Joe Higgins MEP

Attacks on working people are mounting right across Europe. The so-called PIGS (Portugal, Ireland & Italy, Greece, Spain) countries have been to the forefront of these attacks. In Ireland, we have seen €7 billion of cutbacks, seriously damaging public services, including health and education. In Greece, there has been a 10% cut in wages and spending in the public sector, together with an increased retirement age, VAT increases and the freezing of pensions. Portugal has a plan to cut its deficit by €11bn over four years through a crisis tax on wages and cutbacks in public services. The Spanish Parliament has passed cutbacks worth €15bn on top of €50bn already agreed. Italy is due to implement "emergency-cutbacks" of €24 bn.

Related Links: Europe-Wide Week of Protest and Solidarity (Dublin)
European Days of Solidarity and Protest
http://www.joehiggins.eu/2010/05/report-from-guengl-meeting-european-days-of-solidarity-and-protest/
The initial letter (pdf file)
EU-Protest-Leaflet (pdf file)
March on June 26th as part of European Week of Protest & Solidarity

Two thousand took to the street to protest at the bank bailout.

Anger at the devastation of Ireland in the name of bailing out the Banks was articulated at the Right To Work Campaign protest at the Dail.

This is a short video from when the first forty or so went to the gates to be joined shortly by hundreds more.

Chomsky meets fellow Anarchists in Dublin

During Noam Chomsky's recent visit to Ireland five members of the Workers Solidarity Movement met him over breakfast to talk over a range of issues from Palestine to the capitalist crisis to social partnership to Iran to Obama and the US Labour Movement. Notes on the discussion are below.

Audio of Discussion with Noam Chomsky:

Noam Chomsky & the WSM discuss politics over breakfast 23.98 Mb

The conversation is about 52 minutes long and as its recorded over breakfast there is a fair bit of cutlery noise included. The notes below are a very rough outline to the conversation noted down as I edited the audio file, its is not a transcript but a summary and there are substantial gaps in it as the conversation goes back and forth.

Bail Out the People March, Sept. 20th
See: Bail Out People . org

While a self selected group of world leaders congregate behind a sea of security and police controls in downtown Pittsburgh, up in the Hill District a different kind of movement is beginning to be built.

Related Links:
Videos:
Police Crackdown on G20 Protests: Democracy Now! Reports from the Streets | 30 Second Video of MIlitary Kidnapping a Protestor | Video: Riot Police Attack Students at University of Pittsburgh | Video Compilation from Pittsburgh

Articles:
G20 at Anarchist News . org | ACLU sues Pittsburgh, Secret Service over G20 protest permits | Huffington Post: G20 PROTESTS: Men In Military Fatigues Snatch Protester

Links:
Indymedia Pittsburgh Dedicated G20 Site |
Pittsburgh Organizing Group | Bail Out People, not Banks | People Summit | ResistG20.org | White Band .org - Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) | Extensive list of organising centres

What's Left? Unity?

The SWP hasn't really engaged in Public debate on the subject of Left Unity but have decided to state our position in relation to recent statements by the Socialist Party.
There are a lot of new people entering into struggle, and radical politics, for the first time and we feel it's appropriate now to make our views known.

Left Unity: Time to move on

The need for a radical left formation in Ireland could hardly be more urgent. We are in the midst of the deepest global capitalist crisis since the 1930s and the economic collapse is worse in Ireland than many other countries. Workers are facing extremely serious attacks on living standards and are getting no leadership from the Labour Party and the union bureaucracy which is closely tied to it. Sinn Fein has entered a period of political turmoil that has arisen from efforts to position itself as a potential coalition party with the Right.

Indications that a significant minority of workers are looking for a real alternatives is evident from the votes for Joe Higgins in the European election and the good showing of People Before Profit Alliance, the Socialist Party, the Tipperary Workers and Unemployed Action Group, the Workers Party and Left independents in the local elections.

Related Links:
Original Call from the Socialist Party

Local Election Socialist Alliance Proposed
Local Election Socialist Alliance Rejected