1 May 1997 Edition
Workers in struggle: Tiger roars on workers' backs
Have you been blessed by the miracle of the Celtic Tiger? Don't worry, you are one of the many who live in the so-called Tiger economy but have been bypassed by the benefits of the economic turnaround achieved over the last decade in the 26 Counties.
For over two years this column has been exploding the media hyped myth of the Celtic Tiger. It is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of people's experiences.
The Celtic Tiger is a media-spun fairytale which ignores those who do not enjoy the benefits of a boom economy. The Celtic Tiger is a place where at least one in three children have been forgotten, not to mention their families. Tens of thousands of workers have been overlooked by the Tiger miracle as have the unemployed and the low paid.
How do you measure this miracle tiger? Well-accepted practice among the economic consultants and their media cousins is to measure the increase in wealth achieved in the 26 Counties over the past decade and then make a forecast for coming years. You don't have to worry about who is getting the wealth, or how it is distributed. The only brief seems to be to ensure that nothing rocks the boat in future years to spoil the good times we are all enjoying.
What are the causes of this economic miracle? According to the Economic and Social Research Institute ,whose glowing medium term forecast for the 26 County economy is the latest chapter in the ongoing tiger tale, there is no single factor that can explain our economic turnaround.
They do point up some interesting contributions to the miracle. The wage restraint of workers over the past decade is one reason. Another crucial factor is the role of education in producing workers who can create wealth for their employers.
What about those not working in the Tiger economy? Unemployment has only begun to fall in the last six months and will, according to the ESRI, only continue to fall slowly for the next decade to a rate of 7% by the year 2005.
Put simply, the current economic success was created on the backs of Irish workers who watched their wages and living standards at best stand still over the past ten years and are now being asked for more of the same. It is a cult of hyping economic sucesses while ignoring the more glaring economic failures and systematic inequalities of our society.
For example, the ESRI are worried about wage inflation, because of excessive expectations of workers. There is no mention of the years of huge wage increases in executive salaries paid out while Irish workers had to restrain their wage demands for the national good.
The ESRI report forecasts that the 26 Counties will reach the EU average standard of living by 2005, but what does this mean? A Eurostat survey published this week showed that 28% of 26-county children are living in poverty. Only Britain had a worse figure. Is this what we want the Celtic Tiger to deliver for us?
The role of education in producing better trained and more productive workers is mentioned in the ESRI report. However, there is no mention of the huge inequities in the education system. For instance there is no mention of a survey published in March which showed that almost half of all primary schools are unable to pay for their running costs and that there is a 20% gap between the level of government funding and the actual running costs of secondary schools.
Such details are never raised when discussing the Celtic Tiger fairytale. There is no doubt that massive wealth is being produced in the 26 Counties. This is not new. This is simply the continuation of a trend begun under the yoke of British imperialism, where the elite harvested the vast bulk of wealth leaving the crumbs for the rest of us. It seems that some people, including many economists, cannot face this reality. Until they do there will always be someone peddling paper tigers.
Dunnes workers miss payouts
The evidence presented at the McCracken tribunal of Ben Dunne's bottomless generosity was striking for its omissions. It seems that the workers at Dunnes were never included in Ben's payouts. There were no tales of bonuses for Dunnes workers who helped create Ben's millions in the first place.
One wonders did Ben, upon seeing an unhappy worker on the shop floor, ever reach into that now famous breast pocket, produce the odd fifty thousand pound cheque and say, ``there's something for yourself''.
Montupet
Striking workers at Belfast's Montupet factory maintained their picket on the company's West Belfast plant after three hours of negotiations led to accusations of management bad faith
Finally, after two weeks of pickets the dispute will go into official arbitration. Gerry Adams accused management of prolonging the dispute. Montupet have sacked 20 workers and threatened to close the plant down if the 200 plus workers picketing do not return to work.
Register now
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) called this week for all unemployed people to ensure they are registered to vote in the forthcoming Leinster House election.
INOU chairperson Paul Billings said, ``If people are not registered, they should pick up an application form for inclusion in the Register of Electors when they go to the post office to pick up their social welfare payment this week.''
