The Socialist January Feb 2024

TheSocialist

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 158

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024

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SHORTS & ANALYSIS

The Socialist

By Jonathan Diebold

A burning planet & a catastrophic system Hottest year on record The world continues to heat up.

2023 was the hottest year ever, once again breaking this disreputable record. Scientists say it could be the hottest year in the past 100,000 years. Every month since June has been the hottest of that month on record.

Tornadoes, wildfires and heatwaves With increased heat came a corresponding increase in extreme weather events. Cyclone Freddy was one of the most energetic and long-lasting storms ever recorded,

killing 400 in Malawi and Mozambique in February. The Americas were savaged by tornadoes, killing as many by April as were usually killed in a whole year. Communities from Greece to Hawaii were devastated by wildfires. Heatwaves, one of climate change’s most insidious killers, were rampant throughout the summers in the northern and southern hemispheres.

of this world do today. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, every million tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere causes 226 excess deaths – meaning the emissions of the top 1% are enough to kill 1.3 million people every year!

Irish temperatures rising

The 2015 Paris Agreement called on countries to prevent an increase of over 1.5 degrees C above preindustrial levels. 2023 reached 1.48, just a hair off that target, and capitalism shows little sign of slowing down. A report at COP28 showed that greenhouse gas emissions increased yet again in 2023.

In September, the Valentia weather station in Donegal recorded temperatures over 20 degrees C every hour for a full night. This is

No slowing down with emissions

only the seventh “tropical night” on record in Ireland and the first ever in September. Last year's hottest temperature was recorded in September in Kildare, at 29.1 degrees C.

Flooding destroying June of 2023 was Ireland’s warmest ever June, while March and July were the wettest. In April, Storm Noa saw waves in Kerry reach 17.3 metres, while Storm Barbet wrought extreme floods across much of Cork in October. The town of Middleton was buried under waters over a metre in depth.

The poorest are suffering The brunt of climate change will be felt in the neo-colonial world, where people are more likely to have less secure housing, fewer savings, and fewer social safety nets. This was pointed out in a recent Oxfam report, which said that while it’s the poorest and most vulnerable who are suffering, it is the richest in society doing the overwhelming bulk of polluting. It found that it would take an average person 1,500 years to account for the same number of carbon emissions as the billionaires

A worsening situation While 2023 was the hottest year on record, scientists predict the record will be beaten again this year. Dr Nick Dunstone of the UK’s Met Office said, "We expect the strong El Nino in the Pacific to impact the global temperature through 2024. For this reason, we are forecasting 2024 to be another record-breaking year, with the possibility of temporarily exceeding 1.5C for the first time."

Referendums 2024: Demand a wording that actually supports care

By Eleni Vetsika

T

WO REFERENDUMS are seeking to amend constitution articles 41 and 41.2. The former provides an extremely narrow and patriarchal definition of what is recognised as a ‘family’, and the latter – equally antiquated – sees women’s role in the home as their primary purpose in society.

Long overdue since the Citizens’ Assembly recommendations, the truth is that the demand for change has been pushed for decades. Even in 1937, when the constitution was first to be introduced, women in Ireland campaigned and protested as they recognised that there were articles in the draft constitution that threatened their rights. This included the Irish Women Workers’ Union, together with other women’s organisations at the time, running a campaign seeking to delete or reword the aforementioned articles.

And although the fact that the Irish government has finally decided to amend article 41.2 is being heralded by them as progressive, it must be noted that the actual article is so backwards that it would have been next to impossible for any change to not constitute a step forward. This said, the government has managed to come up with such a proposal that makes any change feel half-hearted and hardly worthy of any celebration.

Changing words but no action

This most conservative implementation imaginable, of a change demanded for decades, is typical of this political establishment. Conferring no new rights, this mealy-mouthed proposal will engender no enthusiasm nor progressive activism. This leaves the door open to pernicious far-right actors who are misogynistic, homophobic and anti-choice to try to whip up a No campaign that masquerades as pro-women and children, while seeking to increase the support for their ilk that would like to drag us right back to the Archbishop McQuaid era, or worse.

As it stands, article 41.2 claims that women’s lives are within the home and enforces gender stereotypes of unpaid labour, responsibility of care and portrays women solely as ‘mothers’ and carers. It reads: “The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”.

The government is proposing to replace the above with: “The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision”. Although, finally, women are not seen only as the obligatory carers, the weak wording

There will be little enthusiasm for a Yes campaign around such a weak amendment

only says that the state should “strive to support” care in the home. It also states that it is ‘Society’ that family carers are supporting. With no mention of the State, it washes its hands of any obligation of state support for carers.

For fully-funded state support

Women in Ireland perform on average 38.2 hours of unpaid care per week.

The government is signalling clearly

with this wording that nothing will change – the same backward and patriarchal status quo will continue with no concrete commitment to change things in the real world, in which there is a 10% gap in hourly earnings between men and women.

Ireland is the worst country in the EU for childcare costs as a percentage of women’s median earnings. Ireland is 35.7% compared to Germany 1%, Sweden 5.7%, or Austria 4.3%. Ireland

spends less than 0.5% of GDP on childcare, compared to Sweden ,1.6%, or Iceland, 1.7%.

In the Dáil at the time of writing, Mick Barry, Socialist Party TD, is still pushing for changes to the wording that can confer new rights, signal a real intent to protect carers and increase equality – which would also in turn engender more enthusiasm for the change, giving less space to an extremeright No campaign.

WORKPLACE

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The Socialist

Migrant health worker pay victory – fight for full family status goes on

Oppose Vista Therm’s union busting

By Ruth Coppinger

H

EALTHCARE ASSISTANTS (HCAs) on work permits in private nursing homes have won an important victory in raising the minimum salary from €27,000 to €30,000. This is the threshold for bringing a spouse or family member to live while they do essential work in our health service.

The rise follows months of campaigning by Migrant Nurses Ireland (MNI) who took up the cause of over 1,000 migrant nurses recruited to work here as HCAs in private nursing homes.

By Robert Cosgrave

A rotten anomaly

However, in a rotten anomaly, the increases will only apply to new entrants or those renewing their work permits – and not to existing HCAs. The workers are seeking an urgent meeting with the Department of Employment to correct these bizarre anomalies whereby existing workers could be earning less than newly recruited; where a worker could earn enough to bring their spouse, but not their children; and where those who actually protested and won the reforms don’t benefit unless their permit is renewed. Mothers could still be separated from their children for another year or more.

The workers have also approached a trade union to fight the injustice and for pay parity with HCAs in the HSE. This will involve winning recognition from big companies that dominate the privatised nursing homes.

This battle shows the crucial role that migrant workers can play in the workers’ movement Getting organised

Migrant Nurses Ireland deserve huge congratulations, as do the workers themselves who put their heads above the parapet. It should be noted these migrant workers have effectively pushed up pay for the whole sector showing migrant workers can be a huge addition to the labour movement.

Socialist Party members played a vital role in assisting the workers.

Following the issue being brought to our attention, a Zoom meeting was set up with participation by MNI, myself and Mick Barry TD, and 300 migrant health workers. Harrowing accounts were given by parents and mothers separated from their children and the mental health impact of this while doing stressful and essential work car-

ing for our older people in private nursing homes.

This meeting decided to organise a Dáil and media briefing as a first step to putting pressure on the government to raise wages to the family reunification threshold. Other issues such as training recognition were also subsequently successfully challenged.

A Dáil briefing was hosted in May

by Mick Barry TD where workers outlined their case and won support from a range of TDs and senators. Mick ensured this exploitation was highlighted in several Dáil speeches. A follow-up meeting with the Ceann Comhairle was followed by a Review of work permit schemes.

When no decision was forthcoming in October, a protest was organised by MNI. Hundreds of mainly women

workers from around the country mobilised. This was the first protest of its kind by migrant workers. The workers are from India, the Philippines and Pakistan.

These workers and MNI – a voluntary group who fought this in their own time – have shown how important gains can be won in areas of labour shortage. Many of these healthcare workers were leaving to work in countries where they could bring their families and which also didn’t have Ireland’s dire housing shortage.

This is a lesson for what could be done for the shortages of teachers, nurses, building workers etc. We will fight on alongside these workers until the reforms are fully carried through, apply to all and until this whole sector is unionised.

Library workers organise against far-right abuse not outright aiding them in some instances, such as in Swords where Gardaí escorted protestors into the library.

By Enda Kelly

T

HE FAR right has been a consistent threat throughout last year.

