Rabbitte signal his intent to take on the unions

dublin | politics / elections | news report

Monday April 03, 2006 11:28

by Rocky Byrne - Caucus of cosmic absurdists

Rabbitte signal his intent to take on the unions

"Labour supports social partnership. Change in the workplace and the modernisation of our public services should be negotiated, but no interest group has the right to veto changes which are necessary for the public good. When 130,000 young people can’t get a driving test, Labour will not shrug its shoulders and walk away. The rights of those young people and the imperative of road safety overrides any other consideration"
Pat Rabbite

Looks like the Labour Party conference signalled the final intent of Rabbitte to transform labour into what on paper would seem to be its opposite- a neo liberal party fully intent on implementing a neo-liberal programme for government.

We are not even left with the shell of left wing rhetoric to cling onto in the illusory hope that Labour will at some inderminate stage in the future reveal its truly radical intentions. .In his leader’s address to the conference Rabbitte honed in on the problem of ‘vested interests’ in the public service unions.
Yes, speeches about taking on the ‘vested interests’ (read democratic organisations of working people) are a hallmark of the right. They belong to the kind of anti working class phrase mongering usually associated with Thatcher, Reagan and their descendants in traditionally right wing parties. More recently as the parties of social democracy have been accelerating their rightward drift , ‘vested interests’ has become part of the vocabulary of Blair, Shroder, and no doubt of Prodi in the near future.

Genuine left-wingers might prefer to see this ‘vested interests’ as bastions of union strength.

A labour leader might also be expected to look for a solution to the problems of road safety in increased expenditure on public transport

But that would mean more taxes on the wealthy, and since dear Pat has also re-iterated his new found faith in the magical powers of low taxes, which going by recent experience, translates into no taxes for the wealthy and a plethora of direct and indirect taxes on the working population, we can forget about that too.

It now makes sense to ask an ontological question:

What is Labour for?

And How long before Rabbitte and the bureaucratic opportunists he relies on to maintain his grip on the Labour Party propose a full merger with Fine Gael?

More on Rabbitte’s conversion at http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2006/0403/722495....html

full txt of his speech at http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/20060401202710.html

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Comments (7 of 7)

Dodging the real issue

by Topper

Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:41

So can you explain why Rabbitte didn't propose any similar crusade against IBEC, for obstructing measures to combat job displacement and exploitation? Wouldn't that be common sense too?

The simple fact is, your party leader is trying to outflank the current government from the right. First his attacks on immigrant workers, now this. Labour's drift from the most basic left-wing principles is clearer than ever.

common sense

by LY Member

Tue Apr 04, 2006 00:02

Its one thing to support unions, its another to act as if they cant do any wrong .Rabbitte was speaking common sense, and his views are in line with the majority of irish people.

And yes, unions are democratic organisations of working people. but if a union made up of 0.1% of the irish population strikes its not *always* democratic to back them.

Driving Test waiting list is not caused by unions

by Anthony

Mon Apr 03, 2006 15:19

A good deconstruction of the myth that is continually being propogated in the media that unions are responsible for the unacceptably long waiting lists for the driving test was recently published on Indymedia at

More cowardice from Rabbitte

Mon Apr 03, 2006 13:57

I think we can quietly forget about the idea that Rabbitte wants to defend the "national interest" against "vested interests". In the front-page article on the cover of the Irish TImes today, we also get the following: "Mr Rabbitte also said that if social partnership could not address the serious issue of job displacement and exploitation in the workplace, then there was something wrong with social partnership."

No crusading rhetoric there. No promises to lead the charge against vested interests. Because the vested interests in this case happen to be IBEC and the business elite, and Rabbitte has no intention of taking them on.

He doesn't even place the blame where it belongs - at the door of IBEC, who have been resisting even the most limited measures to protect working conditions. Instead, he suggests that there may possibly be something wrong with social partnership. Just maybe...

Of course, this is the same Rabbitte who made a calculated decision to blame foreign workers for the problem of displacement and exploitation, instead of pointing the finger at employers.

It's easy really if you bear in mind the following translations:

"The national interest" = "Rabbitte's desire to achieve government office at all costs"

"Vested interests" = "Any pressure group (especially trade unions) that attempts to challenge the main vested interest in Irish society, business"

We could do with a few NUMs on this side of the Irish sea.

ricochet rabbit

by pat c

Mon Apr 03, 2006 13:50

well hes mad as a march hare if hes taking on the entire public service. its: SIPTU, TEEU, IMPACT, ATGWU, CPSU, PSEU etc. Why is that cwazy wabbit taking on such a large section of his natural constituency? its not just reactionary, its dumb as well. DeRossa specifally targetted public sector workers in 2004 by opposing decentralisation and supporting other issues raised by public sector unions.

as for the driver testing issue: its a question of outsourcing. the last national agreement had a clause that specifically banned outsourcing. now is the cwazy wabbit saying that in government he will tear up a deal whenever it suits him?

the driver test question is easily dealt with: employ more testers. its the Department of Finance who are blocking this. Finance are happy to pay more to outsource the work, showing that the Department is driven by ideology rather than any economic considerastions.

What union is Rabbitte taking on?

by Cynic

Mon Apr 03, 2006 13:01

Hardly the NUM are they?

or maybe...

by yawn

Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:54

just maybe... he thinks that randsoming the nation isn't actually a particularly noble or right/left wing thint to do. Maybe, just maybe, it's just wrong???

Just because something's 'unioned' does not mean its good. They're not wedded. The Labour party have a duty to work towards the national interest, not vested interests. The same with FG, SF and FF - just that some of them are too spineless to do what needs to be done.

Fair play Rabitte, but methinks its probably just hot air.

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Rabbitte signal his intent to take on the unions

Comments (7 of 7)