Article from the June 2007 issue of the Socialist
newspaper of the Socialist Party, Irish section of the CWI

Water Charges... Cuts... Privatisation
The things they all agree on

Ciaran Mulholland

The new Executive has adopted an unashamed neo-liberal tone from the outset. Politicians from all the main parties, prominent business people and commentators all agree that business pays too much tax and that working people don’t pay enough. All agree that we are "too dependent" on the public sector and our salvation lies in private sector growth.

Their solution is clear: carrots for business in the form of low tax rates and other incentives and bribes to do business here, and the stick for working people in the form of higher taxes and charges, the active promotion of a low wage economy and the shrinkage of the public sector through job cuts and privatisation.

The Executive will not improve the day-to-day lives of working class people. Direct Rule ministers initiated huge attacks on living standards and on the public sector before they handed over the reins of power.

A further round of privatisation of public assets has begun. Workplace 2010 involves the selling off of government buildings which are then rented back from private companies at exorbitant prices and more and more hospitals and school buildings are being built through the Private Finance Initiative. The Review of Public Administration (RPA) will lead to major job losses. An effective pay freeze has been imposed on most public sector workers. Widespread school closures are imminent.

In response to this onslaught, the local establishment politicians have issued a few muted words of criticism or said nothing at all. It is absolutely clear that the main local parties will continue to implement these policies.

The priorities of the main parties are not the same as the priorities of most working class people. The two Unionist parties want to retain academic selection at age 11 and are likely to push hard on this issue in the Assembly and the Executive. All the parties are keen to cushion business from the imposition of the full business rate. All the parties are keen to see a rates’ cap for people on fixed incomes who live in houses with a high rateable value.

The key social issue facing the Executive will be water charges. None of the Assembly parties have committed themselves to the abolition of water charges. They may come up with "concessions", reducing the level of the charges, phasing them in over five or even ten years, or introducing meters more widely. Any such concessions will be unacceptable.

Working people cannot rely on the sectarian parties. They can only rely on their own strength. The imposition of water charges must be met by organised mass non-payment in all areas. Similarly attacks on public services and on public service workers must be resisted. We need to build for a day of action, including strike action, to defend pubic services.

The existence of the Executive can have one unexpected benefit; despite its sectarian makeup it can unite working class communities – in opposition to its policies!