This is a class war, workers unite to tell Government
PUBLIC and private sector workers walked side-by-side in demonstrations across the country yesterday.
For three hours teachers, plasterers, firemen and students were adamant that employers and Government would not succeed in creating a divide between those paid by the taxpayer and those who are not.
The real fight, they said, was between the rich and the poor.
One private-sector worker is Declan Ryan from Malahide. Most days, Declan walks the streets of Dublin city centre, coaxing tourists to make their way to the wax museum. Yesterday, he walked the same streets in protest at the Government.
The 22-year-old graduated from college having studied film and literature. But little work in the film industry meant that he was glad to take the job as the town crier for the wax museum.
He was among the thousands yesterday who gathered at Merrion Square to deliver a message to the Government that the greedy, not the needy, are the ones who should pay.
"It's time for change to be honest. It's the same problem for decades.
"There's them and there's everyone else. I am paying enough tax already, so why should we have to pay more when politicians and the wealthy take very little.
"We seem to be voting in the same people again and again and nothing is changing. The problems we are facing now are the same problems as we have had before.
"For me, the film industry is always the first to get the chop. I'm just glad to be where I am."
The real divide, he said, was not between public and private sector workers but between the wealthy and the working class.
Beside him, secondary school teacher Shane O Ciardubhain had travelled from Carlow as part of the Teachers' Union of Ireland delegation.
Security
As an employee of the state, Shane enjoys far more job security, pension entitlements and probably better pay than Declan. But for yesterday at least, the public and private sectors were united.
"We've had the pension levy, call it what you like. There is a myth that only the private sector took the cuts. That's just not true.
"Some are trying to say that there is conflict between the private and public sectors. The truth is, we're all feeling the pinch. And the less money I have as a public-sector worker, the less money I have for the shops in the private sector."
The Irish economics teacher believes the Government has embarked on the wrong strategy. He believes that simplistic arguments made about NAMA don't work, and the last thing we need is to take billions out of the economy by investing it in risky ventures.
- Aidan O'Connor
Irish Independent
