Cast your mind back to the RTE leaders debate. RBB was being grilled by Claire Byrne on crime and he mentioned how government cuts had wrecked havoc to a youth project in his area? Well, Oasis had a demonstration today and there’s a short video capturing it all. Trade Union TV posted it about an hour ago saying: “There was a protest against the cuts to the Oasis youth project … Read More
Luas Strike.
Like any time there’s a bout of industrial action in Ireland, it’s wall to wall commentary in sections of our compliant media on how the dear old consumer gets affected by a strike. On the other hand, Paula Geraghty just came back with these vox pop from the Luas line today. Hear it from the worker’s mouth.
They’re Looting The Town!
While historical re-enactments are all the rage in this ‘Decade of Centenaries’, and we have seen everything from Ulster Volunteer Forces rallies to Fenian funerals re-enacted by enthusiastic historical societies, it’s unlikely we’ll see anyone recreate the looting of Noblett’s sweet shop come 24 April 2016. Donal Fallon has this tale of proletarian shopping in the rare auld times. Somewhat at odds with the popular narrative of the Easter Rising, … Read More
Raise The Bar.
Psst! Do you know someone working behind the bar? Then pass this onto them will you? It’s a survey looking into conditions in the trade recently launched by Mandate, who see this as the first step in establishing what conditions are like out there beyond word of mouth. Share it around folks.
May The First Be With You.
In the early 2000’s, activist Joe Carolan cut an unmistakable figure at demonstrations in our dirty old town. For the last decade however he’s been working in New Zealand with the Unite union which, on May 1st of all days, won a victory in the struggle for McDonald’s workers’ rights. Rashers Tierney picked his brains on how they did it. How did an Irish “red” with a fondness for Johnny … Read More
Strivers and Skivers.
The idea that everyone ought to be entitled to a minimum basic income as a fundamental right certainly sounds way left field, yet it has piqued the interests of everyone from politicians and CEOs to economists and anti-capitalists, and it’s appeared in all corners of the media, from the Financial Times to Jacobin. Ian Maleny gives us the lowdown. We’re living in a world where damn near everything has a … Read More
#JobBridge: Maldron Hotels Staff Paid By Taxpayer.
Dalata Hotel Group are the largest hotel operators in Ireland. With a successful IPO they’ve raised enough to buy out up to 25 hotels so why are they looking to get us to pick up the wages for their Commis Chef? Because JobBridge, that’s why. Here’s some detail on how deep their pockets are from Bizplus.ie: “Turnover from operations in the leased hotels and managed hotels has grown strongly in recent … Read More
Trickling Up From The Basement.
You’re probably blue in the face hearing about the housing crisis, the increase in rent, the holy grail of owning the roof over your head. There are solutions to the problems though. Michael Taft details a few. This housing crisis is having a devastating impact on the households affected and the wider economy. In 2013, there were 90,000 households on the social housing waiting list – the majority waiting for … Read More
Hell Raiser.
This is Jane McAlevey. She’s a a fourth generation union activist and author of a book called Raising Expectations and Raising Hell. She was in town recently for a number of talks and had some pretty prescient things to say. Here she is chatting to Siobhán O’Donoghue of Migrant Rights Centre and Uplift fame. She has some mad idea about people participating in society and goes on at lenght: “The … Read More
SIPTU Calls On Members to Boycott Israeli Goods.
SIPTU, Ireland’s largest Trade Union with a membership of 200,000, has issued a statement calling on it’s members to boycott Israeli goods and participate in demonstrations until Israel withdraws from Gaza. The call follows Mandate union’s approaches to major retailers to pursue a boycott of Israeli goods and not place workers in a position where they may feel they are jeopardising their employment by acting conscientiously and refusing to handle … Read More