To the Editor, Right2Water have been responsible for mass mobilisations of people that are un-paralleled. The huge turn-outs in the last 3 months showed the Right2Water campaign had the ability to draw new forces into the resistance against the water charge. Already numbers are way ahead of any mobilisation that we could muster in the campaign against the household/property tax, either in Donegal or country-wide. For example the biggest mobilisation during that campaign locally was 2,500 people approx. in Letterkenny. Right2Water had up to10,000 in the same location last November. It is clear that behind the success of Right2Water so far is the strategy of many tactics united in one aim, this is what had the ability to appeal to the broadest coalition of forces, bringing hundreds of thousands onto the streets which has forced the government to rethink its own strategy. Included in that range of tactics will now be the one of non-payment. It is clear that many have already made up their minds not to pay and many more are opposed to water charges but may need to be convinced of non-payment as a key tactic. There will also be people who will pay not because they all want to , but out of fear or because they feel they have no choice, elderly people , those living alone may come into this category. We need to allow those people to remain part of a campaign as well. This is where local groups actively organizing to address peoples doubts and helping to give them confidence to sustain non-payment will be important. Remember sustaining non-payment in recent campaigns has been difficult. Those of us active in Right2Water in Donegal understand that many who attended our meetings and joined the huge Right2Water protests see non-payment as the next step in the struggle against water charges, however to succeed it has to be combined with protests, genuine political pressure and by getting as many people involved in their own areas not just as activists but as campaign organizers as well. It is possible to part of the broader Right2Water movement and to work to build and sustain non-payment as well. Non-payment though should not be allowed to become a means of dividing those opposed to the charges and should not be made a loyalty test of their opposition. It is fair enough to ask political parties and independent politicians to state their policy. It is not the view of individual T.D.s or councillors that is the issue though. It is a political question, a question of tactics not a moral obligation that failure to live up to will mean that others in the campaign will be entitled to bring out their own version of an exclusion zone against people. Why make demands of elected reps in the first place over the heads of many of the people who are deciding not to pay ,unless it is with a belief that all the power lies with that elected rep and not with the many who are refusing to pay. Such top-down politics is often advanced in such a top -down way by those most loudly claiming their bottom-up politics. What is needed now is maintaining the maximum unity of all those opposed to water charges. To whose benefit would it be to not maintain unity ? We should not fall into any trap laid out for breaking the broad coalition of groups opposed to water charges. Rash and opportunist demands by some show that their main focus is not on winning a campaign but on exploiting peoples anger for possible short term electoral advantage. Those on the Left must also examine themselves in regard in how they engage with working people. Slogans and Demands are not enough, and after years of austerity working people are still not convinced in huge numbers if the Left have any of the answers. Why is this the case? People also regularly listen to those on the Left call for workers unity , while being incapable of unity within its own ranks. In fact it has probably gone backwards in this regard with the demise of the United Left Alliance and the Campaign against the Home and Water Taxes and the limited unity there was within both those organisations. It also must be asked where was the critical analysis of why the boycott of the property tax was not successful. However instead of becoming down-hearted about past campaigns ,we must focus on positives of this one. We know that the revenue are not involved this time. We also see that when huge numbers of people came onto the streets , we had the power to force the government in to making concessions. It is the participation of so called ordinary people, who had never perhaps considered themselves political before which has pushed the government back and it is that fact most of all that will give quiet confidence in this campaign. At some stage soon we must also begin to prepare to answer the questions that both supporters and opponents of the campaign will begin to ask , especially if we are successful in defeating the water charges. For example , how will we finance the up-grading of our inadequate water and sewerage infrastructure? The tactic of sitting tight and not paying will no longer be the one to address any of those issues. A debate on what we are actually FOR, and how we might achieve those objectives is needed. Even if the government scrapped water charges tomorrow , could all that got active on the issue just decide to leave it at that ? Sewage will continue to percolate and in some cases pour into water courses from defective treatment plants, some sewage plants will continue to discharge directly into the sea , the water mains that are leaking 30%to 50% of treated water will continue to leak water which has cost millions to treat until the so-called ordinary people forces their government to prioritise repairing and replacing the defective water and sewage infrastructure across the county and elsewhere. The government has said they will have another look at their so-called jobs plan in in January . This will be the 5th time that this jobs plan has been made the centre of attention now. Surely at this stage any serious jobs plan would include an undertaking to put thousands to work up-grading our necessary infrastructure right across the state ? If it is not an issue for this government it needs to be for any incoming government. A government will also have a choice to make between a self-perpetuating perpetual national debt that will keep us under the control of lenders and their political institutions -or repudiating the illegitimate pert of the debt .We also need an open declaration that we will not pay off bankers debt, and be prepared to take action to force bond-holders to the negotiating table. Within Right2Water a deeper debate is needed. Right2Water needs to consider calling a national conference, to set up a democratic structure that would allow the allow the campaign to elect a leadership accountable at all times to the campaign supporters . This would allow people to discuss what they think collectively, and to decide if the campaign should be about more than opposing charges , and whether certain tactics should be promoted or not. The revolt against the water charges is of a size and militancy that if we stay with it we will certainly win. While we might defeat the water charges it comes at the end of a long sequence of cuts in services and wages and a period of unemployment and emigration. The mobilisations against water charges are the biggest, most widespread and most militant workers mobilisation of the crisis up to now. This offers a real opportunity to build a movement of working people for change. especially now when we are relearning the lessons that politics for us must be about serving the needs of ordinary people and not just something that is to be used to further the interests of a wealthy elite and their cronies. Yours Owen Curran Derryconner Gortahork Co. Donegal Right2Water Protest Donegal 31 st January 2015 2pm Letterkenny Like Comment
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 00:29:39 +0000
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