INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

IRISH PUBLIC SERVICE STRIKE-DID THEY WIN ?:

Last November 24 public service workers in Ireland surprised the country by engaging in an unprecedented 24 hour general strike. Up to a quarter of a million workers participated in the protest against planned job and service cuts. What does this mean for the future of Ireland and for workers in other countries faced with similar government policies. First, from The Guardian, is a general report of what happened.

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Irish public servants stage national strike:
More than a quarter of a million public servants, including police officers, staged a general strike in Ireland today to protest against forthcoming cuts in jobs and services.

For the first time, off-duty members of the Garda Siochána joined picket lines during the national one-day stoppage ahead of the 9 December budget when Brian Cowen's embattled government is expected to impose pay cuts in the public sector. The Fianna Fáil/Green party coalition has said the savings are vital to help plug the €22bn (£19.9bn) black hole in public finances.

Trade unions are opposed to the cuts, claiming that the economic crisis was not caused by public sector workers but, in part, by Irish banks lending billions to property speculators just before the housing boom went bust.

On a picket outside Store Street Garda station in central Dublin today , civilian staff member Jane Heuston said she was angry at the way public sector workers were being singled out in government cost cutting.

"We are sitting ducks," she said, holding up a placard for the CPSU public service union. "Public service workers didn't cause this crisis that was the fault of the greedy bankers and developers," she said.

Her colleague Teresa Dodrill, who works as a cleaner at the station, said they had received tremendous support from even the on-duty gardaí at Store Street.

As she held up a placard for the Impact union, two gardaí walked past and wished the strikers good luck.

PJ Stone, the general secretary of the 11,000-strong Garda Representative Association (GRA), said that while it was illegal for gardai to strike, there were 2,400 civilian, part-time "unsworn officers" who had the right to take industrial action and would do so today.

"Those people are entitled to take part in this strike and our advice to our members is that if they are off-duty to come along and stand in solidarity with them because their difficulties are our difficulties."

Speaking at the GRA headquarters, Stone accepted it was unusual for garda officers to join picket lines, rather than police them.

"It is a first, because for the first time in our history there are people working in garda stations who are entitled to strike.

"We need to show other workers that we stand with them and share their anger about the way this government is treating the public services."

He said public service workers, including garda officers, had already put back more than €2bn into the state's coffers in terms of government-imposed levies on their pay.

"We have already plugged a large gap and it is my view that the minister for finance has decided because we contributed in the levy that it will be easy in the budget to take more pay off public servants."

Stone said the pay cuts for gardaí, firefighters and nurses, alongside other public service workers, could amount to 5% to 10% of their salaries.

"If that were to happen, and with some of my people only on junior rank pay, it will create a police force in a complete state of anxiety at a time of rising crime in Ireland. You can't have people coming to work, putting their lives on the line at times, who are distracted worrying about their own financial position."

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Here, from the Irish Workers' Solidarity Movement, is an anarchist view of the events.

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Consequences of the 24th November public sector strike:
On the 24th of November something extraordinary happened. Some 250,000 workers acted together in a day-long strike against the public sector wage cuts planned by the government. The vast majority of these workers had never gone on strike before, yet across almost all workplaces the strike involved 90% or more of those working.

This strike took place in the face of hysterical attacks on public sector workers, which included one business commentator suggesting that those going to strike were guilty of High Treason. Conviction for High Treason when Ireland was under the British empire used to involve the person being hung until they had passed out, then being revived so a hole could be cut in their belly and their entrails dragged out before an axeman would cut off their limbs one by one and then, finally, chop off their head. The Class War is clearly escalating from the point of view of the capitalist class!

There is much that can be criticised about the organisation of the strike; after twenty years of social partnership, almost no one in the unions knew how to organise a strike, from the national leadership to the rank and file. This often left those at the base feeling abandoned or trapped in nonsensical decisions. But that is not the interesting story of the day; the interesting story is that despite all the problems, in almost all cases, workers organised themselves at the branch and section level to build effectively for the strike and day-long picket.

The main outcome of the day was that 250,000 workers quite suddenly found themselves thrust into a common identification of workers standing in opposition to local management and the state. All this under a crazed ideological offensive from the capitalist class. Many, perhaps most, had been very apprehensive about going on strike. The actual experience of strike swept away many of those apprehensions and did more in one week to build a confidence and organisation at the base of the unions then had been done in the previous decade.

At the time of writing, between that strike and the potential second one on the 3rd December, it is not clear how the new found militancy will develop. There may be some crappy deal negotiated by ICTU which will defuse the situation until the next time when the government returns for another cut. But the employers are fighting a very aggressive class war, they may not be willing to allow any compromise. In this case, we may already be in the midst of an escalating wave of strikes.

Either way, we have seen a massive demonstration of the potential power of workers when we stand together as workers. That power has been almost invisible in Ireland for two decades but it clearly never went away. That demonstration is what we can build on to fight the crisis and fight for a new world in the months and years ahead.

---For WSM reports from the picket lines of 24th November see http://www.wsm.ie/story/6241

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Ah, but then, as if both sides in the dispute were shocked by what had happened the unions and the government began to bargain more seriously. The next general strike in the public sector, scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 3, was called off as the following article from yesterday's Irish Times details.

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Public sector strike planned for Thursday is suspended:
IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
The day of industrial action planned by public servants for this Thursday has been suspended following a breakthrough in talks at Government Buildings this evening.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said meetings have concluded for the evening and will reconvene tomorrow morning.

He welcomed the fact that the industrial action planned for Thursday will not now take place and said he hoped progress can be made in the coming days.

General secretary of the Impact union, Peter McLoone told reporters outside Government Buildings that the strike was being deferred, “in the light of the progress that has been made in the negotiations over the last number of days”.

He said unions had been told earlier in the day that the Government now felt it possible to “design an alternative” to the pay cuts the Minister for Finance had been advocating. The savings would be based on an extra 12 days unpaid leave in 2010.

He said: “The purpose of putting forward the proposition on the unpaid days was that we would put a considerable part of the foundation that needs to be in place to create the alternative savings.”

“That’s now recognised, so the reason that we are going back into negotiations tomorrow, possibly into Thursday, is to complete the negotiations on the 2010 problem, so part of what we will be doing is dealing with the figures.”

