The Irish Republican Socialist Party is calling for a national strike to accompany the planned Saturday 31st of January 2015 mobilisation against the Water Tax. Organisers of the Right2Water campaign group are planning to hold the next rally to coincide with the deadline for households to register with Irish Water. The IRSP believe the next step in opposing the Water Tax and the Fine Gael/Labour coalitions austerity measures should not simply be to urge households not to pay. The trade unions need to “shut down the State”.
Micheál MacLochlainn of the IRSP continues “We believe it’s not an unrealistic timetable to achieve a successful general strike and deliver the final nail in the coffin of the coalition on the Monday after the Saturday 31st mobilisation. We know that grass roots elements within some major Unions backing Right2Water are already discussing a general strike as a possibility and I urge them to make their voices heard within their Unions. “
Mr MacLochlainn said “Another mass rally, on its own, will not be sufficient to escalate the situation enough. It’s time for the ICTU affiliated trade Unions, Unions who claim lineage to the ITGWU, to say enough is enough and shut down the state. The momentum needs to continue to be built upon as the stakes are much bigger now than just the Water Tax.”
Mr MacLochlainn finishes “Our communities are under sustained attack by an ever detached coalition of EU/ECB/IMF puppets and they are getting away with it. Trade Unionism is the last fire wall, the protectors of the interests of our class; we need them to act decisively and quickly. The IRSP will be contacting all the major Unions and lobbying from within our members Trade Unions for a National Strike against austerity but we also need others to do the same. “
