to discuss unification of Ireland. Congress of Trade Unions. for partition within the unions. On the unions and unity.
the unity of the Irish working class. ANNUR London Transport District Council delegation has just concluded a visit to the of a decision by the Irish Transport and General workers Union to make overtures to unions in Britain, and the British Labour The TUC had urged unions to send delegations to Ireland following the NUR's . The delegation was the result. A member of the NUR delegation reports on the delegation and its findings.
NATIONAL unity is a hot potato for Irish trades union leaders. They fear this issue could split the movement, leading to mass defections or split-offs in the North. Written and unwritten agreements that the division of Ireland cannot be discussed means a de facto loyalist veto exists inside the labour movement. This obstacle came up time and trade unionists, including the general secretaries of 'the biggest unions, but one of our first experiences was the evasion of any meeting by officials of the Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the Irish This represents the concern to keep partition off the agenda at al - a backdoor method of supporting loyalists. Whether or not it is discussed, the realit! of partition affects the working lives of the Irish partition ensures massive discrimination in jobs The Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Ac • discrimination against Catholics in the six counties as equal rights legislation has been in removing discrimination against women workers in Britain! The problem does not just affect notoriously big. goted firms such as Shorts and Harland and Wolff - who between them make up about a third of the industrial workforce in the North. 'Modern' employers, who are unable to use old traditions as an excuse, carry on discriminating. A survey published a few weeks ago revealed that only 17 per cent of building society employees were The so-called 'Progressive' Society employs only 2 per cent of Catholics!
Of course, we should keep a sense of balance 'I wouldn't want you to think the building societies money!' we were told by a Falls Road Communit refusal of the British and Irish based trade unions to take up these issues amounts to covert support Schemes such as 'A Better Life For All' which have been supported are doomed to failure. Official studies into the economy of the six counties have concluded that social unrest, high transport costs and a small consumer market lie behind the A principled trade union leadership could not delegation met rank and file trade union activists as well as top leaders, who presented a variety of justifications for not taking on the loyalist veto other hand they applauded the position of the NUR for Irish unity.
Labour Party which would isolate loyalism inside the unions and/or lead to a Labour Government naming the date for withdrawal. So long as the British labour bureaucracy is able to point to their members in the North of Ireland and the effective support of the status quo by the Irish trade union movement such an initiative will be The fact that the NUR pulled out of Ireland in 1952 so that, as Jimmy Knapp puts it 'in the Irish Association you can get on with your business of uniting the Irish working class' has meant that the basis was laid for the NUR itself supporting Irish Over thirty years later we should call for other unions to follow this example instead of be ing content to take the 'benefits' from discrimina tion and sectarianism in the name of support y