The Royle Family actor stands in solidarity with the Jobstown protesters.
Actor Ricky Tomlinson wrote the following letter, read out at Saturday’s Jobstown demonstration in Dublin, following the guilty verdict handed down to a teenager for ‘falsely imprisoning’ the former Tánaiste Joan Burton last year.
Recalling the time he and his friend Dessie Warren were sent to jail for a building workers’ dispute against the government, the 77-year-old former Royle Family star wrote…
‘Brothers and Sisters,
’40 years ago myself and Dessie Warren were sentenced to 2 years and 3 years in jail.
‘We were guilty for organising building workers; we were guilty for organising for better pay and for better health and safety; but most of all we were guilty of saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
‘Working conditions on building sites were second only to coal mines for fatalities and serious injuries. Facilities were non existent, no toilets or wash basins. Pay was terrible £20 per week for a skilled worker and £17 for labourers, this for a 40 hour week.
‘Me and Dessie organised workers to strike, we organised workers for better pay and conditions and we won! But the bosses and the Tories came after us and used the law to punish us and to punish other building workers – but we stood strong.
‘It is an absolute insult to find that a politician trapped in the comfort of (a) car is deemed to be in prison. As Jim Royle would say – “Imprisonment my arse!”
‘Dublin is a great city – Liverpool is a great city – but solidarity and unity of the working class is the most important.
‘I want to send greetings to the people of Jobstown for standing up against water charges – it is better to break the law than to break the poor.
‘[PAUSE]
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,
‘Ricky Tomlinson.’
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