1700 workers go on strike in UK over jobs for foreign workers

[Odyessus]

Note the fact that the word "foreign" (above) is in quotes, the equivalent of a journalistic sneer.

Yes, I did notice that.

[JollyRedGiant]

Why don't you read the captions on the strikers pickets Jolly -

its pretty obvious what they want:

British Jobs for British Workers.

Given the fact that a member of the Socialist Party in England (sister party of the Socialist Party in Ireland) is a member of the strike committee involved - I think I have much better information into the intentions of these workers than you do. Don't believe everything you read in the papers or see on TV. The right-wing within the media have been consciously pumping up the issue in line with Brown's statement last week and are doing their utmost to divide workers on ethnic lines in order to prepare the way for job cuts, pay cuts and cuts in services. The potential does exist for this to turn into a witch-hunt against foreign workers - but it can also develop into a class (rather than nationalist) based struggle against unemployment and pay cuts - and this is the current emphasis of the dispute.

[Catalpa]

Note the fact that the word "foreign" (above) is in quotes, the equivalent of a journalistic sneer.

Oh yes - in Madam's bubbleworld we are all European Citizens full stop.

[gnash1970]

[quote=bluefish;1396936]

Now how do you think I knew you were English? What an astoundingly lucky guess on my part. I'm betting you don't speak Irish either, eh Mr Bluefish? Or should I say the unmistakeable feenxp/dandyspencer/DrKildamore/planetX/expexs/DarkWatcher and, indeed, the self-bolstering irelandproud above. They just keep on coming.

Do you have a problem? I have no idea whom these people are. What is you deffinition of Irish? If you cant speak the language you cant be Irish? And No I dont speak Irish. I wish I could, but alas I was educated in the UK. But am I less Irish than you?

So your parents were Irish immigrants working in Britain, as were hundreds of thousands of other Irish people, but now you complain about other foreign people working in Britain. Does this not seem hypocritical to you? If Britain had operated a policy of "British jobs for British people" your parents would have needed to travel a bit further and you'd most likely be talking with a Boston accent. That's Boston, MA. Not your beloved Boston, Lincs.

I really don't want to discuss my parents. They have nothing to do with you nor have any contribution to this thread.

But I will say this, My parents like me hold 2 passports. British & Irish.

The British government gave them like many other Irish a passport declaring them subjects of the country. So No they were not immigrants.

I was born in London which provided me with British Citizenship. I Left the UK many years ago and moved to Ireland. Now as my family come from Ireland, and I have lived here for well over 20 years I consider my myself Irish. I always have.

And if you'd read what I posted correctly you would know that the answer to the question "How much have we given Europe?" is "€55 billion less than they've given us". Indeed nobody forced them to give to us that money. It came because we joined a community. You may think that allowing EU nationals to work here represents bad value for all that, but it also allows Irish people to work anywhere in the EU as hundreds of thousands have done and will continue to do.

Yes we joined a community. But that community already promotes a unfair disadvantage to us compared to larger nations such as France or Germany.

The big nations moved the goalposts and stopped immigrants from the new EU states of eastern Europe from working all over Europe. This is unfair to the new states, and was unfair to us. It created a surge of immigrants to the only outlet their was. Ireland, Britain and Sweden.

What agreements did we have to make for the €55 Billion? None. It was given to us in good faith to help grow Ireland.

That doesnt mean we should simply bow down and allow Ireland to be dictated to by Europe.

If you'd like to live in a country where "Johnny Foreigner" (are you sure you're Irish, 'mate'?) is at a disadvantage you should consider what the likely outcome of such a policy, reciprocated by all other EU countries, would be


Why do we need immigrants?

To do the jobs the Irish wont?

Who did these jobs before the new EU states joined Ireland?

Why not have a Visa system where we recruit people we actually do need, and not the ones taking jobs from the rest of the nation.

How do you think I knew you were English? How did I know you that you can't speak Irish? I knew you were the constantly reinvented feenxp/irelandproud/dandyspencer/expexs/DrKildamore etc because you always write in the same semi-literate non-sentences and you always crop up on topics of immigration. You've been banned more times than you've read a book and you're a proven liar and fantasist, inventing stories about immigrants and police raids and visits to Australia and Tesco's policy of sneaking inside tips to Polish applicants and hiring blacks on the spot.

