Gilmore comes out against strike

by Brian D Tue Mar 24, 2009 18:52

http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest230309.html

23/03/09

Sligo éirígí activist Gerry Casey has accused the Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore of betraying Irish workers and trade unionists and of siding with the political and capitalist classes responsible for the current conomic crisis.

Casey was speaking following comments by Gilmore in which he expressed his opposition to the national strike scheduled for March 30.

Casey said: “The actions of Gilmore are despicable. At a time like this when workers and trade unionists are having pay cuts forced upon them and being made to pay for the greed and incompetence of successive administrations and their banking and developer friends, the least they can expect is the support of those who claim to have workers interests at heart.”

He added: “Instead of trying to galvanise support for the workers of this country, the people he and his party claim to represent, Gilmore has shown where his loyalties lie. He has sided with the political and capitalist classes in this country. He has betrayed the rights of Irish workers and trade unionists.”

Casey concluded: “Now, more than ever, worker and trade union militancy and solidarity are required to defend those rights. Workers and trade unionists should ignore the weasel words of Gilmore and take to the streets in large numbers on March 30. I would also urge the wider public to publicly support this national strike and help to defend the rights and living standards of all Irish workers and their families.”

by Tagger Tue Mar 24, 2009 00:07

Well said Miriam you have hit the nail right on the head with every blow.

I would have expected E.Gilmore to be more upstanding,but he now appears to be no better than any of the rest of the pack of vipers that waffle around Dail Eireann. So there is going to be a day of strikes did we not go down that road before of course we did what other tools are avaibable, apart from sitting around the big table each side looking at each other, do they not realise or maybe they do and here is the fear in them that people are very angry over lots of other issues like real reform of our instituions,real demoracy, transparency, accountability, reform of the Oirechtas,white collar criminals are held to account,the truth,it is time that irish politicians woke up, and begin to live in the real harsh world, the likes of O'Sullivan and his cronies must not be allowed to hijack Ireland again for their devious means.Ireland belongs to its people not Politicians who facilitate the Multinational Corporates.

E.Gilmore was fully aware of what was taking place in Ireland the dogs in the street knew it, he stood idly by and let it continue at full pelt, if any of them had brains we would be the most dangerous country in the world but have no fear of that.

Bannana Republic indeed.

by Miriam Mon Mar 23, 2009 20:37

Kevin

Thanks for your message.

Sure enough the left was routed in the last election and there are a few reasons for that.

Some voters were drunk on Celtic Tiger excess and were encouraged to swig back even more of the hubris. The party is still roaring on was how the elction was sold and nobody - not one party - made the slightest effort to say that things were looking dire. The evidence was all there. Fergus Finlay in The Irish Examiner was encouraging people to enjoy their SSIAs - one of the most undemocratic thefts of public money from the working poor for the working rich ever conceived. Do you wonder that people took you at your word when this is the kind of thing that even Labour Party people were saying?

You have to look for where the real blame lies though. You distanced yourselves from the left over two decades - it's undeniable despite the sprinkling of much tamed stalwarts that were still in evidence. You made leftwing politics taboo within the Labour Party itself. The electorate took you at your word. We were left with wall to wall centre-right politics and Labour ended up as little more than Fianna Fail Lite in many respects. Gilmore has shifted a fraction to the left of his predecessor and is making warmer noises but when he opposes an essential strike - a strike intended to challenge the whole orientation of this PD ideology that FF are in a thrall too and ensure an egalitrain route is navigated through the crisis - then he looses all credibility.

I had to rub my eyes where you talk about IBEC. Why do you genuflect before that appalling group of people? Where does all the wonder and awe of them derive from? Again, EG should be calling their bluff right across the board. Look at the folly they led the government into - they have wielded influece and power beyond any other group - more so even than elected government itself. They sit on policy quangos in every policy area and are an unchecked cancer on the body politic. They've left our democracy like a woodworm-riddled timber structure - about to collapse into a fine powder any second. They myth of IBEC is something everyone will one day come to see for what it really is but it's extraordinary that even now, nobody in Labour is prepared to highglight their disgraceful role in all of this. Nobody is scrutinising them. They should be running scared and ashamed like the bunch of Sean Fitzpatricks they are. IBEC have sold out lock stock and barrel to foreign investors at the expense of indiginous and smaller business - which all should be the rock-solid basis of the economy. These are very basic economic principles but they've been completely ignored all this time.

