Gormley plans to break the Union Labour link: what are the bourgeois scared of?

by ? Wed Jul 28, 2010 23:54

So this article is about trade unions being banned from giving donations to the Labour Party?

Why's that a problem?

Why should trade unions have sway over the politics of Ireland when they are not elected to perform as political representatives of the people? All this ban does is clearly redefine the boundaries between two completely separate jobs. Union leaders represent workers in the workplace, not in the Dáil.

If you think this is an injustice of sorts, think about the other end of the sprectrum- Fianna Fáil taking donations from developers. Why should builders have sway over the policies of FF, the ruling party, and hence the country. Of course they shouldn't- the body politic elected FF, not the builders and hence they should be kept away from the decision making process.

My two cents anyway.

by Used2bSnowWhite Sun Aug 01, 2010 22:48

The problem with Gormless Johnny is that he’s still deluded enough to think he’s got an ace up his sleeve with his public reluctance to sign off on the incinerator in Ringsend. Is this position with the union donation ban another last chance to show he’s tough on the big parties? Well, after the comical debacle over the hunting ban, that the Labour party opposed, isn’t it all a bit too late and is it not of out of retribution that Johnny boyo acts? I agree with the trade union donation ban itself, but with a cynical eye, and watch while it’s being spearheaded in particular by the Green party. Eventually Johnny Gormless will disappear along with all the empty promises he made such as the ones to stand by the ‘Shell to Sea’ campaign, ‘Tara’ and hell knows how many, including the upcoming Ringsend incinerator that he will end up endorsing.
He’s learning the hard way – no one will support him because he’s such a flake and the sensible members of his diminished party continue to run away like rats from a sinking ship.
The real workers know that neither the hybrid-wannabe bourgeois Green party nor the Labour party could ever represent them; they will look elsewhere for a socialist programme & alliance in this new decade of guillotine cuts no matter what right-wing government is in place or who it's supported by. It will certainly not include the above mentioned parties.

by jovey Mon Aug 02, 2010 04:00

A workers' opposition is needed in each and every country to upkeep the struggle to end Imperialist world war. The complete failure of the U.S. Imperialists to win their unjust aggressive wars, and their continual dragging down of the workers unity in each country is no show of strength. It instead shows a light in the end of the tunnel, and the approach of unity towards liberation from the war mongering societies headed by the worlds' Imperium. Unity is strenght and the workers are the constant majority in each and every country. Workers of the world, unite!! You have a world to win.

by Used2bSnowWhite Tue Aug 03, 2010 23:42

Jovey, attaining worker’s unity is the ideal utopia and yet there’s a lot to be achieved.

The article correctly highlights the insidious link between Labour & the unions (can anyone forget Jack O’Connor’s shameless promotion of Eamon Gilmore on SIPTU’s Liberty Hall?). At the heart of the issue is the subservience and collusion of the unions to preserve social partnership and the few perks gained by union leaders and its well-paid officials. The ordinary worker should be supporting the union donation ban that rots trade unionism in Ireland and yet they are not vocal enough.

Underlying the debate is the unfortunate crux - what are the workers to do when their own unions are too corrupt to organise against the vicious cuts in health, education, the slavish promotion of low corporation tax of multi-national companies (who have too much influence in each state), etc ? And why workers decline to challenge their unions especially in this climate. Pessimistically, I don’t see the ordinary worker in Ireland confronting their union, looking for debate or organising at grassroots. Some might say that that the ordinary workers are still too comfortable and others would say that the unions now appear as bureaucratic and immoral as the present govt here leading the members to utter ambivalence of their membership. Would this happen when Connolly was around, heck no!

Due to their own fault SIPTU are now seeing a split with the fire-fighters and nurses possibly forming their own frontline union. Things are suddenly becoming more interesting for SIPTU, their members and the watching bystander. The current union might run out of bribe money with this exodus and yet the link between the political parties and unions must be broken for better workers’ rights.