Union power can take on paramilitarism, sectarianism and repression
The current South Antrim loyalist threat against journalists is only the latest in a series of attempts to intimidate media workers. Just a week ago the state was forced to pay out over £800,000 in damages in a court settlement following a brutal campaign of repression by the PSNI against two journalists who exposed collusion between the state and paramilitaries. This comes on top of the killing of a journalist, Lyra McKee, by a republican paramilitary organisation in April last year.
All three incidents show the dangers faced by media workers in Northern Ireland. Threats, intimidation, and killings of workers must not go unanswered. The trade union movement can answer paramilitarism, sectarianism and state repression with a strong unified cross community working class voice. If the attacks against media workers do not stop then mass protests and strike action should be organised to support journalists and to force the paramilitaries and the state to retreat.
It is time for an end to paramilitarism, sectarianism and state repression.
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