Asked to comment on reports that the unpaid leave proposal could save the Exchequer €800m, he replied: “There are lots of figures going around about that. What we need to do tomorrow in order that we’re clear and agreed on the contribution is to look at precisely what the figure is.”

“This stuff is still challenging, but given the progress that we have made to date, the feeling on both sides is that, whatever challenges present, we should be able to overcome them,” he added.

Up to 250,000 nurses, teachers and other public workers held a one-day strike last week over Government plans to cut the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion in the forthcoming Budget.

Earlier today, the HSE began cancelling between 16,000 and 18,000 procedures for Thursday in preparation of any strike action. The HSE said tonight patients who had procedures cancelled would be contacted by their local hospital tomorrow to have their appointments restored where possible.

Tonight members of the 24/7 Frontline Services Alliance welcomed the progress made in talks saying it “represents an important step forward in the search for a fair and equitable way of addressing the problems created by the current economic crisis for the delivery of public services”.

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So, for now, both sides have pulled back from the dispute, each mutually afraid of the consequences should the matter be pushed to a further test of strength. Even though the right wing press in Ireland has gone ballistic on Brian Cowan, the leader of the government,accusing him of "cowardice" at their less strident, he has made just the right amount of concessions to at least delay the matter, and possibly loop the unions back into a 'social partnership' whereby they will negotiate away the rights of their members-just a "little bit" so as to avoid rank and file rebellion. Whether he should have done the "politic" thing in the first place and whittled away at the budget deficit a little at a time (a death by a thousand cuts), avoiding provoking public sector workers by a massive attack is seemingly beyond the ken of the right wing who are spoiling for a fight. From the point of view of the ruling class Cowan could be faulted more from lack of caution than an excess of it. Ah well, his critics on the right will calm down eventually anyways because, in the end, they have no choice other than to support him and his party.

The main "concession" on the part of the unions and the government is to somehow avoid pay cuts by instituting a regime of unpaid days off. How many these would be and over what period of time is still a matter of talks. This sort of thing, of course, is essentially a plan for a 'speed-up' for those public employees who remain at work while others are off (or alternatively everyone speeds up if offices are closed entirely for a day here and there). The matter of how much of the deficit this would cover and what else has to be conceded by the unions is, at this point, the subject of "magical accounting". Numbers that nobody has any confidence float around waiting for a political magician to grab them out of the air. Here's another story from the Irish Times about what is still in dispute.

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Union plan 'not a basis for agreement', says Cowen:
ELAINE EDWARDS, MARTIN WALL and MICHEAL O'REGAN
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has insisted the Government is still looking to secure savings “of the order of €1.3 billion” in the public sector pay bill as part of its ongoing talks with trade unions.

“That remains our position, and we wish to discuss with the trade unions on that basis,” he told the Dáil today. “Those discussions are not complete” Mr Cowen said, adding that proposals must still be discussed and developed.

“However, I made clear what the Government’s position is…and we reserve our position until we see if we can find an agreement,” he added.

Union sources have suggested that a scheme of unpaid leave of between 10 to 14 days could provide the basis for an agreement, although they accept the savings from this will be somewhat less than the €1.3 billion target set out by the Government.

Mr Cowen also said today the reduction to the public service pay bill must be both substantial and permanent. He said the Government told unions the proposals “did not, in their present form, provide a basis for the Government to confirm that it would not consider other options to effect the necessary savings”.

Later, the president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) Jack O’Connor said that Government officials maintain that the proposed unpaid leave arrangement for public servants would not generate sufficient revenue.

He said efforts were being made today to look at other measures that could be taken to enable the formulation of a proposal that would be consistent with budgetary requirements.

He said that there had been a sustained campaign of opposition to prevent the Congress alternative proposal to avoid pay cuts from being implemented.

Mr O’Connor also warned that the proposed strike action could be reinstated in the event of pay cuts being implemented by the Government.

“The decision of the congress public services committee yesterday was to defer the strike, not suspend it and not cancel it” he said.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said it seemed as if the Government had abdicated its responsibility to sort out the economic mess into which it had led the State.

“It is not possible to get permanent savings by having a further 12 days’ holidays,” he added. “It is not possible to give the same level of service with five per cent less man-hours.”

Union leaders and Government officials resumed talks this morning to work on a modified plan to cut the pay bill that involves a 12-day unpaid leave arrangement for public sector workers.

The Government agreed elements of the plan yesterday in order to secure a deal with the public service unions. This led to the suspension of tomorrow's planned one-day strike by public servants.

The draft deal involves two stages, a 12-day unpaid leave scheme to produce savings next year and an overall transformation programme for the public service from 2011.

Responding to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore during Leaders' Questions, Mr Cowen insisted that "discussions are continuing" on how to make those savings.

He said that if an "agreed way forward" was to be found, it would have to be before the Budget on December 9th. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan would have to have available to him the figures for the public service pay bill next year on that day.

“In the meantime, efforts are being made to see if there is an agreed way forward and how to do that," Mr Cowen said.

Mr Gilmore said the Government had a "muddled strategy - if indeed it’s a strategy at all”. He said that if there was an agreement with the unions, the Government still didn't know if it would be confirmed in a subsequent ballot. It did not appear to have a position "on what happens if there isn’t an agreement".

“Those savings have to be made because the Government does not have the money to pay the public sector pay bill as it is presently constituted.”

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SO WHO WON ?

To answer to question posed in the title of this blog, the simplistic answer is "neither side". The advanatge in this "draw" lies with the government as it will be exceedingly difficult for the unions to re-energize any strike movement in the near future, particularily with the Holiday Season drawing close. Further concessions will be made by the unions. On the other hand the very fact that a quarter of a million workers took the unprecedented action of a general strike made the government back down from its initial 'maximal demand'. The unions, however, have no "transition plan" that would allow them to proceed further than single day strikes. Nor should they be expected to have such a plan as it could only be the result of years (decades ?) of igitation amongst ordinary people that bosses, public or private, are not needed, and that people can govern their own lives themselves. Let's hope that such agitation bears fruit sometime in the future.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

DUBLIN STRIKE SUPPORTERS INVADE DOCKYARD GATE:

Molly has often expressed the opinion that strikes are best carried out by the most militant methods possible, with the caveat that violence should be avoided if at all possible. In the long term view all strikes are episodes in a class war that demands both the greatest initiative on the part of the dispossessed and also the demonstration on their part of a superior moral sense.

