Labour HiJacked

THE LABOUR PARTY, in seeking to weaken the nexus with the Trade Union movement, is not cutting off its nose to spite its face—it's cutting off its bloody head to spite its body!

We know that Emmet Stagg made a vigorous case for the liberalisation of cannabis at the opening session of the 62nd National Conference in Wexford on November 2007: "decriminalisation, regulation and taxation of supply of marijuana/cannabis"; but we weren't aware that the party had distributed free samples of the stuff to the delegates or that the leadership must have hogged the samples all to themselves before getting stuck into the Trade Unions.

"Union bosses have been accused of "cosying up" to the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern", writes Fionnan Sheahan.

"Labour Party enterprise spokesman Willie Penrose, TD said that his party expected more support from top union officials who were busy 'drinking from the best china' with Mr Ahern." (Irish Independent, 19.11.2007).

Party leader Eamon Gilmore endorsed this criticism of the Trade Union leaders by Mr Penrose at the conference.

The Labour leadership also signalled a shift in its relationship with the Trades Unions and a more critical stance of Union resistance to change.

"That mood clearly coloured the reaction to the fiery speech by the general president of Siptu, Jack O'Connor, who had advocated going into government with Fianna Fáil after the election. O'Connor spoke on Saturday of the danger to the future of social partnership posed by the increasing use of agency workers." (Irish Times, 19.11.2007).

With SIPTU General President Jack O'Connor sitting right in front of him, Mr. Penrose said Labour wanted something in return for its backing of Trade Unions.

"We in the Labour Party expect trade unionists to come out and support us and not be behind the door and forget about this palsy-walsy act with Bertie Ahern".

"With Bertie Ahern, drinking tea and everything else. Come out. Come out. Come out." (Irish Independent, 19.11.2007).

Mr. Penrose received rapturous applause from delegates at the conference when he made his remarks.

"Forget about the trips to Farmleigh and cosying up to Bertie. Forget about the trips to Merrion Square and drinking from the best china. We're asking for the trade unions to come back to their natural home," he added later" (ibid.).

Adopting a tougher approach with the Unions, Mr. Gilmore said the party needed to redefine its relationship with the Trade Unions.

"Three-quarters of those workers in the private sector are not in trade unions at all. As a party we have to speak for them as well."

Mr. Gilmore said there was a disappointment in the party that the formal association between the Trade Unions wasn't matched by votes for Labour at election time.

"Afterwards, Mr O'Connor told the Irish Independent he wanted to remind Mr Penrose that social partnership was proposed by trade unions on the basis of co-operation with European social democratic parties" (Irish Independent, 19.11.2007).

Mr. Gilmore said that many in Labour were "frustrated" that Trade Union leaders "have got too close to government".

"There is a disappointment in the Labour Party that while there is a formal affiliation between Labour and the trades unions, that when it comes to election time the support the party might expect from members of trade unions does not come across" (Irish Times, 19.11.2007)

"Labour receives some 40,000 Euros a year from affiliated trade unions, mainly from SIPTU and Unite" (Irish Examiner, 19.11.2007).

Attacking your own!

The present writer had hoped to continue from the November issue, which focussed mainly on 'Vocationalism' or 'Corporatism' and the challenges facing the Trade Union movement.

Then along came the Labour Party conference and Party leader, Eamon Gilmore's need to "redefine its relationship with the trade unions".

The Conference that "should never have taken place" suddenly developed into one of Labour's most historic political gatherings when Willie Penrose commenced a virulent attack on the Trade Union movement and "received rapturous applause from delegates".

---

"A central theme of Mr. Gilmore's speech was that the future of Ireland and the world was determined by scientific and economic forces beyond political control. He said that the role of Labour politics was to be international and local without mentioning any national role or national polity" (Irish Political Review, Sept., 2007).

---

Whatever excuse Willie Penrose had for echoing the continuous wail of the Dublin media to break the one remaining worthwhile vestige of the Labour Party—its links with the Trade Union movement, there is absolutely no excuse for Eamon Gilmore!

He is a former senior official with the ITGWU (SIPTU), he surely understands the reality that a life and death battle is going on between Labour and Capital (Globalisation) or does he?

Is he happy that only 35% of workers in the state are in Trade Unions? That half of that 35% (630,000 members) are in the Private Sector, which accounts for just 18% of the total workforce.

Gilmore states: "…that his party had to speak on behalf of an estimated three-quarters of the workers in the private sector who are not in trade unions" (Irish Independent, 20.11.2007).

If he was half a leader, he could have turned the Wexford conference into a powerful unifying force by appealing to those non-union workers to join a Trade Union—he "…intends to embark on a journey—physical and political to relearn Ireland"—he will learn that working people have never before faced such pressure or stress. Every weapon at their disposal is being harnessed by employers to undermine and circumvent Labour legislation, Employment laws and legally registered industrial agreements.

