Report and pics on Grangegormon picket

by Andrew Thu Sep 11, 2003 11:56

Can I suggest that anyone eles at a depot picket this morning post a report, no matter how brief, here. Meant to include this above but forgot...

by Chekov - WSM Thu Sep 11, 2003 12:43

This lobby, along with lobbies of depots all over the city was decided at an all-city activists meeting on Monday night. The idea of the lobby was to show solidarity with the activists in Fingal and, at the same time, lobby support among the bin workers for any action that the campaign may take in the near future. I arrived at the depot just before 7 am and was pleasantly surprised to find about 20 activists already there. The numbers grew to 35 by about 7:30 and the lobby went on until just after 8 am, when people started leaving for work. The mood was very good in general, quite upbeat and totally lacking in hostility. Activists held placards saying "one bin - all bins. We say no to privatisation", campaign "don't panic don't pay" posters and handed out leaflets to the arriving workers explaining the situation of the campaign and seeking their support. It was difficult to gauge precisely the mood of the workforce, but in general there was no hostility whatsoever towards the activists (or vice versa). One arriving worker did comment that 'you should just pay the tax', but several others expressed support. A good number of passing motorists honked their horns in support. The lobby was made up of activists from several different neighbourhood campaigns and political gropus. I recognised people from the Stoneybatter, Cabra & Donard and Dorset st / Phibsboro campaigns. In terms of the political groups, there were members from the Workers Solidarity Movement, Socialist Workers Party and Working Class Action present. I recognised less than half of the people there so I may well have missed some groups.

by Chekov - WSM Thu Sep 11, 2003 13:21

I'm not sure how many bin-tax activists use indymedia, but since I know that there are at least a few, I thought that it might be worthwhile to try to get a bit of discussion going on the tactics over the next few weeks. So here's my two cents worth:

What next?

In terms of the city campaign, the next step is a series of solidarity blockades of bin trucks in certain areas of the city tomorrow (Friday) morning. Monday will see a mass lobby of the Rathmines depot (7 am), then there will be an all-city activists meeting on Monday evening in the Teachers club at 7:30. At the same time, there are local meetings happening all over the place. In my area there is a meeting of the Dorset st. / Phibsboro campaign tonight at 8pm in the Snug on Dorset st. and a meeting of the Cabra campaign at 8:30 pm on Monday evening in the GAA club.

In the aftermath of these meetings, we should be expecting that the campaign will go 'all out' some time next week. I believe that there is some disagreement among the steering committee as to whether this is the best tactic. Personally, I think that things have now come to a head and the campaign will be won or lost in the next few weeks. People can only leave rotting bags of rubbish lying around the place for a few weeks before the situation becomes critical. The campaign has to put enough pressure on the government to back down before this happens, that gives us only a few weeks to act.

Although I think that the of lobbying the bin depots was a good and important action, the city area is going to have to move to blockades before too long. You can't expect people to get up for 6 am lobbies too many times without a chance of imminent victory. It is in the city area that the campaign is strongest, places like Crumlin, the Liberties and Cabra. We really should not wait until they stop collecting in our areas before starting the blockades. The council will try to pick off the weakest areas first and if they can force areas like Blanchardstown to pay, the campaign will be severely weakened by the time we get to fight them in our strongholds. If we apply the "one bin, all bins" motto to the whole city and try to blockade all the trucks at once, the pressure on the council will be overwhelming and I'd say that they will have to give in very quickly. The campaign currently has a high level of public support. Even the direct action, which alienates ordinary people according to some people, seems to be supported by the majority of the public. The campaign has received a huge amount of media attention in the last few days. The mood among activists is angry and people are ready for action; local meetings have attracted huge attendances in the past few weeks and the strength of the campaign in Fingal has surprised many activists, since it has long been considered one of the weaker areas for the campaign.

We should strike while the iron is hot. There is nothing to be gained by waiting until the council stops collections in our own areas. Cross-city solidarity will defeat this tax if we all take action together. If we prevent all collection across the entire city at the same time, the police and council will be utterly powerless to do anything about it and will be forced to back down and resume collection within days. Once they resume collection of all bags the back of the bin tax will be broken and it will be dead in the water. They will eventually find some legalistic / legislative excuse to banish the bill, but we will all know who defeated the tax.

I think that bin-tax activists should be going along to the meeting on Monday and arguing for all-city blockades towards the end of next week.

Any other tactical ideas out there?

by as do many other binmen Thu Sep 11, 2003 13:35

and those 'ordinary people'in opposition to the protests are getting the lions share of airtime with claims that it is a hardcore of 'professional protesters' driving the campaign.