A recent action in Dublin Ireland fulfills both these criteria. Supporters of the striking Dublin Port Workers have invaded the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd. Here's the story from the Irish Times.

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Supporters of striking port workers breach Dublin dockyard gates:

TIM O'BRIEN
IN an escalation of an eight-week dispute, supporters of striking Dublin Port workers breached dockyard gates in the south port yesterday, entering the offices of Marine Terminals Ltd.
Up to 600 marchers attended a rally in protest against Marine Terminals’ demands for compulsory redundancies and new pay and conditions at the cargo handling facility.

Marchers had heard that the owners of Marine Terminals Ltd, UK firm Peel Ports, had brought in outside labour, when about half of the attendance breached the company gates, shouting “Dockers in, scabs out.”

A number of people entered booking offices before a large crowd moved to the gates of a container yard, and then to Marine Terminals’ administration offices, where their way was blocked by a Garda.

Rally organisers asked the crowd to respect the Garda and not to cause any damage, while a number of speakers, including two members of Dublin City Council, addressed the crowd from the doors of the administration block.

Windows in the block were locked and blinds closed during the protest, but nearby cameras on Portakabins rotated to follow the crowd.(Oh really, I wonder how many of these cameras are set up to catch criminals in the rough areas of Dublin rather than protesters ?-Molly)

Earlier, Siptu general secretary Joe O’Flynn had told protesters that if a solution was not found to the dispute, damage to businesses in the port would spread to the wider economy.

He accused Peel Ports of “bullyboy tactics” against decent employees, many of whom had worked in the company for years.

Mr O’Flynn said the company has consistently set its face against serious engagement with the workers, “steamrolling through mass redundancies and threatening further job losses, as well as cuts in pay and conditions”.

Even before the strike began, he claimed, the company had brought in strike-breakers from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“I can tell them now that we do not need investors with that mindset in Ireland and if they are not prepared to change it, they should leave now and hand over the facility to a company that will behave within decent business norms,” he said. (Uh, say "duh", a much better "threat" would be to say something about handing the business over to a producers' cooperative of the dockworkers. This, of course, is beyond the present horizon of the official trade unions )

Peter Bunting, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said members would “name and shame” the “scabs” in their own communities and addressed his comments in personal terms to a Marine Terminals manager, John Rafferty.

He was also critical of the media, saying that if the unions had treated the State’s industrial relations machinery with the same disdain as Marine Terminals had, the unions would be “excoriated”.

Messages of support were read from dockers’ unions in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands, where it was claimed members of the FNV union occupied the head offices of Peel Ports’ subsidiary BG Freight at Bondgenoten for three hours from 10am to 1pm Irish time.

FNV has also served three weeks’ strike notice on BG Freight, as required by Dutch law, to begin industrial action there if the Irish dispute is not resolved in the meantime, it was claimed.
In a statement issued after the rally, Marine Terminals Ltd said “encouraging a crowd, including children, to enter a busy industrial site is dangerous and irresponsible and as a negotiating tactic can only be counter-productive.”

The company said “unions must recognise that, for the port of Dublin to remain competitive in a deteriorating market, changes must be made. Their intransigence will only hurt their members’ interests.”

A spokesman insisted six workers had been offered in excess of €70,000, while 16 had been offered in excess of €60,000 and “the average payout is €35,000 to €40,000”.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

THEY CAME AT FIVE IN THE MORNING:

A workplace occupation by employees of Thomas Cook Travel Agency was evicted by a police raid staged at 5:00 am this morning. The Thomas Cook occupation was one of the many such actions that are becoming increasingly common across the world as management takes advantage of the present economic crisis to attack their workers. Here's the story of the occupation from the Anarkismo website.

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Thomas Cook workers arrested in Dublin occupation:
Tuesday August 04, 2009 14:56 by Jack Carrigan - WSM (personal capacity)
In the early hours of the morning dozens of Gardai (Irish police) sealed off a section of the city to smash their way into the Thomas Cook offices which were being occupied by the workers resisting the attempt by management to shut down the offices. The text that follows was written before the events of this morning,

Victory for the Thomas Cook Workers is a Victory for Us All

In a bid to close its outlets in Ireland, the Thomas Cook travel agents has begun by attempting to sack 44 workers at its two offices located on North Earl St. and Grafton St. in Dublin’s city centre.

Following the announcement to the workers of the planned closure of the outlets on September 6, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) balloted members of the union to strike. The proposed strike was approved with a 100% vote in favour.

The events that have led to the present occupation began on Friday July 31, with the revelation by the company’s UK management (brought in especially for the occasion) that the offices would be closing ahead of schedule. The North Earl St. staff were brought to the Grafton St. branch for a meeting with management. Thereupon the bosses produced a letter stating that the workers were out of the job and detailing their redundancy package (five weeks per year of service, dropping to two weeks unless workers accept their demands).

It was recalled by one of the Thomas Cook workers that someone shouted, “lock in,” at which point the workers rushed for the safe room within the building that the management could not enter for lack of the required security code.

The Occupation of the Thomas Cook offices on Grafton St. has been in progress since. On Saturday Thomas cook were granted an an interim injunction, this was upheld in a high court sitting on Monday afternoon. The workers, in defiance of the over paid judges, have voted to carry on the sit in.

The workers have been eating and sleeping in the building, with some taking it in shifts to return home to recuperate. According to a second Thomas Cook worker and TSSA member, “the atmosphere is good, people aren’t going anywhere. We’re tired and hungry, but we’re staying as long as it takes.” The workers have access to a television, however, they say it has barely been switched on as they are too excited to watch it. The occupying workers have been continuously supplied with food and drinks through an upstairs window, and small employers from the local area have also been providing some assistance.

The workers at Thomas Cook are fighting for a better redundancy package. Of the approximately €700,000 offered by the company, the workers are asking for an added €300,000. This is being asked in light of the fact that the Thomas Cook boss in Ireland, Manny Fontela-Novoa was given €7m during 2009, and company profits reached £400m profit in 2008.