According to Garda sources, 231 of the 604 public gatherings policed in Dublin were anti-immigration protests. This threat is still prevalent with the anti-refugee protests in Ballinrobe and Urlingford in recent days.

One of the key targets of the farright last year were libraries, in particular the LGBTQ+ educational material they provide. Many libraries last year were terrorised by far-right agitators who entered libraries destroying material and intimidating staff and children.

All in the belief that vital information on sexuality and gender is somehow harmful to children.

In response to this threat to the library staff, management has been largely ineffective. With most responses being the suggestion of simply barricading themselves in offices or, as in Kildare, simply reclassifying some of the titles for adults to appease the protesters. The state has also been ineffective in dealing with the far right, if

Organising from below

Library workers in Cork took action against far-right intimidation and threats last year

Due to this, the most effective response has come from ordinary people, with members of the public and the workers’ union Forsa protecting the library in Cork. Similarly, an anti-racist network, initiated by Socialist Party members, was created in Limerick that was able to effectively resist far-right attacks.

These are examples of what makes an effective resistance to the far right.

Thus, seeing this need for organising ordinary people, a group of library workers in the Forsa union came together to aid in this. The first step was the creation of a website for library workers that outlines what actions they can take to defend their workplaces and the rights of its users.

Check it out at: libraryworkerssolidarity .wordpress.com Hopefully this website can be the starting point for a wider organising of library workers to stop the far-right threat.

SINCE JULY of last year 150 workers – the majority of whom are migrant workers – at glass manufacturer Vista Therm have been fighting to defend their rights.

This follows the decision of the company to effectively de-recognise their union Unite, at its Lurgan factory. Two waves of strikes against this action have taken place.

This is despite the fact that an agreement has been in place between the company and Unite since 2007. In the course of the struggle Unite took the fight to Vista Therm’s parent company Carey Glass in Nenagh, with pickets of the Nenagh factory – where, for the record, they have no problem recognising SIPTU – in September of last year.

Following these pickets the parent company has joined its subsidiary in going after Unite. Using the 1990 Industrial Relations Act, the main purpose of which is to guarantee any legal strike action is as ineffective as possible, Carey Glass secured an injunction against the union.

A rigged legal system Once again the legal framework of industrial relations in the south is being used to cut across any effective struggle of workers. It was also used by bosses in the mechanical contracting sector who were able to stop Unite members going on strike in March of last year.

If the bosses at Vista Therm are able, with the aid of the courts North and South, to push Unite out of the factory it will be a sign to employers across the island that they can get away with the same. To that end the Vista Therm workers and Unite deserve and require the support of the wider trade union movement. A victory would show firstly that the attacks of the bosses, which are guaranteed to increase, can be effectively resisted with the methods of working-class struggle.

It could also provide the basis for a more general struggle against all anti-union and anti-strike laws that seek to constrain workers in their fight for basic rights, pay and conditions.

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ANALYSIS

The Socialist

A menacing threat in society

Emboldened far right steps up attacks on refugees and immigrants

By Conor Burke

S

INCE THE horrific racist riot in Dublin City Centre on 23 November we have seen a spike in anti-immigrant protests around the country. A disused hotel in County Galway that was due to house asylum seekers was set ablaze, as was a former pub in Ringsend, Dublin, amid speculation that it was going to be used to house International protection applicants – in actuality it was to be used as homeless accommodation. We have also seen protests in Tipperary and Mayo against proposed asylum seeker accommodation.

What all of these events have in common, apart from the targeting of vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution, is the nefarious influence of far-right propaganda and lies.

Racist myths

Again and again, we hear sound bites expressing fear of “unvetted males”, how women and children are supposedly at risk, and how crime rates will skyrocket if asylum seekers are given accommodation. These are precisely the talking points that far-right agitators have been spreading online and throughout communities across the country. In fact, asylum seekers who come here are actually vetted by authorities. Still, and more to the point, these notions reflect an attempt to portray men of colour as being inherent

sexual predators, while ignoring that most perpetrators of gender-based violence are known to their victims.

At the same time, the Rural Independent Group of TDs recently brought forward a motion in the Dáil that referenced “unvetted males” as “being a threat to local communities”. In doing so, all of these politicians from the right-wing, capitalist establishment are further emboldening the far-right agenda.

Scapegoating refugees

The government has recently approved plans to cut welfare payments and limit accommodation for Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. It is clear that the establishment parties are tapping into these farright arguments as justification to pull back on support for refugees. These attacks are all taking place against the backdrop of the perennial and deepening housing crisis, for which these vulnerable groups in our society are being cynically scapegoated despite having nothing to do with it. Shamefully, in December, after the arson at the Ross Lake House hotel in Oughterard, Co Galway, Fianna Fáil councillor Noel Thomas said that the “inn was full”.

The housing crisis is being driven by the cruel logic of the capitalist market that allows rich landlords and vulture funds to jack up prices to unaffordable levels so that they can profit massively.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are forced to compete for the meagre resources the system offers. The solution to this crisis

The horrific racist riots in Dublin were a warning of the growing confidence of the far right

is to take housing out of the hands of the private profiteers and for the state to step in to build social and affordable housing on a mass scale.

Immigration, and the scaremongering that goes with it, is likely to be a key issue in the upcoming local and European elections. The main right-wing parties and groups are opportunistically feeding off these racist and anti-immigration arguments. This is disgraceful but not surprising. Unfortunately Sinn

Féin is also caving to the pressure from the far right by aping, not challenging their rotten ideas.

Fight the far right

A spectrum of racist, far-right and right-populist groups and individuals will also look to stand candidates in the hope of making gains in this context.

This needs to be actively resisted, including crucially by the building of a socialist left that takes a principled

stance against all manifestations of racism and offers a programme that the necessary investment in public homes and public services for all.

More broadly, none of this can be divorced from the fact that racism is very much a daily reality experienced by people of colour, Travellers and migrants within our society. All of it speaks to the rotten system that capitalism is. We need to build a socialist alternative to this terrible system.

Sinn Féin moves further right on immigration and state repression

By Mick Barry TD

S

INN FÉIN's shift towards the right accelerated late last year in the aftermath of the horrific racist riots in Dublin in November. This was particularly evident on the questions of immigration and ‘law and order’ or state repression.

Of course, Sinn Féin's ditching of its more radical policies had already been underway for quite some time. As part of its preparations for leading a government, Sinn Féin had already abandoned opposition to the Special Criminal Court and cooperation with NATO in the form of "Partnership for Peace". Policy changes such as these led The Irish Times to run headlines such as "Sinn Fein Quietly Jettison Controversial Policies" (27 August 2023).

Law and order card

No opposition was voiced by the party to the entirely ‘law and order' response of the government – more riot police, more dogs, water cannons, tasers, stronger pepper spray etc. Resources that won’t actually stop the far right, but the state will use against peaceful protesters and the Left and workers’ movement in the future.

Instead, Sinn Féin tried to project it-

self as a more effective enforcer of law and order than Fine Gael. This shift blew up in its face when Mary Lou McDonald tweeted a photograph of what seemed like a homeless man with a bottle lying on steps near the school where the knife atrocity took place.

Sinn Féin had hoped to underline the point that the city was not being properly policed, but this action only served to disgust many people who had looked to the party for a radical alternative to the government parties. Sinn Féin then tried to "toughen up" its image on immigration.

taken out of the equation. Of course, state-built homes could provide homes to rent or buy at an even more affordable level.

Working within the system

Far-right talking points

In a Dáil debate on the topic, no less than three of its front bench spokespeople (David Cullinane, Matt Carty and Pa Daly) emphasised the point that Sinn Féin does not support what they described (echoing the language of the far right) as an "open borders policy". Their deputy Pauline Tully said in that debate: "Decisions on asylum applications need to be processed quicker, and deportations when that is the outcome, must be overseen and carried out in a timely manner."

The party then publicly supported the government's decision to slash welfare payments for refugees fleeing war

Sinn Féin is abandoning any pretence to be a radical alternative

in Ukraine. Criticism of the far right's role in organising the riot was noticeably muted, unquestionably less than that voiced by PBP-Solidarity, but even less than that of either the Social Democrats or the Labour Party.

Weak housing policy

Just before Christmas, Sinn Féin hit the headlines with a call for Dublin house prices to be brought down to an average of €300,000. With the average price of such a house currently standing at €430,000, this would represent a cut

of 30%. However, this would still be beyond the means of many, if not most, working-class young people. In fact, it would be at levels from the period before the 2008 property crash, except now there isn’t the same access to cheap credit from private banks.