Residents supporting/taking part in the blocades should be encouraged to fight their corner on the airwaves. I'm sure Joe and Clare are tired out by now.

by anti bin taxer Thu Sep 11, 2003 13:45

What was the attitude of the workers in the depot?

I don't think this should be called a 'picket'. Its very important that the campaign doesn't isolate bin workers, the council are doing all in thier power to turn the heads of workers and convince them that the campaing will lead to job losses for them.

I think its a legitimate tactic to have some people outside depots with info leaflets that make an appeal to the workeres and also explain that this protest / campaign is not against them - they have been filled with crap from managers and the council and cutting across this is crucial.

I think fundamentally that the main approach should be like Fingal, where trucks are stopped in estates, usually cul-de-sacs where poss, this has been hugely effective as people would have seen. By stopping the truck in the estate, the truck and the campaign becomes the property of the people on that and surrounding roads, as an aside, its a lot more difficult for the guards to be heavy handed in this instance.

I understand that Dublin City Council haven't started non collection yet so tactics at this stage are somewhat different, but I think these things need to be put out now so we are prepared.

by Cieran - Working Class Action Thu Sep 11, 2003 13:47

Just a quick comment on Chekov's report of the lobby of Grangegormon depot. The Cabra/Dunard/Navan Road Anti Bin Tax campaign had already contacted the local bin workers from the depot and explained the purpose of the lobby. Because of this we could "gauge precisely the mood of the workforce". They are very supportive and most of them are members of the campaign.
Name checking the lefty organisations that were present is a bit sad. Appearance on a single lobby and actually doing a bit of real campaign work are two totally different things. The reason why Chekov didn't recognise most of the people present is that the vast majority are non-aligned local people. Yeah, ordinary working class people, the strength of the campaign.

by Ordinary person Thu Sep 11, 2003 13:48

Can anyone give directions to this depot? And any one the other ones too. Thanks

by Chekov Thu Sep 11, 2003 14:10

My report was based on my own personal knowledge of the lobby; I am not part of the Cabra campaign and therefore didn't realise that you had contacted the bin workers in advance, thanks for the extra information.

As for the 'sad' bit of my comment. I was merely describing the information as fully as I could. Maybe the affiliations of some of the people there isn't important, but it is information that at least some readers would like to know. I actually included it to illustrate the fact that different groups were working together on the issue in a non-sectarian attitude, not as an exercise in name-checking. I also know full well that the politicos were in the minority and that ordinary working class people are the backbone of the campaign, and certainly didn't suggest anywhere that they weren't. In fact I included the comment about not recognising most of the people there to get across the idea that this was not 'the usual suspects'.

I also think that there is no point in trying to play "who's the best activist". When you say that:

"Appearance on a single lobby and actually doing a bit of real campaign work are two totally different things. The reason why Chekov didn't recognise most of the people present is that the vast majority are non-aligned local people. The reason why Chekov didn't recognise most of the people present is that the vast majority are non-aligned local people."

I get the impression that you are trying to imply that I have not done real campaign work. In fairness, you don't actually know much about this since I don't live in Cabra and am not active in the same campaign as you are. As far as I know, all of the political organisations present have done real campaign work on the issue. I'd say that the reason that I didn't recognise the majority of the people, was that they came from a number of different campaign groups and I have only done campaign work in my local area.

In any case, I don't think it's too productive to be throwing around these types of implications. If you insist, I can give you a list of the various work that I have done for the bin charges campaign over the last year and a half, but I think that demanding an activist scorecard before letting somebody comment is pointless at best.

by Anthony Thu Sep 11, 2003 14:12

is behind the town hall at the end of the laneway directly opposite the library. It can also be reached from Mount Pleasant St.

by Colm - ISN (personal capacity) Thu Sep 11, 2003 14:56

There was a successful protest at this depot this morning by around fifty activists from the Finglas, Ballymun and other areas. The activists blocked the bin trucks for around an hour in solidarity with the campaign in Fingal. We spoke to many of the bin men as they went in and their response was by and large positive.

by Cieran - Working Class Action Thu Sep 11, 2003 15:14

Chekov,
I wasn't aiming my comments at you or your organisation. I know the work every political group have done on this issue. The problem I had with your report was that it gave the impression that the lobby just appeared out of nowhere with no contact with the bin workers and that we didn't know their thoughts on the issue. Huge amounts of work have been done on this important issue, hence the good reception this morning. More importantly, your report gave the impression that there was some importance or relevance with the left being present. The strengths and weaknesses of the campaign reflect very badly on the left in general.

by Bertie Thu Sep 11, 2003 15:28

http://www.dublincity.ie/wasteinfo/fra_ind.asp?ID=1&PG=was_4.htm

On the Council's web site it says:
"If you have any difficulties with your collection of waste, please do not hesitate to contact the depot nearest to you."


