AIB today announced it was slashing 2500 jobs. Responding to the Taoiseach’s statement ULA finance spokesperson Richard Boys Barrett TD said, “Today’s announcement that AIB is slashing 2500 jobs is yet another painful example that it is ordinary workers who are paying for the speculation of the top bankers through job losses and cuts to [...]
Category Archives: Workers Rights/Unions
United Left Alliance calls on ICTU to endorse a NO vote for the Fiscal Treaty
The United Left Alliance is calling on the leadership of ICTU to maintain a consistent position on the Fiscal Treaty and call for a NO vote when they meet this Friday to decide their position. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to which the ICTU is affiliated has come out against the Fiscal Treaty. [We [...]
Blog: Greece Day 3 – The Workers’ Newspaper
The Workers’ Newspaper On Friday, the official GUE/NGL delegation was over and I spent the day with members of Xekinima (the Socialist Party’s sister party in Greece) visiting and discussing with different groups of workers in struggle. To start the morning , we visited the Ministry of Labour which is occupied by workers [...]
Socialist Party TD criticises state agency for ignoring three Labour Court Recommendations
If state institutions like the National Museum of Ireland ignore LRC recommendations why would private sector employers bother paying any heed to them? Responding to a situation at the National Museum brought to her attention by constituents Clare Daly TD said: “On three separate occasions in recent years the Labour Court has made recommendations over [...]
Blog – Day 2 – Workers in struggle and discussions with the Greek left
Workers in struggle and discussions with the Greek left Day two, Thursday, of my visit to Greece started with a presentation from workers from the organisations for Social Housing and for Social Protection to all of the GUE/NGL MEPs. What they told us really brought home the almost total dismantling of basic social infrastructure [...]
Blog : Solidarity with Greek workers – Day 1
Solidarity with Greek workers – Day 1 A crucial task facing socialists and activists today is building active solidarity and common action between the struggles of working people across Europe who face an onslaught of austerity. Greece is currently on the frontline of this struggle, where the austerity measures have gone so far that [...]
People Before Profit TD Slams Government’s new Pathways to work initiative
In a statement today, Richard Boyd Barrett TD, described the government’s new labour activation scheme, Pathways to Work, as just another stick to beat unemployed people with and a way of reducing the numbers on the live register while producing no real savings or real new employment. This kind of Labour Activation rests on the [...]
Student Teachers Protest to oppose government’s austerity agenda
Today student teachers from the Colleges of Education joined with newly qualified teachers and took to the streets in protest at the threat to teacher allowances. Students Teachers and Newly Qualified Teachers marched to Dáil Eireann in a show of protest at threats to allowances to teachers. The Department of Education suspended payment of allowances [...]
Comment: Labour’s shame at privatisation of bin service
Since the privatisation of the household bin collection system within the functional area of Dublin City Council kicked in last month, it has been one shambolic controversy after another. The threat this week by Greyhound Waste, which was handed the service by Dublin City Council, that it would not collect the bins of up to [...]
Video: Speeches on Greek workers’ struggles, Moroccan trade agreement, and supporting Kazakh oil workers
The parliament met this week in Strasbourg. I made a number of speeches on different issues. Firstly, I spoke on the struggle being waged by the Greek working class against the vicious austerity measures which are being imposed by the Troika, this includes the cutting of the minimum wage by 22% and the [...]