Calls for the trade union movement to support the anti-bin charges campaign were firmly rejected yesterday by the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr David Begg. Chris Dooley and Joe Humphreys report.
In a strongly worded condemnation of the campaign, Mr Begg said it could lead to privatisation of refuse collection services and a loss of jobs. He also urged the jailed Socialist Party politicians, Mr Joe Higgins TD and Cllr Clare Daly, to purge their contempt of the High Court and "cool things down".
"They are wrong to be leading ordinary working people into a cul de sac of imprisonment in pursuit of a political objective."
His comments came amid threats of a further escalation of protests after nine campaigners walked free from the High Court yesterday when a judge decided not to fine or jail them for alleged contempt of court.
Mr Justice Dan Herbert said he would make no order against them as he had sufficient doubt as to whether or not they realised they were actually committing a contempt of court when they were arrested on Tuesday during protests against bin charges. The nine were part of a group of 11 who had been detained by gardaí and brought to court on foot of an order directing the Garda Commissioner to arrest anyone who, having knowledge of the existence of court restraints, continued to impede Fingal County Council's waste collection service.
Fingal Anti-Bin Tax Campaign described the ruling as a victory for protesters, and pledged further disruption to services in the coming days. Fingal County Council said gardaí would continue to enforce an order prohibiting such protests.
Shop stewards of one union, the TEEU, which represents maintenance workers with local authorities, last night called on the Dublin Council of Trade Unions to hold an emergency meeting to discuss what action should be taken.
Mr Begg said trade unions were concerned about "the obvious inconsistency in the treatment of ordinary working people by comparison to the rich and powerful whose activities have come to public notice in recent years".
But he said the anti-bin charge campaign did not have the support of the ICTU. Congress, he said, "strongly objects to union members who are council employees being obstructed in the course of their work and householders being inconvenienced and exposed to health hazards as a result of uncollected rubbish. It believes that the campaign may ultimately lead to privatisation of bin collections and a potential loss of jobs."
Political activists like Mr Higgins and Ms Daly had a responsibility to calm the situation, he said. "Having raised the bin charges issue to national prominence, they should purge their contempt and urge their supporters to do likewise."
The Socialist Party politicians were jailed for a month last Friday for defying an injunction prohibiting them from obstructing refuse collections in Dublin.Campaign spokeswoman Ms Ruth Coppinger criticised Mr Begg's remarks, saying the trade union movement should back up its "official position against the bin charges" with "appropriate action".
The Socialist Party councillor urged trade unions to organise work stoppages to demand the release of Mr Higgins and Ms Daly.
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, accused the Opposition of "Sinn Féin-speak". Labour Party TD Mr Eamon Gilmore replied that the Minister "must be suffering from sunstroke".
In the US, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said Mr Higgins was protesting about "having to pay €5 a week for a tag so that refuse can be collected every week. If you think that's too high, check the price in other countries."