Your friendly local depot:

North City
Tuaisceart na Cathrach Telephone
Alborough Parade, North Strand, Dublin 8555404
Bow Lane East, 4785075
Coolock Depot 8482375
Collins Ave. Extension, Dublin 9 8373226
Finglas Depot, Dublin 11 8343542
Upper Grangegorman, Dublin 7. 6715415

South City
Deisceart na Cathrach Telephone
Davitt Road, Dublin 12 4556362
Kylemore Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 6265122
Rathmines Depot, Dublin 6 4977391
Sweeney's Terrace , Dublin 6 4540779

Opening Hours
Uaireanta Oscailte:
8.00a.m - 4.00p.m Monday - Friday.

by Tiocfaidh Armani - Na Fianna Eireann Thu Sep 11, 2003 20:14 info at fiannaeireann dot com Dublin

Ciaran a chara, would it be possible for you and the campaign to contact Na Fianna at the email address above, for any upcoming protests. We would be very interested in joining and campaigning against this unjust double taxation of the working class people.

by Raheny boy Fri Sep 12, 2003 01:17

Chekov, good email on tactics. I was at the meeting last week in TC and the circular debate which inlcuded the confusing scenairo that one of the depots (or all) might be going on strike related to a non bin tax issue (!!). I also agreed and raised my hand on the idea that the city council area would have solidarty blockages. Now I am convinced this makes no sense whatsoever.
As you have pointed out, people will only get up at 6am (or miss days from work) if they think victory is imminent. Surely the idea of asking people to blockade a bin truck that will be doing it regular rounds is, well a little daft. It really makes no tactical sense the more I think about it. At this stage, and I am from one the weaker (ie anti-bin tax), Dublin city areas and aside from the sort of fluffy notion of solidarty I think, with hindsight, that the solidarity blockages are a bad idea.

Whats you feeling on them?

by pay no double taxation Fri Sep 12, 2003 03:00

The point behind solidarity blockades is that we have to be seen to be *escalating* the conflict. The blockades spreading will send out a clear message that not only are the blockades not going to end but this struggle is going to get bigger.

This becomes particularly important if in the wake of these injunctions 15 or so of the "ringleaders" in Fingal are arrested tomorrow. If Joe, Ruth, Clare and the others are arrested and the cops use force to clear the peaceful blockades in Fingal, the Council hope that this will have the effect of knocking back the campaign.

A spread to the City area will have a reinforcing effect on the Fingal blockades and rattle the establishment right back.

That said, it is important (and this is well understood by most activists) that solidarity blockades take place in the strongest areas of support in the City area. Non-collection is not yet a reality in the City area so there isn't much point in trying blockades in the weaker areas at this stage.

A limited number of blockades in the City area at this stage might not makes sense yet if you look at the area in isolation. When you look at it as opening another front in a Dublin-wide battle it makes perfect sense.

by sp - socialist party Fri Sep 12, 2003 04:08

sorry its so late and because we're all busy in fingal we're not sending in much reports. Everyones on 15 hour shifts here.

But on the attitude of workers, generally they are nuetral or close to us. Most have had no problems just the odd one has tried to block streets etc when we block them and most are behind us. its difficult for them as they are being watched by supervisors and the union SIPTU in Fingal has done nothing. In short most with us with a few pricks. We're sharing food in alot of pickets,

for the future blockade the lorries like in fingal. Its better that way as it involves the communities, blocking only the depot is the left subsiting for the communities. And where the cops have no problem bashing lefties they won't touch locals.

sorry this is so messy i'm fucked. good luck all.

by the way the latest is 12 or 15 sp members are being named with injunctions.

on the positive side the first two days were our weakest areas on monday we are into the socialist party stong areas of hartstown and huntstown and the rest and parts of swords where we are strongest these areas are 95% anti tax and we will have hundreds if not thousands on the streets every night. so far has just been a warm up.

activists in the city, we have them on the run blockade the trucks!!!! no bin tax!

by sp - socialist party Fri Sep 12, 2003 04:12

but blockade places where you get support or at least passive support. we were in very hostile parts of castleknock today and we couldn't do it. but one two or three lorries blocked is enough to keep up the pace. i promise on monday and tuesday we have huge support. try it out tomorrow on different areas. good luck everyone - no bin tax