The 'reality' that you describe is really the unreality of the electoralism you're party is addicted to and which paralyses it in exactly the way you describe. Rid yourselves of it, forget power and start focusing on grassroots influence - something infinitely more effective at changing attitudes and outcomes. Power secured through that principled route may be longer and harder won but it is the only genuine and fair way to go.

by Kevin T. Walsh - Ethics in Modern Ireland Mon Mar 23, 2009 19:12

Miriam

I always respected your postings. They were mind thinking and your links were very informative.

I am surprised you all have lost some history. De Rossa like Gilmore have come in from the left as in the 70's Miriam we would say the old Stickies and in the 60's we would say the Official IRA. Gilmore has come a long way and to me personally is a very good Dail speaker in present day Dail Eireann. Also let us not forget the input towards the Banking corruption crisis by his colleague Joan Burton.

Gilmore realises Miriam that in the last election the left was wiped out. From Mary Lou to how do you do, Sinn Fein were shell shocked. Planning on at least 11 seats and lost 1 (S. Crowe), Miriam that is politics and Gilmore, on his comments on Radio 1, this weekend is not right of right. It is a little dramatic but I think on this occasion you have misread the script

Gilmore was totally opposed to the one day all out strike next Monday and this evening IBEC has thrown in a hammer to the other unions not to go ahead with the strike. This is a monumental case of morals between trade unions. Now, we can mention left and right. Sadly among the unions - what we need now is leadership, common sense, and a budget that has to meet EU standards. I sadly think people are not aware of how serious our finances are. I would love to have the hope - we won the Grand Slam at the weekend. Dunne is world champion in boxing - fantastic but reality has to hit in away from sport and the hype and personally attacking Gilmore is not the way forward.

Whatever party you represent, please give us their input in the forthcoming incoming budget that will decide our economic life line.

With the highest of respect Miriam to your writings down the years but on this occasion I don't agree with you.

Kevin T. Walsh

by Miriam Mon Mar 23, 2009 13:38

This is exactly the sort of double guessing and 'realism' that has rendered the Labour Party a) disconnected from its traditional voter base and b) irrelevant to the political scene.

Are you trying to tell us that the Labour Party says one thing and means another? Either you stand for something and will speak up for it or you won't. By abandoning that simple straightforward principle the Labour Party has done more than any other party to make politics so right wing in Ireland. It made it clear that there was no labour based party any more and many of the decent people who were still prepared to deal in reality were labelled extremists and/or gotten rid of. Look where it has all ended up.
The Labour Party has been doing a great job of convincing the other parties that they are ashamed of their old voter base. By appeasing the business interests and failing to effectively oppose schemes like SSIAs you were sending a clear signal to us all that it was the approval of undemocratic, anti-worker lobbies that you wanted to court. You became a part of the problem rather than the solution. Getting into power is not at all the most powerful way to wield influence yet that has been the preoccupation. Had you maintained a determined and articulate stand in the face of the last two decades of neo-liberal horsepoo, people would feel they could trust you.

The deluded spin doctors behind all of this thought they could spin morality and conscience into something less exacting - invent some new reality called 'pragmatism' which was really 'sell out' in cheap designer clothes. Like everything else from the last two decades it was hollow and substanceless as many of us knew it was. We were betrayed and abused by you and unless or until you face that, it's unlikely people who are facing serious deprivation and hardship are going to be taken in by you. You should make a bold statement in support of this strike and let people know you are on their side, if you want them to believe you. Fudge is useless to us.

by Realist Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:56

Miriam - your complete lack of understanding of real-politics is astounding.

If you listen to the interview with Eamon Gilmore he takes a very strategic (and completely obvious) tactic of saying a national strike is not within the countries best interest. He does not condone the strike or argue against it. What else would you expect from the leader of a labour party in the most right-wing conservative country in the EU?

The electorate in this country vote en masse for either FG or FF. Both center-right parties, and have done so for eighty years. Do you think Eamon Gimore is stupid enough to think that because his party's ratings are on the increase that the electorate has turned 'red-left' all of a sudden? Hardly. He is playing a political ball game because he knows that if his party are to become the leading political party in Dáil Eireann then they need to appeal to the Obamaesque middle ground. It is hardly surprising therefore that he does not openly advocate a national strike (even though, and I know this for a fact - he personally favours one). Realism Miriam.

by Old codger - Pensioner Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:25

Yes it will be harmfull to our nation' but like fighting a thug that is trying to harm you' it has to be done. Where were you REALITY for the last 3 decades when you and people like you voted for a party that cherished criminals? They climbed trees looking for them and on finding them shouted their mantra DUE PROCESS. Well we are are still waiting for due process to be carried out but we know it won't happen when Fianna Fail controls the police, judiciary and media. It is this party that has encouraged dishonesty in our society that has allowed Bankers and developers free reign to bankrupt our country. Fine Gail and labour sat back and wimpered about it' but did nothing to stop it.
It is now up to the workers to stand up and fight and maybe change Ireland for the better.
When you vote for crooks they will steal from you.

by Miriam Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:10

Mr Heffernan's response to my open letter:

"Thank you for your e-mail.