Gerry Doherty, General Secretary of the TSSA has stated that “If Aer Lingus can give a redundancy package of nine weeks pay for each year, and Tesco seven weeks when it made 140 people redundant at Dun Laoghaire, Thomas Cook, whose chief executive, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, received a bonus of £5 million, can certainly afford a decent redundancy package for its workers.” Mr. Doherty, while representing the workers at the High Court today is also himself expected to face charges by the Gardaí for allegedly physically removing a photographer for the Thomas Cook company from the premises on Grafton St.

The occupying workers have been supported by most of the Left, with members of Eirigí, the Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Sinn Féin and the Workers Solidarity Movement present at varying times since the start of the occupation. The culmination of this support, so far, has been the solidarity demonstration on August 3. Attended by approximately 200 people members of the Left, trade unions and the general public, the demonstration was prepared in order to obstruct a High Court order for the workers to leave the premises by 2pm on the day. While over 100 people remained on the demonstration throughout the afternoon in order to blockade the office from invading court bailiffs and Gardaí, the state’s agents failed to arrive.

According to demonstrator and member of the Workers Solidarity Movement, Donal ó Fállúin, “the fighting spirit of the Irish workers is alive and well. It’s still fresh in our minds how the Waterford Crystal workers took action, as well as the Ford / Visteon workers in Belfast, and now we see a similar occupation in the heart of the capital. It’s great to see people taking direct action and not relying on politicians.”

The workers at Thomas Cook in Ireland are simply demanding a larger redundancy package. The bosses, however, know that a victory for the workers means something greater than an additional €300,000, so they will fight the workers to the bitter end. They know that a victory for the Thomas Cook workers would set a precedent for workers everywhere, that you can take collective action and that direct action gets the goods. The workers are continuing their occupation until their demands are met. A victory for the Thomas Cook workers, is a victory for the working class and is a victory for us all.

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The workers arrested at the occupation have all been released without penalty by a judge no doubt aware of the political implications of their case. Here's the story from the Irish Times via the Labour Start website.

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Thomas Cook workers released:
IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
Former staff of Thomas Cook who were arrested this morning after staging a sit-in at the company's shop in Grafton Street in breach of a High Court order have been released without penalty after they purged their contempt of court.

The protesters appeared before Mr Justice Michael Peart as a large number of supporters staged a protest outside the Four Courts.

Mr Justice Peart ordered that group of 27 workers, along with officials of the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association be released from custody. People before Profit Councillor Richard Boyd Barrett, Socialist Party Councillor Matthew Waine and PBP volunteer Sara O’Rourke were also freed. The judge said that while the breach of the order was unlawful, given the undertakings the court received he decided it was not necessary to commit anyone to prison or to impose a fine.

Mr Justice Peart, acknowledging that the workers had felt badly treated by their employers, said that in a democratic society the rule of law “cannot be broken” or else there would be “anarchy.”(and we can't have that now can we ?-Molly) However the Judge said that he was satisfied that the undertakings given by all parties was sufficient to purge their contempt.

Mr Justice Peart had ordered their arrest when they refused to obey a court order issued on Saturday for them to vacate the premises. The staff, who are in dispute with the company over a redundancy package, had ignored advice from lawyers and their union to comply with the terms of the court order.

They were arrested at the Grafton Street premises before dawn this morning and taken to the Bridewell Garda station.

A Garda spokesman confirmed that a woman who is eight months pregnant was the first person to be removed from the branch. She was admitted to the Coombe hospital on the advice of a doctor, where she later gave birth to a girl named Chelsea.

The ex-staff occupied the premises after being told by management on Friday afternoon that the shop would be shut immediately as a result of actions taken by the TSSA which included a public protest against the terms of a redundancy deal offered to 77 Thomas Cook staff.

The shop and another, Direct Holidays, a subsidiary in Talbot Street, were due to shut on September 6th, but the closure date for the Grafton Street branch was brought forward.

The staff were holding out for a redundancy deal which would give them eight weeks per year of service. The company is currently offering five weeks per year of service.

The former workers claim that Thomas Cook is a hugely profitable company which paid its chief executive £7 million last year and can afford an enhanced redundancy deal.

Unite - the union whose members staged a seven week occupation at Waterford Crystal earlier this year - called this morning’s removal of workers from the Thomas Cook store as “a dark stain on the history of industrial relations in Ireland.”

“These are ordinary working people standing up for their rights”, said Unite regional secretary Jimmy Kelly. “They have a right to be treated with respect and for their employer to hold to a standard of engagement that in this case has merely been cast aside.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

WATERFORD CRYSTAL FACTORY OCCUPATION ENDS:

As the following article from the Irish Times says, the occupation of the Waterford Crystal factory in County Kilbarry Ireland has ended, unfortunately with little gained for the workers.

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Workers left bitter and resentful after calling off action:
CIARAN MURPHY
SOME HUDDLED in groups discussing the day’s events, others quietly took down posters; the rest said their farewells to each other.

The Gallery showrooms attached to the Waterford Crystal plant at Kilbarry had been, more or less, a home to its occupants over seven weeks. Under other circumstances, such as saving all 480 jobs at the plant and solving the complicated pension issue, the end of the occupation would have been celebrated. This was not the case yesterday.

Crystal blowers Billy Kelly, Nicky Hayes and Willie Dwyer were devastated. “It’s very sad and it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” said Mr Kelly, who has worked at the plant for 30 years. “The Government didn’t come on board with this whatsoever, we were on our own. The gun was put to our head . . . We had no choice, the union’s back was against the wall.”

Hayes, who has 28 years’ service with the company, spoke of the plant as a tourist attraction.
“There was 300,000 people coming through here each year, they had to eat somewhere, they had to drink somewhere for the few days they were here,” he said. “The reason they came to Waterford was because of Waterford Crystal,” he added.

“We’re off the tourist trail and we’d often bring up and [let] them blow a glass and they were just absolutely amazed; they just couldn’t believe it. We got loads of letters from people around the world, and photographs.”

Dwyer, a blower of 38 years, said: “It’s gone now and I can see no way of it ever coming back.”

The sunny weather seemed to mock what was the hardest of days for so many. Unaware of the problems at Kilbarry, tourists continued to arrive.

