SIPTU have called on the government to intervene to prevent the closure of an award winning Community Employment Scheme read full story / add a comment

Got this from LabourStart yesterday. This is very disturbing and sinister, and it's not happening in some remote, tin-pot, 3rd World dictatorship!! This is happening in Europe! In Greece, a European Union (EU) Member. And what are the EU, who are so quick to blabber and bleat on about human right's abuses in Libya, Iran, Syria, and other places safely removed from Europe, doing and saying about this? Surprise! Surprise! Nothing, as it's the EU and their austerity policies that have led to this, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the EU is orchestrating this behind the scenes as an attempt to smash Protests by the People and the Workers against their failed austerity policies. read full story / add a comment

We Should All Support the Planned Protests by SIPTU for the Vita Cortex Workers at Kinsale Road in Cork City Including the National Mobilisations!! In fact I think Everyone Must Support these Mobilisations And Protests Whether Or Not you're SIPTU Members! I welcome the fact that the TEEU have also pledged their support for the Vita Cortex Workers. read full story / add a comment

Ports up and down the West Coast were blockaded, from Seattle to San Diego. The blockade was called in solidarity with longshore workers fighting a union-busting assault in Longview, Washington and port truckers seeking union recognition in the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach. This support should have been greeted. But now the class war on the West Coast docks is coming to a head, and it can't be waged from the outside. Bay Area labor has called for a caravan to Longview. The goal should be a real occupation of the terminal by the workers to prevent the loading of the scab cargo. Longshore militants have called on the longshore unions to shut down every port on the West Coast, and the East and Gulf Coasts, to smash EGT's union-busting. Can it be done? Yes, but only though sharp struggle against the pro-capitalist labor bureaucracy. read full story / add a comment

The capitalist crisis can provide the working class with the opportunity to forcefully take power. read full story / add a comment

Today, at Kazakhstan’s independence day, more than 3000 people assembled peacefully in Zhanaozen, to promote the demands of the oil workers who have been on strike since May. Police and special forces attacked the meeting and opened fire on the strikers and their families. By around 10 a.m., London time, 50 had already been killed, with at least 500 more wounded. read full story / add a comment

The rate of job destruction has accelerated in the quarter July to September 2011. On a seasonally adjusted basis, employment fell by 20,500 (-1.1%) in the quarter. This follows on from a seasonally adjusted fall in employment of 4,100 (-0.2%) in Q2 2011. This means that 20,500 more jobs were destroyed than were created in the quarter.  Minister Bruton's "Job Creation" measures had already been introduced in June. The continuation of the FF/Green austerity programme by Lab/FG destroyed far more jobs than were created(if any) by the Bruton measures. read full story / add a comment

It's outrageous. The average tax break from the Bush tax cuts enjoyed by the top 1 percent of Americans is larger than the average income of the rest of the 99 percent. read full story / add a comment

Anarchist organisation Workers Solidarity Movement (WSM) has welcomed Wednesday’s public sector strike and called for this to be “the start of a sustained campaign of opposition to the government’s attacks on workers and the unemployed.” read full story / add a comment

The sixty million payoff to prison officers in Northern Ireland could be much better spent on addressing the causes of crime such as poverty, social deprivation and prison rehabilitation. Prison officers who served during the Troubles could walk away from their jobs with packages of more than £120,000 plus pension as part of a £60m redundancy programme aimed at ‘modernising’ the service. read full story / add a comment

Office of An Taoiseach Merrion Square Dublin 2 Éire read full story / add a comment

Alterthess.gr is covering the 48hr general strike in Greece and offers an alternative update on current events. read full story / add a comment

I convey my deepest condolences to the people and government on the death of Veteran journalist, writer and intellectual Mr. Hameed Akhtar who succumb to cancer in Lahore on Sunday, 16 October at the age of 87. read full story / add a comment

Interview with a former worker with Crystal Clean Valet Servics about her struggle to reclaim money she is owed for worked hours and unpaid holiday days. read full story / add a comment

A report arising from a statement by the Restaurant Association of Ireland was carried on several RTE news bulletins to-day and was also discussed on Morning Ireland on which a spokesperson was interviewed. The content of the statement is totally misleading. The news item and the interview provide examples of the uncritical broadcasting by RTE of employer propaganda.

The RAI had claimed that the Irish restaurant sector had created 490 new jobs in the months of July and August and that 164 of these had been due to the abolition of JLC/ERO system by the courts on July 7. It went on to argue that the JLC/ERO system should not be restored as it was an obstacle to job creation.

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A time of economic crisis provides a moment in time when the revolutionary can more readily get the ear of the people. At such times people are open to the possibility of radical change. It is of such a juncture that Lenin wrote: “A revolution is impossible without a revolutionary situation” however he also warned “not every revolutionary situation leads to revolution”.

A climate of economic crisis not only opens up possibilities for the genuine revolutionary but also for the false prophet of racism and fascism. read full story / add a comment

As part of their ‘communities uniting’ campaign in the north, SIPTU are giving voice to community workers through an online series of interviews, ‘We are SIPTU.’

The series of interviews will be continually updated to YouTube, allowing people to easily access and get an insight into the everyday work of community activists, the services they provide, and the cuts facing projects. To access the interviews click on the following link;

http://www.youtube.com/user/siptunorth#grid/user/169914...66C8E
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The SIPTU Community Campaign will be holding a series of regional forums entitled “Building a Strong Union Voice & Defending the Community Sector”. The forums will discuss the current and imminent threats facing the community sector and how community workers can best unite to protect projects, jobs and communities. read full story / add a comment

Following the surrender of the Labour Party in Cabinet on JLCs, SIPTU has described the proposals as “relatively positive” on RTE Television News, July 28 and has given the government plan “a cautious welcome” (Martin Wall, Irish Times July 29). This is a dark day for Irelands biggest union which was built by Larkin and Connolly read full story / add a comment

Labour's Shame on Low Pay-Labour Party has capitulated to Fine Gael by agreeing to cut low pay read full story / add a comment