Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg this yesterday, Joe expressed his support for today’s public sector strike. Here is his speech.

‘Low paid civil servants, nurses, teachers and local authority workers and others are sick if being scapegoated and made to pay for a crisis they did not create. I want to declare in this European Parliament my warmest support for the workers.

The Irish Government has no mandate for the savage cuts it is carrying out. I urge workers generally to extend the action to bring down this Government and force a General Election.’

EU Council and Commission Also Culpable

Joe Higgins accused the EU Council of Prime Ministers and the EU Commission of also being culpable by pushing for cuts in Ireland. He continued; ‘These institutions have even less credibility today as a result of another cynical deal between the European Peoples Party and the Social Democrats for the Presidency of the Council and for appointing a High Representative for Foreign Affairs who was never elected to a popular assembly but derives her position by being appointed to a chamber of feudal fossils as a result of being a British Labour Party trustee.’

Joe Higgins finished by declaring that European workers generally have to stand up and fight with their own power and cannot rely on a neoliberal assembly like the Euro Parliament

The Socialist Party is campaigning for a 48 hour public sector strike as the next step in the battle to defeat the government’s attacks. It has also called on the union movement to broaden out the campaign to include stopping pay and job cuts in the private sector and the need to build towards a 24 hour general strike of all workers.

CHECK OUT OTHER RELATED ARTICLES:

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3. Union leaders discuss sell out despite historic strike
4. Speech in Euro Parliament on Lisbon Result & Aer Lingus Job Cuts
5. Joe Higgins reports from the public sector picket lines