Archive for the ‘SIPTU’ Category
“We Only Want the Earth” – Important Trade Union backed James Connolly Documentary on RTÉ 1 TV, Wednesday August 26 2026 – Why did this revolutionary marxist sign the Famous Easter 1916 Proclamation, helping to lead “A social revolution by force of arms”?
A James Connolly Documentary will be broadcast on the Irish State’s main TV broadcast station, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ 1) on
Wednesday August 26 2026, RTÉ 1, 21.30
Yellow Asylum Films Announcement :
WE ONLY WANT THE EARTH
The Life & Ideas of James Connolly
We are delighted to announce the upcoming screening on RTÉ of the feature documentary on James
Connolly, created to inspire and enlighten a contemporary audience about Connolly, his life and his
ideas. It will screen on RTÉ 1 on Wednesday August 26th at 21.30.
An iconic presence on the landscape of Irish socialism and republicanism, the name of James Connolly looms
large in the trade union movement and wherever radical left-wing politics are espoused. The film tries to place
Connolly’s radical ideas and many political achievements against the landscape of the contemporary world as
well as documenting his more prominent role in the 1916 Easter Rising.
As well as many distinguished commentators, union activists and historians, the film also features many songs
and poems – spoken and sung by contemporary artists such as Christy Moore, Stephen Rea, piper David
Power, singers Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Esosa Ighodaro as well as Connolly’s great great grand-daughter
Tamsin Iona Connolly Heron. Acclaimed actor Terry O’Neill performs the words of Connolly.
The film aims to reclaim Connolly’s story as well as invoking his important social vision – with a clear eye on
how it resonates in our contemporary time – an era when even democracy itself appears under threat.
The film was independently produced and financed with the support of the Irish Trade Union
movement.
Director & Writer: Alan Gilsenan
Producer & Archive Researcher: Martin Mahon
Executive Producers: Des Geraghty & Noírín Greene
A Yellow Asylum Films Production for the James Connolly Foundation for Educational Equality
The documentary is recommended to all readers interested in the life and times of James Connolly, a revolutionary marxist activist who became a leader of the growing Irish trade union movement in the early 20th century, and who promoted a distinct socialist and anti-imperialist vision. Connolly was one of the seven signatories of the Easter 1916 Rising in Dublin’s General Post Office (GPO). The British state executed this hero of the Irish working class on May 12 1916.
Ever since, James Connolly has captured a place in the Irish public imagination more than any other figure in the workers’ and socialist movement. No Irish socialist is really taken seriously unless s/he claims to be following in his tradition.
This was the position in 1972, as desbribed in the pages of a weekly political publication, Hibernia :
No fewer than 23…..communist, socialist and left-wing groups exist in Ireland, according to a list appearing in the 23 June 1972 issue of Hibernia. These organisations represent various trends in national and international politics but all, without exception, laid claim to James Connolly as their model and inspiration.
This position is essentially unchanged in 2026.
Yet at the time of his execution Connolly was isolated in the leadership of the Irish workers’ movement and internationally. He is reported as saying in his death-cell “The socialists will not understand why I am here. They forget I am an Irishman”.
Louise Bryant – A contemporary revolutionary socialist and feminist who understood why James Connolly was in Dublin’s GPO at Easter 1916
There were significant exceptions. We begin with a contemporary assessment written by Louise Bryant :
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 Unionists for Solidarity with Ukraine -Russian Troops Out of Ukraine Now – Irish Congress of Trade Unions Conference Official Fringe Meeting – Maginnes 3, Lyrath Hotel Kilkenny – Tuesday July 4 2023, 17:30
Trade Unionists for Solidarity with Ukraine –
Russian Troops Out of Ukraine Now
ICTU BDC Official Fringe Meeting
Maginnes 3, Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny
Tuesday July 4 2023 17.30
Zoom Link : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82438977972?pwd=NlR1dVVra0VoNkRXTFFjYnY4SHZKdz09
Speakers :
Gregor Kerr – Irish National Teachers Organisation delegate to ICTU BDC, member of the ICTU Global Solidarity Committee (Personal Capacity)
Nataliya Levytska , Deputy Chair, KVPU (Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine)
Sergey Movchan, member of Solidarity Collectives Ukraine
Denys Pilash, political scientist and historian representing Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement Ukraine)
Chairperson : Nóirín Greene, Former ICTU Executive Member
We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and their defence against the illegal and brutal invasion of February 2022. We want an immediate stop to the bombardment of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian Federation and to war crimes and human rights abuses in the occupied territories.
We are for the speediest possible end to the war, based on
- The immediate withdrawal of all Russian forces
- Self-determination for Ukraine and restoration of occupied territory
- Ukraine’s right to appeal for, and be provided with, the military equipment needed to defeat the invasion.
- Approval of any ‘peace deal’ by the people of Ukraine
We extend our solidarity to Ukrainian trade unionists and socialists who continue to promote
and defend workers’ rights. We oppose the introduction of new labour laws in Ukraine which
have undermined trade union and worker rights.
We support a socially progressive reconstruction of Ukraine, with trade unions and civil society
playing a central role. We therefore support the cancellation of Ukraine’s foreign debt and
seizure of Russian assets to help fund state and society-led reconstruction with fully state-
funded welfare state and a low carbon sustainable economy.