``Traditionally the turnout on polling day from areas of high unemployment has been low,'' said Billings. An increased vote could pressurise the incoming government to ``place unemployment as number one priority on the political agenda''.
For over two years this column has been exploding the media hyped myth of the Celtic Tiger. It is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of people's experiences.
The Celtic Tiger is a media-spun fairytale which ignores those who do not enjoy the benefits of a boom economy. The Celtic Tiger is a place where at least one in three children have been forgotten, not to mention their families. Tens of thousands of workers have been overlooked by the Tiger miracle as have the unemployed and the low paid.
How do you measure this miracle tiger? Well-accepted practice among the economic consultants and their media cousins is to measure the increase in wealth achieved in the 26 Counties over the past decade and then make a forecast for coming years. You don't have to worry about who is getting the wealth, or how it is distributed. The only brief seems to be to ensure that nothing rocks the boat in future years to spoil the good times we are all enjoying.
What are the causes of this economic miracle? According to the Economic and Social Research Institute ,whose glowing medium term forecast for the 26 County economy is the latest chapter in the ongoing tiger tale, there is no single factor that can explain our economic turnaround.
They do point up some interesting contributions to the miracle. The wage restraint of workers over the past decade is one reason. Another crucial factor is the role of education in producing workers who can create wealth for their employers.
What about those not working in the Tiger economy? Unemployment has only begun to fall in the last six months and will, according to the ESRI, only continue to fall slowly for the next decade to a rate of 7% by the year 2005.
Put simply, the current economic success was created on the backs of Irish workers who watched their wages and living standards at best stand still over the past ten years and are now being asked for more of the same. It is a cult of hyping economic sucesses while ignoring the more glaring economic failures and systematic inequalities of our society.
For example, the ESRI are worried about wage inflation, because of excessive expectations of workers. There is no mention of the years of huge wage increases in executive salaries paid out while Irish workers had to restrain their wage demands for the national good.
The ESRI report forecasts that the 26 Counties will reach the EU average standard of living by 2005, but what does this mean? A Eurostat survey published this week showed that 28% of 26-county children are living in poverty. Only Britain had a worse figure. Is this what we want the Celtic Tiger to deliver for us?
The role of education in producing better trained and more productive workers is mentioned in the ESRI report. However, there is no mention of the huge inequities in the education system. For instance there is no mention of a survey published in March which showed that almost half of all primary schools are unable to pay for their running costs and that there is a 20% gap between the level of government funding and the actual running costs of secondary schools.
Such details are never raised when discussing the Celtic Tiger fairytale. There is no doubt that massive wealth is being produced in the 26 Counties. This is not new. This is simply the continuation of a trend begun under the yoke of British imperialism, where the elite harvested the vast bulk of wealth leaving the crumbs for the rest of us. It seems that some people, including many economists, cannot face this reality. Until they do there will always be someone peddling paper tigers.
Dunnes workers miss payouts
The evidence presented at the McCracken tribunal of Ben Dunne's bottomless generosity was striking for its omissions. It seems that the workers at Dunnes were never included in Ben's payouts. There were no tales of bonuses for Dunnes workers who helped create Ben's millions in the first place.
One wonders did Ben, upon seeing an unhappy worker on the shop floor, ever reach into that now famous breast pocket, produce the odd fifty thousand pound cheque and say, ``there's something for yourself''.
Montupet
Striking workers at Belfast's Montupet factory maintained their picket on the company's West Belfast plant after three hours of negotiations led to accusations of management bad faith
Finally, after two weeks of pickets the dispute will go into official arbitration. Gerry Adams accused management of prolonging the dispute. Montupet have sacked 20 workers and threatened to close the plant down if the 200 plus workers picketing do not return to work.
Register now
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) called this week for all unemployed people to ensure they are registered to vote in the forthcoming Leinster House election.
INOU chairperson Paul Billings said, ``If people are not registered, they should pick up an application form for inclusion in the Register of Electors when they go to the post office to pick up their social welfare payment this week.''
``Traditionally the turnout on polling day from areas of high unemployment has been low,'' said Billings. An increased vote could pressurise the incoming government to ``place unemployment as number one priority on the political agenda''.