Emergency protest over Victimisation at Anti Union Ballymun Hotel

dublin | worker & community struggles and protests | news report

Thursday April 17, 2008 23:15

by Kevin Wingfield - Ballymun People Before Profit

086-3074060

Friday 1pm Ballymun Plaza Hotel, Ballymun

Emergency protest over Victimisation at Anti Union Ballymun Hotel

Friday 1pm Ballymun Plaza Hotel, Ballymun

Ballymun Plaza Hotel employs over 40 people, the majority of whom want to be represented by SIPTU. But the management have refused to talk to the Union.

The workers suffer from bullying, lack of Sunday premiums and have not received pay increases.

This morning (Thursday) in a blatant act of intimidation and victimisation, management publicly sacked one of the workers identified as a union activists after he tried to sort out a case of bullying of another of the workers. The sacking was done publicly in the Hotel foyer. He was told to pack his things and leave immediately. Other members of staff were told that should he appear again he was to be escorted from the premises.

SIPTU has called a protest for tomorrow lunchtime (Friday 18th April) at 1.00pm outside the hotel. The union particularly wants people from the Ballymun community to show their support for basic trade union rights to come along if they are able to.

Ballymun People Before Profit is calling on all its supporters in the area who are available to join in this important protest and tell their friends and neighbours.

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Comments (14 of 14)

ballymun -limerick .More links

by mick ballymun

Sat May 10, 2008 14:45

Paddy’s warning to Limerick residents confirms the words of SIPTU organiser, Miriam Hamilton in this week’s Siptu newsletter.

“This issue does not just affect the people of Ballymun - the treatment of these workers raises serious questions about the social focus of all regeneration projects. The owners of the Ballymun Plaza Hotel - Bennett Construction - will be one of the major developers in the planned Moyross regeneration project. Politicians need to decide what sort of future they want for local workers in these areas, and to remember that regenerating an area requires more than just bricks and mortar.”

I find it disturbing that the residents - especially the youth - of both the Ballymun and Limerick estates get the blame for failed government policies . It is ironic how essentially anti-social privatisation policies in housing are presented by the media as measures meant for ‘tackling anti-social behaviour’. DCC’s Brendan Kenny oversaw the early stages of Ballymun’s Regeneration. He is now CEO for the Limerick project and is adamant that anti-social behaviour will be tackled in the town .The 180 invitees from the business and construction sector who attended a briefing at Limerick's Hilton hotel last month were given assurances that plans for the city's regeneration include recommendations that social tenants will in the future have to receive a "certificate of eligibility" from the Gardai before being allocated housing .

John Fitzgerald ,who as former DCC manager bears much of the responsibility for the Ballymun Regeneration debacle , was also the author of the government’s regeneration programme report for Limerick. He said in 2006 when he launched his report, "The potential of Limerick as a region is huge but it is undermined all the time by the activities of a small number of people. However, you can't sweep this under the carpet. You have to face up to it and confront it.”

That’s the way the media spun the swamping of working class neighbourhoods last week by the gardai .The operation involved raids on over 150 homes on the Limerick estates by hundreds of police as part of what was billed as an anti-drugs money crackdown - ludicrously named Operation Platinum . The paltry 200,000 euros in cash seized during the raids did include one haul of 25,000 euros , but most often it involved sums of under 1000 euros - the sort of money that would typically be put aside by working class families for a rainy day .

Don't forget to come along to Setanta tonight and support the sacked Plaza workers.

Background report : Day of Reckoning

by Paddy Haughey

Fri May 09, 2008 20:08

Commemoration of Arabian horses and a British Field Marshall rather than the signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic is the choice of BRL ltd as a focal point of their new main street. I am not surprised because BRL acts as an agent of Dublin City Council who when known as Dublin Corporation were responsible as landlords for allowing Ballymun to decline into a slum area.
Why DCC was allowed to do the regeneration of Ballymun with this record behind them deserves an Enquiry as much as any of the issues we hear about daily in Dublin Castle .But the day of reckoning has come for them probably with the recent release of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals Special Report on Ballymun Regeneration .
see: http://audgen.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=1089

The Irish Independent published an editorial on the Special Report in March and the editor felt compelled to do an editorial report on it in addition to an article. He entitled his report ‘A terrible Waste’. He says the original blueprint envisaged the completion of the demolition and rebuilding work by 2006. The estimated cost was €442m. But now the projected completion date has been moved to 2012, and the estimated final bill has more than doubled to €942m. He says that when people in authority are confronted on such issues they seldom lack excuses and bland comments and that none of these given to the C&AG by BRL even when added together can justify the enormous increase in the cost of the project. See:http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/w....html
and: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/a-terrible-....html

Reading the Special Report itself gives rise to some disturbing facts such as that 532 of the original flats are not going to be replaced; a key objective of BRL was ‘social mix’, but most of the private houses are physically separate from the social housing. And, although the Special Report doesn’t seem to be aware of it, the quality and size of the new homes are far from what was promised. In conclusion, the selling of too large a proportion of the Ballymun land bank to private investors has resulted in the failure of the regeneration of Ballymun. Brendan Kenny on RTE’s Morning Ireland said he would raise money from the sale of land in Moycross, Southill etc for their Regeneration . So Limerick beware.

Fundraiser for Ballymun Plaza Workers tomorrow night :
See http://www.indymedia.ie/openwire?search_text=ballymun&x...2&y=5

TUPE - Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Directive

by Sceptic

Wed Apr 30, 2008 15:38

All of you anti-EU zealots who are much in evidence here should be aware that TUPE is a piece of EU legislation which protects the interests of workers. It is only one of a large raft of EU laws dealing with discrimination of all kinds, rights of temporary and fixed term workers and the like. This is why the unions, who are familiar with these things, are supportive of the EU.

Rally in support of the Ballymun Plaza workers

by Miriam Hamilton - SIPTU

Tue Apr 29, 2008 13:39

Comrades,

As you may be aware by now, the Ballymun Plaza Hotel closed 10 days ago with the loss of 40 union members’ jobs. The hotel is owned by Bennett Construction who evicted the operator for failing to pay rent since the hotel opened 19 months ago. The workers are fighting to make sure that when a new operator is secured that they be re-engaged and that TUPE is adhered to. The workers have since then collected over 5,500 signatures from the local community supporting their right to return to work, have held protests at the sister hotel, The Tallaght Plaza over failure to get their wages paid and have maintained a regular presence in Ballymun to demonstrate their commitment to fight for their jobs. All of this work will culminate in a rally to be held in Ballymun, at the Ballymun Plaza, on Thursday, 1st May at 5pm.

We are urging people to attend this rally which will be on between 5pm - 6pm.

Attached is the poster for the rally. Can I ask that you forward it to friends and activists who may be in a position to come to Ballymun on Thursday.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have helped out to date. Your support has been greatly appreciated by all of the workers.

In Solidarity,

Miriam Hamilton

Poster for Ballymun Rally 1.4 Mb