Solidarity Statement for piercing workers from DTUC

Derry Trades Union Council would like to send a statement of solidarity to the piercing workers at Obsidian and Echo piercing studios in Belfast.

These workers who were dismissed for Unionising and winning on Health and Safety issues deserve the full support of DTUC and the wider Trade Union movement.

Full solidarity to the workers and their union Organise! during their ongoing dispute with their employers. Health and Safety in any workplace is the bedrock on which so much of the Trade Union movement is built on. To have workers dismissed from their roles for raising concerns around H&S issues is disgraceful and DTUC will always have the backs of workers involved in any struggle for safe working conditions.

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Solidarity

Dee Doherty

Chair of DTUC

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On the 20th of July Organise! IWA held a rally in support of our sacked members outside Obsidian Piercing Studio in Church Lane in Belfast. The rally was supported by over 30 anarcho-syndicalists and other trade unionists: members of Organise! IWA, NIPSA, NASUWT and Militant Left and others were there to express solidarity. NIPSA, the Northern Ireland Public Service Association is the north’s largest public service union with members from both its health care and the civil service divisions showing solidarity with the workers who were unfairly dismmissed by Pamela Wilson on the 30th of April. Members of NASUWT, the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, also attended to express solidarity with the sacked workers. For more background information see articles elsewhere on our campaigns page: https://organiseanarchistsireland.com/category/campaigns/

Simon Richards from Organise! IWA began the open air meeting with an update on the progress of the dispute while Jason Brannigan stressed that the workers were sacked in retaliation for winning an earlier struggle over health and safety. Jason then handed over to Carmel Gates, general secretary of NIPSA stressed the importance of solidarity and health and safety at work for trade unionists and expressed solidarity on behalf of NIPSA for the workers “sacked for taking a stand on health and safety”. Carmel went on to express her confidence that the workers would win their dispute and stated that employers who put their workers and customers safety at risk do not deserve to be operating a business. Next the senior vice-president of NASUWT, Fergal McGuckin, began with stating that while it may seem strange for teachers to be here in solidarity with unfairly dismissed piercing workers that they were there to uphold the fundamental union principle of solidarity among all workers.

Aoife and then Gray, two of the unfairly dismissed workers, then addressed the rally. Aoife thanked everyone for their support in the dispute while Gray addressed some of the misinformation being spread by their former employer, Pamela Wilson. Gray also expressed thanks to everyone who had supported them and declared “we will win!”

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The sixth rally in support of the unfairly dismissed workers at Obsidian and Echo Piercing Studios takes place at 3pm Sunday 5th July at Obsidian Piercing Studio, 37 Church Lane, Belfast.

Five young workers were sacked over two months ago on the 30th of April by Pamela Wilson, with the assistance of union busting Peninsula HR, for unionising with Organise! IWA and winning their health and safety dispute. Union accompaniment to the disciplinaries was denied at the last moment and requests for appeals, submitted in line with the company’s proceedure and Labour Relations Agency guidance, were ignored.

Despite ongoing hardship the sacked workers and their union remain resolute and determined in their struggle. They deserve and need your support. Solidarity is strength.

Boycott Obsidian & Echo Body Piercing

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The third rally took place in solidarity with the sacked workers from Obsidian and Echo Piercing Studios in Belfast at 2pm on Sunday 14th June. Members of Organise! IWA and our Piercing Industry Union were joined by other Union members from Belfast and beyond.

The five young workers, 4 women and one trans man, were sacked on April 30th in what, a speaker from Organise! IWA informed the rally “was clearly revenge for winning a health and safety dispute”. We also heard from Gray, one of the sacked workers, who described longrunning issues with victimisation, no reasonable adjustment by the management for a chronic health condition and the arbitrary withdrawal of apprenticeships as “punsihment”. These and other collective issues prompted the workers to get organised, start discussinng their concerns (which of course their employer did not like) and attempt to get them addressed collectively. The workers joined Organise! IWA and set up their own Piercing Union and requested a collective meeting with management.

As this developed the workers became aware of the seriousness of not having been fully vaccinated against Hepatitus B in a working environment in which they were routinely exposed to bodily fluids. As their employer continued to refuse to move on any concerns – including their safety – the workers removed themselves from an unsafe working environment on Saturday 7th of March. Simultaneously the Belfast International Working Women’s Day parade was making it’s way through the city centre. Just over two weeks later, on Friday 20th March, the workers were invited back to work in roles that guaranteed their safety, “focused on non-piercing or non-fitting tasks,” with no loss of pay for reduced roles. They also received pay for the shifts they would have worked had they not been forced to remove themselves from an unsafe working environment. Antibody tests and vaccination appointments took place on the 24th and 26th of March and the issue with vaccinations resolved. This was a significant victory.

However it was a victory that would not go unpunished. The first fulltime workers started returned to work on Thursday 26th and Monday 30th of March followed by part-time workers as their shifts were rostered. The final part-time worker, Sofia, returned to work in her part shop floor role on the 1st April, having been told to expect a back to work interivew and “retraining”. Instead Sofia was left to cover the managers lunch. On the managers return she was handed a letter informing her she was suspended pending the outcome of an investigation that could result in dismissal! Over the next day or two the entire non-management staff of Obsidian and Echo Piercing Studios received the same letter.

Disciplinaries were arranged with the employer and her HR company Peninsula HR to accomodate representation from Organise! IWA. Twenty minutes into the first disciplinary thaat representation was declared “not legal” and kicked out of the online meeting. Under threat of deciding the findings without them one worker went ahead with his disciplinary under protest and the other workers submitted written responses. They were allowed no opportunity to arrange alternative representation and their protests about the legality or Peninsula HR’s actions were ignored. With new staff already employed the workers were, unsurprisingly found guilty of gross misconduct and sacked on the eve of May Day. Their request for appeals have been ignored – contrary to the company’s own disciplinary procedure and Labour Relations Agency guidance.

As at previous rallies speakers reminded those gathered in solidarity and passersby that the ex workers have called for a boycott of Echo and Obsidian Piercing Studios, that the case is being brought to tribunal and that we will be protesting outside Obsidian Piercing Studio until the workers have won reinstatement.

To help keep the dispute going and to alleviate the hardship these young workers are facing as a result of their vengeful and unfair dismissals we also urge supporters to contribute to their crowdfunder here or using the QR code below.

