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 »
How ordinary people really shaped the events of 1981 – Eamon McCann
A welcome focus on the politics of Mass Action Versus Militarism –
Eamonn McCann writing in the Belfast Telegraph
United Left Alliance conference 4th February
ULA email:
United Left Alliance (ULA) Conference
The Steering Committee of the United Left Alliance has called a conference of all members of the ULA for Saturday 4th February from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
The Conference will take place in Dublin and is open to all members. The venue will be confirmed in the next few days.
Since its foundation over a year ago the ULA has made major gains and has now established itself as a real force in Irish politics. While the ULA is an alliance of the founding groups; People Before Profit, The Socialist Party and the Tipperary Unemployed and Workers Action Group, new people have come into the ULA since then and it continues to grow around the country. As attacks on working people and communities continue there is no doubt that the need for an organisation such as the ULA has never been greater.
The Conference will be an opportunity for activists to came together and debate the issues facing us in building a new radical force in Irish politics. It will provide an opportunity to flesh out the founding programme and debate the future for the ULA. It will also allow us to share experiences in developing and running branches and campaigns.
The Conference will have four sessions:
Session 1: Building The Fightback Against Austerity: The Left Alternative
Session 2: The Crisis in the Euro and the EU Austerity Treaty
Session 3: Fighting the Household Charge: Building a Campaign that can win.
Session 4: Next Steps for the ULA: Building A Radical Force in Irish Politics
Each session will be introduced by a small panel of speakers. This will be followed by an open discussion with the aim of maximising the opportunity for members to put forward their ideas.
Branches are encouraged to meet prior to the conference to discuss the issues facing the ULA. Branches should encourage as many members as possible to attend.
All enquiries should be sent to
United Left Alliance TD’s, part of the Dáil Technical Group – Irish Times Review
For a change, the Irish Times report is fair to the left-wing outsiders.
Debate occurred on this site after the February 25 2011 General Election on whether Luke “Ming” Flanagan could be grouped within the left – we presume that argument is over now. Ming has sided with the United Left Alliance comrades on a variety of key issues since his election in Roscommon-South Leitrim – is the west awake for the left?
The article is discussed on the Cedar Lounge Revolution Site :
http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/speaking-about-the-independents-of-the-left/
Ming Flanagan gets this mention: we are told the Independent TD for Roscommon-South Leitrim who has in the past proudly advertised his fondness for the odd cannabis joint
orbits in this area, but is less clearly explicitly left-wing and therefore perhaps more sensibly regarded as being a sometime fellow traveller on some but not all issues.
Tomás Ó Flatharta 