A 'tiny ugly world' of greed, speculation, rampant insecurity and the 'disciplining' of workers unites those who occupied 'Republic Windows and Doors' in Chicago and the workers now occupying Waterford 'Crystal'.

Who held the gun to the head of the workers in Waterford? Whose actions called up the 'Starry Plough' ? Was it those of the 'Receiver'? He's the demon bad guy in the news reports. Probably because his surname suited the job!

What about O'Reilly ? An international capitalist widely famed for his obscene wealth. He seems like a candidate. Hiding behind the 'Receiver', shafting the workers whose lives he was willing to take a punt on, happy for the acclaim that came with a national brand. The editor of the Indo during the Lockout , way back when the 'Starry Plough' was a living symbol, most certainly deserved his depiction as an iron-heeled capitalist boot-boy.

Members of the Cork branch of the Workers Solidarity Movement travelled to Waterford today (2nd Feburary) to offer solidarity and support to the workers who are occupying Waterford Crystal. While there we took the opportunity to do an interview with Joe Kelly of the UNITE union and of Waterford Crystal, asking him the kind of questions that fellow workers and readers of Indymedia might be interested in. We also took some photos, included in this article, of an insurgent Waterford twist on 'canteen culture'. You can hear the interview which we recorded at this link.

In the interview Joe calls for solidarity demonstrations, similar to the WCTU (Waterford Council of Trade Unions) demonstration in support of the workers planned for Wedensday 4th Feburary in Waterford, to take place across the country. It is time to support these workers who have been treated appallingly. If they can do it to them, they can do it to us all. Please attend and defend against this attack on Waterford's economy, culture & heritage.

Details of the WCTU Waterford Demonstration: Weds 4th Feb

And what about Bank of America? They got greedy - swallowed Merrill Lynch. Begged for and got massive bailouts from US taxpayers as a result. Withdrew the lines of credit to longstanding industries at the whiff of trouble and destroyed lives and security for working people without a blink and away from the limelight the 'Receiver' now flinches under. Then they planned openly to destroy some more workers rights.

The 'crisis'? An all purpose boogieman. Make everyone so insecure that they'll lie down and happily accept anything short of a disastrous collapse in living standards and security. That's the program in Germany where there is also a Waterford Crystal subsidiary, in the US where events surrounding Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago are but one example of a generalised 'disciplining' of workers, it's the program in France which was shut down by a general strike last week, it's the program in the UK where EU workers are being set at each others throats and it's most definitely the program here. Pretty much the same everywhere. The bet is that people will trample over each other in desperation for 'opportunity' rather than stand together and refuse this 'discipline'.

Neo-liberal Europe is a busted flush. The workers in Waterford have begun something new by turning the tables. If they don't get their pensions and compensation, if they don't get re-employed, they should get the factory with the furnace still burning and the name 'Waterford Glass' still intact. Oh and support from the State.

The State? This is a state which is about to hand over the keys to the safe to those who turned people by the thousands coldly into slaves to debt here in the past number of years by wilfully inflating a property bubble and gambling with their proceeds from the wholesale looting of a generation. Before they pay their friends they should pay those who kept the thing afloat. They're bailing out 'supermen' who slipped right, left and centre and will probably go to court not to pay compensation to shafted workers who their 'friends' are shafting.

Who's advising them? Oh yeah. People from Merrill Lynch who blew their own operation through greed and got taken over by the too greedy 'too big to fail' Bank of America. Remember them? That's right - they withdrew their line of credit from Chicago Windows and Doors and from Waterford, longstanding businesses both, because of a glitch in the money machine - in 'their' money machine. Tiny Ugly World indeed.

We won't pay for their crisis! Better to bust the house!

The Anarchist Bookfair 2009 is being held in Liberty Hall on March 7th. This year, the Workers Solidarity Movement are proud to announce US Anarchist Ashanti Alston will be speaking. Ashanti was a member of the Black Panther Party in the 1960's and early 1970's. As a political prisoner he spent over a decade in US prisons. Ashanti has since become an anarchist while still drawing on many of his experiences and ideas that spurred him on as a Black Panther activist. In this interview Ashanti talks about his past, how he came to join the Panthers, what they achieved and how he views the current struggle. Audio links are highlighted and are bold.