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On Saturday 13th June Organise! IWA Belfast and South Ulster Locals attended the rally called by the Anti-Racism Network in Belfast in opposition to the racist pogrom that swept through the city and other towns across the North in the wake of a brutal attack in North Belfast on the night of Monday 8th of June. The rally was an impressive mobilisation and saw tens of thousands gather in opposition to racism. Too many speakers to list took to the platform pledging making calls that ranged from liberal panacea’s like more power for the police and the state (the same police and state that stood back and facilitated the pogrom) to the demand for trade union action against racism and class unity and common struggle.

The cynical use of Monday night’s attack to mobilise against migrants was roundly condemned for what it was while the work, often silent, carried out in working class communities to evacuate to safety and support those put out of their homes and those in fear was applauded.

Racist ‘protests’ were not limited to those working class areas controlled by Loyalist paramilitaries, on the Tuesday night a crowd of about a dozen masked youth barricaded the Mill Road near Bawnmore before moving back to the Mill Road – Longlands Road roundabout to block it with burning bins. At Twadell Avenue – the sight of longrunning riots due to Orange marches – crowds emerged from both ‘sides’ and were witnessed coming together to mob a black woman in her car.

The pogrom itself, despite threats and more isolated incidents, was carried out in areas controlled by Loyalist paramilitaries, we wrote the following in the May edition of Black Star in the wake of the pogrom:

Always reactionary, Unionism and Loyalism have lurched further and further right. Back in 2009 when anti-Roma pogroms shook Belfast there were at least voices within loyalism that spoke out against racist attacks. No such voices seem to exist in 2026 and loyalism’s flirtation with working class politics and concerns – at its height during and shortly after the peace process – has been well and truly buried.
Loyalist paramilitaries have been directly involved in stoking racism and in conducting pogroms. Anti-racists may be in a better position than our comrades in Dublin when it comes to set piece opposition to fascist and racist mobilisations in the city centre but in loyalist controlled working class areas we are woefully absent. Racist sentiment has not only been stoked up by loyalists however, billionaires and politicians have been very busy promoting division and encouraging scapegoating. Racist Irish nationalists have also been busy. Out organised by their loyalist counterparts, and more exposed in areas where resistance to them is stronger, there have been racist blockades erected in places like the Mill Road between Bawnmore and Longlands – a pipebomb does not seem to have put off the local Clann Eireann organiser.
Events like today’s UAR rally are needed but we need much more on the ground organising, in workplaces and communities, if we are to be able to stop these fascists. We will not sow illusions in the state or its police force to tackle this. They have repeatedly sat back and let them get on with it. The work of Anaka Women’s Collective, PPR and CATU Belfast deserve mention for their bravery in acting to get families out of danger as the police stood by. Working class solidarity and self-organisation has always been and remains the only answer to fascism.

We should celebrate the massive turnout on Saturday but we cannot become self congratulatory or complacent. Class unity and solidarity needs to be built in order to counter racism and racists.

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Organise! IWA and supporters of the unfairly dismissed Echo and Obsidian 5 were out in force again at Obsidian Piercing Studio in Belfast on Saturday 6th. Pamela Wilson has employed security since the rally last week in a failed effort to intimidate.

In addition to piercers and members of Organise! IWA messages of support and solidarity were delivered from PCS, NIPSA and Unite. Simon from Organise! IWA updated those present on the dispute restating the workers optimism for a positive outcome at tribunal and their ongoing determination to stand together and win their dispute.

Kevin McNichol from PCS called for the linking of the dispute of the Echo and Obsidian workers and the ongoing struggle of the mainly migrant women workers on strike against redundancy from Sodexo in Erskine House. Solidarity was expressed by Carmel Gates the General Secretary of NIPSA and Colette from Causeway Trades Council.

Security at one point tried to move us away from the front of the shop but we stood our ground. At the end of the rally Jason Brannigan of the Belfast Local of Organise! IWA assured those present that the workers were solid, that we would have rallys outside Obsidian whenever we chose until the struggle of the 5 unfairly dismissed young workers was victorious. He also thanked everyone for their support, including the security hired by Pamela. Everyone was also reminded to help with the crowdfunder to keep this struggle going and help the 5 young workers thrown into financial hardship.

The crowdfunder can be accessed here https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/Xy28qdLW?utm_campaign=sharemodal&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=shortlink

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Aoife Brannigan, one of the five unfairly dismissed workers, gave a more personal account of their struggle, of how they came together to discuss their issues and formed their own union in order to improve their working conditions. Aoife described how as they progressed they discovered just how serious health and safety issues were in the studios ran by Pamela Wilson were and how, on the 7th of March she and her fellow workers walked out of an unsafe workplace due to incomplete vaccinations for Hepatitus B after management had again refused to even speak to them or their union to address safety, or any other, issues.

Members of the Belfast and South Ulster Local’s of Organise! – IWA were present to show solidarity with our dismissed comrades in the piercing industry, support was shown by other piercers in the industry in Belfast as well as the Deputy General Secretary of NIPSA. Simultaneously a picket was being held of the Peninsula HR headquarters in Manchester by members of Solidarity Federation – IWA.

Rallys will continue at times of our chosing until the workers have won their dispute. Solidarity is strength.

