International Day of Solidarity with GAMA Workers

by imc head Wed Apr 06, 2005 22:45

will there be a picket at the embassy in Dublin?

what time? (where is it??)

will bring MD + DV down if available

by RS Wed Apr 06, 2005 22:56

Turkish Embassy
11, Clyde Road, Ballsbridge Dublin 4,Ireland
Tel: (00.353.11 68 52 40 60 16 23

I'd assume there is one there too.

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics - Please Wed Apr 06, 2005 23:03

Construction.

We need it yet it propigates some of the worst characteristics and mentalities in certain human beings towards their fellow man.

When will we learn from experience? Where is the word Empathy?

This week as Pope John Paul II rests peacefully; where is the conscience of the few that abuse their fellow human beings for 'money and personal gratification'.

Personally albeit I am non religious, I like to rely on the words 'There but for the Grace of God go I, when in doubt.

Migration: Ireland ought to know about it. Our people left from Donegal and the North used to pick pratie for six months of the year; our people left in the 1950's to work on the 'Lump' in England; to construct their houses, the English infrastructure; to remit money to ageing parents; to educate younger siblings; to sustain the homeplace in Ireland. Now our Government is shy about even acknowledging these people; let alone enabling them to return home.

Remember these people Worked and remitted funds home, now they suffer from the outcome of no protection such as pension or supporting family. Too many Irish people fall into the homeless category in England.

Yet, here we are supporting a system that has enticed migrants into a Tough, Hard and Isolationary industry. Moreover there is a significant alleged underpayment of funds to workers....to migrant workers.....and worse it is alleged that 30 m euros has been sequestered and lodged in another country.

We know all about this from history....I want to know who are the beneficiaries of the these funds. Surely, there is complicit behaviour between nationalities contractors sub-contractors?

We know what happened in England and the lump. We also realistically know that there were shrewd boyos who worked the system in England and returned to Ireland. We know it because they too carried out exploitation on building sites in the 1970's and 1980's and 1990's.

The 1970's was the time of building the Local Authority Estates particularly in Dublin.

Does anyone remember the Tender scenario? It was about the Big 9. Was the estimatng skills of the Quantity Surveyors such an exact science or more the provision of monthly requests from the Corporation or Co. Coucil? Does anyone recall the so-called Dead Men......What was their function?

The motive is the same: It is about ensuring certain people gain more money than others.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe....we all can judge now.
However, what about orchestration? There is the World Bank; there is the IMF; there are the NGO's; there are missionaries.

1980 was their time of Independence, and aspirational growth. They like, us had a Civil War to deal with. They relied on expertise from White Settlers. They were not paid a fair wage. We need to consider this before we bestow judgment on Leaders who appear to be taken over by greed, corruption fever. Greed is infectious surely.

The 1980's in Ireland was tough and it was more difficult for those in construction. There was an absence of cranes; the Quays gave rise to a comment by German people on a visit, that they never realised that Dublin was so badly bombed during World War II.

Many of us left for England, where the property market was good until about 1991. 1992 saw quite a number of Irish people - some architects, engineers, contractors managers etc. over in countries like Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

What people fail to realise is that contractors like John Sisk; Costains etc. etc. had successfully read the Irish and UK market and were firmly planted in countries like Zimbabwe. They had a tradition of building Churches, schools, roads, housing but the advantage they had was the poverty of people. People proved cheaper than machinery. There were no pensions.

Building Sites could have as many as 1000 people local. You would see men asleep standing....or lying on the floor......they walked sometimes 3 hours to work and then home....Then there was HIV, Aids.....the little bit of money brought the dreaded temptation. The men kept working on these sites until the weakness enfolded them. Then they lost the little money they had.....in the cruel world determined by Financiers and those willing to make the quick buck on the infrastructure.

Well Ireland - I say Shame.
I commend the people who facilitated the men from Turkey to make a stand and come forward.

I ask about the procedure for tendering for such large infra-structural work in Ireland.

Was it the lowest tender? Or was there pressure to open up the Irish market to foreign contracts.

If this was the case, I ask about the scrutiny particularly in relation to migratory staff coming from Turkey?

The Time has come for the Irish people to say NO to abuse of power; to ensure scrutiny; and to demand from politicians a hardline on corruption practices

Michelle Clarke

by rte Thu Apr 07, 2005 00:18

Gama management to meet Turkish action group
06 April 2005 20:47

Management at Gama Construction are to meet the Turkish Workers' Action Group and union officials tomorrow.

The move follows protests in Dublin and Galway over claims of systematic underpayment of Turkish workers on Gama sites.

Meanwhile, the Department of Enterprise says it is awaiting clarification from Gama on a number of issues raised at meetings yesterday.

Employees of the Turkish construction firm also met with senior SIPTU officials at Liberty Hall in Dublin.

They were considering what action could be taken to prevent the company sending home 140 of its employees for which it says it no longer has work. 

SIPTU organiser Pat McCabe says the move will be strongly resisted.

Yesterday, 300 Gama workers travelled from Dublin to Tynagh in Co Galway to stage a demonstration at the site of a €300 million power plant which the company is building for the ESB.

Fourteen workers at the Tynagh plant walked off the site during the demonstration and returned to Dublin with their colleagues.

Workers also staged a march in Dublin on Monday to protest over pay rates.

by Ex-Militant Thu Apr 07, 2005 01:20

Im no fan of the current regime in the SP but credit where credits due, Joe Higgins etc have done a great job on this issue, exposing the exploiting bastards who run GAMA. Question is why were'nt SIPTU defending these workers? Were'nt they members? Was it a case of 'got their union dues, could'nt give a damn'?

by examiner Thu Apr 07, 2005 04:58

"Gama workers refuse to halt protests

By Michael O’Farrell, Political Reporter

HUNDREDS of Gama workers in Dublin yesterday refused to return to work as SIPTU demanded the Government step in to prevent the threatened repatriation of Turkish employees.

