Archive for the ‘Trade Unions’ Category
Government Decision “Heartless and Cruel” and must be opposed says Irish Left With Ukraine
Press Statement – Government decision ‘heartless and cruel’ and must be opposed says Irish Left With Ukraine
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU) has condemned as “heartless and cruel” the government decision to withdraw accommodation supports for Ukrainian refugees, and has called on the trade union movement and all progressive forces to immediately launch a campaign to “reject firmly the government’s pandering to anti-immigrant sentiment.”
“In the midst of a housing crisis, the threat to throw 16,000 Ukrainians out of state-provided accommodation will mean evicting many of these people into homelessness,” said ILWU in a statement. “It will mean people being uprooted from their communities, children having to leave schools in which they are settled and have made classmates and friends, and people having to quit their jobs.
Alongside this, the decision to cut and eventually end altogether the Accommodation Recognition Payment will impact directly on a further 42,000 people who are currently accommodated in people’s homes across the country.
Read the rest of this entry »The Blockade Is the Message
How a Fuel Price Spike Became a Fascist Audition
An effective heavy vehicle blockade campaign brought the 26 county bit of Ireland to a halt in the second week of April 2026.
Parties and individuals based on the left have offered significantly different opinions about these protests.
There is no doubt that far-right organisations are involved. This poses a big problem for all forces on the left – parties, trade unions, social movements that are pro-feminist and anti-racist, and so on.
It is essential to start with concrete analysis. Left-wing actors such as People Before Profit (PBP) say they support the blockaders :
“ There is “no question” that there are far-right people trying to intervene and be present in the protest…So some of these people (the far-right) are present and are trying to shape the protest, but one: the vast majority of people who are participating in the protest have nothing to do with the far right, whatsoever.
Paul Murphy TD, People Before Profit, Dublin South-West,
“And two: I really have a strong sense that ordinary working-class people in Dublin, people who live in Dublin South-West that I represent, have a lot of support for these protests,” Murphy said.
The left shouldn’t abandon fuel protesters, Paul Murphy says
The article below, and several other reliable sources, demonstrate that Paul Murphy’s analysis is based on wishful thinking rather than concrete analysis.
The far-right are not “trying to intervene and be present in the protest”. Far-right actors initiated this campaign.
This has serious implications for all forces on the Irish left.
Summing up: socialists have to recognise the hardships caused by high fuel prices (on top of all the other high prices). Blaming the right-wing government is fine. But – an extremely big But :
The Left must pledge : no co-operation with fuel-protester fascists and racists.
The policy of the PBP and others on the left is “support the fuel protests”.
The only way you can implement this policy is practical collaboration with the far-right on the streets and elsewhere. That means putting the lives and welfare of your own members and supporters in danger.
The left can do much better – a useful starting point for for a more progressive policy is here, written by the SIPTU researcher, Michael Taft :
Searching the Evidence – Michael Taft
This immediate problem is down to Trump’s wars in Iran, Lebanon, and other parts of the Middle East.
Trade Union Solidarity With Ukraine in Ireland – Activity of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) – by Sandra Corrigan, Global Development Officer (INTO)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU) held a very fruitful meeting on Tuesday 24 March 2026 in the Teachers Club (which is associated with the INTO)
Sandra Corrigan, Global Solidarity Officer of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, described international solidarity work for teachers and children, including a solidarity fund, emergency supplies, trauma support, and advocacy that helped secure teacher salary increases for 2025–2026. Ukrainian teacher union reports emphasised the prolonged conflict and an education crisis.
Kateryna Maliuta- Osaulova of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers TUEWSU Ukraine, worked with Sandra on this report.
Sandra’s extensive report is available here :
These issues will also be addressed at the next ILWU public meeting on April 21 2026 at 7.30pm in the Teachers’ Club 36 Parnell Square West.
