The working poor

“There are more working families living in poverty in the UK than non-working families for the first time since the birth of the welfare state, according to a new study. A recent report by a development charity attributes the figures to a sustained and “unprecedented” fall in living standards that has hit UK households, in which average incomes have fallen by 8% since a peak in 2008. As a result, around 2 million people have an income that would have been considered below the poverty line in 2008. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that according to the current definition, the figure is increasing as 500,000 more working families live below the poverty line than last year. 6.7 million families with adults in employment meet the worrying criteria compared with a combined 6.3 million of retired and unemployed families. There is also a smaller but growing number of people living on incomes below the value of out-of-work benefits in very deep poverty. The JRF said 400,000 families have suffered from a combination of benefit cuts from the bedroom tax, and council tax benefit. Two thirds of these families were already classified as living in poverty. The JRF also found positive changes, including an improvement in the labour market with falling unemployment and underemployment and, improvements in health and education outcomes forecast for the future. There have also been major shifts in which groups are experiencing poverty, with the number of pensioners in poverty at a 30-year low. Julia Unwin, chief executive of the charity, said efforts to reduce poverty must be “strengthen[ed]” and that for the poorest families “improving pay and prospects remain a mirage”. She added:"Recent economic improvements do not outweigh the damage inflicted during the downturn to the incomes of the poorest people across the country. "Our report demonstrates there has been progress in some areas and the tide has turned on employment, but this not been matched by improvements in wages. The largest group in poverty are working age adults without dependent children - 4.7 million people are in this situation, the highest on record. Half of working families in poverty have an adult paid below the living wage. It also found that job insecurity is increasingly common, with one in six members of the workforce claiming Jobseekers' Allowance at some point in the last two years. Median incomes in the UK recorded in the 2011 tax year are now, in real terms, just below what they were in 2001 - £367 a week compared with £368 - the Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion report showed. Plummeting incomes over the last two years has wiped out all the gains of the previous decade, the JRF said. Families living in poverty are defined as those with income below 60% of median income for that year. Peter Kenway, director at NPI and an author of the report, said: "Poorer members of society are under more pressure than at any time since the birth of the welfare state. "The value of the safety net for working age adults is now sinking steadily. The support on offer to people who fall on hard times is increasingly threadbare, with benefit levels on a downward spiral. "A strong safety net to catch those who fall is vital for social mobility - millions are saved by it every year even now - yet no leading politician will defend it."” This all comes in the same week MP’s are due to vote on plans to increase their salaries by 11%. All in this together are we ??? With extracts from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/millions-of-families-living-in-poverty-despite-being-in-employment-says-new-study-8991403.html

Solidarity with Bangladeshi workers trade unions must step in now

Bangladesh's government agreed on Monday to allow the country's 4 million garment workers to form trade unions without prior permission from factory owners, a major concession to campaigners lobbying for widespread reforms to the industry following a building collapse last month that killed more than 1,100 people. The cabinet decision came a day after the government announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid some of the lowest wages in the world to sew clothing bound for global retailers. Those working at the eight-storey Rana Plaza, which housed five garment factories when it collapsed on 24 April, were paid as little as £25 ($38) per month. Rescuers on Monday continued to search for survivors in the ruins after a seamstress was discovered alive under the rubble on Friday. The woman is recovering in hospital. The toll from the world's worst industrial accident since the Bhopal disaster in India in 1984 stands at 1,127. No bodies were found at the site, in the Dhaka suburb of Savar, on Monday indicating that all may have been retrieved, a spokesman at the army control room co-ordinating the salvage operation said. The tragedy has prompted widespread criticism of international firms working with local garment producers in one of Asia's poorest countries. Several western firms, including UK high street retailer Primark, have said they were supplied by factories in the complex. The building had been illegally constructed, developed massive cracks in the days before its collapse and workers were forced to continue work despite safety fears. The building's owner has been arrested. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, a government spokesman, said ministers had agreed to amend the law to lift legal restrictions on forming trade unions in most industries. The old law required workers to obtain permission before they could unionise. "No such permission from owners is now needed," Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting presided over by the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. "The government is doing it for the welfare of the workers." Local and international trade unions have long argued for such changes. This is about time the dangers of terrible working conditions and awful pay have been there for years but while the west and capitalist elders turned a blind eye much of these workers faced intolerable conditions. It’s about time trade unions have been allowed to unionize in these factories but for the 1200 workers who died in the disaster this news comes too late for them. A few weeks ago we celebrated international workers memorial day. What an incitement of this rotten capitalist system that a few weeks later this tragedy occurred. Trade unions need to get well and truly stuck in now in areas like this to stand up for workers and not to stand for awful conditions for working ever again. The trade unions need to be democratically run with the members being in control. No to shady deals with the boss’s or watering down any conditions a and pay. If unions do get their act together here we could see pay and conditions raise in nations like this a long long overdue need. But clearly for as long as this rotten bankrupt system of capitalism lives on more sweatshop disasters like this will continue to happen if the blind drive for profit is not ceased. All workers should gain a decent wage to live on and good conditions to work if they so wish to work.