Can I say that your depiction of the Labour Party is so bizarre that it clearly precludes the possibility of having any rational exchange with you.

For the record the Labour Party was the only party in the Dail to oppose the bank guarantee scheme and Eamon Gilmore is on record as having criticised the decision to pay vastly increased salaries to hospital consultants.

I find you views particulary suprising given that you sent me an e-mail last week praising the Fine Gael proposal to impose a tax on graduates and saying that you 'may vote FG' after the next election.

A bit more honesty all round might be helpful.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/91630

Regards,

Tony Heffernan"

My reply back to him:

"Dear Tony

It's not credible that you understand what good PR is all about. Not being insulting to voters in an open exchange would seem to be a basic principle to observe.

I'm surprised to realise that you don't realise this is about more than the hurt feelings of the Labour Party when they are criticised. It's good PR not to get defensive but to demonstrate an understanding of the heartfelt concerns of people who contact you like this. The evasive, personal and sexist nature of your response says it all. When cornered by a woman in an argument the first thing any good chauvinist does is to call her rationality into question. Never mind, that's two constituencies you have managed to offend at a stroke - women and workers.

You misrepresent what I said about fees. I said we would be forced to vote tactically in order to avoid the most punitive form of third level fees. If Labour is not prepared to say that it will not negotiate on free education, we can all assume that you will ditch your principles in order to form a government. That means you will likely lose the student and parent vote and are therefore unlikely to be unelected as the main party. Ergo there is no mileage in voting Labour - who have a track record in saying they won't form a government with Fianna Fail and then going ahead and doing it anyway. That leaves us with Fine Gael's graduated introduction of fees as opposed to Fianna Fail's demands for huge sums of money up front. The former will be the only viable possibility for many people. The Labour Party will have made themselves irrelevant.

You are right that I have misrepresented your vote on the bank bailout. What is the point of voting against that and then attempting to destroy a strike aimed at putting a brake on that sort of economic strategy? You should be joining in the strike yourselves. But on that point, the whole reason for writing to you, you are silent. Being personally offensive towards potential, if critical, voters hardly does you any favours. Gilmore has revealed the 'Labour' Party's true colours at a stroke - as you have here in your response to me.

I've seen Eamon Gilmore's opposition speeches in the Dail. They are little more than window dressing and hardly answer the substantive point I made. You avoid, for example, the massive conflict of interest issue where Mary Harney is concerned. Why is Eamonn Gilmore not daily demanding to know what her and her husband's contacts and earnings are in relation to the Health Service? She should never have been appointed Minister for Health and yet this situation goes on unchallenged by all of you. So it is with many other issues and the Labour Party. Why do the Labour Party complain about consultants' fees and yet draw down huge, unaffordable salaries for themselves? The 10% pay cut still leaves you earning massively more than the vast majority. Why isn't 'Labour' loudly protesting the hugely undemocratic influence that IBEC have on economic and social policy? Why are you not organising nationwide workers' rallies and shaping policies accordingly? There is so much more that you should be doing to help wrench control of the economy back into the hands of the people and you are singlularly failing to do it. We don't need you to do it for us, we need you to do it with us.
Yours sincerely
Miriam Cotton "

by foxy lad Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:31

Gilmore has the following alternatives:

1. Stay moderate (reflecting his electorate, which is largely public-service, and who are only interested in preserving their perks and priviledges - They are not interested in real change, very much the opposite. Most of them are unenthusiastic about Monday's strike which they know is only a face-saving exercise.

2. become more radical and end up competing for the votes of the same 10% of the electorate that currentlly votes for Sinn Fein (and in respect ofd which the Shinners are better organized and more credible anyway).