An hour earlier, at the Tower Hotel in Waterford city, workers, ashen-faced yet simmering, left a long and “angry” meeting of Unite union members.

The possible withdrawal of a €10 million ex gratia pot for workers over certain “issues” was the “gun” the workers spoke of.

Waterford Congress of Trade Unions president Tom Hogan said it was “a long and difficult meeting” and “people agonised over the proposals”.

Liam Meagher, a furnace operative at Kilbarry for over 20 years, said: “The new crowd (investment group PrestigeCo) will produce high end stuff; KPS will sell it on, and the new buzzword is that it has the fingerprint of Waterford.

“Literally, that’s all it has.”
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

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Here's another take on the end of the occupation, this time from the local newspaper Waterford Today.

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Attention turns to pension entitlements as Crystal sit-in ends :
The Waterford Crystal sit-in may have ended but the feeling of bitterness on behalf of the workers has not subsided as the issue of pension entitlements remains unresolved.

Legal challenges against the Irish government in the European courts could very well be the route that unions and workers will have to take in order to achieve a resolution for those who lose out from the pension crisis.

Members of the main trade union at Waterford Crystal, UNITE, voted to end the sit-in as well as accept recommendations by the Labour Relations Commission which also includes a plan to keep 170 jobs, less than half of the 480 workers who were let go by the receiver, David Carson, nearly two months ago.

The vote to end the sit-in was ratified by approximately 90 per cent of those workers in attendance at the Tower Hotel last Sunday though there was residual bitterness by workers at the current state of play regarding the redundancy terms and pension conditions. However, union officials stressed that the deal they accepted was the only one on offer.

The sit-in was entering its eighth week when workers voted to end the occupation of the visitor centre. The 10 million euro offered to the workers as part of the deal is widely known to be far short of what is needed to make up the ex-gratia payments.

Much of the deal outlined in in report by Labour Relations Commission Director of Conciliation, Kevin Foley, touched on some possible assistance by a local business consortium led by Nicky Fewer (Prestige Co) to secure the presence of the brand in the city. The coming weeks will see further negotiations between the parties but the sit-in, which even attracted the attention of documentary film makers from the United States to the union meeting last Sunday, has ended. However, a spokesperson for the Waterford consortium said yesterday (Tuesday):

"A group of business leaders from Waterford have confirmed that they are at the early stages of exploring the possible viability of resuming crystal manufacturing at Kilbarry, Waterford. The group stressed that the process is at an early stage and any more detailed comment would be premature at this point in time".

The Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Jack Walsh welcomed the news that the sit-in had ended, saying: While recognising that this leaves many families in a very difficult situation, I welcome the fact that the workforce has accepted the recommendation of the shop-stewards that the Kevin Foley report be accepted. It hopefully secures jobs for 176 workers directly with the possibility of further employment if the plan by local business leaders to secure a manufacturing presence is successful. The issues surrounding the pensions of Waterford Crystal workers are crucial and I hope that ICTU will be able to achieve a positive outcome,".

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Thus the occupation has ended, with little in the way of satisfaction for the workers concerned. It's hard to say who is the main villain in the piece. The receivers played their hand with consummate skill, and whatever the justice of the situation where the workers and their pensions are shuttled to the back of the queue of creditors the law as it stands is on the side of business. The receivers had all the time in the world to sit and wait as the morale of the occupiers and the will of the union to dole out strike pay gradually diminished. In the end the union had nothing to say to its members other than to recommend that they accept the deal offered. The government, of course, was quite dodgy about the matter of the pensions as well, and the articles above allude to the fact that the workers and their union may have a legal case against Dublin in the European Court.

The present outcome was preordained as soon as the initial momentum of the occupation turned into a waiting game. The legal cards and the financial ability to wait were all on the bosses' side. The only thing that could have saved the situation would have been the resumption of production under workers' control ie taking over the plant and trying to run its distribution themselves. Whatever the law may say the ability of the government to enforce it is constrained by public opinion, and at the beginning public opinion was solidly on the side of the occupying workers.

What the present situation shows is not that the tactic of workplace occupation is futile. In other times and places it has worked very well. What it does show is that there are many situations where the only realistic course is to go full tilt and "repossess" the workplace in question, not just hold out for a slightly better deal. Waterford was definitely just such a case.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

BUYER FOUND FOR WATERFORD CRYSTAL BUT OCCUPATION CONTINUES:
It seems that the Waterford Cystal factory, under workers occupation since the parent company declared bankruptcy, has found a potential buyer in the form of the US based private equity firm KPS capital. See the following article from the Irish Times. The plant ocuupation, however, continues as the buyer has not agreed to purchase the manufacturing plant, merely sales and the tourist centre . The reasons for this may be many. A desire to shield themselves from pension obligations of the older and more experienced staff in the manufacturing plant. The fact that workers in the tourist centre (and perhaps in sales) are more likely to be younger and more transient and hence less 'unionist' and with fewer pension obligations. A desire to shift both cost and responsibility to government. Possible problems at the plant that require expenditures for upgrades. A possible plan to swiftly unload sales and the tourist centre to another buyer (typical of private equity takeovers elsewhere). And undoubtedly many other factors that don't pop immediately to mind.




It is, of course, rather presumptious to give advise from far away, but the workers are definitely right in continuing their occupation until such time as the further activity of the manufacturing plant is guaranteed. While this peicemeal purchase may be beneficial to KPS Capital it is not exactly an optimum solution for either the Waterford workers, the community of Waterford or for the Irish taxpayer. I don't know if there is either a legal or a direct action way to block this dismantling of the enterprise, but, if there is, it should certainly be looked into. Should KPS get what it wants it will end up as the 'monopoly customer' for Waterford Crystal and will basically be able to dictate any and all terms to whatever entity resumes the actual manufacturing.
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Waterford Wedgwood sold but 480 jobs remain in doubt:
BARRY O'HALLORAN
A QUESTION mark hangs over the future of 480 Waterford Crystal manufacturing jobs, despite yesterday’s deal to sell its parent to US firm KPS Capital.





Receiver David Carson, of Deloitte, agreed the sale of the company’s parent, Waterford Wedgwood, to KPS yesterday. The deal is expected to go through next month.