A genuinely socialist housing policy would not rely on the private sector to build homes for profit. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland calculates that house prices could be cut in half if built on state land with bankers' profit, developers' profit and state taxes

By failing to tackle the market profiteering head-on, Sinn Féin is at the same time watering down its policies and failing to advance a programme that fully meets the needs of younger people. It is determined to work within and accept the rules of the capitalist system; this means our needs will not be met. From all the above information, it is clear that even a Sinn Féin-led government that excludes Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will be a far cry from anything that could be described as a radical or left government.

The challenge for the Left now is not to sow illusions in a Sinn Féin government, but to build a strong force to the left of that party. Such a force will need to fight openly to end the rule of the capitalist market and champion independent working-class action, such as we saw during the water charges. We want Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out after the General Election, but it is increasingly clear that "waiting for Sinn Féin to deliver" is not a strategy to advance working-class interests.

NORTH

5

The Socialist

Will Stormont be restored? the local councillors. This was overturned by a closed meeting of the Council that reduced Solas’s funding by 97%, from £800,000 to £25,000.

This is one example in a long history of these parties failing to deliver anything but a sectarian carve up while in power, which shows working-class people can have no trust in them.

By Kevin Henry

I

T IS now almost two years since the DUP pulled out of the Executive ahead of the Assembly elections, which saw Sinn Féin become the largest party. Last year ended with a renewed sense that the institutions could be restored and, at time of writing, talks between the DUP and the Tories have restarted. Extra funding of £3.3 billion has been offered if the Assembly is restored, in part to provide pay-parity with England across the public sector. In other words the money is there but is being held ransom.

Sectarian institutions can’t work

Unionist division

A significant public sector strike will take place on 18 January, however for the DUP the key issue that needs to be resolved remains the question of the east-west internal market.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson also has to deal with divisions in his own party and more broadly within Unionism / loyalism. He might wish to restore the Executive following some tokenistic movement from the British government, which builds on the Windsor Framework, but in reality he is a moderate who faces a more hardline wing around Ian Paisley Jr. and Sammy Wilson, who would be less inclined to accept a deal.

The TUV is also at their heels and

If Stormont is restored it will only be temporary – the next crisis will see its collapse again

making its voice heard, including putting up “Stop DUP Sell-out” posters across the North before Xmas.

While the DUP has recovered in polls at TUV’s expense, this is largely based on its stand against the Protocol and a misstep would potentially reverse that trend. Similarly, the opposition that ex-

ists among Loyalist paramilitaries and Orange Order is also of concern to the DUP. Anti-working class policies

While Stormont is in crisis, it has not stopped the DUP and Sinn Féin working closely in the councils. This was

shown recently by the sectarian carve up they engaged into to fund the Market Development Association and the Greater Village Regeneration Trust at the expense of Solas (support to children with additional needs and autism), despite previous proposal for significant funding to be allocated there by all

It is possible that a deal will be done to restore the Assembly. However, it would not solve any of the fundamental problems at the heart of Stormont, including the anti-working class policies and mechanisms that collapse the institutions when faced with sectarian pressures – as has happened 35% of time since the institutions were established.

Similarly, many ways of reforming Stormont have been talked about, such as abandoning ‘mandatory coalition’ (which the Socialist Party never supported) and replacing it with voluntary coalition or bloc votes. But none of these can solve the fundamental problems as long as politics is based on institutionalised sectarianism.

Opinion polls show very low levels of trust for any of the various pillars of government, with the least amount of trust lying with the Executive (17%).

This points to the urgent need to build an anti-sectarian, united, working-class opposition that can provide an alternative to all the sectarian parties.

Major strike action in the North called for 18 January services that are needed, and to pay workers a living wage. UK billionaires boast a combined wealth of £684 billion, which makes the £3.2 billion on offer for Stormont's restoration seem paltry in comparison. One in every seven of those billionaires is resident in a tax haven. The question is who controls that wealth. So long as this vast wealth rests in private hands, working people will pay the price.

By Sean Burns

T

HE NORTH will see a major day of coordinated strike action on 18 January, with tens of thousands of workers across the public sector taking part. It is vital that the action conveys that we will not be held hostage for Stormont's dysfunction! The funding is available to alleviate the immediate problems while also expanding our public services and granting inflationproof pay increases. Given the weight of the public sector in the Northern economy, this will almost have the feature of a general strike.

No honeymoon for Stormont

Strike for fair pay

Workers in Northern Ireland are paid less than workers in Britain. The inflationary crisis hit harder here than anywhere else on these islands. The typical full-time public sector worker in Northern Ireland saw their real pay fall by over 7% in 2023. Even the small pay increases won in Britain have not been implemented here.

Many of the unions are demanding pay parity as part of the strike action.

This is an important demand but parity cannot be the ceiling. Even with getting pay increases in line with Britain, workers here will still be struggling to make ends meet. Household bills have soared over the past few years particularly in essentials like food and energy. Going beyond parity we must instead demand inflation-proof pay increases for all workers.

Strike for services

Our public services are in crisis. From health to education, every sector is facing the reality of decades of underfunding now reaching a critical point.

Schools across Northern Ireland are struggling to pay bills and maintain services. In health, about 122,000 patients are awaiting surgery and 378,400 are waiting to see a consultant for the first time. GP surgeries are closing in many places. The only reason sectors like health and education have not collapsed is because of the commitment of staff to deliver their service.

There is a huge amount of wealth and resources in our society to provide

The prospect of Stormont returning should be understood for what it is – a clear target for action. There should be no illusion that a return of Stormont would resolve the issues working-class people face. The Stormont parties have continually acted in the interests of big business and in opposition to workingclass people. While in the Executive, the Stormont parties imposed a miserly 3% pay rise on health workers during the pandemic – well below inflation at that time – and voted against a 10% rent cut in the context of soaring rents.

Build beyond 18 January

We need a sustained campaign of action, whether the target is Stormont, Westminster or both. One-day action is not enough. It must mark the opening shot of a campaign of sustained, coordinated, well-planned and escalating action in our workplaces and communities. The momentum from 18 January cannot be run into the ground.

Unfortunately, NIC-ICTU has not

been at the races in developing the strike movement. It has focused on appealing to the politicians and urging caution from members rather than capitalising on the momentum and strength that workers have.

The simple truth is that our services and workforces are already at breakingpoint – this is what is risking patients’ lives and children’s education. Workers

are not responsible for this, and there is no other choice but to strike. The time for tokenistic days of action has long passed. NIC-ICTU should immediately announce further days of strike action in the short-term, as part of a programme of escalating action, including longer strikes and reaching out to private sector workers for further coordinated and generalised action.

6 SPECIAL FEATURE AFTER THREE months of genocidal terror in Gaza, the death toll has surpassed 23,000, with many thousands more lost under rubble, writes Donal Devlin. This is the horrifying reality following 12 weeks of total blockade and relentless bombardment of the tiny strip, home to a captive population of 2.3 million.

O

VER 300,000 residential units, half of Gaza’s homes, have been destroyed or damaged, leaving 85% of the population or 1.9 million displaced. Of the 35 hospitals in Gaza, only eight are still functioning. The WHO has warned that many more will die from a lack of water, food and medicine, and particularly from the diseases that are spreading rapidly in conditions of mass overcrowding. The UN has warned of “catastrophic” hunger levels, verging on famine, with 575,000 deemed to be starving and 90% having gone without food.

Every aspect of this unspeakable humanitarian disaster is the intentional result of calculated decisions by the Israeli Military. An article in December, in the Israeli publication +972 Magazine quoted members of Israeli intelligence who referred to Gaza as a "mass assassination factory": “Nothing happens by accident,” said another source. “When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, it’s because someone in the army decided it wasn’t a big deal for her to be killed – that it was a price worth paying in order to hit [another] target. We are not Hamas. These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.”

Imperialism under pressure

All of the above is happening in plain sight, with the Israeli State enjoying, until recently, the unashamed backing of the main Western capitalist powers.

Under pressure from the mass mobilisations in solidarity with Palestinians, however, many governments are rescinding their support for the Israeli war on Gaza, with the US alone standing unwaveringly behind the continuing massacre of defenceless civilians and children.

Germany, France and Britain have finally come out in favour of a ceasefire, and a recent UN General Assembly voted 153 to 10, with 23 abstentions, in favour of a ceasefire.

