Dunnes Strike "social Partnership" Seized from the Jaws of Solidarity

The Dunnes strike broke aii the ruies. You can’t call strikes. You can’t win strikes. You can’t get public support. You can’t organise part-time workers. You can’t organise young workers. It turns out that all these things are possible. That [rish workers don’t accept the Thatcherite logic of jobs at any price. The mobilisation that occurred around Dunnes was therefore a significant step forward for the working class.

It also showed the problems workers will face in taking further steps forward. The Freudian slip of the hour was a comment by ICTU spokesperson Kevin Dufiv: “the trade union movement Wants to win this dispute’. Workers badiy needed to know that the trade union leadership wanted to win something, following a litany of treachery and sabotage that have torpedoed tightbacks at TEAM, Irish Steel, Packard and many more. So right from the start there was an alliance. One the one hand we had young and newly unionised workers willing to put their jobs on the line to avoid a further deterioration in working condiuons. On the other hand a trade union bureaucracy that in the name of social partnership had routinely sold out its members.

### SOLIDARITY

Union reps and shop stewards in Mandate had worked hard over a long period to show that young part-ume workers could be unionised. A new offensive by Dunnes showed thai Uhey were pushing against an open door. Faced with zero-hour contracts and seven-day-a-week fiexibie working. with full-time work vantshing as an opuion. they felt their backs were to the wall and that they had nothing to lose. Their strike unleashed an udal wave of solidarity. Young people know that Dunnes are a typical rather than an cxcepuonal employer. Older workers know that their children are facing the same bullying. low-wage “Hexibie” regime and that workers across the country face employers secking competiuve advantage by clawing buck every gain in living standards and working conditions buill up over gencrations of sirmugygic.

But what of the ICTU bureaucracy? They had forced capitulation by workers across the country. Why this sudden need to win a struggic? The answer is that Dunnes had committed a crime. They had refused to join the “social partnership” ciub. As members thes could have negouated with the unions, yonc to the Labour Reiations Commission or Labour Court and stutched up a deal. A seuiemeni can aiways be found that wili divide and break the soiidanty of workers without mecting ticir demands.

### JOINING THE CLUB

Se the spontaneous solidarity of the wu orking class had Dunnes reciing within hours of the simke drcukine our. They had prepared plans for an extended'strike but threw in the towel] within days when they saw the size of the Tevolt against them. But the leadership of the strike was far lrom being young and spontaneous. ]t was the same old crew who had sold out before. There was no attempt to push forward against a weakened enemy - straight to the iabour coun and then toa ballot. A relieved management found that they had to give relatively Irttle as long as they joined the social partnership ciub.

A key element of the iabour court deal represents a big probiem for workers. Ji sects up a tnbunai of one company nominee, one [CTU representative and one so-called independent chair to arbitrate on fulure disputes. This tibunai is heavily loaded against the worklorce and ts no different {rom what Margaret Heffernan of Dunnes called for before the stnke began. The workers have win trade union nghts. but when Dunnes begin to claw back they will find that their righi to take industnaj action has been deloured through [CTU and through a long and tedious bureaucratic process for arbitration.

### SELL-OUT

ICTU has a terrible record on these sori of arbitration panels. [t regularly sells out workers and tf they try to take acuion their so-called representatives are on the other side ol the barncades supporting the employers and portraying them as unreasonabic.

Dunnes has shown us thal class acuon and mass solidarits are not some mad dream of the far lent. A significant layer of young part-ume workers have been unionised and have Won a partial victory against a major employers. The fact that over 900 voted agauinsi the final deal shows the level of militancy present. Now comes the hard slog. We necd real rank - and - file organisation and a programme [for union democracy, against social partnership and for full employmentand a living wage. Too many on the left of the trade unions are blinding themselves to the real united action needed.

For A Workers Republic. Page 12