Socialist Voice - Jan 2003 - Stop the Cuts

January 2003
Stop the Cuts - Scrap the Charges	OVER THE last weeks two facts emerged which sum up Ireland as we enter 2003. The first was the tragic and completely preventable death of a baby during birth. The second was a survey which revealed that Ireland is the most 'globalised' country in the world.
North: End the Low Pay Scandal	POVERTY PAY is the grim reality for tens of thousands of workers across Northern Ireland. Before Christmas the End Low Pay Campaign run by the Socialist Party ran its annual Scrooge of the Year Competition. The winner, for reasons that are explained inside, was Sir George Bain. But there was plenty of competition. In fact the Campaign stalls were inundated with nominations.
Special Feature: No War For Oil!	BUSH AND Blair, have begun to mobilise their armed forces for a war against Iraq. 11,000 desert trained US troops with tanks, and attack helicopters were dispatched to the Gulf on 2 January to join the 80,000 US personnel and five aircraft carriers already in the region. 50,000 more US troops will arrive in the Gulf by the end of January.
Fingal Rent Hike: Tenants Take Action	SHOCKED FINGAL County Council tenants learned over Christmas that without notice, the method of calculating rent for council houses was changed. The traditional ceiling has been removed, resulting in rent increases of over 200% in some cases.
Bin Tax, Water Charges... Back to Double Taxation!	WATER CHARGES, increased bin charges and local authority income taxes, these are the stories that dominated much of the media over Christmas. It is quite clear that this government is determined that ordinary people will pay for the economic crisis.
Bin Tax: Strengthen Mass Non Payment	THE CAMPAIGN against the bin tax in Dublin City is entering a crucial period. The crisis in the council has completely exposed the bin tax for what it is: an unjust double tax on working people that is nothing more than revenue for the council to make up for the lack of funding from central government. Any argument that this is an "environmental" tax has now been reduced to a joke.
Dirty Dealings in Dublin City Council	IT LOOKS likely that Dublin City Council will pass the estimates on 16 January. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party and Labour seem to have cobbled together a deal behind the scenes that will save the Council from dissolution.
Joe Higgins Column: Irish Government Hypocracy	THE LIKELY attack by the United States and Britain on Iraq will show up the Irish government as cringing supporters of the imperial powers whether or not the war has the fig leaf of approval from the United Nations Security Council.
1972 Cabinet Papers: Repartition - Still a Threat	THE RELEASE of official papers from 1972 has revealed the extent to which the British government felt that the situation in Northern Ireland was spiralling beyond their control at the time. As a result, it considered a series of radical and desperate "solutions" including repartition and an independent Northern Ireland.
Editorial: Economic Gloom for 2003	IT HAS been a dismal opening to 2003 for world capitalism. The Christmas respite has been followed by the release of one set of economic statistics after another all pointing to a deepening of the world economic crisis, even to the possibility of a severe downturn in the US and, with it, the world economy.
We Can't Afford Government Attacks	AFTER SEVEN months in office, all this Fianna Fail/PD government has to show for is a catalogue of cuts. This is a long way from the rosy picture painted in the run-up to the elections.
North: Airport Struggle Continues - Shop Stewards Join the Socialist Party	SECURITY STAFF at Belfast International Airport went on strike last year against low pay and poor conditions. Their employer, security company ICTS, sacked 22 of the strikers including the shop stewards. Two of the victimised shop stewards and leaders of this dispute, Gordon McNeill and Madan Gupta, have decided that the best way to continue their struggle is by joining the Socialist Party. Peter Hadden spoke to Gordon McNeill about the reasons why.
North: Arise Sir George "Scrooge"	THE WINNER of the End Low Pay Campaign's Scrooge of the Year competition 2002 was Sir George Bain. Just before Christmas, he was awarded with a picket of his palatial Queens University home and given a special Scrooge Christmas card.
North: Water Charges - We Won't Pay	THE FALL of the Assembly has smoothed one issue for the government - the introduction of water charges. They are pushing ahead with their plans to introduce additional charges for water within the next couple of years.
North: Reply to Hayes	HEALTH MINISTER Des Browne has announced his intention to press ahead with the proposals contained in the Hayes Report on the future of Northern Ireland's hospital service.
UCD Student's Union President - Vote Paul Murphy No.1	SOCIALIST PARTY member Paul Murphy, secretary for the Campaign for Free Eduction, is standing for the position of Students' Union President in UCD. Paul, who is well known in UCD as a fighter for student rights will be standing on a programme of creating a fighting, democratic Students' Union.
North: We Want Our Skatepark!	OVER THE last few weeks Lisburn City Council has taken the step to recommend that police enforce by-laws in the area to make sure Skateboarders are not allowed to skate in Lisburn city centre.
Venezuela: Bosses 'Strike' to Oust Chavez	FOR THE second time in the space of a year the ruling class in Venezuela have made a concerted drive to unseat the democratically elected populist President Hugo Chavez.
North Korea: Another Nuclear Stand-Off	A DANGEROUS conflict is developing between North Korea and the United States over nuclear armaments.
Italy: Protests and Strike Continue	OVER THE Christmas period, mass demonstrations and blockades were organised in various Italian towns by FIAT workers under threat of losing their jobs.
North: NIPSA General Council Elections	AT A time when the collapse of the NI Assembly and the reintroduction of Direct Rule have meant that the nakedly anti-public sector agenda of Northern Ireland's local politicians continues to be advanced by New Labour ministers, a return to the old conservative regime in NIPSA would be a disaster for union members.
North: Bin The Bain Report - Act to Defend the Fire Service	THE BLAIR government appears to have entered the new year determined to go to war, not just against Saddam Hussein, but against the firefighters. The opening shot of this war was the announcement that Section 19 of the 1947 Fire Services Act is to go. In simple terms this means that fire services can be slashed without any consultation with local communities.
Dublin Airport - Battles Continue	AS THE strike at Cityjet Handling over low pay and union recognition enters its fifth month, other airport companies are lining up to launch massive attacks on working conditions. Seizing on the changed economic climate and the continued operation of Cityjet Handling driving down standards, they are determined to put the boot in.
Social Partnership on the Verge of Collapse?	PRIVATE SECTOR unions have threatened a series of rolling strikes if IBEC members implement a pay freeze. The collapse of the social partnership talks in December has raised the prospect of a return to free collective bargaining.
An Post Cutbacks	ONCE AGAIN, An Post is attempting to implement more cutbacks. An Post management are attempting to make major cuts in expenditure to prepare the company for privatisation.
Get Organised Now - Build Youth Against War	THIS MONTH 12 years ago, the US launched a brutal war on Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 250,000 people. Now George Bush junior is planning an equally horrific war to the defend the interests of US imperialism in the region. Bertie Ahern has dragged Irish people into this bloody drive to war by allowing US warplanes refuel at Shannon Airport.