Fightback

SIPTU joins the fray

Category: Trade unions Published Date Written by Fightback

We might be out of the World Cup, but the Irish working class is at the forefront of the struggle against the bosses crisis. It’ll  take much more than a dodgy hand ball to take the heat out of this situation. Earlier today yet another major union voted massively to join the public sector strikes on November 24th. SIPTU’s 70,000 members voted by 85% in favour of participating in what is becoming more or less a de facto Public Sector General Strike. SIPTU organise a wide range of workers and its interesting to note the different returns in each area. The breakdown of the Yes ballots per sector was 85% in Health, 78% in Local Authorities, 91% in the Fire Service, 79% in Education, and 77% in Government Departments. The figures vary, but they are overwhelming. This illustrates that the government and media assault on the public sector workers is back firing.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 23:07

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Huge Teachers Strike Votes roll in: all out on November 24th!

Category: Trade unions Published Date Written by Séamus Loughlin

65,000 teachers in the primary and secondary education, further education and third level institutions have voted to back the strike action on 24th November. The action covering both academic and non academic staff means that effectively the entire education sector will be shut down for the day. The four unions involved INTO, TUI, ASTI and  IFUT which organises two thirds of university teachers have all returned huge votes in favour of strike action.

Last Updated on Monday, 16 November 2009 23:36

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IMPACT Ballot shows huge shift in favour of strike action; now’s the time to stop Fianna Fáil and the Greens in their tracks

Category: Trade unions Published Date Written by Séamus Loughlin

IMPACT members have voted 86% to 14% for strike action on a 69% ballot. This is a huge change from the position in March where a similar vote resulted in a 65% Yes vote on a 53% turnout. The vote in March fell just short of the 2/3 barrier that union rules lay down as the minimum threshold for official action to be sanctioned. 

This marks a dramatic shift over the past 7 months. But that’s hardly a surprise given the imposition of the levy, the slash and burn budget and the threats of cuts and redundancies and the general economic chaos and political crisis that threatens public sector workers.

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 October 2009 23:01

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November 6th: Join the Demonstrations Fight wage cuts and job losses

Category: Trade unions Published Date Written by Fighback Editorial Board

From Dublin to Galway, Cork to Dundalk, and in Waterford, Sligo, Tullamore and Limerick, thousands of Civil Servants, Teachers and Local Government workers are marching against the Governments attacks. The demonstrations will give a clear signal to Cowen and Lenihan that if they want to attack our wages and our jobs and services then they will have hundreds of thousands of angry workers and their families to deal with. Its never a good idea to attack all your enemies at once.

Last Updated on Saturday, 07 November 2009 12:24

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Social Partnership: How much flogging can one dead horse take?

Category: Trade unions Published Date Written by Fightback Editorial Board

It might have started out as a strategy, but the ICTU leadership’s profound belief that they can wrest some concessions out of Cowen and Lenihan would be better described as an illusion or perhaps a death wish. We’ve pointed out many times that in a slump social partnership is like the partnership between a cat and a mouse. But at least in Tom and Jerry the mouse was a master of tactics.

Last Updated on Sunday, 23 May 2010 18:45

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