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Peninsula HR, Bright and Peninsula Global are an international bunch of AI enhanced class warriors fighting on behalf of ‘hard done by’ small and medium employers to ensure the minimum wage and barely above it workers those employers exploit don’t get ideas above their station. Like, say, organising to defend the bare minimum rights afforded to them by law, or to ensure less draconian management or, Trump forbid, organise in defence of a safe working environment, against discrimination or for slightly improved pay. They were hired by Pamela Wilson, the director of Obsidian and Echo Piercing studios to help her get rid of her workers who had collectively discussed issues in work, got organised and walked out of an unsafe workplace. They won the dispute over the lack of vaccinations only to be suspended and sacked after their return to work for ‘damaging trust’ with their employer!
Peninsula are an expanding organisation of paid allies for bullying employers with Lord and Master complexes. They are a now global network of supervillains with a supervillain origin story to match the most underhanded and nefarious of their deeds.
Just like the Joker’s origin story though the actual facts are slippery. Peter Done, founder and CEO claims he and his brother Fred started Peninsula Business Services after they lost an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal taken by an “awkward employee” (aren’t they all Peter?) in another company they had founded in 1983. What became Peninsula was first incorporated in February 1983 as Hushberry Ltd, changing its name to Professional Personnel and Management Services Ltd before settling on Peninsula Business Services Ltd in 1993. The name of their other company was Betfred, a huge gambling concern casting millions of people into addiction and financial ruin across Britain and Ireland – Northern Ireland has the highest rate of ‘problem gamblers’ on these islands. This adds another string to the Done’s villainous empire with a reported turnover of £1.45bn for the 78 weeks ending March 2025.
It seems however that the origin story has been retroactively utilised as the inspiration for Peninsula. The inspiration to ‘help’ other bosses avoid losing industrial tribunals does not seem to have happened, as claimed, in 1983. The unfair dismissal claim that they were so shocked at losing wasn’t actually taken against the Done brothers (trading as Betfred) until 2018. That’s quite some time after the claimed 1983 date. But then it’s probably not a good advertisement for a company boasting that it can help small and medium employers avoid even being taken to an Industrial Tribunal that its bosses other company lost one 35 years into its existence.
In that case, “awkward employee”, Mr G. Taylor took the Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd T/A Betfred, to Tribunal in a case of unfair dismissal (case number 2421257/2017). Mr Taylor represented himself while the Done brothers employed an attorney called Maritos. The Dones, founders of a company advising small and medium employers that they could help them sack workers, “unsure how to dismiss a staff member – get unlimited support from our HR consulting services for small businesses”, had their fancy attorney beaten by their former “awkward employee”. The hearing commenced on December 10th 2018 and on December 12th Mr. Taylor was awarded a total of £18,577 including a basic award of £5,379 and a compensatory award of £13,198!
Whatever the truth or otherwise of Peninsula’s origin story it is now a global concern with a team of AI enhanced goons at the helm. From English shit-talker extraordinaire (just check out the bullshit he spews about why the company are called Peninsula) founder and CEO Peter Done, BrightHR’s (their HR software wing) Alan Price, Australia’s ‘wellbeing’ focused David Price, Darren Chadwick, friend of the tax dodging business person Ben Chaplin, their ‘Wisdom Wellbeing’ CEO responsible for over 1.5 million HR and legal advice calls helping over 40,000 employers shaft their workers (legally of course), Bertrand Stern-Gillet (no, really), to Canada’s Raj Singh, Paul Holcroft, Ireland’s very own Peninsula CEO James Potts and his COO Moira Grassick, back to England with Rachael Knappier and Peninsula UK COO Kate Palmer, to their global AI guru Alastair Brown the power suited villains in the upper echelons of Peninsula HR are almost too many to mention. What they do have in common is a common service to small and medium employers in sharp practice and fucking over employees to the benefit of the bosses. All this while maintaining the illusion of acting within the law, that and looking like they have all been dipped in plastic giving them all a suspicious sheen.
As for avoiding industrial tribunals for small and medium employers their record isn’t great even when it comes to avoiding them themselves. They have lost many more than the one mentioned earlier. A tribunal ruled in 2025 that Peninsula made unauthorised deductions from a claimant’s wages between January 2023 and December 2024 to the sum of £10,000. Tribunals have previously found that Peninsula unfairly dismissed employees. In a 2021 case (Mr W Khan v Peninsula), a tribunal found that a claimant was unfairly dismissed. In Peninsula Business Services Ltd v Donaldson (2016-17). the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld findings of sex discrimination against Peninsula regarding their refusal to allow a pregnant employee to participate in a childcare voucher scheme. In Peninsula Business Service Ltd v Baker (2017), the EAT considered allegations of disability discrimination, harassment, and victimisation against the firm. In Peninsula Business Services Ltd vs Mr Phil Clark (February 2025) the Employment Tribunal found the complaint of unauthorised deductions from wages between March 2022 to December 2023 to be well-founded, ordering compensation. This list goes on and on and cases against Peninsula range from unfair dismissal, unauthorised deductions of wages, breach of contract and sex/disability discrimination.
This fucking over workers directly and on behalf of the narcissists who employ them has led to Peninsula becoming a global company advising over 150,000 employers, around the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. With a turnover of £460m for the financial year ending 2025 this company represents a global parasite living off other parasites.
Remember your boss is not your friend and nor is this friend of your boss!

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On the eve of International Working Women’s Day (Saturday 7th March) workers – all members of Organise! – IWA – employed at Obsidian and Echo Body Piercing Studios walked out of an unsafe work environment.
Their boss and owner of the studios, Pamela Wilson, had refused to move on Union recognition and demands from workers to sort out vaccinations for workers carrying out fittings and piercings. Anyone exposed to bodily fluids and blood as part of their work must be vaccinated against Hepatitis B.
“Pamela and her management were given numerous opportunities to meet with us to resolve this and other issues but instead chose to ignore us and continue to put us in danger. We first raised the issue of our safety along with other issues through our Union on Saturday 31st January. With no movement we refused to subject ourselves to risk of disease for a minute longer.”
Workers as a result walked out of an unsafe workplace on Saturday 7th March notifying their manager as to why and reporting the issue to the city council environmental health team. By Friday 20th March they had won and were invited back to work in reduced – safe – roles “focused on non-piercing or non-fitting tasks” while their employer took steps to ensure a safe working environment. They began returning to work on the 26th March. As they did so antibody tests and renewed courses of vaccinations were arranged for two of them. Organise! IWA also made it clear that workers were to return without detriment and that we were hopeful of meeting management to discuss other outstanding issues. Workers were paid in full for hours they would have worked between the walk out and their return – a further acknowledgement that they had acted correctly in removing themselves from an unsafe workplace.
Antibody and vaccination appointments took place on the 24th and 26th of March. The first full-time workers returned on Thursday the 26th and Monday the 30th of March followed by part-time workers as their shifts were rostered.

