As I type this there is a sit in going on in the Passport office in Dublin. A number of members of the public are expressing their displeasure with the fact they that cannot get their passports. I totally sympathise with them. And I think the Civil, Public and Services Union are shooting themselves in the foot with this sort of action. I understand they have a gripe with the government, but inconveniencing the public is not going to get them anywhere. They are fighting a battle in the court of public opinion, so persecuting the taxpayer who has to pay for their wages, and any deal they might try to win is not a good idea.

I am very personally pissed off with them too, after they directly screwed with Laura and me this week.

In order for her to enter the public health system here in Austria (and to have the baby in a public hospital) we need to get a letter confirming that Laura is fully paid up for PRSI and will be while she is on maternity leave. That seemed straight forward enough to get. But that letter is only provided by the Department of Social and Family Affairs office in Sligo. And because the CPSU has decided that answering the phone is not part of the core duties of their members Seamus in Vienna, or Laura in Cork cannot request them to send us such a letter. No letter, no health coverage for Laura in Austria. We were looking at a situation where Laura would have to stay in Ireland to have the baby, or hop in a car and spend 5 hours driving across the island to the see if they would give her the letter when she got to Sligo (and of course there is no guarantee they would).

This sort of stress and aggravation is not something either of us needed. We were very lucky we were able to get a favour from a relative who went to the office in Sligo and has posted us the letter. My opinions of the CPSU leadership when we realised the shit they had left us in are not printable, because the Guards tend to call around and ask questions about your intentions when you write down things like that.

Now I might get some representative of the union, or a defender of their position coming along here to say that they were forced into this, and it’s the government’s fault for making them have to do this. Frankly that is a load of crap. It was the CPSU’s decision to inconvenience the public in this way, so they have to take responsibility. The IRA used to try the same nonsense in the 80′s when they were condemned for bombing towns – “blame the Brits, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have to do this”. It was a bullshit excuse when they used it, and it’s a bullshit excuse from the CPSU as well.

Here is some free advice to the CPSU. It was the fear of public outcry that led to the FF backbenchers telling to the government to push through the austerity measures, torpedoing the alternative “reform” plan. Aggravating the public means you will never get them to agree to change their minds. Certainly, after my experiences this week I will never vote for a candidate from any party that backs a climbdown.