The Waterford factory occupation
Not so well known in this
country as the Lindsey walk-outs or the French General Strike is an industrial
occupation which (at the time of writing) has been going on for 4 weeks in Kilbarry, Ireland, at the Waterford Wedgewood crystal factory. The occupation by up to 60
workers at any one time operating in shift patterns is to try to stop the
closure of this famous factory which will entail a massive social cost of
around 700 jobs. The workers are holding out for another owner or
nationalisation and are in buoyant mood with the full support of their
community and tourists.
The occupation was sparked by an attempted lock-out
of the workforce following a demonstration outside the Dublin offices of the
official receiver, Deloitte and Touche. The following day saw a demonstration
of 6,000 in Waterford as the local community pressed gifts of beds and bedding,
food, TVs, etc. on the occupiers. The world-wide militancy of workers fighting
back against threats to their pay, jobs, homes and health is alive and well in Ireland, with Dublin seeing strikes and demonstrations by bus drivers and taxi drivers on the same
day. Around 25,000 students marched through Dublin the following day in protest
at education fees, and health workers from top to bottom, along with teachers,
are all looking at taking action to protect wages, jobs and services.
As cuts and closures begin to bite
around the world, workers are spontaneously fighting back, realising that
resistance is now the only option. This is a time when workers are beginning
to ignore the honeyed siren songs of Social-Democracy and there is no better
time to step up our campaign of unmasking Social-Democracy as the
pro-imperialist traitor in our ranks that it is.