Irish Ferries: SIPTU General Officers request every member of SIPTU to support the National Protest.

national | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Friday December 02, 2005 16:00 by Des Derwin

The General Officers of SIPTU have circulated all SIPTU activists "requesting every member to support the National Protest on Friday 9 September".

The General Officers of SIPTU have circulated (29th November) all SIPTU activists "requesting every member to support the National Protest on Friday 9 September". They are "also requesting every member to participate in the protest rallies on that day". There are to be rallies outside Dublin too.

It's EXPLICIT: though SIPTU is not instructing anyone, the General Officers are putting their authority behind the request. (In SIPTU this de facto has the same weight as any formal decision or instruction.)

The request is explicit. The unstated implications are as unambiguous. They are "requesting" all SIPTU members (on leave, off work, at work in factories, shops, public services, airports, transport, newspapers, broadcasting, ESB, etc., etc.) with no 'ifs or buts', except, of course, for essential and emergency services, to go, whether or not they are working at the time, to join the rallies. In Dublin the protest march will commence at Parnell Square at 1.30 p.m. on Friday 9th.

I congratulate Jack O‘Connor, Brendan Hayes and Joe O’Flynn on their stand.

The circular in full is:

29 November 2005

To Each Workplace Representative and Shop Steward

A Chara,

Re: Job Displacement and Exploitation in Irish Ferries

The key issues of Job Displacement and Exploitation have been dramatically highlighted in the Irish Ferries Dispute.

The workers in Irish Ferries are battling to defend their jobs and agreed terms of employment, which have been upheld by the Labour Court. The Company intends to replace them with vulnerable workers paid less than the National Minimum Wage. To this end, they have employed strong-arm tactics the likes of which are unprecedented in modern Irish industrial relations. Their objective and the methods they have employed to achieve it have been roundly condemned across the social spectrum. In this regard alone, the workers in Irish Ferries deserve the full and unequivocal support of every Trade Union member and indeed every decent person in the country.

The issue, however, extends away beyond Irish Ferries because Job Displacement and Exploitation are already well underway in our economy. Indeed, it is very clear that the fight of the Irish Ferries workers is everybody’s fight.

Accordingly, we are requesting every member to support the National Protest on Friday 9 December, which has been called in solidarity with the Irish Ferries workers, and to call on the Government to act to address the issues of Job Displacement, Exploitation and the Protection of Employment Standards.

We are also requesting every member to participate in the protest rallies on that day (details will be available from your Branch and published in the national newspapers) and to endeavour, as far as possible, to persuade others, e.g. family members etc to do so as well.

Sinne le meas,

Jack O’Connor (President), Brendan Hayes (Vice-President), Joe O’Flynn (General Secretary).