders would threaten to pull out. So no media company will be in hurry to publish controversial news about a company that advertises with them. Likewise, they are most unlikely to publish anything controversial about people who own shares in their firm. The process can be more subtle, harder to pinpoint. Most media are dependent on advertising to be profitable, and advertisers target certain groups in their campaigns (e.g. people with high incomes). The paper or TV station, then, will also have to target these groups if it is to attract advertising, which further narrows the range of opinions they are likely to broadcast. These factors help to ensure that little of a controversial nature gets into the mainstream propaganda networks. It makes simple economic sense. That is why a massive, if passive, revolt can take place in the suburbs of Ireland and the media are not interested. And that is why it takes amateurs putting in voluntary time and energy to publish alternative news and ideas. Andrew Blackmore