“He fought for the loaf of bread as no man before him had ever fought; but, with the loaf of bread, he also brought the flask of wine and the book of verse.”
Every year at our Larkin Commemoration, people come together to re-examine, evaluate and be energised by the lessons of Larkinism, which not alone gave Irishmen and women the confidence to stand up for their rights at work, but the aspiration to transform Ireland.
This year, Deputy General Secretary John King gave the keynote address to a packed Glasnevin centre.
❝ Comrades, sisters, brothers and friends,
We have assembled here in Glasnevin Cemetery, as we do each year to remember and to commemorate the life and legacy of Big Jim Larkin, the founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, and the Workers Union of Ireland.
Larkin is unique in the history of the Irish trade union and labour movement, not just because he founded the unions that form SIPTU and that would play a major role in shaping this country’s development over the past 115 years but because he played the key role in taking the movement out of a cul-de-sac sectional interests.
Larkin understood how interconnected were the struggles in the workplace with the wider struggle for social change.
He saw that our movement was not just about fighting for better pay and conditions in the good times and holding onto what we have in the bad, but in securing for workers a greater say in how society is ordered and how it can be improved.
His arrival in Ireland marked not just a quantitative but a qualitative shift in how trade unions operated.
He organised the unorganised and built unions that not only improved the terms and conditions of employment but also influenced national politics, ensuring that workers—skilled and unskilled—had the capacity to campaign on issues affecting their lives and livelihoods.
His call, alongside James Connolly in 1912, for the establishment of an Irish Labour Party to represent workers in what was then envisaged as a Home Rule Parliament, and the battle for union recognition in 1913, remain as relevant today as they were over a century ago.
So was the formation of the Irish Citizen Army in 1913, whose first and last principle was “the avowal that the ownership of Ireland, moral and material, is vested of right in the people of Ireland.” Its membership was open to all who accepted the principle of equal rights and opportunities, regardless of birth, property, or creed.
Larkin achieved this because he was a socialist with the capacity to articulate a strategic vision of what Ireland could become if it freed itself from the grip of selfish oligarchs and embraced the aim of creating a society where all citizens had equal opportunities to develop their potential—not just for personal enrichment but for the benefit of all.
When Larkin formed the ITGWU in 1909 his status was already well established.
As a young man Larkin was sacked from job as a foreman on the Liverpool Docks for taking part in a strike, this led to him becoming an Organiser for the National Union of Dock Labourers, where he would successfully organise and improve the lot of workers in Glasgow, Belfast, Sligo, Galway, Wexford and Cork.
These disputes led by Larkin won him the admiration of workers and brought his ability to the attention of the employers but it was his leadership of the ITGWU during the 1913 lockout when William Martin Murphy, the leader of the Dublin Employers tried to smash the Union that established his status internationally.
In commemorating Larkin, we do so not just to honour his legendary organising ability and extraordinary life as a revolutionary socialist but to recommit ourselves to his vision of a union based on the principle that an injury to one is the concern of all and to his “divine mission of discontent.”
And as we honour Jim Larkin today in 2025, the eightieth anniversary of the historic laundry strike of 1945, we must also remember the immense contribution of his sister, Delia Larkin—a vital force in the labour movement and the founder of the Irish Women Workers’ Union, my own mother’s union. Delia was not just Jim’s sister; she was a leader, an organiser, and a champion of workers’ rights, particularly for women.
Alongside Big Jim, Delia played a pivotal role in the 1913 Lockout, and founded the Irish Women Workers’ Union (IWWU) in 1911, recognising that women workers faced unique challenges and needed their own platform to fight for fair wages, decent working conditions, and better lives. At a time when women’s voices were marginalised, Delia ensured they were heard loud and clear.
She understood that the fight for workers’ rights had to include everyone, regardless of gender. She laid the groundwork for the inclusion of women in the broader trade union movement, and her legacy continues to inspire us today.
Today, as we face new challenges, the Larkin’s legacy reminds us that the fight for justice must be inclusive and underpinned by equality of opportunity. It must recognise the unique struggles faced by women, migrants, and other marginalised groups. It must ensure that no one is left behind.
The world has changed dramatically since the days of the Larkins, but the fundamental injustices workers rallied against remain. Today, Ireland is a low-wage republic, one of the worst countries in the European Union for collective bargaining rights and in work poverty.
Hundreds of thousands of workers, many of them women, are trapped in precarious jobs with poor wages and little security.
One in four workers struggles to make ends meet, while employers in low-pay sectors and high-rent landlords are subsidised by the State through generous tax breaks and VAT cuts. Meanwhile, some big companies use wage subsidies to pay dividends to shareholders. This is not just an economic inefficiency; it is a moral failing. We demand that this ends now.
As Jim Larkin would have said, it is socially obscene for those who generate wealth through their labour to be denied a fair share of it. There is no excuse for this, comrades. No excuse. This must end now.