Details are here :
Public Meeting
Why we need solidarity with Ukraine
Speakers:
Mick Antoniw (Labour party Member of the Senedd [Welsh Assembly]; co-founder of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, England & Wales)
Anatoliy Primakov (Ukrainian Action Ireland)
Sinéad Gibney TD (Social Democrats)
Kevin Donoghue (Campaigns Officer, FÓRSA trade union)
Chairperson :
Nóirín Greene, ex-member of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Executive
Time: 7:30pm
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
Place: Teachers Club 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 D01 T6V6
To participate via zoom link, please email: irishleftwithukraine@gmail.com
by 19th April
Report of Public Meeting : Solidarity With the People of Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home (Tuesday March 24 2026)
Report of Public Meeting : Solidarity With the People of Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU) held a very fruitful meeting on Tuesday 24 March 2026 in the Teachers Club. Interesting insights were shared. The discussion showed us all the hope that if you take action, you can make a difference.
We thank Alex Yurov, Aishe Kurtamet (Crimean refugee and mother of her abducted son Appaz), Catriona Crowe (Archivist and Historian), Sandra Corrigan (INTO Global Solidarity Officer) and Ruth O’ Dea (Labour Party) for their contributions.
Alex Yurov reviewed the situation in Donetsk from 2014, when Russia invaded that part of Ukraine. He gave us details of systematic removal and “re‑education” of children into Russian territory.
Aishe Kurtamet told the story of her son Appaz who was abducted in Crimea.
Aishe gave a sustained account of her son Appaz’s 2023 abduction from Kherson, alleging transfer to occupied Crimea, detention, forced collaboration offers, torture, and imprisonment in multiple Russian facilities; she also reported her son’s father was later abducted, tortured, and sentenced.
Link to information about the plight of Appaz Kurtamet :
Appaz Kurtamet, Aishe Kurtamet
Sandra Corrigan, Global Solidarity Officer of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, described international solidarity work for teachers and children, including a solidarity fund, emergency supplies, trauma support, and advocacy that helped secure teacher salary increases for 2025–2026. Ukrainian teacher union reports emphasised the prolonged conflict and an education crisis.
Catriona Crowe described the fascist and genocidal nature of the war Russia is waging in Ukraine – one proof of that description is the systematic kidnapping and disappearing of children in zones of occupation. She drew our attention to the awful history of child abuse in Ireland’s Mother and Baby homes.
She highlighted the international attention shift away from Ukraine to other conflicts, such as Iran, and the need for continued support.
She emphasized the importance of providing Ukraine with adequate weaponry to resist Russian aggression.
She discussed the broader context of the war, including the unprovoked invasion by Russia and the significant casualties on both sides. war on Ukrainian children, including the kidnapping and indoctrination by Russian authorities.
Read the rest of this entry »Why we need solidarity with Ukraine – Public Meeting, Teachers Club Parnell Square, Dublin 1 D01T6V6, Tuesday April 212026, 7.30pm
Public Meeting
Why we need solidarity with Ukraine
Speakers:
Mick Antoniw (Labour party Member of the Senedd [Welsh Assembly]; co-founder of the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, England & Wales)
Anatoliy Primakov (Ukrainian Action Ireland)
Sinéad Gibney TD (Social Democrats)
Kevin Donoghoe (Campaigns Officer, FÓRSA trade union)
Chairperson :
Nóirín Greene, ex-member of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Executive
Time: 7:30pm
Date: Tuesday 21st April 2026
Place: Teachers Club 36 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 D01 T6V6
To participate via zoom link, please email: irishleftwithukraine@gmail.com by 19th April
“The brave few documenting ordinary life in Putin’s Russia” – Catriona Crowe
This excellent article appeared in the Friday March 20 2026 issue of the Irish Times :
Concerning the differences between the Ukrainian and Russian States, Catriona Crowe hits the nail on the head :
Casualties are breaking down at a ratio of 2-2.5 to 1, with Russia suffering the largest proportion, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. While the international press can report from Ukraine, although with some difficulty and considerable danger from the front lines, the Kremlin has detained at least 27 journalists since 2022, and 355 international journalists have been branded “foreign agents”.
