Launch of the Progressive Trade Union Alliance (PTUA)
national |
bin tax / household tax / water tax |
press release 
Wednesday November 05, 2003 14:16
by Rank and file trade unionist - Progressive Trade Union Alliance (PTUA)
Ask not what your union can do for you...
....But what you can do to make the unions fight for their members interest's.
As promised in our previous comment yesterday which seems to have disappeared (?) for some strange reason, we, ordinary workers, Shop Stewards, Branch Secretaries and Regional Organisers throughout the land have had enough with the existing Trade Union bureaucrats and the Trade Union bureaucracy generally. The bin tax is the straw that broke the camels back. The Trade Union establishment have shown their true colurs over their total inaction and indifference over the bin tax and the jailings.
Therefore we the above:
(1) Resolve to establish a new form of Trade Union organisation in Ireland
(2) This organisation will operate seperately and independently from the existing Trade Union movement as represented by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and their allied affiliates such as the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU)
(3) This organisation will work with progressive forces within the ICTU, DCTU, and their likewise organisations and affiliates, and other progressive organisations such as the existing Independent Workers Union (IWU) and the Union of Students Ireland (USI) and other Student Bodies
(4) That therefore we resove to be refused to be bound by any so-called 'partnerships' or any other form of 'consenus' with the so-called 'partners' the bosses or the government, and thus declare any such 'agreements' to be null and void with immediate effect
(5) That we resolve to launch an immediate campaign to reclaim our Unions starting with a "Nationwide Day Of Action Against the bin tax" on Friday November 21st 2003, details of which will be supplied seperately in the "Events" section of Indymedia
(6) That we therefore call this organisation the Progressive Trade Union Alliance (PTUA)
Signed,
The Progressive Trade Union Alliance (PTUA)
Comments (5 of 5)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5A front for some group?
If this was genuine then I would expect an initial appeal to be signed by a broad based list of TU activists.
Great stuff, but how do people contact you? Phone number, email, etc?
Most of our members are not involved with any political parties. The reason why we haven't provided any phone numbers or Email address is because we have actually sent this from an 'offical' Trade Union computer, a Trade Union by the way that has been very hostile towards the Anti bin tax campaign. We're doing this on the 'qt' while nobody is looking so you'll have to excuse our secrecy. Call it paronoid if you like but till we get an office somewhere that's the way it'll have to remain for the moment. As everyone knows the cost of renting out even a tiny one room office in Dublin is astronomical and it's not much better down the country either, so you'll just to be patient and bear with us till we get somewhere organised. We don't really want to share an office with someone else as that would compromise our independence so we're looking for our own space.
During the various campaigns against Partnership, hunderds of activists were prepared to put their names to public petitions. Is this group appearing from mid air? Have you been in touch with any of those who organised previous campaigns? Were you involved in those campaigns yourself?
re: (1)+(2)
....as I see it, the strength of a union comes from the unified front of it's members. This seems to fly in the face of that.
re: (3)
....define "progressive".
re: (4)
....sounds like Ian Paisley to me.
re: (5)
....what do you mean by 'reclaim our unions'?
re: (6)
....good luck to you. I hope you get what you want (or rather, what your MEMBER's want)!
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