Truly national agreements

  • 20 August 2007
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What is the point of Minister O'Dea, FF & FG TDs and IBEC whinging about the short sighted Aer Lingus decision to end its Shannon – Heathrow connection? They must have known what could happen when they supported the privatisation of our national carrier. After all, they had the lessons of Eircom & Westlink, where vital infrastructure was exploited for maximum profits at the expense of taxpayers and consumers.

 

Ironically, before the election, Willie O'Dea claimed that Sinn Fein in government would set back the economy. Now wages and economic growth are lagging behind inflation, unemployment is rising and capital is flowing out of the state – often, as in the case of Aer Lingus, Bank of Ireland and O'Briens,  to the SF-governed north!

To prevent employers from dividing and ruling workers north and south in future, we need not just an all Ireland economy for capital, but also all Ireland harmonisation of wages, conditions and taxation. “National” Agreements need to be truly national!

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