Mandate Youth Chair Slams Management's Union Busting And Silencing of Dissent

Aontacht Media sat down with Siúrtán Ó Priongalóid for a tell-all interview about the state of the trade union movement in Ireland, in which he draws on his experiences as Chair of Mandate Youth to expose the bureaucratic hold that fat-cat management have on the workers’ struggle. 

Q: What positions do you currently hold within Mandate, and what is the current state of the Mandate Youth Committee?

A: I'd be the Cathaoirleach of the Artane-Finglas-Santry Local Council myself at the moment and technically, yeah I'd still be the Cathaoirleach of what is left of the Mandate Youth Committee as well but the MYC itself is basically defunct now at this point -- basically, we're all under the unspoken agreement that there's just no point in continuing on a Youth Committee whose parent TU realistically, is not gonna be around for much longer in its current form, let alone be a force for serious material change! 

Q: How did you come to lead the Mandate Youth Committee, and what has that experience been like following the removal of its previous chair?

A: Basically, during Alex's tenure as Cathaoirleach, I was Leas-Chathaoirleach, Rúnaí and unfortunately one of the ICTU Youth Reps from the MYC on the ICTU Youth Committee itself... After the OAPs - which stands for Old Age Pensioners, meaning the older, established members of the trade union bureaucracy - internally purged him, the poisoned chalice effectively fell to me.

Q: From your perspective as a long-standing activist within Mandate, how would you describe the current state of the union, and what do you believe has driven the growing internal tensions between the leadership and ordinary members?

A: I suppose just from my own experience of being as active as one can possibly be at varying levels throughout what is becoming more and more of a collaborationist union over the years, I think it's quite uncontroversial at this rate to point out that the gap between the for lack of better phrasing, the Labour Aristocracy, and Mandate's lay members has always been an internally noticeable feature of membership but both sides were for the most part, historically able to "get on" or at the very least, begrudgingly co-operate, for the sake of the day-to-day vital work that needed to be carried out in making varying degrees of representations on behalf of workers in the cases where and when said Labour Aristocracy were actually arsed to get the finger out but these last few years in particular has seen a seismic shift of internal hostility that has become ever more apparent to the average outsider looking in -- a feature of such hostility I think in which no one, regardless of faction, would dispute...

I'd say specifically re: the Labour Aristocracy's own signature style of internalised union busting, the short answer is that a lot of the increased hostility has initially been bred from a systematic denial of fundamental core tenants to Trade Unionism itself such as democratic transparency, fair procedures and natural justice for all members involved who are simply just exercising their democratic right in raising quite valid concerns, good faith critiques and rather reasonable questions, least of all as of lately in relation to union finances in regards to where their membership dues are being spent along with the associated reasons why money is being spent where it's specifically being and has previously been unjustly allocated, i.e. the not-so mysterious staff salaries that could only be speculated upon alongside the continued undemocratic and further suspect use of Confidential Settlements/Non-Disclosure Agreements internally as has already been publicly reported on by major news outlets.

Q: How do you view Mandate management's treatment of members and activists who have raised concerns or criticised the union's leadership?

A: I'm gonna be careful in how I phrase this because by no means am I under the naive illusion that our Labour Aristocracy are good faith-led individuals based on my own personal and continued interactions with their ilk...

Quite simply, the silencing - perceived or there otherwise -- of some of our most active members in the precise manner that's been sanctioned across the board by a certain undoubtedly narcissistic clique is nothing short of disgusting, disgraceful and despicable conduct carried out from self-described "Trade Unionists", some of who I would add rather hilariously declare themselves to be apparent "followers of Connolly" (I must've missed the chapter in 'Labour in Irish History' myself where it green lights corporate skulduggery!)

Q: Some activists have alleged that disciplinary procedures and other internal measures have been used to suppress dissent within Mandate. What's your assessment of those claims? 

A: As has already been documented across a variety of publically available sources to date, internalised union measures weaponised against its own grassroots paying members are notably actions of conscious and further malicious intention usually reserved to internally silence or suppress perceived "dissent" from any organisation engaged in unscrupulous practise, particularly at the back-drop of at the time, upcoming union elections in advance of Mandate's Biennial Delegates Conference!

Q: There's often discussion online about factionalism within Mandate. Is the divide primarily ideological, or is something else driving the conflict?

A: I see a lot of chatter about it across the socials but internally speaking, the factional divide between those of us who are against these Labour Aristocrats and said Labour Aristocrats themselves is not necessarily strictly "political" in the traditional sense of how most people would assume it to be...

What I mean by this is that demographics-wise, just from personally judging it at the latest BDC gone by there myself, some people who have for their own reasoning mind you, found themselves to have been pitted against these Labour Aristocrats are not exactly inherently the most "Left-leaning" of individuals and I'm sure some of these Labour Aristocrats would equally hail from various shades of (primarily) the Liberal "Left" themselves in contrast but what I can say with absolute authority is that the factional divide is certainly material just as it is unscrupulous!

Q: Do you think there's a generational or material divide within Mandate that influences how different sections of the union approach internal democracy and workplace issues?

A: Not counting factionally-aligned union officials, in the politest way possible, our internal Labour Aristocracy aren't exactly young whippersnappers by any conceivable margin by and large insofar as tending to be on the older side of things so in contrast, by nature of the specifics of this given demographic as it pertains to the sector, tend to be on superior contracts – including but not being limited to having better terms & conditions across the board – so arguably aren't as affected or motivated since they simply have different material interests to maintain insofar as not wanting to "rock the boat" just on average as they approach their twilight years, these material interests obviously vastly differ from let's say a young Retail worker in their 20s, which in and of itself is unfortunately just an Objective Condition of the precarious "divide & conquer" state of the Retail sector itself!

Q: Based on your experience organising retail workers, what is the mood among members on the ground, and what do you think workers are looking for from a trade union today?

A: Anecdotally, I can say from direct experience in approaching people behind the scenes that there is an increasing sense of general apathy on the ground, particularly across Tesco Stores by and large from my own experience, wherein workers see the exploitative forces rallying against them for what it is and are further incensed to get organised to advance the needs, aspirations and interests of their class but have just been burned one too many times by Mandate at this rate but that appetite still remains for many...

What these people need now more than ever is a working-class vehicle actually willing to commit itself internally to democratic transparency, fair procedures and natural justice for its own lay members let alone the prospective membership we're trying to convince to join -- admittedly, I don't have a crystal ball so can't predict the future of any of this but I can tell anyone who's willing to listen that vehicle sure as anything just ain't Mandate! 

Q: Is there anything you'd like to add, and are you happy for us to publish your comments in full?

A: Yeah no like you'd have my permission to use what's there any way ye want really… I reckon the Labour Aristocracy would sooner just purge me rather than issuing me another cease & desist, let alone even following through with it so yeah.

Q: You've previously mentioned receiving correspondence from Mandate that you felt was intended to discourage activism. Could you explain what happened?

Basically yeah, like it wouldn't be a proper "cease & desist" now, that probably wasn't the best way to word that myself in fairness, but they sent a few activists an email with language basically heavily implying that IF continued, that would be likely be the outcome...