Working Class Resistance # 4

With the pace gathering towards Irelands EU ‘Ascension Day’, which our masters would have us celebrate over the May Day weekend in Dublin. Already sensationalist scare stories have appeared in the Irish media about ‘anarchists’ intent on bringing havoc and destruction to Dublin for what should be the countries finest moment. When the media refer to our country in this context the do of course mean the wealthy and powerful in our society and indeed this may well be a ‘proud’ moment for them.

Such commentary, such as appeared in the Ireland on Sunday on the 8th of February may be used by the state to crack down on protest, it is already an attempt to take away from the very rational and sane objections we have to the expansion and consolidation of the EU in the name of big business.

Anarchists are opposed to the strengthening of an increasingly centralised and restrictive bosses Europe which has as its hallmark the scape-goating of immigrants and refugees, clamping down on workers and working conditions and the pursuit of the cutthroat agenda of cutbacks, layoffs and privatisation's of the bosses.

In the battle for a world without borders and for real freedom, liberty and social justice the cry to ‘Reclaim May Day’, from union bureaucrats, and from Europe’s bosses and politicians, has never been so appropriate. Over the May Day weekend in Dublin we are expected to celebrate Europe – lets do just that. Celebrate a Europe and a world without borders, without inequality and poverty, a Europe based on workers solidarity and mutual aid, an alternative Europe to the bosses Europe, a Europe and a world that is growing in the heart of the anti-capitalist and anarchist movement across the planet. This May Day weekend in Dublin celebrate, resist and revolt.

GALWAY EU SUMMIT PROTEST

What follows is a report from a comrade on the Galway protest at an EU summit meeting in the city on January 16th.

Several hundred people gathered to protest at the EU meeting in Eyre Square, Galway, on the evening of Friday, January 16th. The EU delegates were staying in the Great Southern Hotel – at one side of the square, and would be attending a Macnas performance in the Radisson hotel around the corner. The meeting itself – of employment/labour ministers - was in yet another hotel on the outskirts of the city.

Under the banner ‘Make Work Pay’ this was concerned with narrowing social welfare entitlements and cutting back on pensions, that is, the usual drive for a “flexible” (read disciplined) labour force, via forcing people previously on welfare into jobs with worsening conditions. See for instance the recent restrictions on Rent Allowance.

One wag suggested ‘Make Workers Pay’ might be a more appropriate title.
Slowly the crowd assembled and after a wee bit of chanting the march set off and marched the grand total of one side of Eyre Square where it as meet by a piss poor Garda barricade, preventing it from reaching the streets between the Radisson and the Great Southern.

At this juncture a small group of mostly anarchists and libertarians walked around the barrier by going up a small lane till they were, quite easily, behind police lines and right beside the road buses and cars for the EU big wigs were transiting.

So while the police hastily erected another barrier, and we walked around to the entrance to the Radisson.