However, KPS has not agreed to buy the crystal manufacturing plant at Kilbarry, Waterford, where production ceased late last month with the loss of 480 jobs.





The US firm has bought other elements of the business and will keep on sales and back office staff, as well as those working in the visitors’ centre at the site.





This will result in the rescue of up to 250 jobs in Waterford.





There were 708 people working there at the time that the banks appointed Mr Carson on January 5th.





It is understood the US firm has suggested that the Government, trade union Unite, which represents the Waterford workforce, and other local interests establish if the plant can be kept in operation. In that situation, KPS Capital would be willing to buy crystal products from the manufacturing operation, once the prices compare with those made on continental Europe.
KPS will own the Waterford Crystal name, giving it the right to license out manufacturing to contractors, and sell the products under the brand(Interesting and very 'sneaky' conditions-Molly).





KPS has plans to develop the visitors’ centre at Kilbarry, which is a major tourist attraction in the region. It has been suggested that it will seek some support from the Government for this.
Waterford Crystal’s manufacturing workers have been occupying the centre since production ceased at the plant last month.





Yesterday, Unite Irish regional secretary Jimmy Kelly, a former Waterford worker, said the sit-in would continue until such time as the union’s members got the best possible deal. The union’s statement indicated that should include maintaining manufacturing at Waterford and a solution to the group’s pension deficit.





The pension fund had a shortfall of €111 million last October. If it were to become insolvent, workers who have paid into it, but have yet to retire and benefit from the scheme, could lose out.




Minister for Tourism Martin Cullen, a TD for the constituency, said the Government would work to see if there was a way of reviving manufacturing at the plant. “We will certainly look at any proposals,” he said.





KPS intends to restart manufacturing at the group’s British operations in Staffordshire, where Wedgwood and Royal Doulton china are manufactured.





Waterford Wedgwood’s businesses include Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton china in Britain and Rosenthal porcelain in Germany.





The group’s bankers placed it in receivership last month after it failed to meet repayments on its loans. Businessman Sir Anthony O’Reilly, and his brother-in-law, Peter Goulandris, had invested €400 million in the group.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

WATERFORD CRYSTAL FACTORY OCCUPATION CONTINUES:

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As of today the workers at the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford Ireland are continuing their occupation of the premises. Here, is a brief update from the UK press hosted on Google.

Waterford sit-in into fourth night:
Angry workers at the threatened Waterford Crystal factory dug their heels in with a bitter attack on critics as they vowed to continue a sit-in for a fourth night.

Negotiations between receiver David Carson and the US-based Clarion investment consortium were continuing, with trade union leaders yet to be briefed in detail on any rescue plan.

Unite representative Walter Cullen hit out at accusations that the peaceful protest had descended into anarchy. "These workers feel passionately about their jobs as something more than filling a shift," he said. "They have conducted themselves throughout with dignity and respect for the property. Those who are concerned about the image of Ireland might look more to the events surrounding some of our financial institutions rather than events in the south east as a cause for greater concern."
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The workers have also taken their protest to the Dublin headquarters of the receiver Deloitte & Touche. Here's a report of what happened there earlier today from the Irish Times.

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Waterford workers stage protest at Deloitte offices:

Angry scenes at Deloitte & Touche's headquarters in Dublin today as Waterford Crystal workers staged a protest. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
LUKE CASSIDY
Waterford Wedgwood workers staged a protest for several hours at the offices of Deloitte & Touche in Dublin earlier today.

About 12 Waterford Wedgwood workers entered the reception area of Deloitte & Touche’s headquarters on Earlsfort Terrace in protest at the actions of Deloitte partner David Carson, who was appointed as a receiver to the ailing glassware company last month.

Mr Carson took the decision to close Waterford's Kilbarry plant on Friday prompting a sit-in protest by workers.

Union Unite, which represents the workers, said today’s protest was designed bring to the attention of those 1,100 people who work for Deloitte in Ireland the poor manner in which Mr Carson and their company have handled the situation in Waterford Crystal since last Friday.
When the workers first entered the Deloitte building at 11am this morning they were told by security personnel to leave and that they were trespassing.

At one stage gardaí were called to remove the protesters but following a meeting between two Waterford workers and senior partners at Deloitte, at which the workers registered their dismay at the actions of Mr Carson, the protest ended.

Waterford worker Tom Hogan said the protesters represented a cross section of the workforce and had come up to Dublin to make a protest and “to say we are not human waste that can be set aside when we are surplus to requirements."

Speaking after the meeting with senior partners Pat Cullen and David Deasy at Deloitte, Mr Hogan said: “We left them in no doubt as to how we feel about the actions of their partner David Carson in dumping 480 people.

“We put it to them that Deloitte is interested in one thing only, making it [Waterford Crystal] as attractive as possible to who they sell it to and to increase their own fee.

“They have absolutely no concern for individuals or families that are suffering as a result of this. We’ve made our protest here today we’ll be returning to Waterford now to join our colleagues in the factory to continue the occupation.

“We emphasised to them we won’t be going away anywhere soon…we are in for the long haul.
“If no prospective buyer turns up we expect this Government to take this into public ownership on behalf of the people of the south east region and of the country.”

More than 700 workers were employed at the plant until Friday, 480 of them in manufacturing.

Workers staging the sit-in have been operating a rota system with up to 100 people remaining in the plant at any given time.

In a statement before the protest, Unite regional organiser Walter Cullen said “It will be a peaceful demonstration. We will not be employing private security forces to ‘protect’ us as the receiver shamefully did in Waterford.”

“The sit in at Waterford was a direct result of David Carson’s action in closing the plant with no discussion, no contact or no respect for the working people who generated sales of €180 million for the company in the United States alone last year.

“Maintaining the plant as a going concern is essential to keep hope alive in the bids that have been made. If Deloitte is not willing to do that then we will,” he said

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Meanwhile government Minister Martin Cullen who visited the plant as a flack runner to show (or pretend) that the government was "doing" something was challenged during his visit. Here is the story, Once more from the Irish Times.

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Workers at sit-in challenge visiting politicians on handling of crisis:
CIARÁN MURPHY in Waterford
WORKERS STAGING a sit-in at the showcase Waterford Crystal Gallery yesterday challenged visiting politicians about the Government’s handling of the crisis which has seen production come to a halt.