Irish Times March 20 2026
Catriona Crowe: The brave few risking everything to unmask Putin’s Russia
The Oscar-winning documentary Mr Nobody against Putin is a record of something totally unseen in the world outside Russia
Ukraine is now in the fifth year of its war with Russia, an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign state based on Vladimir Putin’s desire to reconstitute the Russian Empire. It is estimated that casualties for both sides (killed, wounded and missing) will amount to two million sometime this year.
Read the rest of this entry »Solidarity With the People of Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home – Teachers’ Club, 36 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1 D01 T6V6 Tuesday March 24 7.30pm
IRISH LEFT WITH UKRAINE – NEITHER MOSCOW NOR WASHINGTON
Some background information :
European parliament resolution on a war-crime – Russian abduction of stolen children :
The case of political prisoner Aishe Kurmatet :
A series of Tributes to the Investigative Journalist Ed Moloney – “A strong voice against censorship: both that of the state and the more insidious self-censorship that had crept into journalism”
A number of tributes to the investigative journalist Ed Moloney are published below.
Also included is an account of how Ed published sensational evidence about the role of William Stobie (at one time a quarter-master in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association), in the political murder of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. The British state’s unsuccessful attempt to obtain details of the journalist’s confidential sources were defeated.
It is refreshing to read tributes about about a man I knew well that are kind, affectionate, and that do not pretend Ed was a saint.
He had a short fuse!
Political Nonsense Expressed by British MP Zarah Sultana of the new British left organisation “Your Party” – she attacks Volodymyr Zelensky to justify scabbing on the Ukrainian workers – Critics say : “it is perfectly possible to support a people’s struggle for national freedom while opposing the govt or political leadership currently at the head of that struggle”
The British Ukraine Solidarity Campaign is a growing force.
It recently won the support of the UNITE trade union, which also organises in Ireland.
UNITE the Union votes overwhelmingly for strong solidarity with Ukraine
But some parts of the British left offer policies which pretend to be anti-imperialist, but they stink.
It reminds this writer of bad old days in the 1960’s and 1970’s when many left organisations – from the Labour party to Official Sinn Féin and the Communist party – refused to practice solidarity with comrades in the six-county part of Ireland because they disagreed with the policies of Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the main republican organisations which had a mass following.
We can not do anything about political mistakes made in the past – but we can learn from them and do better in the future. One big positive example from those days was the formation of the National H-Block-Armagh.
Readers interested. who like to burrow into useful political history, are invited to read this book review :
Smashing H Block:The Rise and Fall of the Popular Campaign Against Criminalization
In the meantime, congratulations to the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign in Britain.
John Meehan October 28 2025
From Ukraine Solidarity Campaign
We take no joy criticising a young left-wing UK political figure who has often spoken up for workers’ rights and progressive causes. But these barely coherent comments from Zarah Sultana on Ukraine sum up much of what is wrong with her wing of the left: www.instagram.com/reel/DQT62ysjFKK
First up – yes, Zelensky is no friend of Ukraine’s working class in the sense that his government pursues right-wing, neoliberal, anti-worker economic policies.
Unlike Zarah Sultana, we actually know something about this, since we are connected to Ukraine’s unions and have been actively involved in helping them fight these policies.
Read the rest of this entry »USA : Immigration Cops (ICE) arrest prominent California trade union leader David Huerta – Tidal Wave of Solidarity Spreads – The workers’ movement across the globe should act
The arrest of California union leader David Huerta is galvanizing a new element—solidarity:
David Huerta Arrest – SEIU Update
SEIU California :
UPDATE: David Huerta has been released from the hospital but remains in custody.
His words: “We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice.”
Free David Huerta. Free them ALL.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 