Related Links:
• The Black Panther Party for Self Defence
• Ashanti Alston's Personal Site - AnarchistPanther.net
• Workers Solidarity Movement - an Irish Anarchist Organisation

There is no entity in the world more keenly aware of the criminal nature of the Israeli project in Palestine than the government of Israel itself. David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel is often quoted on this point. But while Palestinians remain in a state of exile and oppression in their own country, he cannot be quoted enough:

"Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been antisemitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? "
- David Ben Gurion, Source

Related Links:
• Leaked Database: Reveals Israeli State Complicity in 'Settler' Land Grabs / PDF of Translated Extracts
• Previous Indymedia Ireland Story: Zionist Poison Spreader Set To Win UK Weblog Awards
• Melanie Phillips' Hate Porn: MelaniePhillips.com.
• Some Truth From Palestine: 'Raising Yousuf and Noor': Diary of a Palestinian Mother.
• Irish Response To Israeli 'PR Attack': "War is Peace": Video Screened on the Israeli Embassey.
• A Shot At Bias In The Media: MediaBite.org.

Some people are aware of the network of Israel-promoters around the world who have dedicated themselves to preaching venom about the Palestinians and their sympathisers in other parts of the Muslim world. At the apex of this hate promotion is the rabid Zionist Melanie Phillips who was recently, and thankfully, defeated in her attempt to win the UK weblog awards for 2008. At least that opportunity to gloat over Palestinian deaths was denied her.

Phillips keeps a daily diary of Muslim hatred on The Spectator website from which she spews outrageous claims and distortions to an adoring crowd of fascists and sickos whose comments have to be seen to be believed.

Excerpt From 'Irish Call For Justice For Palestine': Saturday January 31 2009

"Invasion, occupation and plantation of their land is the reality that Palestinians have faced for decades and still face on a daily basis, as their country is reduced remorselessly. Unless, and until, this Israeli aggression is halted, and the democratic rights of the Palestinian people are vindicated, there will be no justice or peace in the Middle East. Israel's 40-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza must be ended.

The occupation can end if political and economic pressure is placed on Israel by the international community. Recognizing this, the Palestinian people continually call on the international community to intervene."

Click on the ispc.pdf format file under the image to download the full-page statement - "Irish Call for Justice for Palestine" - which appeared in today's Irish Times (31st January) on page 5, replete with around 300 signatures. Signatories include 5 MEPs (from de Rossa to Harkin), a bundle of TDs (FF, SF, Independent and Labour), some MLAs, Gerry Adams and Tony Benn, the presidents or general secretaries of Siptu, Impact, Nipsa, Unite, Mandate and other trade union bodies, professors, activists, musicians, cultural figures, and citizens.

Please re-publish, circulate and re-circulate far and wide - especially to networks you may have in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, the Arab world, Israel etc., and to Jewish democratic or anti-Zionist groups. Journals and magazines should be encouraged to reprint it and can presume (on the basis of this publication) to have the permission to do so.

Recent Indymedia Ireland Articles on Invasion of Gaza
• Turkish Prime Minister confronts Shimon Peres at Davos
• Caoimhe Butterly : Gaza, Terribly Bloodied, Still Breathing
• Edwards, Myers, Harris, Carew: Pro-British, Pro-US, Pro-Israel, Pro-War
• "War IS Peace": Video Screened On The Israeli Embassy

Following the successful factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, the workers of Waterford Glass now show the way to fight redundancies and lay offs. In a year where it is estimated that up to 50 million workers are due to lose their jobs, and banks continue to be propped up with billions of dollars and euro, we need to demand that companies are nationalised and jobs defended.

The Direct Action by the Waterford Workers now puts it up to the Irish government- who is more important, workers and their families or the tiny financial elite of the banks?

Nationalise the Glass, and let the workers run the factory. They'd do a better job of it.

Solidarity,
Joe Carolan (Socialist Aotearoa)