The first indications that the employer was out for ‘revenge’ against workers who had the temerity to ensure their own safety came when two of the workers were informed that their contracts as apprentice piercers would not be honoured.
Then on 1st April a part-time worker showed up for her first shift having been told to expect a back to work chat and retraining, they were asked to attend early to complete the training. After being used to cover the manager’s lunch break she was handed a letter informing her that she was being immediately suspended with pay pending a disciplinary. As other workers attended subsequent shifts they were handed similar letters.
As workers were provided with ‘evidence’ it became clear that they were facing disciplinaries for the walk out on safety grounds under the guise of ‘damaging trust’ with their employer!
Despite the ‘evidence’ compiled against them by the cut-throat HR company Peninsula the facts are clear – the workers walked out of an unsafe workplace, returned as soon as steps were taken to make that workplace safe and being informed, insincerely, that they would be welcomed back.
On the day of their disciplinaries – April 21st – Union representation was denied. One of the workers went ahead with their hearing under protest while the others submitted written responses.

Solidarity is Strength

We are appealing for solidarity while workers step up their dispute with their boss and Peninsula HR. Appeals have lodged but we have little faith in a fair hearing. Replacement staff were employed before the disciplinary process was completed and the workers were notified that they had been sacked. The workers, who remain solid in the face of the provocations of a vindictive employer, are calling for a boycott of Obsidian and Echo Piercing Studios and will be organising protests against both their employer and the HR company Peninsula. A crowdfunder for economic hardship has been started in their support at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-sacked-obsidian-echo-workers

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Workers sacked for leaving an unsafe workplace.

Boycott Obsidian and Echo Body Piercing Belfast!

Solidarity is Strength.

Workers at Obsidian and Echo Body Piercing studios in Belfast were all sacked on Thursday 30th April – on the eve of May Day, international workers day. It is clear to each and every one of the workers and to Organise! IWA that they were sacked for walking out of work on the 7th of March due to ongoing exposure to blood and bodily fluids without the employer having taken steps to ensure adequate vaccinations.

The workers’ case is solid. To the extent that on Friday 20th March they were invited back to work in reduced – safe – roles “focused on non-piercing or non-fitting tasks”. As the issue of safety around exposure to bodily fluids was being addressed the workers, who had removed themselves from an unsafe workplace on the 7th of March, prepared to return to work. As they did so antibody tests and renewed courses of vaccinations were arranged for two of them. Organise! IWA also made it clear that workers were to return without detriment and that we were hopeful of meeting management to discuss other outstanding issues. Workers were paid in full for hours they would have worked between the walk out and their return – a further acknowledgement that they had acted correctly in removing themselves from an unsafe workplace.

Antibody and vaccination appointments took place on the 24th and 26th of March. The first fulltime workers returned on Thursday the 26th and Monday the 30th of March followed by part-time workers as their shifts were rostered.

The first indications that the employer was out for ‘revenge’ against workers who had the temerity to ensure their own safety came when two of the workers were informed that their contracts as apprentice piercers would not be honoured. Then on 1st April a part-time worker showed up for their first shift having been told to expect a back to work chat and retraining, which they were asked to attend half an hour early to complete. Instead she was left on her own to cover the manager’s lunch break and after about an hour discovered she had been brought back to work only to be used as cover before being handed a letter informing her that she was being immediately suspended on pay. As other workers attended subsequent shifts they were handed similar letters. They were then informed that they would be given notice of disciplinary hearings.

As workers were provided with ‘evidence’ it became clear that they were facing disciplinaries for the walk out on safety grounds under the guise of ‘damaging trust’ with their employer!

Despite the ‘evidence’ compiled against them by the cut-throat HR company Peninsula the facts are clear – the workers walked out of an unsafe workplace, returned as soon as steps were taken to make that workplace safe and being told, insincerely, that they would be welcomed back. The initial dates provided for disciplinaries by the employer were put back to facilitate representation from their union, Organise! IWA and in order to study and respond to the ‘evidence’ presented. All of the disciplinaries were rearranged to Tuesday 21st of April to accommodate representation.

Twenty minutes into the first disciplinary the Organise! IWA union rep was kicked out. The other workers were informed that they could not be represented by their union! One went ahead under protest while the others submitted written responses to the cobbled together charges.

We are appealing for solidarity while workers step up their dispute with their boss and Peninsula HR.

Appeals are being lodged as is a case at Industrial Tribunal.

Workers are calling for a boycott of Obsidian and Echo Piercing Studios and will be organising protests against both their employer and the HR company Peninsula.

CROWDFUNDER HERE

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On the eve of International Working Women’s Day (Saturday 7th March) workers – all members of Organise! – IWA – employed at Obsidian and Echo Body Piercing Studios walked out of an unsafe work environment.

Their boss and owner of the piercing studios Pamela Wilson had refused to move on Union recognition and demands from workers that included issues around unvaccinated workers being made to carry out fittings and piercings. Anyone exposed to bodily fluids and blood as part of their work must be vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Only one worker was provided with a full course of immunisations.

When customers declared that they had HIV or Hepatitis B employees were put under pressure to do piercings and fittings regardless – “just double up your latex gloves” they were told. Pamela and her management have been given numerous opportunities to meet with their employees to resolve issues but instead they chose to ignore their workers and put them in danger despite claiming to be a “family” that values everyone equally (of course managers in both of Pamela’s shops are immunised). Issues were first officially raised by the workers through their Union when a demand letter was handed to management on Saturday 31st January. Workers refuse to subject themselves to risk of disease for a minute longer.

Demands Most Reasonable

Employees at Echo and Obsidian Body Piercers in Belfast have unionised with Organise!-IWA in order to negotiate with their employer and improve their working conditions.

On 31st of January 2026 a demand letter was handed into management at Echo and Obsidian. Issues to be addressed include:

Unclear job roles/contracts – unfulfilled apprentice training and inconsistent application of disciplinary procedures.

Health and Safety –  concerns around lone working must be addressed. Necessary courses of vaccinations for workers exposed to blood must be completed – most employees have received only two out of three vaccination doses for Hep B (which should be followed up with a booster in due course).

Breaks – employees regularly  work over the duration of their 6 hour shifts without a break – in direct contravention of the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, workers are legally entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes if their daily working time is more than six hours .

Payslips – payslips should be properly itemised so staff can clearly see what bonus payments relate to.

Rotas – A fair and transparent system of scheduling staff is required.

Pay Rise – End of individually negotiated pay shop floor employees and apprentices to be paid the Real Living Wage of £13.45 per hour. Qualified Piercers to be paid £17.00 an hour.