The UN is organised so that such votes are largely meaningless, however. When it comes to the body with any real teeth, the Security Council, the US (alongside Russia, China, Britain and France) can veto any decision that conflicts with its interests. The interests in this equation relate to its vital “strategic asset”, namely the Israeli State – a crucial ally in maintaining its domination over the Middle East.

Yet, even in the US, the pressure is being felt. The Biden regime is now pushing Netanyahu to engage in a more “low intensity” war with a lower casualty rate as it faces mounting revulsion at home over the scale of atrocities in Gaza. The prospect of Biden – now contemptuously referred to by many as ‘Genocide Joe’ – being re-elected in 2024 has been diminished further because of his appalling stance.

The So largest Palestinian solidarity protest in US history, with 300,000 marching in Washington, DC. A significant number of protests and direct actions have been organised by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, reflecting a growing opposition to the apartheid policies of the Israeli State amongst an increasing number of younger American Jews. The United Auto Workers union, the most powerful in the US, which recently won a significant pay victory, has come out in favour of a ceasefire.

GAZA NEEDS

End this system of injustice Mass opposition from below

The inspiring movement across the world in solidarity with Palestine is having an impact. Millions have marched in major cities and towns across the globe on an almost weekly basis, demanding an end to the slaughter. This has taken place alongside student walkouts, direct action protests targeting railway stations and arms companies. Workers have taken strike action in Belgium, Italy and Catalonia to stop weapons being sent to Israel. Trade unions must take action to oppose the US military in Shannon and to demand that the Irish State expels the Israeli ambassador and supports South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

All of this speaks to the widespread mood of solidarity for the oppressed nation of Palestine amongst working-class people. It also speaks to a broader discontent in society – the opposition to injustice, inequality and oppression that has seen the rise of the feminist, LGBTQ rights, and Black Lives Matter movements in the last decade. There is a major chasm between the desire amongst the majority to see freedom for Palestine and the role of capitalist political leaders. Britain is a relevant case in point. Both the Tories and the deplorable Labour leadership of Keir Starmer backed the Israeli State to the hilt, including trying to criminalise and intimidate protests. At the same time, millions have marched in Britain against this genocide. Indeed, over 60 Labour councillors have resigned due to Starmer’s stance.

Similarly in the US, opinion polls have shown strong support for a ceasefire from the outset. We’ve seen the

But strong as it has been, the international solidarity movement has to escalate. We need to build momentum to demand a permanent ceasefire and end the criminal blockade of Gaza. We need far more workers' actions to stop weaponry being exported to the Israeli regime, likewise, all goods used to maintain the oppression of Palestinians, such as those from Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar et al. Workers could also organise to target the profits of Israeli capitalism in whatever way they can while the war is ongoing. Of course, the mass protests need to continue and grow to pile on the pressure – there can be no business as usual while this genocide continues.

Palestinian liberation means ending the siege, the occupation, the settlements, and the racist, apartheid laws. It means ending the rule of the Israeli capitalist regime, its imperialist backers, and the rotten capitalist dictatorships of the Middle East and North Africa. It means replacing them with governments of the working class, the poor and the oppressed, seizing the immense wealth and resources in the region, and bringing them into public ownership under the democratic control of the masses.

Breaking with capitalism means breaking with injustice and creating a democratic socialist Middle East based on genuine equality, where the rights of all national, ethnic and religious minorities are guaranteed. Within this framework, a just and democratic solution to the national question in Palestine / Israel can be brought into existence, with both peoples afforded their right to national self-determination. Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace and security, without restriction on freedom of movement, with free and open borders.

Based on united working-class solidarity and cooperation and democratic planning from below, Palestinian refugees would be able to exercise their historic right of return to their homeland.

The agency for this necessary and radical change must begin with the Palestinian masses on both sides of the Green Line. The revolutionary mobilisation of this force can deliver real blows to the Israeli occupiers. Crucially, this could be supported by the power of the working class and poor masses in the region – in countries such as Egypt, Iran and Turkey. It would also be vital to reach out to the Israeli working class, whose capitalist leaders have only delivered a society based on war and perpetual insecurity – who’ve made Israel the most dangerous place in the world to be a Jew. The events of the last few months show we cannot accept the hellscape that capitalism in the 21st century has created for so many working-class and oppressed people. We need a revolutionary socialist alternative now.

STOP THII Repression and resistance in On Monday, 8 January, Israeli forces shot dead three unarmed young Palestinians in the town of Talkurem in the Occupied West Bank. Preventing paramedics from reaching them to provide treatment, they callously allowed them to bleed to death. Subsequently, an Israeli military vehicle was captured on camera running over the body of one of the young men.

Needless to say, this barbaric act is not an isolated incident; indeed it is the norm for Palestinians in this occupied land.

Murderous occupation worsens While the genocidal war on Gaza continues, there has been a marked increase in the oppression meted out by the Israeli regime to Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Last year was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank, who have been under Israeli military rule since June 1967. Over 500 were killed – the highest figure since 2005.

This death toll was already mounting before Hamas’s horrific attack on 7 October, with 234 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and colonial settlers. In the refugee camp of Jenin alone 52 were killed. The violent and murderous repression escalated dramatically in the last three months of the year.

With the coming to power of the hard-right Netanyahu government at the beginning of 2023, the West Bank’s Israeli settler population became in-

creasingly emboldened. This was horrifically evident in a pogrom in the Palestinian village of Huwara. Their violent rampages have ramped up since 7 October, with the number of attacks increasing from an average of three to six per day. These settlers effectively form part of the Israeli state terror apparatus. They are armed and brutal, and carry out their crimes with virtual impunity.

Detention without trial Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and detained without trial, including many children. During their time in custody, they are subjected to beatings, strippings, and various other torturous and humiliating practices. At the beginning of November, when the Israeli regime engaged in a prisoner exchange with Hamas, more Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank than were released.

The raids of the Israeli occupying forces not only involve mass arrests and violence – they have also attacked the infrastructure of Palestinian towns and villages. Caterpillar-built armoured D9 bulldozers have destroyed roads, water pipes, hospitals, schools, and homes.

The West Bank is now effectively an open-air prison, where an apartheid military regime rules over Palestinians.

There are 645 military checkpoints dotted around the territory, making freedom of movement impossible.

Surveillance is all-pervasive. Many are

SPECIAL FEATURE

ocialist

SOLIDARITY & ACTION!

South African govt charges Israeli regime with genocide

By James McCabe

IS GENOCIDE! the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians carry a list of people killed in Gaza during a rally amid a general strike in Ramallah city in the West Bank

having their phones searched and can be arrested for having any content on them that expresses opposition to the massacre of Gaza. Such practices are becoming common within the Green Line, the Israeli State’s pre-1967 border, where repression has also been stepped up against Palestinians.

Revolutionary struggle from below On 3 January, a general strike took place in the West Bank. All businesses and services, including shops, banks, commercial facilities, public institutions, and transport, were shut down.

The revolutionary mobilisation of the

mass of Palestinian workers, poor and young people in the West Bank, in strikes and mass demonstrations, can play an important role in the struggle against the Israeli capitalist regime. If mobilised consistently in protest the Palestinian masses in the West Bank constitute a real threat to this regime.

Alongside such a protest movement, the democratic organisation of committees of resistance in workplaces, colleges, villages and towns – in the tradition of the First Intifada – can unify a struggle from below. In the face of the brutality of the Israeli State and colonial settlers, Palestinians have an

absolute right to armed self-defence and resistance.

Such a struggle can reach out to the working class and poor throughout the Middle East and North Africa for joint solidarity and resistance against imperialism, the Israeli State and all the rotten and oppressive regimes that dominate this region. Their overthrow, along with the rotten capitalist system that they represent, are crucial to bringing about a just and democratic solution in which Palestinian freedom can be won, and where the right to national self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis can be upheld. n

7

WHEN ANALYSING past genocides, historians often debate how much public awareness existed as those genocides unfolded. Palestinian activists have noted over the past weeks that never before has a genocide been live-streamed to the world, as this genocide in Gaza has. At the same time, the major media outlets across the West are heavily biassed towards the Israeli State, throwing dust in the eyes of the public.

Over 85% of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced from their homes, with 60% of Gaza’s entire housing stock destroyed or damaged. The media describes these blatant acts of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing as “evacuations”. The Irish Times frames its coverage with a proIsrael bias, describing the situation as “the Israel-Hamas war”, despite the glaring reality that the victims of Israel’s bombs, bullets, white phosphorous, and blockade of food, fuel and medical supplies are overwhelmingly civilians.

