The owners of Tyrone Crystal must be challenged to open the books to allow workers to inspect where the profits have gone. The defence of jobs must come first, not profits.
The jobs could be saved at Tyrone Crystal if there was the political will to do so by the parties in the Executive. It would cheaper to bring Tyrone Crystal into public ownership thereby protecting jobs, the workforces skills-base and the wider local economy, than to stand back and simply allow unemployment to rise.
The factory could be run far more efficiently by bringing the workforce to the heart of the management and democratically-run alongside public representatives, re-investing profits back into developing the business.
It is an injustice to bail out those who are responsible for the economic crisis to the tune of billions, while workers pay with job losses. A socialist opposition is needed which stands up for the rights of ordinary people.
This article is part of the series collected by the Socialist Party, the CWI in Ireland, on aspects of Labour History. 
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