£10 now – Join the fight to raise the minimum wage
Workers across the country will have been left scratching their heads this summer as George Osbourne announced the economy had fully recovered from the crisis that began in 2008.
The reality for ordinary working class people is very different. The TUC calculate that workers are on average £40 per week worse off than they were in 2008. And with the cuts to vital public services that have been carried out workers will be left wondering who this precarious growth is actually benefiting.
The truth is that any growth is at the expense of the working class. The reality of austerity has meant wage freezes and job losses in the public sector.
In the private sector, which the Tories tell us will be the driver of growth, wages are worth less than ever before as below inflation wage increases are used to maintain profits at bewildering levels.
The bosses claim they cant afford a pay increase. Morrisons made £785 million, Sports Direct a record £240 million, and Tesco made an eye watering £3.3 billion. Away from the High St, British Telecom made a staggering £2 billion while the transport company firstgroup made £79.3 million.
The government loses around £120 billion per year in uncollected or evaded tax, and is looking to spend over £100 billion on replacing trident.
The fight for a larger share of the wealth for workers has been kick-started in Seattle with a mass movement by fast food workers in the 15now campaign. Socialist Alternative (Socialist Party co-thnkers in the U.S) councillor Kshama Sawant was elected on a ticket demanding a $15 hourly rate.
This movement successfully took on big business in Seattle and passed legislation meaning that the city now has the highest minimum wage in the country.
Here in Scotland and Britain the Socialist Party and Youth Fight For Jobs, have been at the forefront of the £10 Now campaign. We’re organising protests outside workplaces, as well as building support within the trade union movement. The £10 Now campaign is calling for the minimum wage to be raised to £10 as a step to a living wage for all workers.
The Bakers union were the first to adopt the fight for £10 as policy and they have been joined in the TUC by GMB, the third largest union in the country.Through our campaigning work up and down the country, we are keeping the issue of poverty pay right at the top of the agenda.
To get involved in the fight for £10Now contact youthfightscotland@gmail.com.
