Please circulate this Update to All Trade Union Members in your area for their information Colleagues There are a wide range of events being held to commemorate the Dublin Lockout of 1913 and I am urging All Trade Union Members especially in Dublin to join in supporting the wide range of events that will take place over the coming months. The threat by William Martin Murphy a leading Dublin businessman and boss of the Dublin United Tramway Company to sack any Worker who refused to disown and leave the Irish Transport and General Workers Union was carried out 100 years ago this last week. On August 26th (next Monday) the ITGWU went on Strike with the Trams coming to halt on the streets of Dublin. James Larkin and other Trade Unionists were arrested. The following Sunday (August 31st) Larkin addressed a Protest Rally in O’Connell Street (then known as Sackville Street). The Police baton charged the crowd and in the disturbances and riots that followed up to 600 people were injured. This became known as (the first) ‘Bloody Sunday’. The day before, during disturbances following the arrest of James Connolly two men were fatally injured by the police near Liberty Hall. These historic days 100 years ago marked the start of a dispute which lasted into early 2014 and during which the ruthless suppression of the workers and their families not only encapsulated the birth of the Irish Trade Union Movement but became a defining moment of the Irish Revolution. A full programme of events is set out on 1913committee.ie. These include: • An Post Commemorative Stamps available from all post offices • An Exhibition in the National Library, Kildare Street opened Wednesday 21st August • 1913 Lockout Tapestry to be launched September 18th • A School’s Programme • A play by ANU ‘Thirteen for Thirteen’ as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival in September • Exhibition of Trade Unions’ Badges and Banners in the National Museum Collins Barracks • A National State Commemoration on Saturday 31st of August from 12.30 to 1.30 at the Larkin Statue in O’Connell Street. This will be attended by the President, Michael D Higgins. • The event will be followed by a re-enactment of ‘Bloody Sunday’ and Members in Dublin who would be interested in participating in the re-enactment should follow the instructions set out in the leaflet ‘1913 - 2013 Reliving the Dublin Lockout’. Individual Branches especially in Dublin are also encouraged to make a contribution towards the costs of the re-enactment by making a donation from Branch Funds to the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU). In so many ways the Trade Union Movement now faces the uncertain future faced by our Comrades 100 years ago. The Lockout technically ended in defeat for the unions. But spurred on by the events of 1913 the Union and its Members rose to the challenge of defeat and Membership soared from the 30,000 Members it had in 1913 to over 120,000 in 1918. The Dublin Lockout of 1913 was not the end of trade unionism in Ireland but the start of a great struggle which led to huge successes and victories for workers in the years and decades ahead. Although it is hard to see that future for Our Movement now let us learn from the struggles of 100 years ago and Re-Build Our Movement in the years ahead! Let us rally to Our Unions and Build Better Unions!
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 17:10:49 +0000
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