The use of Immigrant labour is a key weapon in this campaign by the employers.

The Trade Union movement is running to keep up! Yet, the new leader of the Labour Party refrains from attacking Globalisation, the Government, or the anti-Trade Union media, and basks in the glory of praise bestowed on him by the O'Reilly media in making the Trade Union movement his number one target at his first conference as leader of the Labour Party.

The Master's Voice

We publish below two articles which go to the core of what the Wexford conference was all about, more so, what the prevailing establishment require of the Labour Party and where they see the role of Trade Unions.

James Downey, like his employer, Sir A.J.F. O'Reilly, are not opposed to Trade Unionism, provided the movement doesn't get above itself.

And one thing is for sure, the Irish Independent believes that Trade Unionists have far exceeded their status by being tolerated by Taoiseach Ahern as an equal partner in the partnership process.

The ICTU, however, ignores at its peril the anomaly that Benchmarking has created and its consequences for other Trade Unionists.

Sunday Business Post

"However, Penrose's frustration is only the tip of the iceberg. The relative decline of trade unionism in the private sector has left it the creature of a public service culture that is perceived as old, outdated and inefficient by voters and workers in the private sector.

"Labour's association with the unions may well tar it with the same brush, despite Gilmore's legitimate claim that Labour made modern Ireland.

"Labour's problem is compounded by the growth in employee share ownership schemes in many privatised former public sector companies—which blurs the lines even further between public and sectional interest.

"If Labour is truly to be a party of the national interest, can it be tied to what, at the end of the day, is a minority interest group? Can you be critical about the cloying impact of social partnership on our democratic system when you are aligned to one of its players?

"What Gilmore does on this issue will, again, be interesting to see—his room for manoeuvre is certainly greater than that afforded to many of his predecessors.

"Following the electoral funding reforms of the late 1990s and of the last few years, Labour is less dependent on trade union funding than ever before.

"However, Gilmore will have to weigh the balance of risk between a bold gesture, which would constitute a clear signal to the public that he knows Labour needs to change, and any move which would upset many of his own members.

"He will also recall that the last time a fundamental change in the party's relationship with the trade union movement was undertaken was in 1930; before then, the party and congress were a single entity.

"In 1930, they separated to allow the Labour Party to broaden its appeal, yet Labour's performance in the subsequent election was among its worst ever" (Sunday Business Post, 25.11.2007).

Downey advises Gilmore

"Much more significantly, Eamon Gilmore supported him. "What Willie was reflecting was a frustration of many people in the Labour Party that the trade unions have got too close to government.".

"This could be read as meaning that they have become too much part of the establishment through the partnership process. But that was not exactly what either Mr Penrose or Mr Gilmore meant.

"They meant that the public sector unions have grown much too close to Fianna Fail.

"There is nothing new about either the phenomenon or the complaint. It has been a common grudge and worry for generations. What is new is that we should hear even a hint that Labour might revise its relationship with the movement from which the party sprang a century ago.

"We should avoid reading too much into the fact that it has come into the open in this way. But several factors have combined to make it imperative that the party should engage in an exercise in revisionism; at the extreme, that it should consider breaking the link altogether.

"The party leadership is piqued by the cosy relationship that Bertie Ahern has enjoyed with the public sector union leaders throughout his leadership of the Fianna Fail Party.

"Specifically and recently, they have maintained a deafening silence on the issue that has infuriated more than half the country, the massive pay increase accepted by the Taoiseach and his ministers. They are not independent observers. Their members have been the beneficiaries of the benchmarking process which has created an enormous difference in average pay in the public service and the private sector. They are also certain of the pay increases under the “partnership” agreements. They enjoy far better pension arrangements. And they run no risk of having to change their status from privileged employees to self-employed.

"But the greatest anomaly is their unrepresentative character. As Mr Gilmore points out, three-quarters of private sector employees are not union members. Who represents whom, and what?

"The world of work has changed beyond recognition in the last decade, to say nothing of the last century or the last generation. So has the class system. Most people consider themselves middle-class. Indeed, most people ARE members of a vastly expanded middle class which in many ways, though not all, has more in common with the long-affluent parts of society than with the traditional working class.

"This new middle class naturally includes a majority of public service workers, who have shown themselves tough and skilful at adopting the old-time methods of the upper working class and who see their interests as well served by Fianna Fail's corporatist policies.

"But it also includes people with lifestyles, aspirations and educational levels more closely in tune with those of the traditional middle class and upper middle class. Labour's middle-class vote (higher than its working-class vote) comprises elements of both.

