Reclaim the Unions!

national | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice Tuesday April 26, 2011 15:43 by Stephen Boyd & Owen McCormack - Forum for Trade Union Activists 085 7132937 or 087 2858388

Forum for Trade Union Activists

Saturday 7th May 12pm to 4pm
UNITE Hall
66-57 Middle Abbey Street
Dublin 1

Since September 2008 a one sided war has been fought by government and employers to make working people pay for the economic crisis. Indeed a week has not gone by over the last three years without major job losses and attacks on pay and conditions.

This has taken place in both the public and private sectors. There will be no let up under the Fine Gael/Labour government who are planning:
- 25,000 job cuts in the public service
- The reduction or scrapping of Registered Employment Agreements which cover 240,000 mostly private sector workers
- The privatisation of our semi state companies which like we have seen in Eircom and Aer Lingus will result in massive job cuts and attacks on pay and conditions.

Time and again our so called union leaders have told workers that they have to accept these attacks. Yet each job and wage cut has made the economic situation worse.

We need a trade union movement capable of fighting for its members and answering the cutback consensus of the bosses, government and the EU/IMF. This can only be achieved if ordinary activists organise to give solidarity and support to fellow workers facing attacks and also by organising to democratically take our unions back from “leaders” who have shown that they are unable and unwilling to defend our interests.

If you are unhappy with how your union is being run by overpaid and unaccountable officials at the top or see the need locally to have effective shop stewards and union branch committees who can fight for their members come to the trade union activists’ forum and hear how we can begin to reclaim our unions.

This forum is being organised by trade union members who support the establishment of a national network of shop stewards and activists. Such a network can play an important role in developing an effective opposition to the pro-partnership union leaders and to mobilise support for fighting action to defend jobs, pay, public services and to defeat privatisation.

Leaflet for forum. Contact organisers for copies to distribute 0.27 Mb