Month: April 2009
Deflationary budget will cost jobs and fuel recession
By Kevin McLoughlin
AT THE start of his speech, Brian Lenihan talked about taking from each according to their means. It sounded as if he was just to about to quote Karl Marx. Alas, very quickly it became clear that he was once again putting his hands deep into the pockets of the working class. His imposition of huge tax increases represents a savage cut in wages.
Budget: €90 billion bailout for the super rich
By Michael Murphy
IN A graphic validation to the old adage “one law for the rich and one for the poor”, the decision of the Fianna Fail/Green Party government to buy the bad debts from the Irish banks for up to €90 billion while making cuts to the poorest sections of society in the form of social welfare Christmas payments and rent allowance is a scandal.
Waterford Crystal – Nationalisation was the only option
By Cillian Gillespie and Stephen Boyd
AN EIGHT week long occupation of Waterford Crystal ended after the workforce reluctantly voted to accept a "deal". One worker at the end of the four hour long meeting said that he felt the deal was "like a gun to the head" of the workforce.
There were 708 people working in Waterford Crystal, now there will be only 176 jobs some of them are only guaranteed for six months. The so-called redundancy fund is a miserly €10 million to be divided between more than 800 workers and ex-workers. The workers’ pensions (affecting 1,800 people) are still in a mess and the fund is €120 million short.
NI: Visteon workers battle for jobs
Visteon/ Ford workers in Belfast, Basildon and Enfield have taken the lead in the struggle to save jobs. In Belfast the response of the workforce to the news that the factory was to shut, and to the attempt by administrators to remove them from the premises, was to occupy the plant. PETER HADDEN reports
Joe Higgins v Jim Power debate
Links
Budget savages workers
By Stephen Boyd
THE FIANNA Fail and Green government would like you to believe that the budget has hit everyone equally, but this is a bared-faced lie. The two budgets we’ve had so far in 2009 have cost the "average family" approximately €7,000 a year. Every section of the working class and middle class were hit by the budget.
public meeting: Drynam Hall
Brian Greene Budget comment
Dismantling the health service – €1.2 billion cuts only the start
By Councillor Mick Barry
HEALTH MINISTER Mary Harney and the HSE are planning ?1.2 billion worth of cutbacks this year and this is sure to be added to in the emergency budget scheduled for early April.
In recent weeks St. James’ Hospital and Tallaght Hospital have been told that their HSE funding for 2009 is to be slashed by ?12 million each and Beaumont Hospital has been told that its funding has been slashed by ?11 million. The HSE meeting in March is expected to announce proposals for closure of some smaller hospitals.