Management have not responded to concerns around lone working – an individual employee was approached and offered £1.50 per hour extra to work on their own.

The employer has claimed that employees need to follow separate grievance procedures based on the shop they are employed by – it is clearly not the case that they work for two separate companies. This was acknowledged by the ‘independent’ HR company they have hired. These are employees of the same company working across two shops with interchangeable shifts.

In relation to incomplete vaccinations the employer has attempted to shift the onus for organising the remaining stages of their vaccinations onto their employees. Employers are legally required under COSHH Regulations to pay for and arrange Hepatitis B vaccinations for staff at risk of exposure. Shifting this onus onto employees is a breach of safety duties.
 

Workers At Risk

Immunisation against Hepatitis B is required for all workers who have increased exposure due to Occupational Risk. It is essential for employees of piercing studios who work with exposure to blood and bodily fluids i.e. piercers and jewellery fitters. 

Immunisation protects against a virus that has severe consequences and which is a major global cause of death. It protects against acute infection (severe illness) and chronic infection (long-term liver inflammation), which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Immunisation gives long-term protection that lasts decades – if the full course of injections is provided.

Hepatitis B has a High Transmission Risk: the virus spreads easily through contact with infected blood, semen, and vaginal fluids (e.g., needles, sex, birth). Babies born to infected mothers require immediate vaccination.

Chronic Hepatitis B significantly increases the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).

Asymptomatic Spread: Many people with chronic Hepatitis B are unaware they are infected but can still pass the virus to others.

BELFAST LOCAL ORGANISE!-IWA TAKE ACTION!

All of the non-managerial staff at Obsidian and Echo Body Piercing in Belfast have been in dispute with their employer since the handing in of our demand letter on the 31st of January.

The workers had a clear list of concerns and demands to be addressed collectively and directly with them as members of Organise!-IWA.

Since then this company that pushes “one big happy family” as the propaganda has proven to be anything but. Issues developed out of the favoured ’negotiating’ practice of the owner Pamela Wilson. She prefers a direct individual ’treat and threat’ style of management. One worker being told they will get a bonus, or extra pay but that they were not to discuss this offer with others, this also went along with threatening employees – “if you don’t comply you will lose your apprenticeship”.

Initially Pamela tried to have issues ’dealt’ with through a ’grievance procedure’ involving an English HR company. Issues raised in relation to pay, conditions and immunisations were struck off the agenda. The grievance ’procedure was rejected after an initial request from management that at least one member of staff attend (we demanded more workers be present) turned into zero employees, 2 ’representatives’ from Organise! IWA (one named and one there as his Union Rep!), no management from Obsidian or Echo and a ‘neutral’ facilitator from Peninsula Face2Face. Correspondence shared did not show any comprehension of NI specific labour legislation, was incorrectly dated and sent at short notice. Of course a major concern is the claimed ‘independence’ of a company in the pay of Echo and Obsidian’s owner.

Greater indications, more concerning to the workers that the owner was not acting in good faith also emerged. While Pamela and the HR company were communicating with Organise! IWA directly at this stage they were also still singling out employees and offering wee deals (that they were expected not to discuss with their co-workers). One worker was offered £15 an hour for short notice cover “for sickness and stuff” – clearly an attempt to set one of us up as a scab. That didn’t work out for them and they started pulling workers in ones and twos to tell them there would be no recognition as Organise!-IWA are unregistered. In law every worker is entitled to join the union of their choosing – registered with the state or not.

Earlier a Federation of Small Businesses poster was put up in a rather laughable attempt to intimidate employees.

Reiterating the option of negotiations throughout workers had no alternative left to them but to escalate their dispute. On Saturday 21st February an appointments blockade was put in place for the day, on Tuesday 24th February an Email Zap took place and management set email to ‘out of office’ around lunchtime meaning that any emails from customers weren’t dealt with. On Thursday a Phone Zap happened with supporters showing solidarity and demanding that management negotiate with their employees and stop attempts at union busting.

On Saturday 28th of February an info picket took place outside Obsidian. Management put a sign in the window claiming business was operating as usual, that they had not received any “formal staff grievances”  and ended with the brass necked claim that “We remain committed to a respectful workplace and open communication”.

Despite the deflection, attempts at setting workers against each other and then the outright refusal to negotiate we contacted management at Obsidian and Echo again on the morning of the 5th of March to reiterate that their employees were committed to finding a negotiated way forward and to the resolution of their dispute.

No movement has been made on the demands presented 5 weeks ago and the actions of the employer have been to isolate and undermine their employees. On the afternoon of the 5th the answer to our latest offer to negotiate got a response of sorts. A job for a piercer was advertised on Echo Body Piercing’s social media at “Up to £20 an hour”! This is substantially more than the pay increase demanded by Pamela’s current employees who she clearly under pays, under values and puts at risk.

The post Obsidian and Echo Workers Walk Out of Unsafe Work Environment appeared first on Organise Anarchists Ireland.

Source: Organise! Irlande

Article original sur RévLibertaire - Infos Libertaires : Obsidian and Echo Workers Walk Out of Unsafe Work Environment

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Last Saturday (19th July 2025) a mob of teenagers left a man stripped naked and barely standing in Tallaght. He was lucky to be rescued by a woman from the area. This is not the first attack of it’s kind in Tallaght, carried out by the same gang who spread false malicious rumours about the men they have attacked. Council houses have been set alight in Mayo following unfounded rumours they would be used to accommodate asylum seekers. Grown men in Moygashel constructed a bonfire with an effigy of migrants in a boat on top of it with the demand ‘Stop the Boats’. Racists and fascists have demonstrated across Ireland and in the wake of their demonstrations racist attacks have occurred.

On July 5, the Life Institute hosted their annual Rally for Life, which kicked off shortly after CATU’s All-Island Housing Demo. While marching up O’Connell St alongside other left wing groups and trade unions, members of Organise! IWA were aware of many people with signs and t-shirts declaring: “Pray to end abortion,” “Life Will Win,” “Stop Aborting Our Future” and “pro-life for mothers and babies.” Speakers at the rally included Aontú’s Paul Lawless, Bernadette Smith from Precious Life, and Niamh Uí Bhriain from the Life Institute. Groups such as 40 Days for Life, Youth Defence, Youth for Life NI, and various “pro Life” groups around the country alongside the aforementioned Precious Life sponsored the rally.

