Belfast anti-water charge pickets forces cancellation of recruitment
Feb 2 2007 10:33
PICKET FORCES WATER CHARGES RECOVERY COMPANY TO CANCEL OPEN RECRUITMENT DAY
PRESS RELEASE - 1st Feb 07
The We Won't Pay Campaign claimed their protest today a victory after it was
announced that Echo Managed Services, the company responsible for recovering
unpaid water charges on behalf of the new water company Northern Ireland Water
Ltd., had cancelled it's much publicised open recruitment day.
Secretary of the We Won't Pay Campaign Gary Mulcahy speaking at the protest
today warned Echo that today's protest was the first of many to target it's
headquarters on Upper Queen St in Belfast.
Mr Mulcahy said " This company is a consortium of multi-national companies who
specialise in debt recovery for water companies in Britain. It is a scandal
that the Government is paying Echo £70million of taxpayers money to harass and
intimidate people into paying water charges, which we already pay for through
the rates. We would also like to remind people that this is the same company
that labelled working class communities in northern Ireland as being 'Rock
Bottom'.
We want to send a clear message to Echo today that they will not get away with
threatening people into paying the water double-tax. People are not rock
bottom, but on the contrary are rock solid behind the We Won't Pay Campaign's
call for mass non-payment of these charges."
We Won't Pay Campaign
PO Box 994 Belfast BT1 1RB
Tel: 90311778 e-mail: wewontpay@btconnect.com
Feb 2 2007 10:43
#2
post it yourself ballroot 
I thought ye could post news in the news forum!
Feb 2 2007 10:44
#3
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80780
link here with pictures
Feb 2 2007 11:04
#4
Fucking sweet 
What's the general situation with water charges at the moment? Any good links on this?
Feb 2 2007 11:04
#5
that's good stuff connor.
though pedantic note - could you tell someone on the campaign the possive form of "it" is "its", not "it's"? It makes the press release look amateurish.
Feb 2 2007 11:14
#6
there's an email address in the press release - send your pedantry there John! 
Bobby and Boul could tell ye a bit more, but from the last local meeting I was at, it seems that the vast majority of people spoken to on doorsteps are supporting a non-payment pledge (70% I heard), with about another 20-25% opposed to water charges in principal but not wanting to rock the boat/afraid of legal repercussions of non-payment etc, and only 5-10% actually in favour. Perhaps another Belfast comrade could confirm these rough figures?
The press release has a link to the We Won't Pay Campaign info site
Feb 2 2007 11:29
#7
We will be writing more stuff regarding our involvment in the anti-water charges campaign.
As far as non-payment goes, the We Won't Pay campaign has around 70,000 non-payment pledges and when we have went round the doors there has always been a positive response.
However, there are strengths and weaknessness to the campaign in which we will elaborate later.
Feb 2 2007 12:06
#8
Bobby wrote:
However, there are strengths and weaknessness to the campaign in which we will elaborate later.
I notice that the Socialist Party is linking the anti-water charges campaign to it's electoral campaign for the assembly elections. It looks like they trying to make electoral headway out of the campaign in the same way as Scottish Militant Labour did with the Poll Tax and the Socialist Party in Dublin did with water charges.
Has the question of the assembly elections been discussed in the campaign?
Feb 2 2007 13:17
#9
This is an ongoing debate, but the interim delegates committee on saturday hepled to clarify the situation. Although the trots are putting up their own candidates the We Won't Pay campaign is not endording any candidates.
Feb 2 2007 13:21
#10
In addition, as anarchists we have consistently argued against participating in elections within and outside the campaign
Feb 2 2007 14:11
#11
Dublin Dave misunderstands the views of the Socialist Party on the potential role of election slates supporting these kind of campaigns. We are in favour of it only where we think such candidates will help boost non-payment, and not where it might improve our vote but might also damage the campaigns. In Dublin, during the anti-bin tax campaign, the SP was very critical of elements of the campaign which seemed to us to be putting electoral benefit ahead of the needs of the campaign.
In the North the Socialist Party is sceptical at the moment about the benefits to the campaign of standing a slate of "official" anti-water charge candidates even though it would probably boost the votes of any candidates who will be emphasising the issue (including Socialist Party candidates). The basic reason is that such a slate won't currently get a big vote and a low vote might actually damage rather than help the building of a non-payment campaign.
Socialist Party wrote:
In our view, the call for a slate of non payment candidates for a March election has not been thought out and is premature at this stage.There is nothing in principle wrong with the idea of running candidates who would promote non payment and challenge the main parties on this. The problem is one of timing and of preparation.
The only point in running candidates would be if they could make a serious impact that would strengthen the non payment campaign. If such a slate got a low vote, it would have the opposite effect – the main parties would use the vote to claim that there is no mandate for non payment.
The problem with this election is that the charges have not yet been introduced. The non payment battle has not begun in earnest. Active community based campaigns only exist in the areas where the We Won’t Pay Campaign has been built.
During the election the main parties will all claim to oppose water charges – it is only if they get into power and implement the charges in some form that they will be found out on this. If the election is postponed and if non payment takes off, the basis might exist at a future date for a slate of non payment candidates representing areas where genuine community based, non payment campaigns have been built.
http://www.socialistparty.net/pub/pages/socialist022jan07/9.html
Feb 2 2007 14:19
#12
I see, by the way, that the SWP are up to their usual antics and are trying to relaunch the essentially defunct Communities Against Water Charges as a rival campaign. Can anyone closer to the ground tell me what they are at?
Feb 2 2007 22:56
#13
As Bobby said, as anarchists we are opposed to electioneering in principal, but also from a practical/tactical point of view with regards the campaign, we would see the backing of election candidates on a non-payment platform as diverting much-needed resources from the grassroots non-payment campaign.
Plus in NI it's ultimately pointless as people vote along sectarian lines and that isn't going to change because of the water charges coming in.
Feb 2 2007 23:01
#14
Bobby wrote:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80780link here with pictures
Belfast looks lovely this time of year.
Tell the straight edge that I'll be seeing his ugly mug tomorrow!
Feb 2 2007 23:09
#15
Belfast is class ballroot, seeya tomorrow!!!
this is a news story asshole, post it to news!
http://libcom.org/node/add/content_news