A chara, – It is terrible reflection on our society that, while in November 1913 James Byrne became the first man to die on hunger strike in the 20th century, some 100 years later another man, James Wyse of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), is on hunger strike for over one week now and is beginning to show the effects of it.
Workers at the Green Isle Foods factory have been out for six months and it is only since Mr Wyse began his hunger strike that the company agreed to enter talks on a resolution to the dispute. Before that it not only refused to talk to the TEEU but rebuffed interventions by the Labour Relations Commission, the National Implementation Body and the Labour Court. Today, there is a rally in Naas at noon which will call for action by the men’s employers. It is now time for the Government to intervene before this dispute results in the loss of someone’s precious life. – Is mise,