About 150 workers gathered at the showroom yesterday, the fourth day of the occupation, while some challenged Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen who was there in relation to the issue. The workers on Sunday evening voted in favour of continuing the occupation.

Minister Cullen yesterday said he could understand why the occupation happened.

“I think the workers and everybody . . . we’d all prefer if it hadn’t happened. But we are where we are.”

“But I’m here this morning and I have to say there’s a sense of calm about the place and I think that’s a good thing.”

However, the Minister was challenged by workers upon leaving the plant.

One man wanted to know what the Minister meant when he said things were better for them than they had been:

“You said that we were better off . . . that ‘you’re better today’.

“I have no job this morning, after 42 years, and you’re telling me I’m better off . . . thanks very much.”

Mr Cullen said he was referring to the various proposals to keep the company alive and it was the company’s “prospects” that were better than on Friday.

Meanwhile, TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, deputy Bobby Aylward, Waterford Deputy Brendan Kenneally and Waterford City councillor Tom Murphy, all Fianna Fáil, also visited the plant yesterday.

Mr Aylward was also challenged by workers as he left the gallery yesterday.

“The people in the street; they have enough of these people who are getting away with millions, right?,” asked one worker.

The man, who did not wish to be named, added: “Like, there are ordinary citizens in this country who invested in this place . . . where is their money now? They expected a small little dividend from it.”

Workers who were not served with letters informing them that their jobs would be terminated, turned up for work yesterday.

Some of these workers, who have been given clearance to work from their union Unite, ensured that the furnace continued to function yesterday. Tending to the furnace at the Kilbarry plant is a continuous, “non-stop” process.

One former furnace operative, Bobby Gaulle, who worked at the plant for 37 years and took redundancy in November, said he is still owed “about €60,000”.

Mr Gaulle said that were the furnace to cease operating, it would cost “in the region of somewhere between” €8,000 to €11,000 to get it operational again.

“What happens is that the material hardens and the sides of the furnace would cave in.

“The way furnaces are built, they are kept together with heat. If you reduce the heat or knock off the heat she caves in on herself.

“And the stuff inside then just goes hard. Even to repair it would cost up to three million.”

Throughout yesterday, John Foley, a former chief executive of Waterford Crystal, engaged in talks with the receiver of the company, David Carson, and later with union officials at Kilbarry.

Unite’s Irish Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly last night said that until yesterday morning, the receiver had resisted allowing Mr Foley into the plant to “look at the books”.

Speaking from the visitors centre at Waterford Crystal yesterday morning, MEP for Munster, Kathy Sinnott, said all TDs, MEPs and Senators should take a 20 per cent pay cut on their wages and “share the pain of these difficult times with our constituents”.

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There will be further solidarity actions with the Waterford workers in days to. Here's a notice about a local action due be held tomorrow (later today over there).

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Public Demonstration in Support of Waterford Crystal Workers:
by Alan M. - Workers Solidarity Movement - Cork
Gathering at AIB Bank, Paddy Browne Road.Wednesday, 4th February 2009, 4pm.Marching to Visitors Centre Car Park, Waterford Crystal.

Support the workers who have been treated appallingly. If they can do it to them, they can do it to us all. Please attend and defend against this attack on Waterford's economy, culture & heritage.Organised by Waterford Council of Trade Unions (WCTU)

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The union for the workers at Waterford is the T&G section of UNITE. You can access their news of the event by going to the Irish region section of their website. The possibility that the works could be nationalized if a suitable buyer unwilling to keep them in operation cannot be found has been mentioned by union spokesmen. Molly thinks that reconstitution of the operation as a producers cooperative would be a better solution. No doubt the government would have to be involved as a guarantor of debt, but it would be better to have the state as a creditor rather than as a boss. There is no indication that government bureaucrats would be any better at running the business than the private owners have been. History actually suggests the precise opposite. The workers presently employed at the plant would have the advantage of knowledge unavailable to outside managers. Molly would further suggest that any "compensation" offered to the present owners (or their liquidators) be properly adjusted by subtraction of the debts that the government would have to underwrite. This, obviously, would be a matter of duelling accountants, but a case could be made that the sum owed would be less than zero. Small investors, of course, should be offered better terms than large holdings. It's all food for thought.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRELAND:

WATERFORD CRYSTAL WORKERS OCCUPY FACTORY:

The spill over from the bankruptcy of the Wedgewood china group has affected the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford County Kilbarry Ireland. The famous factory was due to be closed as part of the restructuring involved in the breakup of the company. this is becoming an increasingly common scenario as workers are being made to pay for the mistakes of management when the devil comes to collect his due in hard economic times. The workers of Waterford Crystal, however, have responded by occupying their factory. It is a tactic that should be used more often to fight against plant closures. Potential buyers for the firm are apparently only interested in "the brand". This is just as bizarre as it sounds. Waterford crystal manufactured outside of Waterford would not exactly be "Waterford Crystal" except in the never never world of advertising. Here's the story from Google's AFP news service.

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Ireland's Waterford Crystal workers occupy factory
DUBLIN (AFP) — Workers occupying the factory of Ireland's troubled Waterford Crystal pledged on Saturday to continue their sit-in until the future of the company is resolved.

Workers started their occupation of the Kilbarry factory and visitor centre in Waterford city on Friday after an official who has been running the company for almost a month informed staff that production would cease immediately.

Walter Cullen, organiser in south-east Ireland for the Unite trade union, told AFP they wanted the closure reversed while talks about the future of the company continued.

"We will continue to sit in until the situation is resolved. We have huge support," Cullen said.

Waterford Wedgwood, the maker of high-quality china and glass, went into administration and receivership and its shares were suspended on January 5 after efforts to find a "white knight" investor failed.

The official said the decision to cease manufacturing did not "necessarily preclude a resumption of operations in Waterford in the future."

Cullen said the receiver had been in discussions with two potential buyers, US-based investors KPS Capital and Clarion Capital.

The glass business, originally founded in the late 18th century, has been one of Waterford's major employers.

Cullen said 480 of 650 workers had received termination notices.

"Most of these workers would have long service and be aged in the 45 to 50 bracket. Even for the younger people, the chances of them getting alternative jobs are not great.

