General Assembly – 8th Nov. – 6pm

 

General Assembly – 8^th Nov. – 6pm

Facilitators: Sharon & Mick. Notes: Tom

 

Agenda

1. Friday 11/11/11 – Carnival
2. Saturday 12/11/11 – March
3. D.C.T.U. Proposal / discussion
4. Any other business

 

Intro – one calendar month of occupation

• Shout out to sister occupations
• Reiteration as to why we are here
• Explanation of hand signals
• Reminder to check website for all information

 

1. 1.    Friday 11/11/11

 

• Events group speaks briefly about carnival atmosphere. Event will run 3pm – 9pm
• Acts named and mention of art project.
• Invitation for artists to join ‘The Freedom Project’.
• Call for volunteers to help in all areas.
• Question of date significance and theme for carnival. Answer: carnival theme and global day of solidarity.
• Suggestion made to reach out to migrant communities and anti-racism groups about the art project.
• Offer of display boards for art. Accepted
• Call out for volunteers to distribute posters and flyers
• Suggestion to make all past and present posters downloadable from the website. Media team will make this happen.

 

1. 2.    Saturday 12/11/11

 

• Spread the word.
• Reminder of how to invite all friends via Facebook.
• Question asked about if there would be a G.A. after the march.
• Proposal to have G.A. after the march.
  • Suggestion made to have inspirational speakers for après march.
  • Proposal to have open forum and themes.
  • Suggested to make G.A. après march more appealing to new comers.
  • Reminder that there will be a video link up with Occupy Wall Street at 8pm that night.
  • Suggestion to re-cap happening of week passed
  • Theme suggestion: – “Occupy Movement. Where Next?”
  • Format of the GA/forum after the march? Same as before with live stream
    • 1. Reflection – on the ODS process so far.
    • 2. How? Why? Where next for the occupy movement?
    • 3. Prepared / professional
    • 4. Inspirational stories

 

Considerations:

• Traffic
• Numbers / Garda liaison
• Technical point: press release?  Being worked on by media/events groups.

 

Two main Proposals:

1. Inspirational speakers/stories – themed G.A.
2. Garda liaison; Options proposed be Gardaí: – leave one lane open or speed up the march i.e. have less/no stops.

Keep stops in key areas? Westmoreland St. – O’Connell St.

Issues of safety raised if traffic is passing along with the march. Workability.

Question of consent: clarify – not stopping us just making a request.

 

Proposals put to consensus:

1. Not to stop at all
2. One stop
3. Two stops

AGREED: Put to March planning group to clarify and bring proposal back to GA.

 

1. 3.    Dublin Council of Trade Unions (D.C.T.U.) Proposal / Discussion

Offer to extend G.A. by 30mins – AGREED

Reminder of yesterday’s meeting points. Has been agreed to have initial discussion tonight; to allow for reflection there will be a second discussion at tomorrow Wednesday 9^th Nov GA; finalisation of issue at GA next week (date to be decided).

Discussion structure for tonight:

• Outline; Pro’s/Con’s
• Split in to groups for discussion of topic
• Bring points back to G.A.

There is a pre-Budget march on 26^th Nov being organised by DCTU and the march will be happening anyway. ODS has received an invite to join the planning committee of the march and to participate in the march.

Points from discussion:

• Union member speaker – talks against the unions and saying that they follow the government’s line.
• Opined that it’s crucial to join the march and reach a wider number of groups.
• Are trade unions de-facto political parties?
• Issue of DCTU – point made about DCTU Facebook status about sectarianism and claiming the ODS have changed their principles. This did not happen
• Voice of support for DCTU – always worked for the 99%
• Call for DCTU board member names and what they stand for.
• DCTU are a large group so it is difficult to name everyone involved.
• Relate to workers not union bosses. Not affiliate / appeal to the 99%.
• Ask DCTU to call their members to our marches (applause) if they ask ODS to theirs.
• Not about leaders but about members.

Reminder of topic

• Voice totally against ODS being linked with the unions
• Reminder that the march is against austerity and not IMF and bailouts.
• Union member speaks – one executive (of DCTU) ­­­tells of building solidarity along with everybody. Unity.
• Point brought that some things have been discussed but not implemented such as, smaller discussion groups / horse shoe etc…

 

Split to smaller groups to discuss topic and develop pro’s and con’s (6/7 minutes), groups of five. Open your mind.

 

Key Points from the Groups:

1. Concern on process / being rushed. Of enlarging.
2. Acknowledgement of fear of leadership from DCTU.  Lack of trust and need to take leap of faith.
3. [Pro’s] 5 speakers – opportunity to reach massive numbers. Opportunity to be on planning committee.  [Con’s] large SWP membership
4. 1. Concern of political parties linked to DCTU
   2. Focus on quality over quantity
   3. Not bullied by G.A. to align
   4. Not forget why we’re here
   5. Against rushing to get involved
   6. Why labels are so important to unions?
   7. Not talking to David Beggs talking to masses. Heated discussion in group. Issue of banners being laid down at ODS.
   8. [Con’s]  – broadly unsure / not enough information. – Consolidate Occupy first. – Their march so no input on banners etc…[Pro’s] – shared goal. – A lot in common with union members.

 

Pros	Cons
Engagement with other processes can only be good for ODS	There is a lack of trust between parts of ODS and unions/parties
DCTU is made up of Union members, it is the 99% (or part of it)	DCTU seems to have a significant SWP participation: nearly every DCTU speaker from last Saturday’s ODS meeting with DCTU was an SWP member
We need to take leap of faith	Doubts about whether DCTU reflects rank and file
DCTU have invited an ODS speaker for the event	We need to remember our raison d’etre
ODS can engage in planning the march	We are a people’s movement, why can’t the Unions (as individuals) get involved in our marches etc
We have lots in common with DCTU demands	Not enough info
In working with DCTU we wouldn’t be working with David Beggs (i.e. the Union top brass) but with ordinary marchers who come out for the process	We should focus on consolidating what we’re doing
Makes possible expansion of our movement	ODS would want to have a say on issues such as banners

 

Technical Point:

When will this be decided upon as to allay fears of people not being around on a certain date?

Answer: will be talked about again at tomorrow’s GA, decision will be made tomorrow to fix date for GA next week when this issue of participation in the DCTU march will be finalised.  AGREED.

Detailed minutes will be on line and live stream has been recorded for reflection.

Will members of DCTU be allowed to contribute at tomorrow’s G.A? No objections; AGREED.

AGREED: Tomorrow no decision will be taken.

 

Any Other Business:

1. Consensus being discussed on Thursday, worry about decisions being made on major principles of Occupy.

Spread topics over a number of days / put on the back burner.

2. Point made that large amount of time is being devoted to DCTU, this may be form of distraction. GA schedule and topics have been agreed for this week so will respect that. Recommend to focus on Occupy issues more.

 

Working Group check:

Food: new kitchen being made Sunday, call for volunteers to help in all aspects.

 

FIN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Assembly – 8th Nov. – 6pm, 6.1 out of 10 based on 7 ratings