A-Infos (en) Ireland, Anarchist Workers Solidarity 114 - Public Service Work-To-Rule by Gregor Kerr

What game are the trade union leaders playing? ---- Since the middle of January civil and 
public servants have engaged in a work-to-rule in an attempt to force a reversal of the 
pay cuts announced by the government in the December budget. Across the country workers in 
government offices, colleges, schools, hospitals etc. are taking action, which they hope 
will result in a change of government policy. ---- Up to 300,000 public service workers 
have had their pay cut by up an average of 16% (‘pension levy’ + income levy + pay cut) in 
just over 12 months and they are rightly angry. They know that the wealthy that caused the 
financial crisis are getting off scot-free and that government policy is all about making 
ordinary workers shoulder the cost of the bank bailout, NAMA etc.

It is against this background that the current action is taking place. But while there is 
an obvious need for a fightback by ordinary workers against these attacks on our living 
standards, serious questions exist about the nature of the current industrial action.

Firstly, it appears clear that this action is very limited in its scope and seems unlikely 
to have any real impact on government policy. When the trade union movement took a day’s 
strike action across the public service on 24th November, we were in a strong position and 
we’d shown our potential. But this was completely undermined by the subsequent actions of 
the trade union leadership. (See ‘Trade unionists betrayed by leadership’ from Workers 
Solidarity 113 http://www.wsm.ie/story/6321).

If a serious campaign of opposition to government attacks is to be mounted, it will have 
to involve ongoing and intensive strike action building towards a national strike of all 
public servants and leading on to a general strike which will unite public and private 
sector workers against the government and the wealthy. There is no indication that the 
current limited industrial action will be built upon to formulate such a campaign.

There is however a more fundamental worry about the current action. There is a huge gap 
between the agenda being pursued by ordinary trade unionists engaged in the work-to-rule 
and the agenda of the trade union leadership who appear more and more unaccountable and 
removed from the democratic control of the members. Ask any public servant what the 
objective of the current action is and s/he will be clear that it is to force the reversal 
of December’s pay cuts. Ask any public servant for his/her view on the so-called 
‘transformation agenda’ which was ‘agreed’ in the pre-budget talks and you’ll find out 
that there is absolutely no support for it and that it is seen for what it is – an 
unprecedented attack on the rights and conditions of workers which reverses many of the 
gains made by the unions over several decades.

However, the attitude of the Public Service Committee of ICTU is somewhat different. Peter 
McLoone, Jack O’Connor et al believe that the ‘transformation agenda’ is the goal of the 
current industrial action. They are of the view that we should be attempting to get back 
to the deal, which was ‘agreed’ and then un-agreed in the days before the budget. Rather 
than seeing the ‘transformation agenda’ as the attack on members’ working conditions that 
it is, they attempt to peddle it as a modernising step forward. But what they haven’t done 
is put this ‘goal’ to a vote of the members and looked for a mandate for the views they 
espouse.

Neither do they even see the reversal of the December pay cuts as an objective of the 
current action. Indeed it seems as if they’re itching to get back into talks with 
government on the ‘transformation agenda’ in the hope that this will avoid even further 
pay cuts in the 2011 Budget. However if they’ve learned anything from the past few months 
it should surely be that even the act of participating in such talks will be an invitation 
to the government to put the boot in even more.

Only one thing will reverse current government policy – a campaign of strong and 
determined strike action. This is not the agenda being pursued by the trade union leaders 
so are we simply being toyed with by the current work-to-rule? While recognising that 
union members are taking action and that this may result in increased confidence in some 
workplaces, should we be telling the union leaders that we are no longer willing to be 
pawns in their agenda? We should be taking control of our unions and imposing our own 
agenda of outright opposition to all attempts to blame ordinary workers for the financial 
crisis.


 http://www.wsm.ie/
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