The 'precariat fighting for a better world

This is the term given to many under paid over worked young people in particular but can apply to many those who are in and out of work all the time never knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from. This is similar to my brother who works for a giant multi national through an agency and is waiting on the agency to tell him when he can work and for how long each week. His life is planned around work focused by work and not knowing when he will have work each week. You cannot plan your life or your lifestyle for that matter with this sort of life and it is no way for young people who have good degrees from university who were told that going to uni would get you a better life. For many young people this is turning into a disaster now many well over qualified are ending up doing manual labour just to get by. This is the modern day reality of capitalism I am afraid. There are many people in and out of work and unionising is difficult as a result but our unions should not back away from this they should be on every gate every door to work every factory looking to recruit where and when they can. 'Get a job!' is the constant refrain of privileged Tory ministers and vicious right-wing tabloids. A million unemployed young people are the subject of a relentless campaign of smears and lies. But what about the people who have 'done the right thing'? What about those who've been lucky enough to find work, despite the fact that, on average, five jobseekers chase each vacancy? According to the politicians and the media, everyone's on their side. The toils of the low-paid worker are frequently invoked by Cameron and his ilk - usually as a supposed justification for benefit cuts. But is this sympathy genuine? Are the Tories really 'making work pay'? Despite waxing lyrical about hard-work being the ultimate test of a person's moral fibre, the government's policies are really ensuring it's far less rewarding. Real wages have fallen by 10% since 2008. Yet, big business's demands for a more 'flexible' and 'competitive' labour market are continually indulged. At the behest of the multinationals, the Con-Dems gleefully attack employment rights and give the green-light for further squeezes on terms and conditions. Their workfare schemes represent the ultimate expression of the race to the bottom. Taxpayers fund paltry dole payments for the unemployed, while companies are offered their labour power for free. Profits soar. Misery deepens. Insecurity So for workers, finding a job can be a happy occasion. But it's a happiness often short lived. Because signing-off at the jobcentre rarely heralds the start of a new, stable period in a person's life. The opportunity to settle into relatively secure living - confident that bills can be paid, rent supplied and that a regular pattern for work and leisure can be established - is a 'luxury' few are allowed. Insecurity is the name of the game for huge numbers of workers. It's no wonder 'precariat' has become something of a buzzword. Over 2.5 million people are unemployed including one million young people. Young people are also suffering severe underemployment. Studies have found that underemployment has dramatically intensified since 2008. In fact the disparity between the number of extra hours people would like to work and those people would like to give up has almost doubled since the onset of the crisis. But rather than sharing out the work - redistributing hours to those who want to work more (without loss of pay, as socialists demand) - capitalism reinforces this. Older workers are told they must work more and retire later, meanwhile a 'lost generation' is left out altogether. Zero-hour contracts are now almost ubiquitous. These represent the ultimate deal for employers. Workers are required to be ready to work on demand, whenever the company deems it necessary, but the employer is under no obligation to provide any hours at all - nor any wages. People on these contracts live in a state of perpetual insecurity, never knowing whether next week will bring enough hours to pay the gas bill, to pay rent or even buy food. Once hours are given, they're usually rewarded at minimum wage or close to it. Breaks are rarely paid, shift patterns changed at the whim of the boss and being bullied is a normal part of working life. In fact, despite the rhetoric coming from the Con-Dems, many of these workers are actually dependent on state benefits for survival; benefits which are being capped, cut and scrapped altogether, ostensibly with 'making work pay' as the aim. It's because of this that Youth Fight for Jobs has launched the 'Sick of Your Boss?' initiative. We are aiming to work with trade unions and young workers to fight for a better deal. It's only by fighting collectively that there's any hope of improving the lot of the 'precariat'. Unionise As a starting point that means protesting, highlighting how workers are being treated, naming and shaming the bosses responsible. But it's also necessary to get organised within the workplace itself. Trade unions can channel the potential power workers have and, through organising industrial action, fight for and win improvements. The 'logic' of capitalism means that the interests of workers and the bosses are in fundamental opposition. Put simply, the smaller the wage bill for the boss, the larger the profit margin for the shareholder. It's only through working people being organised, and in particular, workers exerting economic power through withdrawing their labour - striking - that we have at times been able to secure increasing wages, greater security and other improvements. 'Liberalisation' of the labour market really means loosening all constraints placed on bosses - freeing them to pay workers as little as possible. It's an attempt to reverse the rights won by previous generations. 'Sick of Your Boss?' aims to take the fight to some of the most exploitative employers in the business. Many casualised young workers are left feeling isolated. Our campaign aims to give workers confidence from knowing they're not alone - the confidence that comes from organising and fighting alongside others facing similar problems. We call for decent breaks that workers can take without being 'clocked off'. We're demanding pay that provides enough money to live on, without people needing benefits to act as a top-up. And we're demanding an end to the 'zero hour contract' - proper contracts and full employment rights. Unreasonable? Some would say that, in this time of austerity, it's unreasonable for young workers to be demanding a better deal. They would say that we should be grateful we're not stuck in the dole queue like so many others. But surely it's far, far more unreasonable that, in this time of austerity, the bosses are demanding a still greater share of the pie. You'd think that they might be a bit more grateful for the billions they're already sitting on. You'd think that, in hard times, what we really can't afford is to further swell the purses of the fat cats. After all, theirs is money we're unlikely to ever see again. Because not only do the multinationals avoid and evade billions in tax, they are not even investing their money. That's why fighting for a better deal for young workers is more than just dealing with bullying managers and nasty companies. It's also about challenging a system that demands the super-exploitation of the many to satiate the greed of the few. If, while in private hands, companies can't provide young workers with basic security and enough money to live, it's time they are placed in public hands. And if capitalism - a system where the accumulation of private wealth is the only universal goal - cannot provide a bright future for the 99%; then we need a system that can. We need to fight for jobs, for decent pay, for security, and for a system that will provide these to all - a socialist system - one runs for us, not the bosses! Sick of Your Boss demands: • Decent tea and lunch breaks • Give us proper contracts, guaranteed hours and full employment rights • Pay us enough to live on • End 'fire at will' • We won't be used as cheap or free labour • We have the right to get organised at work • Scrap the anti-trade union laws • Build democratic campaigning trade unions • No to benefit cuts • Fight sexism and discrimination in the workplace

