IRELAND Shop workers boycott South African goods ON FRIDAY September 13 Ruari Quinn, Irish Minister for Labour, announced an agreement for the phased withdrawal of South African produce from the four major supermarket chains in the 26 counties. The statement noted that the action may be extended over some time because of an apparent difficulty in finding a replacement supply. This announcement comes as a direct result of a 14-month struggle waged by a small group of Dublin shopworkers, who are members of the Irish Distributive and Administrative Trade Union (IDATU). While welcoming this announcement, the strikers noted that they will not return to work until there is a total ban on South African produce in Dunnes' Stores, the chain with which they are in dispute, where management has warned that they will not be exempted from handling South Afriean produce, while a new supplier is being sought. Below we trace the history of this heroic and exemplary strike.
LIAM DAVITT in support of the strike. The Irish minister for labour, Mr Ruari Quinn (a member of the Labour Party) supported the ruling of the Labour Court (the 26-county Employer/Trade Union conciliation body) which advised the strikers to return to work. Quinn hypocritically remains a member of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement (LAAM), some sections of which have played a very supportive role during the strike. The Irish minister for foreign affairs, Mr Peter Barry, in his discussions with the other Foreign Ministers of the EEC countries, has failed to follow the lead provided by the strikers on the question of sanctions.
A key point in the strike was reached in July of this year when, approaching the first anniversary of the strike, some of the strikers set out on a tour of South Africa on the invitation of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bishop Desmond Tutu. On arrival at Johannesburg airport the strikers delegation, which included a member of Action from Ireland (Afri), an organisation which has vigorously supported the strikers, was turned away by the South African authorities, who doubtless feared the publicity which the tour of the strikers would bring to that state.
Throughout the strike the strikers have received support from many left groups in Dublin, including People's Democracy, Irish section of the Fourth International. The strikers themselves admit having become more politically aware during the course of the strike and they now insist that no matter what course their union (IDATU) or the ICTU takes on the boycott, they will never handle South African produce again. Thus their minimum demand has been for the inclusion of a 'conscience clause' into employment contracts with Dunnes', , whereby shop workers will be allowed to refuse to handle South African goods as an act of individual conscience.
The political maturity of the strikers has been underlined by the fact that they have led this strike through 14 morale sapping months during which the Dunnes' management's response has been to point out that the strikers may not be employed again by Dunnes' Stores. In this historie struggle 11 young workers from one of the lowest paid sectors of the Irish work force are leading a fight on behalf of the entire Irish trade union movement against an intransigent management, who are exploiting the inactivity of the Dublin government.
All messages of support for the strikers and donations should be sent to the Dunnes' Strikers' Support Fund, c/o IDATU, 9 Cavendish Row, Dublin 1.
LIAM DAVITI
On July 19, 1984, Mary Manning, a young Dublin shop assistant, was dismissed for refusing to handle South African fruit. Mary was working at a city centre branch of Dunnes' Stores, the largest multiple chain store in Ireland. Twelve of the other 17 full-time workers at the store walked out in support of Mary's unique action and since then 11 workers have maintained a picket on the store.
This, the first strike in support of the oppressed Black masses of South Africa outside of the African continent, began when an individual worker followed a standing recommendation of her Trade Union. In remaining on strike for 14 months these 11 young workers (ten of them are women) have taken a firmer stand on the question of a trade boycott of the racist South African state than any European government.
The workers have received support from large numbers of Irish workers who refuse to pass the picket line, but, more importantly perhaps, they have also increased popular consciousness of the situation in South Africa and of the call of Black South African leaders for a ban on South African produce. Popular support for the strike has also been motivated by news coverage of the events in South Africa over the last year and the Irish people's own direct experience of imperialism and racism.
The leadership of the Irish trade union movement acknowledged the principled position of the strikers by placing an Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) picket on the store. Practically however, the ICTU has done little else and it has been left to individual activists and local trade union branches to organise collections for the strikers and/or join the picket lines at the store.
Earlier this year the strikers approached Dublin dock workers who had been handling Dunnes' goods. The response of these workers in support of the strike forced the Dunnes' management to import South African produce through the northern port of Belfast.
The strike at Dunnes' Stores has also highlighted the hypocrisy of the Dublin government on the issue of collaboration with the South African ruling class. Many individual members of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition have spoken out in support of the courageous stand of the strikers. Others have vacillated on this issue by questioning the validity of the boycott tactic because of the possible effect it could have on the living standards of Black South African workers, a stance which ignores the fact that the call for a boycott originated in the Black South African community. But no matter what the theoretical' positions of the Irish ruling class and the government parties have been, none of them have taken any action