Ireland: An Bord “Snip” report… No grounds for compromise the unions must fight

It is now abundantly clear what the Irish bosses have in store for the working class of Ireland. The An Bord “Snip” report leaves no room for doubt. The union leaders must abandon their old ways and begin to organise a serious fightback.

The headline figures say 17,358 job losses and €5.3 billion in budget cuts and that is bad enough. But the human and social costs of this vicious and destructive assault on the public services will be profound. We said that the last budget was an example of slash and burn economics; this is more on the scale of a Tsunami. This plan will affect every town and village, every school, every hospital and every community. It is an attempt to force the public sector back decades.

The economic development during the years of the Celtic Tiger eased social relations between the classes in the sense that the economy doubled in size over the 12 years, and there was a rise in living standards. The bosses (particularly the multinationals) made billions and were able to grant some reforms. The effects of the crash and the crisis of Irish capitalism have been to massively destabilise the economy, and to undermine the relative calm that had existed previously. This report shows that the bosses and their political representatives have the gloves off and they are ready to fight.

The proposals in this report illustrate the depth of the crisis, but the very fact that it has even been published reflects the serious problems that the government face. They had no intention of publishing it, but have been forced to do so. The draconian measures in the report, closure of the whole department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for example and the huge job losses in Health and Education will have an immediate response from workers. But the truth is that the logic of capitalism in crisis means that Cowen has a choice between making the bosses or the workers pay. Cowen and Lenihan, despite their supposed adherence to “social partnership” have a job to do on behalf of the bosses. So their choice has essentially been made for them in the boardrooms and in the pages of the bourgeois press.

Table: Proposed savings and staffing reductions

includes capital savings of €196m

The Trade union leaders have a clear choice. We have explained that “social partnership” in a boom is one thing whereas in a slump it is a completely different matter altogether. In a boom they have the easy option, i.e. getting for the workers some of the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. In a situation like this, although they may wish to maintain friendly relations with the state and the bosses, they have to respond to pressure from below.

If the ITUC leaders were to merely go along the line of discussing these cuts in the context and “spirit” of social partnership, then they would not only fail to represent their members properly, but they would be utterly discredited. The number of proposed job cuts is 17,358. The membership of the CPSU is 13,000 by comparison, that illustrates the scale of the problem. We have to fight these proposals; waving the white flag in front of a flame thrower is a dangerous game. Weakness and prevarication on this issue would be a clear signal to the bourgeois in Ireland and in Wall Street and the City of London where many of the decisions affecting Irish workers are taken. The message would be clear “kick us, we are down”.

So what have the union leaders said?

The CPSU has said it won’t accept any attempt to force through staff cuts, “its initial examination of the report did little to dispel its concern that it would be a 'slash-and-burn' exercise.”

However they added that it is "up to Government and Unions to work through the difficult weeks and months ahead and the CPSU expects nothing less than the processing of any proposals by the employer through the normal industrial relations procedures".

Impact has threatened “industrial action if the Government attempted to impose compulsory redundancies or cuts in pay and pensions.”

“Impact said public sector pay had already been cut by more than 7.5 per cent this year, on top of extra taxes and levies introduced in the last two budgets”. (Quotes from Irish Times).

Jack O'Connor, general secretary of SIPTU argued that,

“…the £3.8 billion in social welfare, health and education cuts envisaged would "dramatically impact on the standard of living of the majority of working people and the less well off in our society".

“Under these proposals almost 7,000 jobs would be lost in education, more than 6,000 in the health services and over 1,000 in agriculture, food and fisheries. There are also huge job losses envisaged across government departments and state bodies. The effect of these cuts would dramatically impact on the quality of public services and also damage the most vulnerable in society, including the sick, the aged and the poor." (Quotes from Irish Times)

One day Public Sector General Strike

We would argue that these responses are absolutely correct in criticising the report and that the threat of strike action is important; but it doesn’t go far enough. The bosses will be rubbing their hands at the implications of this report. If the Fianna Fáil and their Green Party coalition bed fellows get away with this plan, it will give the green light for an assault on the entire working class.

Trade union leaders often argue that they need to keep their powder dry and not be hasty when it comes to taking industrial action. They tend to take great care to ensure that issues are settled by negotiation. But the present position is drastically different from the past. The old ways of doing things even in conditions of boom were bad enough; now are of no use at all in a slump.

We argued that it was a mistake to call off the March 30^th strikes. This latest proposal tears up any chance of an acceptable settlement out of any talks about talks. That strategy should go out of the window immediately. The CPSU, IMPACT, the three teachers’ unions and the various other unions should be demanding a one day public sector general strike. Plus a generalised coordinated campaign of industrial action throughout the state. Cowen and Lenihan need to be stopped in their tracks. A massive response on behalf of the working class would be a sliothar down the throat of Fianna Fáil.