While not spotted there himself, far-right activist and politician Malachy Steenson was promoting the rally heavily in the lead up to July 5. In attendance on the day, however, were members of the Irish Freedom Party, the National Party, and Justin Barrett’s new party, Clann Eireann. Clann Eireann were particularly conspicuous decked out in their Nazi-inspired paramilitary gear standing behind a banner reading “THEY WANT OUR UNBORN ERASED AND OUR RACE REPLACED.” Beneath this was the famous quote from MP and Provisional IRA hunger striker, Bobby Sands “our revenge shall be the laughter of our children.”
Let us be clear – if you allow Neo-Nazis to brazenly and openly participate in your anti-choice rally, it becomes a Neo-Nazi rally.

But we in Organise! IWA expect little else from the hatemongers who spout their anti-choice bullshit. Not content with attempting to erode women’s rights, some of these groups have also been campaigning against LGBTQIA+ rights, arguing that it goes against traditional family values and the sanctity of life from contraception. Ireland has thankfully come a long way since the days when Church and State were inseparable. In 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. In 2018, abortion was legalised through the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. In the North abortion was decriminalised over the heads of our local politicians by Westminster in 2019 but the Assembly is still not funding adequate provision for those needing abortions. While work still needs to be done to help women safely access abortion in Ireland, anti-choice neanderthals would rather roll back the years to the days of mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries where so called “fallen women” were locked away.

In the North of Ireland, the Social Democratic and Labour Party maintain an anti-abortion stance, though as far back as 2018 have “granted” members the freedom to vote how they choose around abortion. Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill has previously accused the DUP along with the Ulster Unionist Party of blocking access to abortion services. However, while Sinn Fein claim to support full abortion rights for women across the island of Ireland, they have come under scrutiny multiple times over allegations that they are refusing to oppose abortion restrictions. And let us not forget David Cullinane, health spokesperson for Sinn Fein, who spoke out in support of the UK supreme court ruling that the terms “man,” “woman,” and “sex” are defined solely by a person’s biological sex. Cullinane announced this was “common sense,” and claimed this should be introduced in Ireland, before rolling back on his statements. This was seen as being too little, too late, however, and the party has been banned from attending Trans and Intersex Pride. And consider also the Democratic Unionist Party, the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, describe themselves as “unashamedly pro-life,” opposing abortion and assisted suicide. DUP politician Carla Lockhart describes every abortion as being “not just statistics; each number represents a precious life lost.”

Alongside claims that Ireland is full, the far right also like to claim that they are opposing IPAS centres and migration because they are protecting women and children. But their words and actions would lead us to believe otherwise. Take for example the following misogynist statement made by independent councillor for Newbridge, Tom McDonnell after his successful election: “we’ve great women and we want them breeding.” Or Andy Heasman, who lost access to his children and had a restraining order taken out against him by her due to domestic abuse. Or former leader of the DUP, Jeffrey Donaldson, who is facing prosecution along with his wife on historic child sexual abuse charges. Dundalk Says No also use a soundsystem at their protests which was purchased with donations received from Tristan Tate. Tate, alongside his brother Andrew, faces prosecution for 21 charges including human trafficking, rape and actual bodily harm.

As reported by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, abortion and reproductive health have become tools for ethno-nationalist agendas in the 7 years since abortion was legalised. The same groups who try to proclaim “Ireland is full” talk about people migrating to Ireland as a “plantation,” our own version of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Abortion and reproductive health are seen as an existential threat to the white race.

Much has been made of the links between Ulster Loyalism, British Neo-Nazi groups and Irish anti-immigrant protesters. Tommy Robinson has links with many of Ireland’s far right agitators. And members of the Coolock Says No group last year travelled to Belfast to participate in anti-migrant protests which sprang up in the aftermath of the UK’s Southport riots and numerous arson attacks and anti-migrant protests in the South. A split occurred in the Coolock Says No group after those who travelled to Belfast were photographed in a notorious Loyalist bar waving their tricolours alongside others carrying loyalist flags and Union Jacks.
As recently as July 7, Loyalists such as Mark Sinclair have attended anti-immigration marches in Dublin’s city centre. The rally, called by failed Kerry election candidate Michelle Keane gathered at the GPO, before protesters marched to the Dail where they demanded entry. Keane had also invited other prominent far right activists like Malachy Steenson, Derek Blighe, the National Party’s Patrick Quinlan and Councillor Gavin Pepper, though none attended. Keane later criticised their non-attendance in a livestream of the event, with Pepper later posting to Twitter/X that he would no longer be participating in City Centre protests due to the presence of people like Sinclair.

However, members of the Irish Republican movement are just as susceptible to being sucked into far right politics. For example, Padraig Óg O’Rourke’s new book, Burn Them Out, details the far right ideology of the likes of W. T. Cosgrave, Ernest Blythe and others who had participated in the Easter Rising of 1916, some of whom would go on to form Cumann Na nGhaedheal.
Perhaps most famously, Eoin O’Duffy, a prominent member of the Ulster IRA during the War of Independence, led the fascist Army Comrades Association, later known as the National Guard and commonly referred to as the Blueshirts. O’Duffy attempted to march on Dublin twice to seize power, emulating his hero Mussolini, and led the Irish Brigade to Spain to fight on the side of Franco. A former IRA Chief of Staff, Seán Russell, openly collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War.

Another former IRA member, Eamonn MacThomais was also a supporter of the Nazis during the Second World War. However, links between Irish Republicans and far right politics do not end with the climax of the Second World War. The aforementioned Steenson, previously active with both the Worker’s Party and the Irish Republican Socialist Party, was expelled over his anti-choice views.

In November 2023, a riot erupted in Dublin City Centre, sparked by the stabbing of a young girl outside a primary school on Parnell Street. Far right misinformation was quick to spread, labeling the attacker an immigrant. Garda vehicles, buses, and a Luas tram were set on fire. One bus driver, a non-national was told to “get out of the bus or we’ll kill you,” before being attacked by rioters. Multiple shops were looted before rioters were eventually dispersed.

