A new party 'of the working class'?

[sean1]

"At a recent meeting a campaign to build a new party of the working class has been launched by a number of groups and individuals.

The meeting which was held on the 12th of November in the Teachers Club, Dublin, was attended by around forty people from Dublin, Tipperary, Galway and Belfast. A number of organisations including the Tipperary Workers Action Group, Community and Workers Action Group (Dublin), Irish Socialist Network and individuals linked to Red Banner magazine, have backed this initiative. The meeting was addressed briefly by Seamus Healy TD (TWAG), Des Derwin (Vice President of Dublin Council of Trade Unions - personal capacity), Cllr. Joan Collins (CWAG).

A lenthy discussion led to agreement on a number of issues:

1. That a joint campaign to build a new party of working people would be launched by all those involved.

2. That this campaign would be known as the Campaign for an Independent Left.

3. The campaign would be based on eleven points of political agreement (see below).

4. That a steering committee would organise this campaign with two representatives of each organisation involved and a number of independent representatives.

5. That a series of public meetings would be held to open out a public debate on the need for a new party of working people.

6. That this initiative was not about setting up yet another small left organisation or exclusive grouping to rival already existing bodies and that the CIL would engage in discussions with other left groups/parties/individuals to advance this project.



The first public meeting of the Campaign for an Independent Left will be held in the Teachers Club, Dublin on Tuesday 6th December.

'Founding resolution of the Campaign for an Independent Left:

Campaign for an Independent Left
Building a new party of working people

The individuals and groups involved in the Campaign for an Independent Left are united by the common aim of a radical transformation of Irish society. We are committed to the struggle to build a society where working people democratically control all aspects of their lives—social, economic, cultural and political—and where the gap between rich and poor is eliminated.

To help achieve this transformation, we believe it is necessary to develop a new independent all-Ireland party of working people. By independent we mean a party that we will oppose in real terms the right wing pro capital parties, north and south, and will under no circumstances enter into government with them.

This will be a grassroots campaigning party—broad, pluralist, democratic, and with no agenda other than advancing the interests of working people. We now commit ourselves to campaigning for such a party, winning over people active in the labour movement, community campaigns, and the various movements for social justice to get involved in making it a reality.

The following are the initial points of basic political agreement that have brought us together to begin this process.

· No coalition with parties of the right, under any circumstances.

· Public ownership and democratic control of the country’s resources and services, so that they can be developed in the interests of working people and our environment. An end to the privatisation or commercialisation of public services.

· A comprehensive universal public health-care system. An end to all state subsidies for private health care.

· A free, secular education system, aimed at the full and equal development of each human being from pre-school to university. An end to all state subsidies for private education

· The provision of housing as a basic right

· A public transport system based on the needs of users, not profit, and the protection of the environment.

· A progressive taxation system that will redistribute wealth, making the rich pay their fair share, and lifting the burden of stealth and double taxes from working people.

· No to so-called “social partnership”. We want trade unions run democratically by their members, and fighting for their interests. Repeal all restrictive legislation against union activity. Unite Irish and migrant workers by fighting for basic trade union rights and conditions for all workers.

· We believe in equality and solidarity between all working people—men and women, black and white, Travellers and settled people, Catholic and Protestant. We will offer 100 per cent opposition to all forms of racism, sexism and sectarianism.

· We are for an inclusive, multi-cultural society with equal rights for all; asylum seekers should have the right to work.; for an end to deportations.; full citizenship for all children born in Ireland; work permits to be issued to workers and not employers.

· A foreign policy based on opposition to imperialism, and solidarity with those fighting for democracy, justice and peace, the re establishment and maintenance of military neutrality, opposition to an EU dominated by big business and for a Europe of solidarity between working people.

We appeal to all individuals and groups who share our vision of a new party of working people to contact us and help build it in practice'."
__________________________________________________ ________

Surely by being secularist within the Education system, and with no references to being Nationalist, this party would become another marginal group?

[mjcoughlan]

Another socialist party! Just what this country needs

[barthez]

"· No coalition with parties of the right, under any circumstances.

· We believe in equality and solidarity between all working people—men and women, black and white, Travellers and settled people, Catholic and Protestant. We will offer 100 per cent opposition to all forms of racism, sexism and sectarianism.

Surely a big contradiction there methinks. Anyway it doesn't matter. Ye will fail miserably. We live in the real world here - not in your free transport universal health blah blah utopia.

[morryah]

Jebus, whatever this is, I'm against it.

[newFF]

The teachers club...a famous haunt of the SWP wasnt it?

[Gladstone]

Another socialist party! Just what this country needs

For once I agree with you!
Another shower of arrogent bastards caliming to be the one party to speak for the working class, are SF, Labour, SWP, SP and poulist Indipendents not enough????