The pandemic taught us that solidarity is not an abstract concept. It is a lived reality, a force that can transform lives and communities. We saw it in the way workers supported each other, in the way communities came together, and in the way the union movement fought to ensure that there was a pandemic dividend for working people after all we had been through.
But slowly, this solidarity is being chipped away. We must remain organised and strong. All our efforts to build solidarity must now be channelled into the fight for a better future. I can assure you that SIPTU will leave no stone unturned to make sure this will happen.
We demand an end to low pay and precarious work. We insist on a living wage for all workers, and we reject the notion that we cannot afford to lift people out of poverty. To borrow a phrase from Barack Obama YES WE CAN and YES WE WILL.
When obscene salaries are paid to executives and billions are distributed in dividends, it is clear that the resources exist to create a more equitable society.
But achieving this requires more than words; it requires individual and collective action. The Larkins understood this.
In Ireland today, working people are still denied the right to collectively bargain. We face a legal and political environment that maintains the status quo for the benefit of the few. This needs to change and in SIPTU we will work every day to ensure this change happens.
The recent decision of the Advocate General of the ECJ’s opinion on the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, is a serious blow to workers and trade unions across Europe—and particularly in Ireland when coupled with this Government’s recent position on the LEEF good-faith collective bargaining process. None of this will deter us in our fight for justice, it only serves to make us stronger.
Rest assured, these developments are the top priority on our Union’s campaigning, industrial and political agenda in 2025, and we will continue to take these battles head on when dealing with Government and employers.
Comrades, our challenge is to organise in every workplace—from shop floors to office blocks, from factories in rural Ireland to building sites in the capital, from hospitals to remote working hubs. We must confront the threats we face and turn them into opportunities to organise.
Climate change, AI, and the threat of a low-growth future demand bold and radical industrial and political action. As a union, we will not be found wanting. We cannot allow the dark days of austerity to return. We must continue the work of raising the confidence and expectations of our members and our class, just as the Larkins did.
Let the message go out today that in workplaces across the country—in both the public and private sectors—this union, Larkin’s union, is on the front foot. We are organising, we are fighting, and we are winning for workers. We will continue to fully support our members battles in the protection and the advancement of their pay and conditions of employment, including in the taking of industrial and strike action where necessary.
Over 70,000 of our members have the protection of a Public Service Agreement that is delivering real pay increases and reclaiming ground lost due to the inflation crisis.
In the coming weeks, we will conduct a mid-term review of this agreement to ensure it continues to deliver for our members not only to protect existing good jobs, but to create new jobs, delivering essential public services which are necessary to serve the needs of the citizens of this country.
On the frontlines of our struggle, our Section 39 workers are balloting to take to the picket lines, our education members are standing firm against attempts to roll back flexible work options, and our retained firefighters, transport workers, and early years sector members are proving time and again that solidarity works and delivers results.
In the private sector, we’ve negotiated over 400 pay deals in the last year, with more to come in 2025. We’ve introduced collective bargaining for our members in the Community Sector, ensuring no worker is left behind—and we know there is more to do.
Because the fight for justice is not just about wages and working conditions. It is about dignity, respect, and the right to a decent life. It is about ensuring that no child goes to bed hungry, that no family is forced to live in emergency accommodation, and that every person is treated with respect at work—no exceptions.
Today, 4,500 children are living in emergency accommodation. This is not an emergency; it is a catastrophe. It is a stain on our society and a failure of our political system.
We demand better. We demand investment in public services, housing, and healthcare. We reject the notion that we cannot afford to build a fairer society. YES WE CAN
Comrades, the challenges we face are immense, but so too is our determination. As we renew the Larkins’ “divine mission of discontent,” we recommit ourselves to the fight for justice.
The recent general election results show that the combined vote of the Civil War parties is now at 42%, the same as Fianna Fáil won on its own in 2007. This is a sign that things are changing.
Now is not the time for complacency. Those who share our values must continue the work of building alliances, forging common platforms, and delivering on the promise of a better Ireland for workers. We must work together to give voters a real alternative to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil-led governments.
Comrades, the days of centre-left parties cannibalising each other for the votes of a minority must end. The trade union movement can and must play a role in supporting parties that believe in an egalitarian Ireland and are prepared to work together for the common good.
Let this work start here, and let it start now.
Comrades, the legacy of the Larkins is not just a memory; it is a call to action. It lives within us all. It is in the house that the Larkins and Big Jim helped to build—our own Liberty Hall, celebrating 60 years in 2025 in its present structure on the Dublin skyline this May.
Liberty Hall is a symbol of resilience, solidarity, and hope for working people. It is a place where generations of workers have organised, fought the good fight, and won. It reminds us that the fight for justice is never over and that the struggle continues.
As we remember and honour the Larkins today, let us recommit ourselves to that struggle and to our cause—the cause of Labour. It is a cause that builds a better world as One Big Union. It is a cause that makes good on the Larkins’ vision of a society where solidarity and equality are not just words but deeds.
Onwards and upwards, comrades.