Well done to the Fórsa trade union for organising a fantastic rally in support of its members
who work in the Cork City Library. These workers have been subjected to the vilest abuse
from right wing thugs over the past number of months. The object of their ire is LGBTQ+
literature for young adults. City Council management have abandoned their staff leaving them
without any protection. Their trade union Forsa organised a public rally in support of its
members. Over 500 people attended the rally, which took place on a working day (Friday 7/10/23). In
attendance, as well as Forsa members, were large numbers of the Cork LGBTQ+ community
as well as anti-racists and representatives of political parties including People Before Profit
Fórsa official Richy Carrothers sent a strong message to the council management, that unless
systems were put in place to protect the staff further action would be taken. He said, ‘These workers should be applauded – not abused.
‘We proudly represent hardworking library staff across Ireland. They do integral work, including creating inclusive communities. We support our dedicated members and won’t accept any intimidation of our members in their workplaces!
‘Libraries are community hubs for social integration, serving as centres of cultural, educational, and academic learning, and must be places free from harassment and intimidation for both staff and library users. This show of solidarity today to our fellow members demonstrates to these groups that harassment will not be tolerated.’
Fórsa have set an example that needs to be followed by other unions. All workers should be fully supported and protected against far-right racists and homophobes/transphobes in their workplaces.
To hammer the message of solidarity home on Saturday, Dublin saw ‘the most significant’ Trans and Intersex Pride demonstration in the history of the state. Over 3000 people marched in solidarity with Trans and Intersex people for action to end waiting lists for trans healthcare and the ‘psychiatric model’ of care used in the National Gender Service.
People Before Profit and trans healthcare activist Mike Lovett addressed the march:
‘The state of trans healthcare in Ireland is, to my mind, the biggest obstacle facing the community at the moment because it causes so much stress and holds trans people back instead of giving us the tools to have a normal happy life. The killer is this isn’t just because the HSE is disjointed, understaffed and badly managed to the extent that young medical professionals emigrate by the hundreds every year. It’s because a small group of doctors have been designated as the gatekeepers to medical transition. They insist on diverging wildly from international best practice and baselessly telling GPs what they can and can’t prescribe to trans people, despite the fact the same GPs are prescribing the exact same medication to cisgender people all the time…ultimately, the government is standing over this shambles.’
We need to unite to fight against this regressive government and against far right politics. Working class people are revolted by the far right homophobic anti-trans bullies telling them who to respect and who to fear, who to love and how to work and live.
This weekend’s massive demonstrations of solidarity show that Ireland in 2023 has no place for hate. People Before Profit says Workers’ Solidarity Forever and Trans Liberation Now.
