RNU pro

Was just on my way on to post this. Thanks for banging it up.

From RNU website http://www.republicannetwork.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=333%3Arnu-lobby-workers-at-ssa-re-welfare-reform&catid=1%3Alatest-news RNU Belfast today entered two Social Security Agencies in West Belfast and gave leaflets to client advisor's urging them to consider refusing to implement the looming Tory/Stormont 'Welfare Reform Bill', which threatens not only to plunge thousands of families into dire poverty but subsequently threatens the Jobs and working conditions of SSA workers. Both Falls Road and Andersonstown SSA Offices were entered and leafleted. According to the public services Union (NIPSA), the proposed 'Universal Credit' system contained within the Bill could reduce 'face to face engagement' with clients by up to 80%, this means redundancies for SSA staff in the near future. RNU pointed this out to staff in their leaflet as well as the fact that due to added stress on poverty stricken families, they would likely bear the brunt of future frustrations. An unacceptable situation for an already overworked and underpaid workforce. RNU believe that the 'Welfare Reform Bill' can and should be resisted, and that it is with a grass roots effort that worthwhile resistance can be achieved. The workings of the Bill would mean nothing without the efforts of SSA staff on the ground; it is in their interests as well as the interests of society as a whole, that this Bill be stopped in its tracks. Below is the leaflet which was handed to staff, many of whom welcomed our activists gesture today. We intend to visit other SSA Offices in days to come.

Comrades as you may know, the headstone to Vol Joe O'Connor (murdered by Stormont) was destroyed by criminal state agents in may. Tomorrow a brand new Republican stone will be erected at Joes grave in Belfast City Cemetary on what will be his 12th Anniversary. All progressive thinkers are welcome to attend. Refreshements will be on offer after the event.

From the website http://www.republicannetwork.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=326%3Astormont-has-failed-the-people-fight-the-welfare-reform-bill&catid=1%3Alatest-news RNU are disappointed yet not surprised at the failure of the political parties to use powers which were at their disposal to block the callous ‘Welfare Reform Bill’ on Tuesday night’s second stage Stormont vote. The Stormont administration aping the British Government is now gearing up to launch visit vicious attacks upon the most vulnerable in our society. They will slash the income of families on benefits, penalising illness and even threatening the roofs over the heads of ordinary working class people. An estimated £600 million per year is to be grabbed from the poorest families in the six Counties, as a cap of £500 a week is placed upon unemployed & sick households here. Changes to housing benefit will leave parents - whose children have moved out of the family home - expected to pay for vacated rooms or move to a smaller house, an appalling prospect for already hard hit citizens. And as if this wasn’t bad enough, people on benefits will now face the prospect of losing their benefits altogether if they refuse to take up low paid unsuitable work. To claim that this is a move towards getting people into work is a blatant lie. Jobs are not there, taking £600 million a year from the local economy is not to create jobs. The Tory’s are conducting Class War on the poorest here, Catholic and Protestant alike, in an attempt to blame them for the global financial crash, and to force them into low paid jobs which suits their friends in the business elite. This was a process which should have been resisted; all the political parties could have issued a ‘petition of concern’. That they did not is a shame on them. On Tuesday night Stormont failed the people. Theatricals’ aside, no party stood up for the vulnerable, the unemployed and the sick. What we are seeing is the failure of Nationalist reformism to provide for even the most basic demands of the Irish Working Class. Republican Network for Unity is ready to stand with our people on the streets to fight the coming nightmares which will arise from this onslaught on the vulnerable. We encourage all progressive groups to Unite in Political opposition to prevent this legislation becoming an act, and in partnership with Trade Union activists within the public sector.