More recently, Ballymena erupted in rioting following the alleged sexual assault of a young girl by two Romanians. Reports indicate that there had been tensions between locals and members of the Roma community prior to the riots. Homes were damaged by fire and cars were set alight, including the car of a Filipino man. As a result of these arson attacks, many in the community were displaced, with some being housed in a former leisure centre. This was subsequently set alight as rioting spread to other areas in East Antrim and Belfast. Threatened racist attacks were stopped in Beechmount while an anti-immigrant march took place under Tri-colours in Newry on Monday 23rd June. The South Ulster Local of Organise! – attended the Newry Against Racism protest in Newry on Sunday 6th July organised as a direct response to racist incidents in the city, and the far right demo that saw a group of racists carrying tricolours parade through the streets declaring ‘Newry Says No’, claiming “Ireland is for the Irish” and that the city “will not be a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.” The distressing reality is that the ‘Stop the Boats’ sentiments expressed on the Moygashel bonfire is widespread right across this island. While recent attacks on immigrants across the North have been facilitated and organised by Loyalist paramilitaries these bigots are not alone in their racist and increasingly right-wing politics and actions.

We have seen the rise of the far right elsewhere around the world. Viktor Orbán’s pro-family policies, the re-election of Donald Trump and his Project 2025, the rightwing shift of UK Labour under Keir Starmer’s leadership.

For this latter reason, we have had difficulty endorsing certain United Against Racism events. Most notably, the counter demo on 26 April 2025 in Dublin. Leaflets handed out in advance of said counter leaned more into liberalism than trying to take any sort of class based approach to bringing people in. Rather, the leaflet seemed to state that people were either racist or anti-racist. There are people with very real concerns around amenities, social housing, deprivation for whom immigration can be seen as a concern, people in areas with very few amenities that have been neglected by the government for decades. It is no mistake that government seek to house immigrants in areas that have already been abandoned and left to rot. We have seen in places like Coolock how easily government neglect and social deprivation can be taken advantage of by the far right and how they can dominate the narrative.

Failing to engage with members of disadvantaged areas around these issues will only serve to drive them the other way. And that an opposition party failed to address the government’s policies around immigration and housing is, to us, absolutely mind-blowing. While we feel it is important to attend counter demonstrations against the far right, we cannot endorse United Against Racism’s approach. Failing to work collaboratively with other groups only serves to create more division on the Left, thereby weakening any sort of effective counter. Speeches given at some UAR events leave a lot to be desired, and fail to sow a sense of unity across divisions within our class. A recent counter demonstration organised by UAR saw NIPSA come out to condemn the sectarian comments of some speakers. UAR have remained silent – those seeking to sectarianise the struggle against racism and the far right in our society are pursuing a divisive agenda that has no place in our struggle. They need to wise up or fuck off.

That being said, we are in favour of the collaborative, grassroots approach of groups such as Communities Against Racism Ireland and Dublin Communities Against Racism. Both groups are coalitions of community and political activists who work collaboratively to build unity and solidarity against the rise of anti immigrant activity. DCAR in particular have been highly critical of government policy, and have a “boots on the ground” approach to combating the far right.

A similar approach had been taken in the past by anti-fascists in the North of Ireland trying to unite members of the working class against the far right. Members of Organise! IWA, along with the Socialist Party and trade union activists, set up the Fascists Out Campaign in 2004, confronting the White Nationalist Party. The FOC highlighted the deprivation and alienation that sustained far right organisations like the WNP: “the far-right are playing up fears about housing costs, the lack of social housing, lack of jobs, low wages and deprivation of working-class estates in an effort to scapegoat immigrants for the many problems faced by working-class people… Without addressing racism on a class basis, the roots of racism cannot be tackled!” Areas where the WNP claimed to be active saw increases in racist attacks. The WNP were driven off the streets in Portrush, their propaganda was removed wherever it appeared, we shut down a P.O. Box used by the Ulster Nationalist Party (a WNP name change) in August 2005 and dissuaded venues from putting on neo-nazi gigs for them. The last public activity of the renamed WNP was an attempt to leaflet openly homophobic propaganda around the 2005 Gay Pride parade in Belfast. They were quickly spotted by FOC activists, who had a banner on the parade and activists present along its route on the day. As soon as they realised they had been spotted and that their photos were being taken they ran away. The WNP had been forced out of existence.

This campaign was barely given a mention in O’Rourke’s ‘Burn Them Out.’ In 2009 when Belfast was dubbed “race hate capital of Europe” as Roma families were forced from their homes in south Belfast members of Organise! IWA were on the streets outside the home of those under attack day and night. Most recently, DCAR members put a lot of effort into countering the anti-immigration D8 Says No group over proposals to extend an IPAS centre on Basin Street. Worth noting is the fact that this centre had operated for 3 years without incident, before D8 Says No became concerned.

Focus needs to be on the fact that racists and bigots would rather blame immigrants for the failings of the government and the effects of capitalism. We have seen in the past how quick the government have been to scapegoat immigrants over the housing crisis, the crisis in the health service. This only feeds the far right narrative, and needs to be consistently challenged and opposed.

As anarcho-syndicalists, Organise! IWA are unequivocally antifascist – we are against racism and against bigotry. We are against nationalism in all its guises. We are against electoral politics, and are critical of counter demonstrations being co-opted by political parties. Our anti-fascism and anti-racism is always based on the need to overcome divisions fostered in our class by capitalists and governments along with the realisation that, in the words of Buenaventura Durutti, “fascism is not to be debated, it is to be destroyed” and that:

“No government fights fascism to destroy it. When the bourgeoisie sees that power is slipping out of its hands, it brings up fascism to hold onto their privileges.”

• Post author:Jason
• Post published:July 23, 2025
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Article original sur RévLibertaire - Infos Libertaires : Second P&O Ferry Impounded 28th March 2022

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On Thursday 17th March, in what is being referred to as the Saint Patrick’s Day jobs massacre, P&O Ferries/DP World had private security staff force their workers off ferries in harbours across Britain and Northern Ireland in a move designed to prevent possible occupations of the boats by the staff they were about to make redundant. Their actions were aggressive, threatening and symptomatic of a boss class so removed from our reality that they don’t even see us as human.

We are doing what little we can to support the sacked workers by spreading the demand to boycott P&O. No matter what does or does not come of the official Trade Union campaign. We will be posting updates, info, stickers and posters here.

Larne harbour demonstration in solidarity with ex-P&O workers. Friday 25th March 2022.

