Unite up pressure with call for industrial action

THE UNITE trade union has upped the pressure on the Government with a call for widespread industrial action and civil disobedience, if measures to revive the economy are not implemented.

Presenting his union’s “People’s Budget” proposals in Dublin yesterday Unite regional secretary, Jimmy Kelly, said: “We’re absolutely convinced that marching the streets on Saturdays for the rest of this year and the rest of next year won’t achieve the pressure that we need to put on these politicians,”

He added: “We’re saying that we need to look at the alternative, which is taking strike action as part of the process.”

Unite will present a motion to the ICTU executive calling for a proactive campaign against the Government and IMF’s austerity measures that will include the possibility of calling a general strike.

Unite’s regional officer, Walter Cullen, said the organised withdrawal of payment of water charges and the proposed property tax may be included in a civil disobedience campaign.

He added that such a campaign would be conducted in coordination with “other trade unions, community groups and other organisations” in a “progressive consensus”.

Unite’s budget proposals were presented by the union’s economic adviser, Micheal Taff. The strategy calls for an incoming government immediately to renegotiate with the banks’ international bondholders. On this issue, Mr Taff said he did not believe it right that the Irish state had taken on the burden of bank debts adding: “We will not be bound by private debts.”

Mr Taff said that restructuring of Irish bank debt was inevitable and the sooner this was faced up to the better.

The Unite budget proposals call for an investment of over €15 billion over the next four years from cash assets held by the State. It also includes proposals to end what it described as “regressive tax incentives” and to increase taxes particularly on high earners.

The proposals state that efficiencies generated from the provision of public services should be reinvested into the economy.

Unite claims its package will grow the economy by 3.8%, and reduce the deficit to 4.9% by 2014, with the 3% target met by 2017.

Unite’s threat of a prolonged campaign of civil disobedience follows a vote by members of the electricians’ union, the TEEU, to support a similar campaign if the Government did not stand down.