The Electricians are Revolting!

The good people over at the TEEU announced last week that they are going on strike as of this morning and strike they have. If anyone was listening to The Right Hook on June 19th this wouldn't have been too much of a shock as George had a rather perturbing interview with the charming General Secretary of the TEEU, Eamon Devoy.

George seemed perplexed as to what was going on and wanted some answers from Eamon. What could be the cause of a Union going on strike while our economy lies in tatters and things set to get far worse, George wondered? Surely it must be some serious exploitation, some unconscionable action forced on an individual or a small group of workers, something despicable of GAMA-esque proportions?

Nope. The electricians want an 11% pay increase.

So while our economy lies in tatters, with nearly half a million people unemployed in the state, wage decreases of 10% almost across the board in the private sector and pension levies abounding in the public sector, the TEEU is looking for a pay increase.

Ok...

George put these points to the bauld Eamon but the TEEU General Secretary, clearly an old hand at the cut and thrust of radio debates was more than prepared with a quick comeback to George's tough question. "Well, the reality here is that the electrician's pay is agreed outside of all the national agreement processes, there's a specific arrangement for the electricians."

Ah, right a specific agreement, that's okay then. Clearly this specific agreement, which exempts the electricians from the prevailing market conditions affecting everyone else in the economy, is called crack cocaine. (Or whatever the hallucinogen of choice among trade unionists is at the moment.)

George was worried about the number of electricians who were unemployed, or risked facing unemployment in the coming months but Eamon, General Secretary of the Electricians Union remember, said that he didn't know as it was "impossible to understand" the number of electricians employed or unemployed in Ireland, but that it was something they had been trying to do for quite some time.

Aha. I see, I see. The problem here it seems is that you're an idiot.

It gets better. Eamon went onto say that the TEEU were in the "happy position" that their union had increased in number by 600 since the start of the year. Failing to see that an increase in the number of members in a union mean has nothing to do with employment, Eamon seems to believe that this meant there were more electricians employed at present.

(After all, why bother to join a union during a building boom when all is going well? Once the economy in general and the construction sector in particular starts to implode however, you'll pay your unions subs.)

The most surreal moment in the interview occurred when Eamon, clearly thinking that he was back in the 1980's, threatened to grind the Irish construction industry to a halt. George, along with anyone else who has been reading something other than The Sun for the last year or so, wasn't quite sure as to what to say;

"Sorry, did I hear you right? You're suggesting that the construction will grind to a halt? I thought that was past tense! I thought it had ground to a halt? What houses are being built?"

Eamon of course had all the answers, though he wasn't quite getting the question George was asking: "It's not just houses George, your own Rugby ground is under construction at the moment... That'll be grinding to a halt on the 6th of July."

Ah yes, the 'them' and 'us' of the 1980's, because everyone knows that George is a rugby fan he wouldn't care a jot about the common man who of course is only interested in an honest workers game like soccer, which of course is played at... Oh, right.

Failing to see that there is an economic downturn is one thing, putting his own members jobs in danger is one thing (although if I were an electrician I wouldn't be too happy with my representatives) but things took a turn for the worse when Eamon started listing the businesses that his members were to start picketing, amongst them Intel and Microsoft.

Fantastic Eamon, the country is going to hell in a hand basket and you're going to start disrupting the business of the last remaining multinationals in the country. Perhaps, with your help we might be able to persuade the good people at Intel and Microsoft to head off to Poland as well.

More recently the bauld Eamon showed up on Morning Ireland on Friday. Aine Lawlor pulled no punches; "We've just heard a discussion of how bad things are in the economy... you're looking for an 11% pay increase when you know people are suffering pay cuts, if they're keeping their jobs. Otherwise, they're adding to those dole queues. It it not... ridiculous to be talking about a strike for a pay increase in that context?"

A fair point and one that Eamon as is his wont, failed uterly to answer. It got all the more surreal when Aine asked what about solidarity with their fellow workers in trade unions, whose jobs would be put at risk if the TEEU went on strike. The inability to understand the question highlighted the blinkered vista of Devoy and his agenda when he shot back, "this has nothing to do with the trade union Solidarity." You couldn't make this stuff up...

Let me be clear on a few issues: I am not supporting the CIF or their woefully inept and extremely dodgy president Tom Parlon. Property developers have some very serious questions to answer for nearly bankrupting this country, as do our government of the last 12 years who fiddled while Rome burned, the bankers who funded the whole debacle with the money of others, and of course the trade unions who were more interested with getting plush jobs on the boards of Fás, Aer Lingus and the Central Bank to match their six figure salaries than they were interested in the 'common worker'.

The CIF in short, rank in my estimation about the same as their buddies in the PD's and Fianna Fáil who have overseen an economic and social implosion not seen since the 1930's (i.e. not very high.)

Trade Unions are, however, as corrupt as any other institution listed here and seem to care not a whit for the unemployed or soon to be unemployed, only seeking to justify their own Celtic Tiger wage levels.

The effect of today’s strike will be to put even more jobs at risk, to further copper-fasten our image as a basket-case economy in the eyes of foreign investment (the only form of investment left) and to further hasten the sadly inevitable bankruptcy of Ireland. I can't see the public at large being particularly supportive of the TEEU members.

Tell you what lads, whenever you're done striking and you realise that €41,000 per annum plus overtime is a lot better than the €11k you'll get on social welfare we'll see how quick you are to moan. While you're drawing social welfare in the newly decimated Irish economy, Eamon and his fellow union leaders will still have their six figure jobs and their cushy pensions.

And can the last one out of the country please turn off the lights?