Funny that despite the working class making up the majority these guys never seem to exceed 20 seats, or in the case of a "real workers party" never get any at all...

[bobbysands81]

Another socialist party! Just what this country needs

For once I agree with you!
Another shower of arrogent bastards caliming to be the one party to speak for the working class, are SF, Labour, SWP, SP and poulist Indipendents not enough????

Funny that despite the working class making up the majority these guys never seem to exceed 20 seats, or in the case of a "real workers party" never get any at all...

That's all down to the media my friend.

Look at all the corruption and waste of taxpayers money that is happening in this country... yet people still vote in the same parties???

How anyone can be a member of the likes of Fianna Fail is beyond me.

[Gladstone]

Pasirh pump local populism thats why the vote for FF, you'll find it's also why they generally vote for "workers" parties, bin charges, water charges etc...in fact the SWP had that local issue on their general election posters!!!

It seems also that the more seats you get the less of a "Real" workers oarty you are.

Yes the current Centre-Right govt has pissed a load of money away, did it ever occur to you that we don't want to pay more taxes as it would just give the state even more money to piss away.

Before anyone argues that I'm being idological and saying that government is funamentally incompitant, look at the left wing plans for that money, yes some good things like an expanded medical card scheme, but they got waste ideas of their own like giving a billion to Aer Lingus, and SF's "support" "aid" "grants" aka corportate welfare, to small and native business.

[Pax]

Yes the current Centre-Right govt has pissed a load of money away, did it ever occur to you that we don't want to pay more taxes as it would just give the state even more money to piss away.

In the above subsitute taxes for "charges/stealth taxes" and state for private business.

Toll road, PPPs, inefficient private healthcare, childcare, private run trains and buses...they all have to paid for somehow wheter via tax or charges. The former can be a whole lot cheaper, more equitable (particularly for those on low and middle incomes) and efficient.

Before anyone argues that I'm being idological and saying that government is funamentally incompitant, look at the left wing plans for that money, yes some good things like an expanded medical card scheme, but they got waste ideas of their own like giving a billion to Aer Lingus, and SF's "support" "aid" "grants" aka corportate welfare, to small and native business.

Eh thats good development economics, look at New Zealand recently 1. Supporting infrastructural native businesses vital to the nation just makes sense. Now I don't support the large farmer/agri-corporate dole system but again this very government has spent millions on grants (albeit in a brown envelope manner as per usual) to what were small firms to rollout broadband..cough, Dermot Ahern, cough, Digiweb, Dundalk, CLAR scheme, County and Group Broadband Scheme, Enterprise Ireland grant.....


If the free market fantasists2) get their way we can expect the state to have to pay even more to subsidise various vital sectors.

1)See,
http://www.commondreams.org/views/081500-106.htm

New Zealand's Vaunted Privatization Push Devastated The Country, Rather Than Saving It

by Murray Dobbin

It has been so long since anyone in the business press has praised the New Zealand "miracle," it's almost as if we imagined the whole thing. But, of course, the current silence is really no mystery. The 15-year free market experiment has been an unmitigated disaster. The suffering caused among ordinary New Zealanders is well known: the highest youth suicide rate in the developed world; the proliferation of food banks; huge increases in violent and other crime; the bankruptcy of half the farms in the country; the economic disruption of hundreds of thousands of lives; health care, education and other social services devastated by the mad marketplace scientists. ....

2) http://www.fpif.org/papers/03trade/index.html

[Gladstone]

I don't think it's a mad idea to be against corporate welfare, regardless of the size of the busienss or what flag it flies.
You get into that game sooner or later everyone wants a few subsidies and you get into corruption and US style pork barreling (some of which, as you said, we have already).

There is a BIG case for state control of Healthcare and Education, I fully support it, and in fact as you yourself pointed out Universal HEalthcare can actually cost less.
But I really don't give a ************************ who runs the trains or busses as long as I can get where I'm going.

Many of the demands in the first post could EASILY be got through CURRENT centre-left parties.

But there are a few things that need more explanation:


1. How the hell does a RIGHT to housing work out in practice, does it mean that even if I can afford a private house the govt has to provide me with one?

2. · "Public ownership and democratic control of the country’s resources and services, so that they can be developed in the interests of working people and our environment. An end to the privatisation or commercialisation of public services".

As I said some things are run better by the private sector, that statement is very vauge, does that mean state runs thus has to pay for investment in Phone companies and Airlines?

What the hell does worker ownership mean anyway? Profit Sharing? or ownership of a place you work even if you didn't set it up or invest in it?

3. No coalition with parties that are not exactly like you means the party is permenantly out of govt, thus useless to the working class.