Labours hypocrisy on benefits

Labour today intend to vote against the benefit cap of RPI + 1% which in effect is a real terms cut. This on the face of it sounds great go on Labour the labour left cheer we have our party back, labour stands up for the poor. Slow down there this is nothing of the sort. Labour still support a benefit cap just disagrees on the way it fits that’s all. Do you really think if they were in gov they’d be acting any differently? Take these quotes from Ed Ball’s article in the Guardian this morning and you can hear their similarities with the Tories ideas. Labour has fallen or rather backed up the Tories in the scrounger vs. strivers rhetoric so common among capitalist politicians nowadays. Take some of these quotes I found in this Guardian article by Ed Balls. “Of course we need spending cuts and tax rise’s to get the deficit down” He goes on.... We also need a welfare system that works. And for Labour, that means any reform of the system must pass three tests. First, it must pay more to be in work than live on benefits, both for the individual and the Exchequer. Labour introduced a minimum wage alongside tax credits to help ensure work pays. But this government's deep cuts to tax credits already mean that thousands of working parents are now better off if they quit their jobs, while cuts to childcare support mean thousands of mums and dads are struggling to afford to take up full-time work. The implementation of the government’s flagship universal credit is already proving to be a shambles with Iain Duncan Smith’s own Cabinet colleagues warning this week that it is a “disaster waiting to happen”. Meanwhile the government's benefits cap could also end up costing more than it saves. Labour supports the principle of a benefits cap but this government's crude 'one size fits all' cap - with the same level in London as the rest of the country - will simply lead to taxpayers funding the cost of rising homelessness as families living in high cost areas are turfed out of their homes. Second we must get tough on the scourge of long-term unemployment by matching rights with responsibilities. A One Nation approach to welfare reform means government has a responsibility to help people into work and support those who cannot, but those who can work must be required to take up jobs or lose benefits as a result – no ifs or buts. Tackling long-term unemployment will be a top priority for the next Labour government because we know from the 1980s that it has a scarring effect on individuals and communities, damages our economy and society, and builds up long-term costs for the taxpayer. All this could have come straight out of IDS’s mouth but a labour front bench politician I just think it says it all. Forcing you into an unpaid position or you will lose your benefits is slave labour there is no two ways about it. You have no choice in the matter. So whether you are labour or Tory workfare or workfare plus the results will be the same. Labour does not recognise that low pay is at issue here a huge issue that most people receiving benefits are actually in work. They talk of long term unemployment but have no answer to those themselves only more workfare and Tory light ideas. How anyone can support labour still I do not know. Their policies are bankrupt and their ideas are straight from the Tories. We as socialists cannot give any support to labour and must build TUSC as an alternative. Those who say only Labour can beat the Tories is wrong I’m sure the liberals were telling the newly formed Labour party in the 20th century only we can beat the Tories yet look what happened. We must be brave must be bold and confident let’s not settle for lesser evilism or labour are not as cruel line. Let’s kick the cuts coalition out and build a working class, socialist alternative with TUSC. With quotes from this Guardian Piece http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/69052/ed_balls_britain_needs_real_welfare_reform_that_is_tough_fair_and_that_works.html For more information on TUSC and how you can get involved check out www.tusc.org.uk