Documenting reality on the ground Anyone hoping to spread the truth about what’s happening will welcome South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of “committing genocide in manifest violation of the genocide convention.” The document submitted by South Africa is rigorous and comprehensive, including 574 footnotes to back up its claims.

Since October, over 23,000 Gazans have been killed, not including the thousands still buried under rubble.

No one in Gaza is safe, as large numbers of children, journalists, aid workers, nurses and doctors have been murdered.

Apart from homes, the Israeli army has systematically destroyed healthcare and water infrastructure, libraries and universities, in an attempt to wreck any chance of rebuilding Palestinian Gaza. To give a human face to the statistics, the document notes: “84-year-old Elham Farah, from one of Palestine’s oldest Christian families – a reputed accordionist and music teacher, known as ‘Mother Orange’ to generations of Palestinian music students for her shock of red hair – [was] shot dead by an Israeli sniper outside the Holy Family Church in Gaza City when she returned home for warm clothes and was left to bleed to death.

Genocidal intent The South African submission gives copious evidence of genocidal intent

by Israeli officials. President Isaac Herzog stated that: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware or not involved. It’s absolutely not true. … and we will fight until we break their backbone.” The Defence Minister referred to Palestinians as “human animals” and in a public address on 24 December, Netanyahu said, “This is a battle… of civilisation against barbarism.”

The South African government categorically describes the discrimination, segregation and settlements in the West Bank as an apartheid regime.

A regime that has paved the way for the dehumanising, supremacist and genocidal language used by the rulers of Israel.

One could guess that the memory of the struggle to end apartheid amongst ordinary South Africans has created pressure from below for the political establishment there to be seen to take action against the Israeli state. Leo Varadkar has said that his government won’t back South Africa’s submission. The Palestinian solidarity movement here needs to step up the pressure on the Irish government to demand that it does support the South African case.

Limitations of the ICJ At the time of writing, South Africa is also requesting that the ICJ order a full suspension of Israel’s assault until a final ruling is reached (which could take years if the hearing is successful.)

The problem is that even if the ICJ was to support the South African case, it has little power to enforce its rulings. It is part of an institution (the United Nations), totally dominated by the world’s major imperialist powers, particularly the United States, which regards the Israeli State as its “strategic asset” in the Middle East.

Countless UN resolutions have condemned the discrimination of Palestinians and called for the right of return for Palestinian refugees of the 1948 Nakba. Israel, with the consistent backing of the US and other Western capitalist powers, has simply ignored these resolutions. War criminals from imperialist countries and their allies are never held accountable for their actions – the likes of Tony Blair, George W. Bush and the late Henry Kissinger are testament to this. n

8

INTERNATIONAL

The Socialist

Israeli State’s reckless brutality threatens wider regional conflict

By Conor Payne

W

HILE THE genocide in Gaza continues to wreak devastation on the Palestinian people, the actions of the Israeli state have also massively destabilised the broader Middle East.

A major regional war is now a real possibility. Internationally, the crimes in Gaza have dramatically weakened the credibility not only of the Israeli regime, but that of US imperialism, which has backed it to the hilt. The mood of solidarity among the masses of the Middle East and North Africa is palpable and a huge pressure point on the capitalist regimes throughout the region.

Normalisation cut across

While the ruling classes of the Arab States have paid lip service to the cause of Palestinian freedom, many of these states have sought in recent years to ‘normalise’ relations with the Israeli state. They abandoned all pretence of defending the interests of the Palestinian people, who live under a daily reality of occupation and apartheid. In the weeks and months before 7 October, the US-backed dictatorship in Saudi Arabia was finalising its plans for normalisation.

This process has now been abruptly halted as the reality of the Israeli onslaught made it politically impossible.

The Saudis now say that normalisation is impossible without a Palestinian state – something the Netanyahu government has categorically ruled out.

The solidarity of the working class and poor in the Middle East with the Palestinian people is also a threat to these ruling elites. The US-backed elSisi dictatorship in Egypt was forced into a rare decision to allow protests in support of Gaza. These protests quickly broadened into protests against the regime in Egypt for “bread, freedom and social justice”.

people, a possible indication of the preparation for war.

While the tone of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent visit to the region indicated clearly the Biden administration does not want such a regional war because of its huge destabilising effects, it also underlined that they are completely wedded to their support for the Israeli regime. The Israeli state may calculate that it can bounce the US into getting involved on their side if they provoke something.

Such a war would not be easy for Israel.

Hezbollah forces are two to three times the size of Hamas, and the IDF suffered a humiliating defeat in the last war in Lebanon in 2006.

Disruption in the Red Sea

Meanwhile, events in the Red Sea, in Lebanon and elsewhere are escalating the threat of regional war. The Houthis, an Islamist movement based in Yemen, have begun disrupting shipping through this vital trading route, saying that they will not stop until the attack on Gaza is ended. This has had a major impact on world trade. Ninety-five per cent of container shipping through the Suez Canal has been rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. Major Chinese shipping firms have announced publicly that they will no longer service Israeli ports.

In response, the US launched ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ – a military action to push back the Houthis and restore business as usual for the capitalist economy. While nominally this operation is backed by a broad coalition of nations, only the US and Britain have been willing to send warships into the Red Sea. The Iranian regime, which backs the Houthis, has also sent a warship into the area. Another flashpoint is the escalation of attacks against US troops by militias in Iraq.

Revolutionary change

A shell from Israeli artillery explodes over a house near the Lebanese border with Israel Wider regional war

There are significant sections of the Israeli ruling class who are now seeking a new war against Lebanon, and this would also pose the possibility of a regional conflagration with the Iranian regime, particularly given its longstanding backing of Hezbollah. Israeli airstrikes, which killed Hamas and

Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, are a conscious escalation. They have also killed an Iranian revolutionary guard commander in Syria. Hezbollah are launching rockets at IDF military bases near the Lebanese border. The Israeli Ministry of Health has ordered hospitals near the border to prepare to receive large numbers of wounded

A regional war would be unimaginably bloody and would devastate the lives of millions of ordinary people throughout the region. It is an indictment of the domination of the Middle East by capitalism and imperialism, and the brutal authoritarians that uphold its rule.

They offer only a future of poverty, war and misery.

What is needed is to build mass and united struggles in solidarity with the Palestinian people, against all the authoritarian regimes which rule over the lives of the peoples of the Middle East, against capitalism and imperialism and for socialist change which could uproot them and create a new society where the wealth and resources are owned and controlled democratically for the benefit of all.

Solidarity with garment workers in Bangladesh!

By Serge Jordan IN THE past few months, Bangladesh has found itself in the throes of one of the most significant labour revolts in a decade. Tens of thousands of primarily women workers from the country’s weighty Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector, driven to the edge by starvation wages, have engaged in indefinite strike action and taken to the streets in mass demonstrations across Dhaka and the industrial north of the capital, meeting the full brutality of the state in response.

Clothing plays a major role in Bangladesh’s economy. The sector employs around 4.4 million workers and constitutes around 85% of the country’s total exports – making Bangladesh the second-largest RMG exporter globally behind China. In 2013, the Rana Plaza collapse, one of the worst industrial disasters ever in which 1,138 garment workers lost their lives, put a global spotlight on the extremely abusive conditions in the industry, a major link in the production chain of hugely profitable clothing multinationals and retailers.

eightfold in taka while over the same period, the sector’s earnings have increased more than 60 times.

Low wage factory of the world The crux of the current dispute lies in the demand for higher wages.

Bangladesh has the lowest wages for garment workers in the world, and they have not increased since 2018.

Yet the inflation rate in the country has reached 9.02%, the highest in 12 years, aggravating the situation faced by workers who are reportedly com-

pelled to resort to stealing and scavenging bins to feed their families.

Claims from employers that giving the workers more would lead to the sector’s collapse do not stand up to basic scrutiny. Data from the Bangladesh Economic Review of the Finance Division show that from 1994 to the present, the RMG workers’ nominal minimum wage has increased

Contempt for workers Showing the political elite’s utter contempt for a workforce whose labour creates about $55 billion in export revenues annually, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told protesters to work with the pay rise they already received or to “return to their village”. Around 11,000 workers have been fined for participating in protests, thousands face criminal cases related to “vandalism” and “obstructing law and order”, and several union leaders have been arrested.

Fearing for their reputation, 18 global brands, including H&M, Levi’s, GAP, and Puma, have written a joint letter to the Prime Minister, urging “peaceful negotiations” and a new minimum wage covering the basic needs of workers. However, these companies, who have extracted juicy profits from Bangladesh’ sweatshops for many years, are not ready to walk the walk by providing what it costs to make this happen, effectively shifting the blame onto their local subcontractors – who reciprocate this blame game the other way.