Read the rest of this entry »Ukraine: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity – Dublin Book Launch Report and Video
We wish to thank Independent Left, Conor Kostick, Donnacha Ó Bríain, Halyna Herasym and Nóirín Greene for this report and visual record. Source : https://independentleft.ie/voices-of-resistance/
Ukraine: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity
27/02/2023
Ukraine: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity is a book edited by Fred Leplat and Chris Ford, published by Resistance Books and Ukraine Solidarity campaign. It contains essays by Mick Antoniw, Welsh Labour MP; John-Paul Himka, history professor; Taras Bilous, activist for Sotsialnyi Rukh / Social Movement; Yuliya Yurchenko activist for Ukraine Solidarity Campaign and Sotsialnyi Rukh / Social Movement; Oksana Dutchak, co-editor of Spilne/ Commons; Viktoriia Pihul, Ukrainian feminist; Nataliya Levytska, Deputy Chair of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine; Vitalii Dudin president of Sotsialnyi Rukh / Social Movement; Bogdan Ferens, founder of the Social Democratic Platform; Eric Toussaint, spokesperson of the CADTM International; Ilya Budraitskis, activist in the Russian Socialist Movement; Niko Vorobyov, Russian-British freelance journalist; Gilbert Achcar, Lebanese socialist; Simon Pirani professor of modern languages and cultures; Stephen R. Shalom, editor of New Politics; and Dan La Botz, editor of New Politics.
Read the rest of this entry »Apologies and Recantations – The Strange Cases of two Elected Representatives from Ireland and England – Brian Stanley TD (Sinn Féin, Ireland) and Jeremy Corbyn MP (Labour Party, England)
We start with a tip, and two savage cartoons.
All political apologisers – such as the Sinn Féin Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley – forced to swallow and spit out his words of praise for IRA ambushes in 1920 and 1979 – do not believe any of the sentences they are forced to utter in humiliating public recantations!
Nobody ever believes the recantation :
The same applies to apologies uttered under duress by former British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Nobody believes the apologies. The effect is to censor debate on issues which ought to be publicly aired.
Every honest person knows Brian Stanley’s Kilmichael/Narrow Water Tweet about British soldiers successfully ambushed by the IRA in Ireland – Black-and-Tans (1920) and Parachute Regiment (1979) – is a public picture of his own personal opinion and the opinions of many members of his own party.
Read the rest of this entry »
Moments of crisis: Aer Lingus seeks millions from SIPTU over strike threat
Moments of crisis: Aer Lingus seeks millions from SIPTU over strike threat
Sam Nolan, veteran socialist and trade unionist and long-standing Secretary of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions has post this personal message on Facebook today (14th March). https://www.facebook.com/sam.nolan.391 I have commented on it below.
“Moments of crisis happen at certain stages of history. Such a moment is now upon the trade union movement. The threatened move by AER LINGUS to sue SIPTU for financial damages for a strike that did not take place is such a moment. This move is a threat to the future activity of every trade union in the country. There must be a sharp militant response from CONGRESS affiliated unions as well as a legal challenge. Labour in government must decide which class it represents.”
My comment:
There has been surprising little reaction from the unions, the left and even the blogosphere (or my sector of it) to the announcement that Aer Lingus was suing SIPTU over a strike that did not take place. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/aer-lingus-seeks-millions-from-siptu-over-strike-threat-1.1725298
The action by Aer Lingus, for damages, breach of contract and, in at least one report I heard, conspiracy, has all the marks of the pre-1906 open season on trade unions. As the day wore on the need for someone authoritative in the labour movement to take a stand and make a clarion call was ever more pressing. It is no accident that it is Sam Nolan that has stepped forward and it is fitting and fortunate that it is he who has. Not only has he stood in the front line for decades but he has the respect and authority in the trade union movement to be taken seriously and to be heeded and followed.
When Sam Nolan says it – “Moments of crisis happen at certain stages of history. Such a moment is now upon the trade union movement” – you know it is not stock left rhetoric. It is not some hamburger merchant that is suing, it is the national airline, backed by the airport authority and also by the biggest anti-union outfit on the continent, the William Martin Murphy of 2014.
It is time for SIPTU and ICTU to fight before there is nothing left to fight for – or fight with. And fight with street mobilisation and industrial action, not just in the courts or with press statements which omit that the Labour Party is in government and, in this case, that the government is on the board of the union-busting company. I hope unions, union committees and Branch and Sector Committees can take up his call without delay and that, if there is a delay, the Dublin Council of Trade Unions can repeat its recurrent role of being the focus and the catalyst on crises facing the labour movement.
Des Derwin
SIPTU NEC calls for suspension of proposed Household Charge
From SIPTU this morning:
17th February, 2012
SIPTU NEC calls for suspension of proposed Household Charge
The National Executive Council (NEC) of SIPTU has called on the Government to suspend the proposed Household Charge on the basis that it is unfair and regressive.
At its monthly meeting today (Friday, 17th February) the NEC unanimously supported a motion stating that;
“The Household Charge as currently proposed by the Government is a flat tax which is unfair and regressive in that it subsidises wealthy people at the expense of middle and low income families. The NEC supports the principle of a fair and progressive property tax which is proportionate and which recognises that wealthy households can afford to pay more than those with modest earnings while those on lower incomes should be exempt. Read the rest of this entry »
United Left Alliance leaflet on Vita Cortex
Distributed at the SIPTU Vita Cortex protest, Dáil Eireann, Thursday 12th January 2012
cf. http://siptuactivist.wordpress.com/
TEXT of leaflet:
VITA CORTEX: SOLIDARITY CAN WIN
The slogan outside the Vita Cortex factory says it all: €2.5 million for three company directors. No redundancy pay for 32 workers with 847 years service.
Vita Cortex is a company that was asset stripped by its owner Jack Ronan. He is involved in a web of of companies and has claimed that money for the redundancy should come from one that is controlled by NAMA. For their part NAMA disagrees. meanwhile workers, who have put in 40 years service in some cases, had to occupy over Christmas just to get basic redundancy payments.
The workers initial demand was for 2.9 weeks redundancy pay for every year’s service. That modest sum was the going rate throughout the Vita Cortex group. But the company wants to treat workers like disposable hankies and just throw them out the door. Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 