Three take aways from Debenhams Parnell Street, morning of 23rd April 2021.
The action of the Garda, the inaction of the trade union movement and the silence of the mainstream media.
The force, resources and pre-planning of the Garda operation. The unequivocal partisanship of the state and the Garda on the side of capital (company and liquidator), complete with support for breach of covid restrictions (inessential work) compared to the early Garda moves against Debenhams workers in the name of the same restrictions.
The lack of interest and response from the trade unions to a major strikebreaking operation and the actual inability of the trade union movement (even if it was willing) to mount anything like the action that such a development (and the arrests last September) would have prompted in past years.
The certain suppression of a major news story by the complete silence on it from RTÉ news coverage and it’s complete absence from the print edition of the ‘Irish Times’. (RTÉ and the ‘Times’ had reports online, RTÉ’s a mere token).
Some reflection and reorganization is badly needed in the labour movement.
SIPTU Activist 