I think Gilmore will keep on his present course which will see modest gains in any forthcoming election followed by return to the traditional 11-15% when the economy sorts itself out in a few years time.

by Miriam Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:26

http://www.politics.ie/labour/54851-gilmore-biting-unio....html

The contributions of some posters on p.ie make you realise how depraved the national consciousness has become for a large section of the population. The way some of these people so casually endorse economic fascism is pretty chilling. A lot of people seem to have completely lost understanding of what the meaning of democracy is and sacrcely seem to understand that they are arguing against their own best interests.

by Miriam Cotton Mon Mar 23, 2009 09:18

Call for determined strike action until they learn what democracy means
Eamon Gilmore has been complaining about the proposed national strike next week. Not only should we ignore him, we should all teach him a hard lesson in who it is that is supposed to call the shots in this country. There should be a national strike next Monday and every Monday until we see some genuine democracy in the management of the economic crisis. I hope other people will register their protest to the Labour Party as well:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story....1.asp
To Tony Heffernan, Labour Party Press Office spokesperson:

"Dear Tony Heffernan

Open letter to the Labour Party

I had not anticipated writing to you again. I do so because I am incensed by Eamonn Gilmore's comments about the national strike planned for next week. Is he so far removed from public feeling about poltiicians, their inflated salaries, their appeasement of the bankers and the corrupt that he does not recognise what this strike is actually all about? There is no democracy in the management of this crisis - the government does nothing but carefully preserve the privileges of the privileged. We will bring the country to a complete standstill unless or until it starts doing as WE say and not as they dictate. The opposition has been hopelessly ineffectual in all of this.

Has Gilmore loudly condemned Mary Harney's approval, in the midst of this crisis, a salary increase for hospital consultants? Why does he not protest her malign and pernicious influence on government policy? Has he asked her to account for all of the obscene amount of subsidies and gifts to private health care companies - money given without any accounting to the public for it? Ditto the billions given for 'R&D' - much of it utterly wasted on fruitless research for foreign corporations. Has he done anything to expose the ministers with personal interests in Anglo Irish Bank? The list of outrages against fair economic management and democracy is endless.

We have NO information about how the bailout money is being spent - none. Billions handed over without explanation and then we are patronsiingly told that WE must 'cooperate' while our lives are ravaged by the consequences. The banks have ignored government pleadings to act responsibility. Instead they complain about 500 thousand euro salaries and refuse to ease the burden on small and medium size businesses - letting them go to the wall, destroying towns and communities all over Ireland. Why is Eamon Gilmore not yelling at the top of his voice about the multi-billion euro cost of that lack of cooperation? Why is he not demanding an immediate return to national ownership of our oil and gas resrouces instead of finger wagging at hard pressed families?

It is the government and the opposition parties who must cooperate with us. You voted for these things against our wishes and threw us all on the scrap heap. We have no intention of going quietly into the poorhouse at the Labour Party's request just because you want to curry favour with powerful business iterests in the hope of one day being in a position to facilitate them in doing to us all what Fianna Fail have just done. In these circumstances the Labour Party is the sworn enemy of real labour - of all the workers who are entirely innocent of causing this crisis.

Strike action is our only and best defence against all of this - the one thing we can do to force government and big business to back off and do what is in everyone's interests - not just their profit margins. The resources of this society must be shared equally at this time of crisis. Let the so-called 'brains' and 'talent' who so skilfully wrecked our lives go where they will. The average nurse or electrician would do a better job.
Sincerely
Miriam Cotton"

Write to him at tony.heffernan@oireachtas.ie

by Jem Sun Mar 22, 2009 22:04

If you feel you're on the cusp of attaining power you have to sound 'moderate' to the likes of FG; otherwise they won't take you into bed after the next election. Expect lots more moderation from Mr. Gilmore in the rocky months to come.

by foxy lad Sun Mar 22, 2009 22:01

'course he would like to be Boss.

He would certainly not be helping his chances of becoming Boss by supporting a widely unpopular and futile protest which has little to do about protecting the less well off and much to do with preserving the perks of one of the most priviliedged sectors in the economy and blackmailing the government to bring the unions back into the disasterous partnership arrangement. Gilmore is right. If the levy is unfair it should be renegotiated to rebalance it so that it doesn't hit lower paid public employees.

But that is the problem. Rebalancing would hit the highly paid people represented by the most militant unions: teachers, gardai, middle and higher civil-servants, and the ranks of public service professionals and highly paid HSE administrators who (along with the banks and developers) got us into the present mess.

by Tagger Sun Mar 22, 2009 21:13

And this is the guy who would like to be the Boss, a man of the people, Labour Party worse than F/Fail.

He has obviously read too much about Blair.

He obviously believes in legalised robbery.