Inspiring resilience Garment workers in Bangladesh have displayed remarkable resilience in the face of the bosses’ intimidation tactics and vicious state repression. They deserve the heartfelt support and solidarity of workers worldwide. Their demand for a monthly minimum wage of 23,000 taka must be upheld, but is only a first step in the struggle needed against the super-exploitative treatment they suffer.

Women workers, who constitute the majority of the workforce, are subject to additional abuse via discriminatory wage practices, endemic sexual harassment, denial of paid maternity leave and more. This wave of strikes underscores the militant role they can play in challenging their oppression and enslavement.

The surge of protests by Bangladesh’ garment workers not only unveils the hideous reality behind the seemingly glamorous clothing lines in Western brands’ superstores, manufactured under deplorably low wages and abhorrent working conditions. It also lays bare the role of global capitalism and its local enablers in perpetuating this relentless race to the bottom.

WORKPLACE

9

The Socialist

Showing how get results – Unite’s mechanical workers win big pay rise

By Matt Waine

By Finn McKenna

I

N EARLY December, mechanical workers (plumbers, fitters and welders) who are members of Unite voted to accept a pay increase worth 9.9% over two years. This will see the basic rate for mechanical workers increase from €26.32/hour to over €29/hour. Unlike previous pay deals, the union is free to ballot members at any stage, should inflation further erode workers' take home pay.

A key factor in this dispute was the crippling effects of the cost of living over the past two years that saw workers' incomes shrink as inflation drove prices for basic commodities to record levels. The anger at spiralling costs for housing, energy and food was further fueled by the announcement of massive spikes in profits posted by major construction contractors – proof that the main driving force behind inflation was not global political instability and war, but rather the greed of employers who sought to profit off instability and war.

However, the most important factor was a union that was willing to go the distance in delivering a real pay rise for its members. Where other unions were content to settle for the crumbs from the bosses table, Unite deployed a strategy to mobilise and engage their members to fight for more. The deal agreed

by Unite was 4.5% more than the initial Labour Court Recommendation.

Emboldened union members

The threat of industrial action was not mere shadow-boxing. Mechanical

Determined campaign with militant strategy was key to winning pay rise

workers had already shown their willingness to strike in March 2023 with a one-day shut down on the Pfizer and Intel projects. And it was this action that forced the employers to make the initial offer of a 3% increase this year, followed by a paltry 1.9% next year.

Emboldened by the strike action in March, members overwhelmingly rejected that offer and instead directed the union to ballot all members across the sector. The ballot was a resounding 92% in favour of strike action across 30 companies.

Faced with the prospect of the entire

construction sector being disrupted, the employers caved in, offered talks and conceded the 9.9% increase.

Radical reorientation needed

For 40 years, the trade union movement has been in decline. Membership has plummeted to 25% density, whereas in the 1960s over 60% of workers were represented by unions.

Social partnership, and a plethora of anti-union legislation, has sucked much of the life out of our movement. For many workers, unions offer only a legacy of betrayal and sell out. An exis-

tential crisis confronts the trade union movement.

The culture of social partnership needs to be abandoned. What replaces it is what needs to be discussed and considered by all serious union activists.

The election of Sharon Graham as General Secretary of Unite (covering the UK and Ireland) has seen the union pivot back to the workplace and the shop floor. This strategy has seen union membership jump by 30,000 over the last year. Since Graham’s election, Unite has been involved in over 700 disputes, with an 80% win rate.

End the HSE recruitment freeze

By Josephine Rodgers

I

N NOVEMBER 2023, the HSE Chief Executive, Bernard Gloster, announced a further recruitment freeze of all categories of staff, except for consultants, doctors in training and 2023 graduate nurses and midwives.

The freeze includes the removal of the 7,000 previously approved posts.

This announcement follows a series of recruitment freezes that were put in place in June 2023. This began with restrictions on hiring management and administrative staff and the announcement in the Budget 2024 that recruitment freezes were being widened to include healthcare assistants and home help workers due to the “financial constraints” of the already under-resourced healthcare system.

Worsening conditions

Associated unions such as the IMO, SIPTU and Forsa responded to these tightening measures. They highlighted the significant impact the embargo will have in worsening conditions for both workers and patients, particularly coming into the worst of the winter period.

Public sector pay talks: Industrial action is needed to win pay rises

The INMO (Irish Nurses and Midwife Organisation) says the HSE had failed to consult with the staff unions on the extension of the recruitment freeze and declined any meeting requests with the HSE. The embargo's impact will have serious consequences on the healthcare system, which is already extremely underfunded and overworked and divided into two tiers (public and private). Public health workers face increased service demand due to the growing population and rising turnover rates. Disgracefully, 2023 saw over 122,000 patients, including 3,494 children, admitted to health services on trolleys.

Industrial action needed

Healthcare unions must engage with workers and their members to organise for industrial action to demand the immediate unfreezing of the recruitment embargo.

Likwise they must engage in serious recruitment drive to meet the necessary staffing demands of the healthcare system, in addition to an increase in pay and implementation of safer working conditions to retain the already ex-

Letterkenny University Hospital staff hold a protest against the recruitment freeze

isting, exhausted workers who are on the sharp edge of the deepening cost of living crisis. This should be linked to creating a properly funded one-tier,

publicly-owned and run national health service that is free at the point of use, where the needs of patients and staff can be met.

WITH THE new year comes a new series of pay negotiations and even the prospect of industrial action within the public sector.

As we go to press, negotiations have broken down between the government and unions. The primary issue for the unions is pay. The trade union leaders presented the ‘Building Momentum’ agreement as a positive step forward for their members. The reality of Building Momentum, however, was that it represented a pay cut for workers due to spiralling inflation.

Coinciding with inflation in 2021 was the super-profiteering of the energy and grocery giants. The current government is obviously unwilling to offer a pay deal that matches inflation. The unions are also under pressure from a growing dissatisfied membership that endures compounding social crises in Irish society, ranging from cost-of-living increases to the ever-worsening housing disaster and forever neglected public services.

An inflation-busting strategy The following point must be hammered home: there are 500,000 workers in the trade union movement in Ireland. In FORSA alone, there are 80,000 workers. This force, if mobilised, has the potential to force the government to pay a real wage increase, at least in line with inflation. The union leadership is finding itself increasingly in a bind.

Their approach of lobbying politicians to secure pay increases is totally ineffective.

There is increasing frustration and pressure from the membership on issues such as pay. The only way to meaningfully resolve the impasse in the interests of public sector workers is for the trade union movement to plan industrial action in a serious way. In Britain, strike action by public sector workers wrestled pay rises from an intransigent Tory Government. We can do the same here.

How we can organise and win If the union leadership is unwilling to do what is necessary, we, as members, must make our mark.

Pressure must be brought to bear on the union leaders that they cannot continue to accept deals that sell us short. In the event of a ballot for industrial action, we must demand a result that forces the government to deliver on inflation-busting pay. This would include intensive organising in workplaces.

Town hall meetings and lunchtime protests are important starting points in raising the demand for inflation-busting pay, but we cannot be limited to this. A serious industrial strategy that includes escalating strike action must be implemented.

10

The Socialist

Review: How to Have Sex directed by Molly Manning Walker

REVIEW & THEORY

Socialism 101 series #17 What kind of organisation do we need? (Part 2)

By Eddie McCabe Reviewed by Myriam Poizat-Marouki

“W

HY DIDN’T you say something?” Spoken as if the closeness of the young women’s friendship outweighed the societal pressures; this line will have resonated with millions more people’s past and present than one would want to believe.

Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex starts with three teenage girls, Tara (aka Taz), Skye and Em, just out of their GCSEs exams, going on a summer holiday in Malia – a Greek beach resort renowned as a ‘party paradise’.

For any woman my age watching (27 at the time of writing), the childlike excitement of the protagonists muddled with hints of discomfort from the dynamics of teenage friendships dictating how one should behave on holiday – felt like diving back ten years.

Despite one’s selective memory’s best attempts, each brutally truthful scene drags you back closer and closer to the recklessness of being 16 or 17 again.

From the ‘drinkin-and-dancing-allnight’ shiny sweat under everyone’s running mascara, to sitting on the road at 5am eating cheesy chips with friends you’ve known forever and irrefutably believe are the best people you’ll ever meet – the first 30 minutes bring back some of the warmest memories. Yet, the glooming tension established early on in the movie and reflected through a

choice of starkly realistic artwork, never quite lets you appreciate the party atmosphere.