The continuing protest follows an initial 400-strong march by Gama workers on Monday and another demonstration on Tuesday in which hundreds of employees from Clare and Dublin gathered at the firm’s largest operation - a power plant in Tynagh, Co Galway.

SIPTU construction branch secretary Eric Fleming called on Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin to intervene until outstanding issues of concern are addressed. "

--

it seems some of the workers have been occupying a site in Dublin, and the Examiner publishes GAMA's statement that:

“The company is greatly concerned for the welfare of the employees occupying the site and sympathises with their concerns and fears. These fears and expectations have been heightened by parties outside of Gama, who now exercise a high degree of control over these workers. Regrettably this is inhibiting the company’s ability to deal with the workers’ concerns.”

--

"a high degree of control"? that's a little rich coming from gama now really.

by Derry Socialist - none Fri Apr 08, 2005 18:04

Inspirational stuff from the Socialist Party and the Turkish workers for standing up to those ruthless GAMA fat cats. The Socialist Party seem to be the only political party on this island that really make a difference for working class people. Well done!

by newsforthedeaf Fri Apr 08, 2005 18:49

The existing policies of the Irish govt. to safeguard the rights of migrant workers and their families are "deficient and lacking in scope."
The Human Rights Commission has said there is a resistance at govt. level to protect the rights of immigrant workers.
The International Convention on the Protection of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICPMWF) http://www.unesco.org/migration/convention
has not been ratified here.
This international human rights legislation came into force in July 2003 to protect a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights
but it has been ignored by the Irish govt.


“…another truth about fortress continents: being on the inside may be better than being locked out, but it's no guarantee of equal status.”
- Naomi Klein

by examiner Fri Apr 08, 2005 22:40

online.ie
2005-04-08 19:30:02+01
The troubled Gama construction firm tonight agreed to hand over foreign bank account details as part of a probe into alleged underpayment of hundreds of its Turkish workers.

Following a meeting with the striking workers today, SIPTU said the company will furnish documents of 10 employees so that accounts in a Dutch bank can be compared to work sheets.

The employees, who walked off Gama's building sites in Ireland this week, claim they are owed up to €30m in back pay because of underpayment of wages.

Earlier, SIPTU called for fraud detectives to investigate Gama if a Government report finds it hid workers' wages in the Dutch-owned Finansbank accounts.


more at

by pete Sat Apr 09, 2005 18:46

the company will only bin the letters or at best burn them, think of the effect on the rainforests and the ozone layer, dont send anything, the power plant in Tynagh is only another imperialistic monument that will harm the enviornment, so what if a few jobs go - let them strike and put the plant out of business, they can go on social welfare like the rest of us and smoke blow.

by Garrett Mullan - SP Sat Apr 09, 2005 20:23 garrettmullan at eircom dot net

Well Derry Socialist, if you are not already a member follow your inspiration and join www.socialistparty.net

If you are already a member - aren't you a bit sly

by examiner Tue Apr 12, 2005 03:04

According to the Sunday Times of London (10-04-05) a dirty tricks campaign is being carried out against some Gama workers.

One of them, named as Zafer Kaplan, as well as three others claim they were offered up to €15,000 each and jobs in other countries. He's quoted as saying: “We were approached and offered money to stop talking to the media and looking for our wages.... The offer started at €30,000 and he went to €60,000. All we want is the money they owe us.”

Gama denies the claims, as well as claims about intimidation of the workers' families at home in Turkey.

The Sunday Times also reports that Gama have apparently post-poned the planned deportation of 140 workers.

Meanwhile today, Gama workers protested outside the Four Courts over Gama's injunction on the publication of the Labour Inspectors' report. The case was adjourned.

by examiner Tue Apr 12, 2005 03:11

Hundreds to join Dáil Gama protest

By Michael O’Farrell, Political Reporter

HUNDREDS of Turkish construction workers with multinational firm Gama will today protest outside the Dáil as the dispute over underpayments by the company enters its second week.

Today’s demonstration follows a series of unprecedented protest marches and continuing work stoppages by more than 400 Turkish employees since the discovery of previously unknown workers’ bank accounts in the Netherlands.

From this morning, Gama workers will tour construction sites in Dublin seeking support from Irish workers for today’s protest, scheduled to take place at the Dáil at 1pm.

Although construction unions, constrained by labour law, stopped short of officially sanctioning today’s protest, it is expected many Irish builders will support their Turkish colleagues.

(reposted in full as the Examiner/Business Post website has been incredibly slow for the past two days)

by examiner Tue Apr 12, 2005 03:16

[continued]

Following today’s march, Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte will both raise the issue with the Taoiseach.

Mr Higgins, who first raised the matter with Mr Ahern over two months ago, said he would demand the Government take action to help Gama workers receive justice.

“We want very particular commitments from the State as to what they are going to do to help these workers get access to their money,” he said.

As Gama workers continue to occupy several sites in Dublin, Mr Higgins and the Turkish Workers Action Group (TWAG) will also meet Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin before the end of this week.

The matter is also expected to be discussed by ministers at this morning’s Cabinet meeting although it is not officially on the agenda.

In addition Mr Martin will also this week meet senior Gama management from Turkey, SIPTU, ICTU and representatives of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), of which Gama is a member.

Meanwhile the High Court yesterday extended a temporary injunction preventing publication of a government report into Gama for a further week.

It allows the Government more time to prepare its response to the injunction and will today deliver its affidavit to the High Court.

by eeekkkkk Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:36

Passing it on