"We have had huge crises in the past. There have been nine restructuring plans put in place since 1987 and we have managed to resolve all those and move the company forward all the time."

Cullen said they had staged the sit-in because they believed the business was much more attractive as a going concern.

The glassworks visitor centre has become an import factor in local tourism, attracting about 300,000 visitors a year.

Waterford mayor Jack Walsh said the decision to close had come as a "huge shock."

"While there has been a clear awareness for some time now of how serious the situation faced by the company is, the soundings coming out of the discussions with the two interested parties from the US gave people reason to believe that a sale could be completed without the doors being closed at Kilbarry," Walsh said.

Manufacturing in Ireland has been hit hard by the global downturn.

The once-booming Irish economy will have shrunk up to 10 percent by 2010, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said on Wednesday.

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Here's how the events were reported on the LibCom site from Britain.

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Workers occupy crystal factory for second night:
Waterford Crystal workers have spent a second night occupying the main visitor centre at the company's factory in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland.

They are protesting at the decision by the receiver to stop manufacturing and make 480 staff redundant. The company, which employs 670 people, went into receivership at the beginning of January.

Union officials and Irish government representatives met the receiver on Saturday evening. Unions are expected to brief workers on developments at the factory on Sunday afternoon. The trade union Unite has said there are two potential purchasers of the business.

Earlier in the week, a statement by the receiver, David Carson of Deloitte Ireland, said: "The decision to cease manufacturing does not necessarily preclude a resumption of operations in Waterford in the future.

"The receiver is continuing negotiations with interested parties with a view to a sale of the company's assets and those discussions are focused on agreeing the terms upon which a transaction could be completed."

The employees have said they will not leave the plant until they meet Mr Carson.

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The workers involved have, for the moment, decided to continue their occupation. As the following article from the Irish Times says they have been generously supported by the surrounding community.

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Waterford workers to continue plant sit-in:
BARRY ROCHE in Waterford
WATERFORD CRYSTAL workers yesterday voted unanimously to continue with their occupation of part of the plant as they called on the Government to provide financial and other assistance to a firm of US investors bidding to buy the troubled company and retain manufacturing at the Waterford site.

Up to 800 current and former workers gathered yesterday for a two-and-a-half-hour meeting at the Waterford Crystal visitors’ centre where leaders of trade union Unite, which represents over 90 per cent of the workforce, briefed them on high-level discussions with trade union leaders, government civil servants and the receiver, David Carson, on Saturday evening.

Following that meeting involving Ictu general secretary David Begg and Dermot McCarthy, secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr Carson issued a statement yesterday morning in which he said that he would not reverse his decision made on Friday to make over 480 workers at the plant redundant.

Unite regional secretary for Ireland Jimmy Kelly confirmed that Clarion Capital, which includes former Waterford Crystal chief executive John Foley, had tabled a bid for the company and the union would be engaging with Clarion as soon as possible to discuss the proposal and how it can be supported.

Mr Kelly said the union would be seeking support from the Government including a financial package up to €30 million to ensure that workers’ redundancy and pension entitlements that are not met by Clarion as part of its proposal are still honoured and fulfilled.

While Mr Kelly was unable to say how many jobs would be retained at the Kilbarry plant or what amount Clarion had bid for the company on Saturday night, it is believed that around 300 jobs would be retained in manufacturing, leaving close to 200 manufacturing staff facing redundancy.

“We would expect the Government to be very supportive financially in terms what sort of grants are available . . . you can imagine in any town in Ireland if there was a taskforce set up after a closure and somebody came knocking at the door with so many hundred jobs, they would be given the money to set it up.

“We’re saying now that protecting 300 jobs here or whatever the final figure is must be given the financial support that is necessary and we also expect the Government to come forward with finance in terms of the workers entitlements under agreements that existed here,” he said.

Mr Kelly said that the financial package, which would total not more than €30 million, would also include pension provision as the union had taken legal advice that the Government was liable for pensions for retired workers as a result of not implementing a pension protection initiative introduced in other EU countries.

“We’re estimating €30 million max and that sorts out everything – it’s not earth shattering – we think it’s a small figure in terms of what the Government has done with banks and the €180 million given to farmers so in that context, we expect Government support.”

Mr Kelly pointed out the deal could be worked out in the context of the social partnership talks as the Government will have to recognise the need for assistance for Irish manufacturing in the current round of talks given the changed climate from when the last national pay agreement was concluded.

Asked what leverage the Waterford Crystal workers would have at the pay talks, Mr Kelly said the involvement of Mr Begg and Mr McCarthy in discussions since the company went into receivership on January 7th was encouraging for workers who were initially very disappointed at Mr Carson’s refusal to reverse his redundancy decision. Mr Kelly said the workforce was “very solidly united” on its approach to the crisis.

He added that prospective purchasers should see the continuing occupation of the plant as a statement of the workers’ commitment to ensuring that the plant was retained as a viable manufacturing facility.

Meanwhile, the occupying workers continue to draw huge support from business interests and fellow workers in Waterford, with several businesses sending out food and water supplies. Some families also visited the centre yesterday to deliver sandwiches, pastries and other food.

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Finally, here's a posting on the section devoted to Ireland at the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board. It tells more about the solidarity that is being shown to the occupying workers.

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Waterford Crystal Factory Occupation Enters Third Day:
Tonight, Trade union officials have been addressing a meeting of around 700 Waterford Crystal employees and former staff on developments regarding the company's future.

Workers started their occupation of the Waterord Crystal factory and visitor centre on Friday after an official who has been running the company for almost a month informed staff that production would cease immediately. They are protesting at the decision by the receiver to stop manufacturing and make 480 staff redundant.

Yesterday, an estimated 2,000 people attended a rally in support of the Waterford Crystal workers. In a show of solidarity, taxi drivers across the city switched off their engines and some businesses stopped work between 1pm and 2pm. Sleeping bags, blankets and food parcels have been donated locally.

The Starry Plough, the flag of James Connolly's and Jim Larkin's Irish Citizen Army, has been raised. Workers are also conducting their own tours of the visitor centre to tourists.

More:

http://news.google.ie/news?oe=utf-8&rls ... 1299021354

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90900