As Tara’s storyline progressively becomes the centre point of the film, the societal pressure to ‘lose your virginity’, added to by the consistent diminishing of her already low self esteem by ‘bestfriend’ Skye, is depicted in a way that warns you of the stomach churning patterns of a young teenage girl feeling coerced to prove to herself, and to others especially, that she’s capable of having sex if nothing else.

Her vulnerability unfortunately doesn’t pass by Paddy, a slightly older neighbour in the holiday resort vacationing with a group of friends, who will quickly see her as easy prey to chase.

The honest depictions of rape are probably the most difficult yet compelling parts of the movie. The first time on the beach, as Em and Skye have abandoned an inebriated Taz to pursue their own interests, doesn’t only portray the sickening coercion that Paddy puts Tara through, disregarding her lack of sobriety or genuine consent, but also the pressure to have sex she’s felt throughout the holiday up until that point. From Skye lending her the most uncomfortable yet sexualising clothes and putting her down at every occasion; to holiday reps and nightclub MCs pushing the young people to perform sexual acts in public – often as part of crude and de-

Marxist journal of the Socialist Party:

Socialist Alternative no.18 Includes articles on: l 25 years on: Has the Good Friday Agreement delivered? l Sinn Féin, PBP & the question of a left government l Anti-oppression struggles & the revolutionary process l What does ChatGPT mean for workers? l 75 years since the founding of the NHS l Germany 1923: Lessons of the lost revolution l Reviews of The Myth of Normal, Close To Home and The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality

€4 / £4 Get a copy from any Socialist Party member or order online or subscribe at: socialistparty.ie

meaning ‘games’; the rampant sexism and objectification of women’s bodies and sex, internalised by the protagonists, is as truthful as it is triggering.

The second instance of rape is more clear cut. Paddy assaulting Tara in her sleep leaves one with a crushing feeling having previously witnessed Tara’s failed attempt to protect herself. Her fear of breaking the societal expectations that she should ‘have sex’ again is heartbreaking. As is one of the final scenes, where Paddy’s friend Badger, who Tara seemed to like, hints at knowing what Paddy did, while Em and Skye continue their day in the blissful ignorance of what their friend went through.

Just before the girls are about to fly home Tara reveals to Em what really happened to her. “Why didn’t you say something?” Em asks, and it feels like a knife twisting in the wound, as it introduces the reality of systemic oppression in every girl’s and woman’s life.

How to Have Sex is a powerful and progressive story that dares to show the world not only some of the everyday experiences of sexism, but also the lack of societal support for survivors of abuse.

As long as we live in a society where sex is stigmatised, gender-stereotyped, and consent not even recognised as something that should be taught through education from an early age, Taz’s tragic story will continue to be the story of many other women and girls.

S CIAalternati LIST ve Marxist Journal of the Socialist Party Issue 18 l Summer 2023 l €4 / £4

“A PillAr of Strength”

Anti-Oppression Struggles and the Revolutionary Process

Reflections on Marxism & Oppression

INSIDE

l Sinn Féin, PBP & the Question l What Does ChatGPT Mean l Germany 1923: Lessons of

of a Left Government in Ireland for Workers? the Lost Revolution

In part 1 of this article we explained how the working class, in its resistance to capitalist exploitation, oppression and destruction, will form many kinds of organisations. These can at different times and in varying ways contribute to the working class’s struggle against capitalism.

But that struggle either ends with the overthrow of capitalism through socialist revolution, or it doesn’t end (and the depressions, pandemics, wars, and climate change all get worse). For any attempt at revolution to be successful, however, the working class needs revolutionary leadership; it needs to build a revolutionary party. Here in part 2 we’ll explain a bit more about what a genuine revolutionary party is.

Every political organisation is defined by its programme; what it stands for. A programme in the fullest sense is not just a list of demands but the distillation of its aims, principles and orientation, and a guide to its practice. A revolutionary party is one that struggles for and continually develops – finessing, revising and adapting in light of new experiences – a revolutionary programme.

Fundamental to this are the grounding theories on which the party and programme are based. In the case of a revolutionary party, this is the Marxist method – the ideas of Karl Marx and the revolutionary tradition he inspired, which reached its highest point with the Bolshevikled Russian Revolution in 1917. While the world revolution Lenin and the Bolsheviks aimed for didn’t take hold, and the revolution in Russia was internally betrayed, they nonetheless showed in practice that the working class could overthrow capitalism.

As such, the theories and methods that guided those revolutionaries can and should be utilised by revolutionaries today, creatively adapting them in light of all of the changes in the last century.

If an organisation stands for the overthrow of capitalism and is pursuing a serious strategy to bring this about, it can of course claim to be revolutionary. But just having a revolutionary programme doesn’t make a revolutionary party.

Otherwise any tiny group that declares its seditious ambitions could be considered a revolutionary party.

A genuine revolutionary party, however, cannot simply be declared into existence; it must be built in and through the struggles of workers, young people and the oppressed.

Just as the working class can’t liberate itself without the organisation and leadership of a revolutionary party, a revolutionary party can’t realise its programme if it doesn’t organise and lead the working class, or more precisely: its most advanced layer – its vanguard.

This vanguard layer emerges organically in every struggle, and generally in society, comprising those most active and committed, ‘class conscious’ participants in the struggle. Naturally, this represents a minority of the working class, but its militant actions – especially when organised and sustained – can be incredibly impactful on the rest, and on society as a whole. A revolutionary party should be the party of this vanguard, striving to be its leadership.

Building a genuine revolutionary party, then, is no easy matter. A small revolutionary organisation can become, in the right conditions and with the right political and tactical approach, a mass revolutionary organisation – including potentially through mergers with other revolutionary groups. But two things are vital to a revolutionary organisation at all stages: One is the training of ‘cadres’ – experienced activists with the ability to analyse and act independently and as part of the collective. A party of cadres is a party of ‘professional revolutionaries’, not in the sense of it being their full-time job, but in the sense of it being their main vocation – what they put their time and energy into. Without this commitment by its members a revolutionary party won’t overcome the odds stacked against it at all times, least of all in times of revolution.

And two, is being organised around ‘democratic centralist’ principles of the fullest freedom of discussion when deciding on perspectives and policy, and the utmost unity in action when carrying out the agreed policy. Without this combination of democracy and unity, which has to be flexibly adapted to circumstances, the development and implementation of the revolutionary programme would be hugely impaired.

ANALYSIS

11

The Socialist

Obituary: John Pilger (1939-2023) – A fearless fighter for truth & justice

By Michael O’Brien

T

HE DEATH of John Pilger at the age of 84 marks the passing of perhaps the greatest campaigning journalist and broadcaster of the late 20th century in the English-speaking world.

The range of stories and issues raised

by Pilger in his long career was remarkable. That he did it by availing principally of two mainstream media platforms, the Daily Mirror and ITV’s World in Action is all the more of an achievement.

His first breakthrough was a 1970 World in Action documentary The Quiet Mutiny. Pilger had gone to Vietnam at a stage of the war when it was clear that US imperialism was losing and alienation among the drafted US troops was beginning to manifest itself in the assassination of unpopular officers.

Another well-remembered work that featured in the pages of the Mirror and the screen was the inadequate compensation for families whose children suffered the effects of Thalidomide.

Exposing the killing fields

Above all else, his 1979 exposé of the killing fields of the Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia is the story that Piliger is most associated with.

This regime, which was responsible for the killing of an estimated two million

people – out of Cambodia’s then seven million population – was supported by US imperialism, based solely on it being a supposed counterweight to the Vietnamese government.

This was all covered in Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia. It is recalled on his site johnpilger.com that within days of the documentary being broadcast in the UK, 40 sacks of mail were received, most containing unsolicited donations from ordinary people totalling over £1 million (over £6 million in today’s money).

The documentary was broadcast in some 50 countries, watched by an estimated 150 million people and in total (without direct appeals) raised $45 million, which served to restore clean water supply, fund orphanages, schools and restock hospitals with medicines – a testimony to the decency of workingclass people. This was in stark contrast to the rotten role of Western capitalist governments who protected the Khmer Rouge leadership in exile from prosecution for more than a decade afterwards.

False notion of impartiality

Other highlights include his work on East Timor, the historical crimes committed against the Aboriginal people in his native Australia, and later in his career, exposing the US and British imperialism in the Middle East and the slow privatisation of the NHS.

