{"id":8667,"date":"2015-04-13T19:52:11","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T19:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=8667"},"modified":"2021-02-19T20:08:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T20:08:54","slug":"anti-water-charges-campaign-from-protest-to-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/04\/13\/anti-water-charges-campaign-from-protest-to-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"ANTI-WATER CHARGES CAMPAIGN: FROM PROTEST TO ELECTIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our blog has been chronicling developments in one of the most important socio-economic struggles in these islands since the Anti-Poll Tax campaign <\/strong>(see http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/27\/sinn-fein-under-pressure-from-irish-workers\/<\/a>,\u00a0http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/01\/water-charges-independent-mobilisation-new-state-repression\/<\/a> and http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/16\/defying-water-charges-in-ireland\/<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Irish government is attempting to collect specific water charges from the Irish people (water is already paid for out of general taxation), preparatory to privatising Irish water in line with Troika imposed austerity demands. The massive grassroots Anti-Water Charges campaign in Ireland has destabilised the current Fine Gael\/Labour coalition government.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Until the recent massive show of opposition, Sinn Fein and the trade union bureaucrats were opposed to a campaign of non-payment and non-collection. The following article examines not only the role of the trade union bureaucracy and Sinn Fein, but the illusions being created by some on the Left, in the possibility that these two forces might create a Left Irish government, which can end the water charges, whilst ignoring their cooperation in setting up Irish Water in the first place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article by J.M. Thorn of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) addresses the current situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

______<\/p>\n

ANTI-WATER CHARGES CAMPAIGN: FROM PROTESTS TO ELECTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"th\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 21st March anti-water charges demonstration in Dublin is clear evidence of the continued widespread opposition to the establishment of Irish Water and the imposition of charges.
\n<\/p>\n

In the week running up to the demo the main focus of the media was on how big it would be – with the implication (hope?) that a poor turnout would confirm claims by the government that opposition to water charges was weakening.\u00a0 However, these claims were convincingly refuted as up to 80,000 protesters, who had set off from three starting points around the city, converged on O\u2019Connell Street.\u00a0 What was particularly impressive about the crowds was not just their numbers but the breadth of Irish society which they represented – from urban to rural, young and old, and from the poorest sections of the working class to elements of the middle class.\u00a0 It really had the appearance of a genuine mass movement.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it is the persistence of a mass opposition that made the latest demonstration possible.\u00a0 If it had been down to the trade union backed Right2Water campaign leadership the protests would have ceased when the legislation passed late last year.\u00a0 It was only when it became clear that the anti-water charges movement could continue without them that Right2Water, fearful of being sidelined, revived its support for protests.<\/p>\n

There is a tension between the movement and those groups which seek to give it leadership in terms of organisation.\u00a0 What was also clear from the demonstrations was that many of the protesters are in advance of the organisers in terms of demands – opposing not only water charges but also to the existence of Irish Water.<\/p>\n

This disjunction between the movement and its leadership was really brought home by the speeches made to the tens of thousands of protesters gathered in O\u2019Connell Street.\u00a0 In comparison to the impressive assembly they seemed totally inadequate.\u00a0 The selection of O\u2019Connell Street, rather than the Dail, as the end point of the demonstration was already an indicator of the type of quietist politics that would be coming from the platform.\u00a0 When questioned about this by an RTE journalist the Socialist Party\u2019s Paul Murphy claimed that the demonstration wasn\u2019t \u201caimed so much at the government as the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what did the speakers, who included trade union officials, community activists and representatives of the various left groups, have to say to the people?\u00a0 On first glance the range of opinions seemed quite diverse with expressions of support for non-payment and further protests and denunciations of the political system.<\/p>\n

However, the main thrust came from the trade union officials and the left groups, and their focus was entirely on next year\u2019s general election.\u00a0 While the Socialist Party\u2019s Ruth Coppinger did emphasise the need to build a non-payment campaign, it was placed within the framework of the election of a new government. This was made explicit in her claim that people could afford to not to pay as any penalties would not be imposed until next year \u201cby which point there will be a new government\u201d.\u00a0 Richard Boyd Barrett of the Socialist Workers Party\/People Before Profit movement said that there would be more protests, but again this was linked the coming general election.\u00a0 It is clear that for the left groups the anti-water charges campaign – whether that takes the form of non-payment or protests \u2013 is seen through the prism of their own electoral prospects.<\/p>\n

Overriding all this is the trade union leaderships\u2019 own strategy, which, after the collapse of the Labour Party, seeks to create a political vehicle that will look after the trade union interest.\u00a0 For the right of the bureaucracy this means cosying up to Sinn Fein, while for the \u201cleft\u201d it means the construction of a broad front which not only encompasses Sinn Fein but also the left groups, various independents and the remnants of the Labour party.\u00a0 One speaker at the rally, clearly with such a coalition in mind, claimed that for the first time ever in the Irish state there was the prospect of a left government.<\/p>\n

