A "letter of solidarity" with jailed anti-bin charge campaigners is to be handed in to Mountjoy Prison today after a protest march.
The letter from the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, which has organised the march, is sharply critical of the stance taken by local authorities in the current controversy.
Ten protesters were jailed by the High Court this week when they refused to give undertakings not to interfere with Dublin City Council's bin collection services.
Socialist Party politicians Mr Joe Higgins TD and Cllr Clare Daly are also serving sentences for defying a High Court order banning them from obstructing the waste collection service of Fingal County Council.
In its letter, to be handed in today, the Dublin Council of Trade Unions claims "the representatives of our local authorities should bow their heads in shame. They have again disgraced our city. By their actions, they clearly demonstrated that there is one law for the rich and one for the poor."
A number of unions, including SIPTU, the TEEU and the ATGWU, have called on members to support the rally, which begins at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square at noon.
The protesters will march from there to Mountjoy, where a demonstration against local authority service charges and the jailing of protesters will be held.
In its letter, the council says it has pledged to engage in a campaign "to force the Government and the local authorities to provide clean drinking water, sanitation and domestic refuse collection from central funding to all citizens". The council has also written to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, seeking the release of the jailed protesters.
Meanwhile a threatened strike at Limerick County Council, arising a plan to contract out its domestic waste collection service, has been deferred for a week following the intervention yesterday of the Labour Court.
SIPTU is in dispute with the council over the severance, and redeployment terms on offer for 14 workers affected the decision to contract out the service.
The strike, by more than 250 council workers, is now set to go ahead on Monday, October 20th, if a resolution has not been found by then.
