General strike-but Irish bureaucrats try to head off fight on p

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Fergus Whelan of Dublin Trades Council addresses part of the huge crowd Staged " in complete defiance of the bureaucratic leaders of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, last week's colossal demonstrations in Ireland were bigger than any mobilisations over the last 50 years.

250,000 workers downed tools and joined huge marches through Dublin, Cork and Galway in protest at the effects of inflated levels of PAYE tax on workers' pay packets.

The Dublin march alone, organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, was estimated by police at over 200,000one third of the city's total population. A simitar turn-out in London 'would bring 3½ million onto the streets.

Backing It was accompanied by a virtually complete general strike in the city, officially backed by the Irish TGWU, the Amalgamated TGWU, and the Busmen's union, but unofficially backed by thousands of other workers and by thousands of housewives.

But as workers flooded the streets of the capital one group of people was still hard at work on behalf of Jack Lynch's reactionary Fianna Fail government.

"A working party of ICTU bureaucrats chose the very day of the mass protest to meet Economic Minister O'Donaghue at Government Buildings.

And while their work of class collaboration-aimed at devising some kind of "social contract" to head off any confrontation over this year's round of wage increases-went on, government officials gave a very different response to a delegation of demonstrators headed by ITGWU leader Michael Mullen.

The new Italian government which was sworn in last week is a government set up to fall.

Under the Premiership again of Christian Democrat Giulio Andreotti, it also contains ministers from the Republican and Social Democratic Parties.

It does, not command a majority in Parliament and its only chance of survival was it, when it faces a vote of confidence in about three weeks' time, the. Socialist Party and Communist Party decided to abstain to keep it in office.

But within days of the announcement of the new government the socialists decided that their 57 MPs would vote against it in the confidence debate.

And with growing sections of the Communist Party in full revolt against leader Enrico Only repeated complaints by union leaders on the doorstep of Government Buildings eventually succeeded in persuading porters to accept letters addressed to Lynch demanding a change in the PAYE system.

But the divisions on policy within the Irish trade union bureaucracy are more apparent than real. The way in which left' sections of the union leadership have focussed on taxation as an issue is a conscious diversion from an all-out struggle to raise wages after the collapse of the National Wage Agreement.

Limited impact

While it is true that the Irish working class bears a disproportionate burden of taxation in relation to farmers and small, medium and big business, trade union action can only have an extremely limited impact on the tax system.

There is no way in which Lynch's pro imperialist government is going to be "pressured" into imposing tax burdens on imperialist or. . Irish-owned industry, or on their electoral supporters among Ireland's farmers.

Advance

But there is little doubt that concerted trade union action to achieve substantial wage increases, protected against inflation and taxation through cost-of-living clauses, combined with the demand for the removal of the Lynch government could massively advance the struggles of the working class.

The only way falling living standards, mass unemployment oppression of small farmers and imperialist domination of the Irish economy can be ended once and for all is through, the establishment of a government of workers' parties which must be compelled by the mass movement to carry through a programme of nationalisation of major industry and the banks without compensation, and the establishment of planned socialist economy.

Trotskyist Party In this struggle the crucial issue is the building of Trotskyist party capable of leading the struggle for working class independence against all wings of the trade union bureaucracy.

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