"It makes better sense for the party to appeal to these voters (for example on Green issues, where it will have an exceptional opportunity once Fianna Fail's relationship with their present partners ends in the normal way) than to try to present itself as a pale shadow of Fianna Fail. But it has also to ask itself, to what purpose?

"Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael can get away with refusing to define themselves, with shunning revisionism; quite often, indeed, with shirking the hard work involved in thinking of any kind. These options are not open to a left-of-centre party. It has to stand for something. But what?

"Ever since the fall of communism, efforts at revision and rethinking by centre-left parties have been a spectacular failure. This has not prevented them from attaining government office in several countries. Significantly, however, by far the most successful, and also by far the most right-wing, has been New Labour in Britain under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Merely to mention Tony Blair's name in Irish Labour circles is enough to provoke a contemptuous response.

"But not many party activists would like to turn the derision onto themselves by advocating public ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.

"This is the dictionary definition of socialism. It is not Bertie Ahern's definition.

"In point of fact, Bertie has never defined his own socialism. He has simply explained, in his unique way, that when he called himself a socialist he did not mean he was a socialist." (James Downey, Irish Independent, 19.11.2007).

The future of Labour, as an idea, as a community, is now in the hands of the Trade Union movement : it will receive little support from the Labour Party.

---

"The new party leader put in a very assured maiden performance. He decided not to deliver a speech attacking the Government, steering away instead from negative comment. Perhaps he could have been a bit more violent in his approach and less lavish with the earnest aspirations. The biggest cheer of the night came when he thundered: "Éamon de Valera would never have taken fistfuls of cash in a suitcase." (Miriam Lord, Irish Times, 19.11.2007).

---

"Cork South West Senator Michael McCarthy argued that the party needs to remain true to its core values.

"Ireland needs, now more than ever, a party which places at its core the values of equity and fairness. And inequality no longer affects just working class people; lest we believe inequality is ghettoised. Inequality is now clearly evidenced in the middle classes in society as well. One would do well to remember this," said Senator McCarthy. (Evening Echo, Cork, 17.11.2007).

---

LABOUR is suing outside advisers over the handling of its pensions fund.

During a briefing on the party's finances, delegates were told accounts were in the black but that more fund-raising was needed ahead of upcoming elections. They were also told court proceedings had been started following "errors on behalf of professional entities" (Evening Echo, Cork, 19.11.2007).

---

FORMER Cork Senator Brendan Ryan has failed in his bid to become the new Labour Party chairman.

Mr Ryan contested an election against Waterford TD Brian O'Shea to take over from former Kerry TD Breeda Moynihan Cronin.

Meanwhile, Cork North Central TD Kathleen Lynch and Máire Sherlock, the sister of Cork East TD Seán Sherlock, were both elected to the party's ruling National Executive Committee.

---

"The party booked the three-day conference before the outcome of the election was known. It should have been a triumphant review of six months in Government. Instead, there's an inevitable element of navel-gazing and pondering where it all went wrong." (Evening Echo, Cork, 19.11.2007).

---

PARTY delegates blocked an attempt to change its title from a democratic socialist party to that of a social democratic party.

The move was proposed by the Dublin south-east constituency (and backed by Ruairi Quinn) but was rejected by a large majority. Michael D Higgins made a passionate speech defending the party's socialist stance, arguing that "social democratic" was a label for which the party would be very vulnerable to attack.

---

"Henry Haughton, one of the longest-serving members of the Labour Party's National Executive Council (NEC), has lost his place on the body after a recount, following difficulties with the original count during last weekend's annual conference.

"The result of Sunday's election to the NEC in Wexford was challenged by one of the losers, Brendan Carr, who learnt that he had been defeated only hours after he had been told he was elected.

"However, Mr Carr was elected in yesterday's recount, along with another candidate who was deemed defeated last Sunday, Ted Howlin, brother of former minister, Brendan, in place of Mr Haughton and Adrian Kane.

"Last night, Labour Party figures said that Mr Haughton, who is unhappy with the way transfers were distributed, has “reserved his right” to launch a legal challenge to the outcome of the vote.

"The new NEC membership is: Paul Dillon (Dublin South); Brendan Carr (Dublin Central); Ted Howlin (Wexford); Ray Kavanagh (Dublin South East); Peter Keaney (Longford Westmeath); Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central); John McGinley (Kildare North); Marie Maloney (Kerry South); Jack O'Connor (Kildare South); Seán Ó Hargáin (Carlow/ Kilkenny); Donna Pierce (Dún Laoghaire); Mary Quinn, (Meath East); Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central); Henry Upton (Dublin South Central) and Labour Youth member Neil Ward (Dublin North Central)." (Irish Times, 22.11.2007)