Jim Larkin

The Fine Gael-Labour coalition government is facing a major challenge from the Irish trade union movement which has voted to reject Croke Park 2. The rejection by the unions acquires symbolic oomph in a year that sees Dublin City Council organizing a series of events to mark the centenary of the Great Dublin Lockout.

In 1913 union militancy reached new heights as William Martin Murphy tired to force wages down and force workers to break with the union movement.

One of the iconic figures of the union movement during the lock out was  Big Jim Larkin. There must be a certain sense of irony at play in the minds of the leadership of the current Labour Party leadership which in Murphy style is trying to force down wages of workers, many of whom are members of the trade union movement.

Eamonn Gilmore and Pat Rabbitte in 1987 at a statue erected in honor of Jim Larkin

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