The second demonstration held in support of the sacked workers was held on Friday 25th March and was attended by over 80 members and officials of Trades Unions including NIPSA, UNITE, Nautilus, RMT, Prospect, SIPTU, PCS, FBU, GMB, Unison, the Belfast and District Trades Union Council, and anarcho-syndicalists from Organise! A number of those in attendance travelled from picket lines to be there with striking council workers, education workers, and UCU strikers out to give their solidarity. Of course a number of the sacked workers themselves, including their shop stewards/delegates were also in present. Had the rally been organised for a day and time when so many of our fellow wage slaves were not at work the numbers would undoubtedly have been greater.

Old comrades and new mingled outside the train station talking about old and current disputes and the disgraceful treatment of the P&O Ferry workers in Larne, Dover, Liverpool, Hull and Cairnryan before making our way across the street and gathering beside the European Causeway to listen to an array of Trade Union speakers. A short time later the European Causeway would be impounded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency for being unfit to sail – bearing out Alex Gordon’s point that the agency workers (being used as scabs to replace those who have been locked out) are underpaid and unsafely undertrained.

There was much talk of solidarity, class unity, past struggles by Irish Ferry workers in the Republic (a struggle which was also supported by Organise!), capitalist greed and adventurism, and in the face of it a struggle against a future with no rights and on minimum wage. Anger was on display but will resolve measure up?

The main speaker on the day was the RMT president Alex Gordon who early on mentioned that the Union leadership would be meeting the local P&O bosses on the same day. If they didn’t re-employ all the workers Alex seemed to be pinning all his hopes on a campaign that aims to force the government to ‘seize the ships of oil rich oligarchs’ and to take them as an asset for this country. In the same breath that he said the Tories cannot be trusted he said demands for ‘a political solution was the only solution’, expecting the same Tories to deliver said political solution.

Not only are the Tories untrustworthy but their very name comes from an accurate Irish language description of them going back over 300 years. It was an insult derived from the an old Irish word tóraidhe, in modern Irish tórai, meaning outlaw or robber. Exactly what makes the RMT president believe that the robbing bastard Tories, crushers of the miners, the most blatant political expression of barbaric capitalism (not that Labour in power have ever been far behind them) would do anything to protect workers is beyond us. He himself claimed that the government were most likely tipped off about what was about to happen to 800 P&O workers and allowed it to go ahead.

More stark and realistically Alex talked at length about the lack of adequate training, as well as wages, the agency workers brought in as cheap replacements would receive. Turning huge dangerous pieces of machinery into death traps. He described it as a ‘gross danger to public safety’ declaring ‘these vessels are being turned into death traps’. He ended the main part of his speech with a demand that we can get behind 100%, the demand that everyone boycott P&O. This is a demand that is winnable. Without re-instatement we will sink the bastards.

Alex then handed over to the current incumbent in the post of Assistant General Secretary of The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (basically the ‘leader’ of the Northern Ireland Committee of ICTU), Owen Reidy. Reidy talked about thuggish capitalism, the terror inflicted on workers told to ‘go quietly to get a better package’. He stated that these ferries should be regarded as public transport, the ships seized and the workers reinstated. He did not believe we would get any comfort or support from Westminster but that our movement had to achieve these things. An RMT local shipping representative then spoke denouncing the user of scabs to force workers out of their jobs.

Next up was Carmel Gates, speaking as General Secretary of NIPSA expressed solidarity and anger and the belief that we were witnessing our class getting back on its feet again with education workers and council workers taking action for better terms and conditions.

Kevin Doherty spoke on behalf of the Belfast and District Trades Union Council saying that we need to stop DP World, the owners of P&O Ferries, now. This company has shown us the naked face of barbarism and in the meantime they have been given £50 million in taxpayers money to develop Free Ports here – free from regulation and workers rights.

Denise Walker from the GMB expressed outrage at the Saint Patrick’s Day job massacre, ‘we are not going to allow this to happen’, she said ‘ we will stand together’ and with the public onboard no-one will travel on these ships. Niall McNally from SIPTU in Belfast spoke of the fight back being conducted by council workers in Newry and Down and pointed out that the law will not solve this. Instead ‘the key word is solidarity’ and it is up to the Trade Union movement to put practical measures in place to defeat the P&O bosses.

Susan Fitzgerald spoke as Ireland regional organiser of UNITE about fight back and solidarity. Alex came back to us with a reminder that these workers actually lived onboard these ships for prolonged periods of time, pointing out that images of their belongings dumped out of their cabins into skips in Dover was a perfect example of the contempt P&O Ferries and DP World had for people who had been their employees. He talked of struggles passed and the need to take up ‘a fight for our class’ against the plan the capitalists have for us all. He reiterated the line that this was a political campaign pushing for government intervention on the workers behalf. Organise! have more faith in winning demands through an effective boycott that in the going cap in hand to politicians who have the same contempt for us as the bosses.

We mingled a bit with old comrades and new as the rally broke up, regrouped afterwards and agreed that the best solidarity that a small group of anarcho-syndicalists could show for this struggle would be the pushing of a boycott of P&O until the workers are reinstated or the company that ditched them is sank!

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• Post published:March 30, 2022
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Statement on the Housing Crisis following CATU national demonstration 5th July 2025

July 8, 2025

No Safety – No Work

November 17, 2020

Solidarity with the Strancally Two

September 23, 2022

Statement on the Housing Crisis following CATU national demonstration 5th July 2025

July 8, 2025

No Safety – No Work

November 17, 2020

Source: Organise! Irlande

Article original sur RévLibertaire - Infos Libertaires : SINK P&O! SINK DP WORLD!

L’article SINK P&O! SINK DP WORLD! est apparu en premier sur RévLibertaire.

• Post author:Jason
• Post published:July 16, 2021
• Post category:Leveller Archive
• Post comments:0 Comments

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Article original sur RévLibertaire - Infos Libertaires : The Leveller Issue 19 May-July 2017

L’article The Leveller Issue 19 May-July 2017 est apparu en premier sur RévLibertaire.

• Post author:Jason
• Post published:July 16, 2021
• Post category:Leveller Archive
• Post comments:0 Comments

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Article original sur RévLibertaire - Infos Libertaires : The Leveller Issue 18 August 2016

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