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# All Hail The General Strike
- URL: https://aontachtmedia.ie/all-hail-the-general-strike/
- Published: 2026-09-25T14:51:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T15:48:17.000Z
- Description: We are facing the largest industrial dispute since 2011 following the precise formula of previous industrial disputes and all who purport to uphold the legacy of James Connolly must embrace this historical political turning point in the consciousness of our class.
- Author: Alex Homits
- Tags: Critical Analysis

In a piece from earlier this year, [May Day Reflections, the 1990 Act Deflection and ICTU](https://aontachtmedia.ie/may-day-reflections-the-1990-act-deflection-and-ictu/), I articulated the argument that co-ordinated disputes have taken place before and can overcome the 1990 industrial relations act through some level of organisation among the unions. The piece, along with previous arguments in favour of a general strike, was scoffed at by senior trade union officials and inexperienced party members from the spectrum. Impossible, won’t happen, members don’t want it.

Six months later we are facing the largest industrial dispute since 2011 following the precise formula of previous industrial disputes and all who purport to uphold the legacy of James Connolly must embrace this historical political turning point in the consciousness of our class. 

My generations of millennials and gen x lost out on the transformative practice of consistent trade union activity and membership not only in a practical sense but also in a cultural sense. Density in the private sector collapsed to 10%, and where trade unionism was prevalent (auto enrollment of construction workers/security officers etc) it was weak and hollowed out because many of the transitory workers didn’t even know they’re in a trade union. As such there is almost a decade of negligible industrial activity, mostly confined to the golden days of the Mandate Trade Union taking the fight to the unscrupulous anti-union bastards in Dunnes, Tesco and others. But elsewhere, the workforce lost the experience and culture of being in a unionised job and taking collective action regularly to rectify the power imbalance in your workplace. 

The public sector strike might be a key turning point in trade union decline in this country and it is important we take note of it and redouble our efforts to educate, agitate and organise.

The concept of trade unionism, strike committees, negotiations, leverage, power, bosses, workers is now back in the vocabulary of hundreds of thousands of workers, their families and their communities because of the preparation taking place for industrial action. While this comes with its challenges it also reflects the shifting of an overton window in favour of workers taking strike action in pursuit of better pay, better conditions and intervention by the state to improve the lot of the workers.

For the readers of Aontacht Media - this should be an invitation to become members of a trade union and become active participants in the union through its structures. If you don’t know how, then reach out and seek guidance. The experience among dedicated communists in the trade union movement is there and we will help all those earnestly committed to the cause of class oriented struggle.

*“Only the Irish working class remain as the incorruptible inheritors of the fight for freedom in Ireland”* remains as true now as it was when James Connolly wrote Labour in Irish History. We, the diverse, contradictory and complicated working class can become masters of a sovereign, neutral and unified workers republic - but first we must organise.