John Pilger was an exemplary journalist whose integrity was all the more notable because of its rarity

Pilger dispensed with false notions of ‘impartiality’ and was not afraid to expose the crimes of the ruling class regardless of the consequences. In doing so he sacrificed what could have otherwise been a very comfortable career.

After parting from the Daily Mirror, The Guardian, for whom he went on to write, effectively sacked him for his opposition to the Iraq war.

Much of his best journalism was reproduced in long form in a series of books, one of the last of which, Freedom Next Time, is the strongest. While

many of the chapters focus again on the role of Western imperialism in the Middle East, in one chapter, he scathingly and justifiably takes apart the record of the ANC post the fall of apartheid in South Africa, in failing to deliver an economic programme for the Black majority – not sparing Nelson Mandela in this criticism.

Courageous contribution

While very much on the left, it cannot be claimed that his political instincts were always perfect. In particular, he

displayed a bad blind spot late in his career in the Syria conflict, where he gave too much credence to those denying the atrocities committed by Assad.

But taken as a whole, Pilger’s contribution to standing up for the oppressed worldwide is immense. Too few journalists today come close to displaying the qualities that enabled him to repeatedly hit the mark.

His documentaries and books remain worth reading both for their political content and as a demonstration of the best journalism of its age.

Ecological crisis: Alarming biodiversity loss in Lough Hyne, Cork

By Caoimhe Lyons

L

OUGH HYNE is a semi-enclosed marine lake located in Carbery West, Co. Cork. In 1981, it was designated a nature reserve by the Irish government. This was largely due to its significance as a highly unique ecosystem; its biodiversity is internationally recognised. It is one of the most studied places in the world for a system of its size.

Its contents are often described as otherworldly, and many of the creatures, even just below the surface, would be spotted elsewhere in the ocean's depths. Perhaps the most peculiar sight are sea sponges just above the surface. These have experienced a significant decline in population health in recent years due to pollution.

Sharp decline

Lough Hyne’s degradation is a stark illustration of the biodiversity crisis in Ireland

There is evidence of a sharp decline in biodiversity as a whole within the lake, and prominent researchers are calling for a local and governmental action plan to mitigate the effects of pollution on the system. The main source of concern is eutrophication, where the products of largely agricultural waste lead to issues such as algal blooms and lack of oxygen within the water. Temperature increases have also had a notable effect.

While the laboratories surrounding the lough have received funding from the government in the past, this doesn’t even constitute a band-aid on the issue at hand. Deterioration of ecosystems like this one will transform ecology laboratories into mortuaries if we fail to tackle the true sources of the climate crisis.

Globally, the loss of biodiversity has been brought to the fore of the discus-

sions around the environmental crisis.

Events like the loss of biodiversity at Lough Hyne are indicative of the deep, systemic problem of the degradation of the natural world – a fundamental consequence of the destructive nature of capitalism.

Epic failure from government

The Irish government, while falling behind EU targets, nonetheless has con-

tinued to try and pin the onus of responsibility on individuals – a common approach of capitalist governments. All the while they are propping up the major agri-businesses and appeasing lobbying groups like the National Dairy Council, as well as the fossil fuel industries. In particular their track record on environmental preservation is abysmal.

They have consistently cut funding

to the National Parks & Wildlife Service with a slight change in 2021, but methods of conservation remain utterly inadequate. Coillte in particular is a for-profit monoculture enterprise that has been allowed to plant on boglands which are incredible at carbon sequestration, but are harmed by the prevalence of Sitka spruce plantations.

That is why it should be no surprise to hear that despite being under public ownership since 1981, and one of the most well documented ecological systems, the government has sat back and watched the alarming reduction in biodiversity at Lough Hyne. Public ownership is an important start, but with a government and economic system this rotten, the natural world will be left to fend for itself.

The establishment will put the interests of big business before the wellbeing of the environment, and has no problem blaming people’s use of cars or diet as a cop out. In a capitalist system that is driven by the accumulation of capital, ecological collapse is inevitable. We need to take all the major companies and financial institutions that are killing the planet into public ownership, under democratic workers’ control. Only in this way can we plan the economy in a manner that is sustainable and safeguard future generations.

TheSocialist MAKE RACISTS AFRAID AGAIN

PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY

ISSUE 158

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024

l Organise to resist the far-right threat l Public homes for all, not racism

What the Socialist Party stands for: “The day has passed for patching up the capitalist system; it must go.” — James Connolly was right. The immense social, political and economic crises that dominate life in the 21st century all testify to this truth, but the climate emergency gives added urgency to its meaning. That’s why the Socialist Party stands for revolutionary socialist change, and why we are organising to bring it about. We support every right and reform that can improve life for working-class people, while fighting for what’s needed. We say: if capitalism can’t afford to provide for our needs then we can’t afford capitalism.

Workplace • All workers need double-digit wage rises.

For a €17 an hour minimum wage.

• End precarity and bogus self-employment. For guaranteed hours with permanent contracts for all workers.

• A four-day work week with no loss of pay.

• Reduce the pension age to 60. A guaranteed decent pension for all.

• No layoffs. Open up the books and take large job shedding companies into public ownership, under democratic workers’ control and management, with compensation paid only on the basis of proven need.

• Repeal the Industrial Relations Act. For the

right to organise and effective action.

• For a fighting trade union movement that organises the unorganised and mobilises the power of its membership. All officials should be elected, subject to recall and live on the wages of the workers they represent.

Housing • Reduce and freeze rents at affordable levels. Reinstate the eviction ban.

• For a major programme to build public homes. Take the big construction companies into public ownership. Seize vacant properties and unused land being hoarded for profit.

• Provide culturally appropriate accommodation for Travellers.

• Nationalise the banks and repudiate the odious debt. Reduce mortgage payments to affordable levels.

Public services • End church control of schools and hospitals – full separation of church and state.

• For a major public works programme to build public schools, hospitals and childcare facilities.

• For a one-tier, national health service free at the point of use. Bring all private hospitals, nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies into public ownership.

• Free publicly-run childcare scheme for

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every community. Extend fully-paid parental leave to two years and provide high quality early-years education.

• For 24-hour free counselling services and education programmes to begin to tackle the mental health crisis.

• Free education and training for all. Abolish the Leaving Cert system and provide a Third-level place for all who want one, with a living grant for all students. Build affordable, accessible student accommodation.

Environment • For substantial investment in an expanded, reliable and free public transport system.

• End the reliance on fossil fuels – keep them in the ground. For extensive state investment in renewable energy, retrofitting homes and public buildings, and green jobs.

• For a just transition to a zero carbon economy, with no job losses or regressive carbon taxes.

• Take the fossil fuel companies, big agribusinesses and corporations into democratic public ownership to stop the destruction of our planet for profit.

Equal rights for all • Oppose all forms of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

• For LGBTQ-inclusive, consent-based sex education in schools. Fully fund trans healthcare.

• Reduce the voting age to 16.

• Defend the right to asylum. End Direct Provision. Abolish all racist immigration laws.

• Black lives matter! Oppose far-right division!

• Fight to end gender-based violence, abuse and harassment in all its forms.

• For a socialist feminist movement that unites the whole working class in the struggle against oppression.

For workers’ unity in Ireland • For the unity of the working class, Protestant and Catholic, North and South, in opposition to all forms of sectarianism, paramilitarism and state repression.

• For a socialist Ireland, with no coercion and the rights of minorities guaranteed, as part of a free, equal and voluntary socialist federation of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as part of a socialist Europe.

End the rule of the billionaires • Take the wealth off the 1%. For real progressive taxation on incomes, assets and profits to fund public services.

• Stop tax avoidance and evasion by the wealthy.

• Double corporation tax. End corporate welfare policies.

• No to all forms of privatisation in health, education, transport, housing, energy, sanitation, water and broadband provision.

For socialist change • Capitalism produces inequality, environmental destruction and war. We need an international struggle against this system.

• Solidarity with the struggles of workers and oppressed peoples internationally.

• Oppose all imperialist powers, wars and occupations. No to NATO and EU militarisation. US military out of Shannon.

• No to corporate “free trade” agreements.

No to the bosses’ EU and “Fortress Europe”.

• Build a new mass party that organises workers and young people in struggle against all injustices and for a socialist alternative. For a working-class movement to bring about a left, socialist government that breaks with capitalism.

• Take the key sectors of the economy – the monopolies in banking, industry, services, agriculture and big tech – into public ownership under the democratic control of the working class.

• Replace the capitalist market with a democratic socialist plan of the economy based on the interests of the overwhelming majority of people and the environment.

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