Your understanding of how the EU works is not very clever - the big nations did not move the goalposts, we decided to allow accession citizens to work here, the workers involved in the Total dispute are from Italy and Portugal and have been entitled to work in Britain for more than twenty years, if you join a community that bankrolls you to the tune of €55 billion there will be some responsibilities attached but anyway, the entitlement of other workers to come here is reciprocated. Irish workers can, have and continue to work in countries across the EU.

If Britain were to restrict jobs to British people only what do you think would happen to the hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens living there? Should they come back here to work? As an English immigrant here should you be entitled to work in this country? And if you don't regard people from ex-British colonies as immigrants then I assume you have no problem with the millions of black and Asian British passport holders that the BNP would like to "repatriate", right? Your position is illogical, economicallly suicidal, uninformed and unfair.

[Catalpa]

Given the fact that a member of the Socialist Party in England (sister party of the Socialist Party in Ireland) is a member of the strike committee involved - I think I have much better information into the intentions of these workers than you do. Don't believe everything you read in the papers or see on TV. The right-wing within the media have been consciously pumping up the issue in line with Brown's statement last week and are doing their utmost to divide workers on ethnic lines in order to prepare the way for job cuts, pay cuts and cuts in services. The potential does exist for this to turn into a witch-hunt against foreign workers - but it can also develop into a class (rather than nationalist) based struggle against unemployment and pay cuts - and this is the current emphasis of the dispute.

'the fact that a member of the Socialist Party in England (sister party of the Socialist Party in Ireland) is a member of the strike committee involved'

Interesting.

Will you be leading out the Irish Workers in sympathy strikes too then?

maybe with placards that read:

'Irish Jobs for Irish Workers'.

[Thac0man]

Given the fact that a member of the Socialist Party in England (sister party of the Socialist Party in Ireland) is a member of the strike committee involved - I think I have much better information into the intentions of these workers than you do. Don't believe everything you read in the papers or see on TV. The right-wing within the media have been consciously pumping up the issue in line with Brown's statement last week and are doing their utmost to divide workers on ethnic lines in order to prepare the way for job cuts, pay cuts and cuts in services. The potential does exist for this to turn into a witch-hunt against foreign workers - but it can also develop into a class (rather than nationalist) based struggle against unemployment and pay cuts - and this is the current emphasis of the dispute.

Thats a nice way of spinning it, but it seems your Socilaist Chum on the strike committee is out of touch with the workers. In every interview I have seen with strikers, placards are being waved demanding British jobs for British workers. A simular message has been echoed by those waving said placards.

No amount of preaching about "class struggle" is going to put bread on the table of British workers families in the near term. No one can pretend that this issue is about anything more than nationalist protectionism. This is already a witch hunt and a long ignored section of society (predominently white working class males) are making their voice heard.

Champaign Socilaists endorsed the EU laws regarding migrant labour to further and broaden their own influance. Up until the Irish Ferries debacle in this country SIPTU were still championing the rights of foreign workers. Since then they have led the charge in the opposite direction. British socilaists it seems are belatedly waking up to reality they helped create.

We have had a couple of decades of a Leftist EU, and there is no escaping that fact. Washy Socialist parties in the UK and Ireland are not going to be able to bend the will of workers or those threatened with unemployment to their own ends.

[truthfinder]

Gnash1970 - Down with this sort of thing.

[Cael]

These workers are being brought into Britain because they are cheaper than the natives. Thats the only reason. British people are just stupid if they allow themselves to be run out of their own country by greedy gombeens. What did they bother fighting Hitler for?

[JollyRedGiant]

Thats a nice way of spinning it, but it seems your Socilaist Chum on the strike committee is out of touch with the workers.

If that was the case he wouldn't have been elected as one of six people to represent 1700 strikers. Remember the media can be very selective (to put it mildly) about what they broadcast.

[Catalpa]

If that was the case he wouldn't have been elected as one of six people to represent 1700 strikers. Remember the media can be very selective (to put it mildly) about what they broadcast.

Which media outlets are you referring to?