STRIKES!

The Irish economy is going to ruin fast, with 10% contraction this year and a 15% contraction in GNP in the last quarter. Not only that but unemployment has reached a staggering 500,000 in a country with a population of just over 4 million.
The continuing Bank Bailouts and the government finalising the National Assets Management Agency (which will take on an estimated 90 Billion worth of debts generated by the top 20 property developers) ,alongside vicious cuts in community services, public sector pay, levies on all workers and the slashing of social welfare payments, has set the stage for massive confrontations to develop in irish society.
At the moment the electricians of the TEEU are on strike. Laurence, a worker at Spencer Dock Dublin, explains some of the reasons for their action-

"We're here to fight for the money we were promised in 2007, money that was agreed on but we never got, not only that but they want to cut our wages by 10% bring in unqualified workers and pay them 25% less. They want to cut travel time and make us supply our own power tools (which puts the cost of wear and tear on the backs of the workers).
They want to tear up the agreements on legal rates which would leave us forced back down to the minimum wage as the only gauranteed rate, they want to take us back to the 80s, they want to make us all 'sub contractors' who bid against each other for jobs and the cheapest gets it, it used to be that on each site you'd have 10 but now they want 3 or 4"

Most of the workers on the pickets are young (most are in their 20s and some have just started families etc) and are determined to fight the bosses and win their agreed upon wage increases. The spirit of defiance is remarkable, and with ICTU balloting other trades for all out action, we may soon see an escalation of the strike. Even before the ballot for the other trades on site to come out has taken place in many works others have joined the pickets, most notably at the airport were plumbers joined the electricians.

The employer organisation, IBEC, has stated that they want to see between a 10 and 15% reduction in living standards across the country. They have already announced their intention to brutalise people on the dole to make it so unattractive a prospect that those in employment will accept any wage and the most appaling conditions.

There's another strike, much smaller in scale but indicative of the attitudes of employers right now, happening at the Department of Heritage and Environment which is located in the Custom House.

13 cleaners who had been hired by a company called- Ecosystems cleaning- were told that they were changing hands and that a company called- Schorman- would be taking over. When they were called to a meeting with the Schorman Rep (who would only allow them to address her as 'miss elizabeth'..like something from the days of slavery!) they were given welcome letters and then tole that they would by working for 2.57 hrs a day instead of 4.
Now forgive me for pointing this out but the Custom House as far as i can tell hasn't shrunk by a proportion of 4 to 2.57, and seeing as that hasn't taken place i assume that the same amount of cleaning was expected to be done in half the time for half the wage.
When the women kicked up a fuss they were fired and are now picketing outside.
Apparently the company has employed 6 new cleaners.
I bet at a lower rate and with far less hours.