COVID-19 restrictions on the economy

You are a delegate to your union’s national conference. The union is aware that there is a growing nervousness and anxiety among members that we are going to return to significant austerity measures as the Irish government grapples with the rising cost of the COVID-19 restrictions on the economy and have indicated in recent times that we must all tighten our belts when we emerge from the crisis. This has led to a number of motions to conference calling on the union to lobby government to insulate their sector from austerity measures as a ‘special case’. This has caused division in the delegates to conference as the union has previously endorses the goals of ICTU’s ‘NO GOING BACK’ policy

Question

You have been asked because of your study of this module to address conference on the effects of this division for workers and to make the argument that working people should stand together and resist austerity through the NO GOING BACK goals.

Learning outcomes:

LO1 Demonstrate an understanding of how the economy and society are interrelated.

LO2 Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the origins of income distribution in capitalist societies

LO3 Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the origins of the dynamics of a capitalist economy over time.

LO4 Demonstrate a knowledge of how different perspectives in economics lead to different policy conclusions.

LO5 Demonstrate a knowledge of specific topics in economics, including government policy, money, trade and unemployment.