While the construction of such a \u201cbroad left\u201d is some way off tentative moves are under way to bring it about.\u00a0 One of these is the Right2Water campaign\u2019s proposed declaration on the public ownership of water that will be presented at its forthcoming May Day Conference.\u00a0 The idea is to get as many parties and independents as possible to pledge themselves to it in order to give the semblance of a broad anti-austerity coalition.<\/p>\n

This \u201cpopular front\u201d, which has long been advocated by \u201cleft\u201d trade union officials such former Unite general secretary Mick O\u2019Reilly and is now most identified with Brendan Ogle from the same union, has a number of serious shortcomings.\u00a0 The first is its view of Sinn Fein as a left party.\u00a0 While Sinn Fein may engage in some radical rhetoric the reality is that it is a bourgeois party committed to working within the framework of austerity – whether that is the Troika programme in the south or the Stormont House Agreement in the north.\u00a0 A coalition that has Sinn Fein as its leading component can\u2019t be anti-austerity.<\/p>\n

The second short coming is the extremely minimal programme that would underpin such a coalition.\u00a0 Its vague anti-austerity message would be even weaker than the programme put forward by the now defunct United Left Alliance at the last general election.\u00a0 The appeal for the left groups of such a loose formation is that it allows them to sweep up a protest vote while keeping on side with the union bureaucracy. It also underlines the extent to which s minimal reformist programme has moved from being an opportunist manoeuvre to the actual programme of the groups.\u00a0 To describe this as a left unity project, never mind an alternative left government, would be a complete fraud.<\/p>\n

However, the fundamental flaw in this reformist strategy is the belief that the election of a left government – even one without the limitations described above – would make a difference.\u00a0\u00a0 The experience of Syriza in Greece shows that this is not the case.\u00a0 The capitalist classes across Europe will not recognise any democratic choice against austerity.\u00a0 As the German finance minister has stated: \u201celections change nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite the more militant rhetoric from the trade union leadership they are still essentially in lobbying mode – seeking no more than to have the ear of a party in government.\u00a0 Moreover, they are still fully committed to social partnership.\u00a0 This can be seen most clearly in relation to Irish Water.\u00a0 Despite their rhetorical opposition to water charges the trade union leaders played a key role in the creation of the new company by facilitating the transfer of workers from local councils.\u00a0 Opposition to this transfer could have prevented the establishment of Irish Water and stopped water charges and privatisation at their earliest stage.\u00a0 This was, and remains, potentially the most effective tactic to oppose water charges.<\/p>\n

Because the left groups have bound themselves to the trade union leadership its collusion in the imposition of austerity goes unchallenged.\u00a0 The idea of workers taking action by and for themselves doesn\u2019t arise.\u00a0 All that remains are a series of tactics (protests, non-payment etc) designed to build up support for the \u201cleft\u201d in the next year\u2019s general election.\u00a0 As a strategy this is completely unconvincing.<\/p>\n

The strategic objective for socialists, as it has been for a long time, is to break the Irish working class from social partnership so it can regain its organisational and political independence.\u00a0 This is a precondition for any serious opposition movement to emerge.\u00a0 While the anti water charges movement is a long way from this it does signify an awakening within the Irish working class after a long period of retreat.\u00a0 There is now an audience that is receptive to stronger socialist arguments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

30.3.15<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article was first posted at:-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/socialistdemocracy.org\/RecentArticles\/RecentAntiWaterChargesCampaignFromProtestsToElections.html<\/a><\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

also see article on the Anti-Poll Tax Campaign at:-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2011\/05\/27\/20-years-after-the-poll-tax-lessons-for-the-anti-cuts-movement<\/a>\/<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our blog has been chronicling developments in one of the most important socio-economic struggles in these islands since the Anti-Poll Tax campaign (see http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/27\/sinn-fein-under-pressure-from-irish-workers\/,\u00a0http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/01\/water-charges-independent-mobilisation-new-state-repression\/ and http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/16\/defying-water-charges-in-ireland\/). The Irish government is attempting to collect specific water charges from the Irish people (water is already paid for out of general taxation), preparatory to privatising Irish water in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1852,910,1868,1847,1860,18,1876],"tags":[2023],"class_list":["post-8667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-communists-organise","category-trade-unionism","category-against-imperialism","category-the-eu","category-other-social-struggles","category-political-campaigns","category-ireland-against-unionism","tag-author-j-m-thorn"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":3322,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8667"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16985,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8667\/revisions\/16985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}