as I blogged about yesterday the National minimum wage is now worth 9% less than what it was when introduced in 1999. But today’s unemployment figures make even more gloomy reading. The con-dem government are trying to put a spin on it saying that the figures are coming down and unemployment is falling but I am not convinced.
Like myself in part time work its not a happy existence earning poor money and not working enough hours to get much in benefits but now Part-time Britain reaches new record, As more people than ever before are in part time work many taking more than one part time job just to get by. This in affect is the working poor if you like those who are made to feel lucky to be in work but do not earn nearly enough to live. These who are in work are also living in poverty still. The number of unemployed women hits 25-year high too this due to the fact that many more women work in the public sector than men and the government are attacking public sector workers hard with their savage public spending cuts. Aswell as this long-term joblessness reaches worst total since 1996 so now try telling me we are getting better and the shoots of the recovery are there for all to see
They are not and it’s clear to me that it’s only going to get worse for the 99%. As 90% of the cuts are still yet to happen I still see us being trapped in eternal austerity of pay freezes, pay cuts, job cuts and service closures. While the 99% take austerity the 1% however is increasing their wealth year on year sitting on bigger and bigger funds playing the stock market and creaming off huge profits. We hear today Tesco and their profits are down but this is only down to the fact people are not spending so much due to as I say less pay and job loss’s people are naturally being more careful what they spend.
So I still say we need a mass socially useful job creation project launched to get people back to work including young people with a proper living wage for all with trade union rights to fight for decent pay and conditions.
It is key that groups like youth fight for jobs continue the fight for decent jobs and education to give people hope that there is an alternative out there to be realised. But I’m afraid there is no solution under capitalism. Just endless austerity. Its time to fight for a change of society a change of direction a society based on the millions not for the millionaires.
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Showing posts with label national minimum wage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national minimum wage. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
minimum wage is 9% lower in real terms than when introduced , fight for a living wage now !
The minimum wage was one of the better things new labor did it gave young people protection by the law in terms of low pay.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
minimum wage is 9% lower in real terms than when introduced . , fight for a living wage now !
|We need a living wage for all!
The minimum wage was one of the better things new labor did it gave young people protection by the law in terms of low pay.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
The minimum wage was one of the better things new labor did it gave young people protection by the law in terms of low pay.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
minimum wage is now 9% lower in real terms than when introduced . , fight for a living wage !
The minimum wage was one of the better things new labor did it gave young people protection by the law in terms of low pay.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
One of the better ideas by labour didn’t stop it finding difficulties as I have blogged on before many companies and employers find ways around paying minimum wage which still sits at a tiny level in 2012.
As the socialist party and youth fight for jobs we fight everyday for levels of pay and conditions which are falling all the time. At the moment the national minimum wage isn’t under huge threat from being scrapped but there may come a day. But while this is the case we must continue to fight hard and doggedly for a national living wage keeping pace with inflation as a reformist measure for workers.
As Marxists we are not reformist we may fight dam hard for the best reforms for working class people but also point out that reforms will never last and will be given with one hand and taken with the other by the ruling class.
SO a national living wage of 8 pounds an hour rising to 10 pounds an hour as a sliding scale of wages would be our stance. With trade union recognition in all workplaces and the right to join a trade union.
Everything is up for grabs right now and the minimum wage is not safe at all may be for now but it will come back on the agenda. It was just the other year Phillip Davies a Tory MP suggested disabled people taking jobs for less than minimum wage just to get work. How insulting. Gives me further impotence to fight for a living wage and ultimately the means of production to be in the hands of the working class where the wage labor system is abolished for good.
The minimum wage is no longer at the rate it was when it was introduced due to the cost of living and inflation. Yet no one is pointing this out only us labour who introduced the law is silent on the issue as they like the Tories are servants to the capitalist system and are in the pockets of big business and the bankers.
As well as fighting for a national living wage this must be linked to the need for a new workers party which can provide reforms with the eventual goal of transforming society to one based on everybody’s needs.
Monday, 3 October 2011
Povety minimum wage
On tonights BBC panarama it was shown that many companies avoid and use ways of getting around paying the national minimum wage to workers. The lowest paid workers in society and already feeling the strain who are constantly under attack from their boss's have very little room to breath with living standards falling and the cost of living rising sharply.
Many companies will try and get round having to pay minimum wage which for adults which now sits at £6.08 p which is scandelous in itself in my view. They will try to do this by putting misleading clauses in the small print of workers contracts that's if they get a contract which again by law they must have. They may claim that the worker is self employed for example many trainee hairdressers in this country now are classed as "self employed" getting their employers out of paying any holiday pay and can pay under the minimum wage. This is also the case notably in the care sector which it is estimated up to 200,00 care workers could be being paid less than the national legal minimum wage.
Another area which companies use to exploit workers are graduates who straight out of university with a degree desperatly wishing to find work to start paying some of their huge debt they have mounted up via tuitian fees are finding they are having to take internships and jobs below the minimum wage.
This is a disgrace again and is total exploitation of young people and workers. Due to the shortage of jobs at the moment with nearly 1 million young people unemployed its no wonder young people will take anything they can get to get money and avoid being labeled unemployed as it would seem the media have turned it into something of a stigma .
I will blog about this in another blog but unpaid internships should be abolished in my view. They are deeply unfair to those who cannot afford to work for nothing to gain experience and often you end up doing the same job as if you were employed properly only difference being you get paid nothing at all maybe only expenses for travel if your lucky.
This is quite common amongst our very own MP;s the shining light of democracy and upholding of morals and the law note the sarcasm there unpaid internships with MP's and their offices is rife right across the political spectrum in Westminster from tories to Labour and Liberals.
So when a MP starts banging on about internships and how unfair they are do remember to think they are probably employing unpaid interns for work that should be paid for legally.
A Labour Research Department publication has stated that the TUC welcomed the government's confirmation that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for workers aged 21 and over will go up by 2.5%. This really is the TUC clutching at straws because this percentage increase amounts to a 15p increase in the hourly rate from October taking the NMW to £6.08.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that the increases showed that the government "understands the NMW must remain an important part of working life". He apparently went on to point out that there was evidence that workers on the NMW spent all their pay rises where they work and live.
Someone should point out to Brendan Barber that on the current level of the national minimum wage and the pay rise workers could not afford to travel far to spend it. The closest Brendan Barber comes to criticising what amounts to a drop in the living standards for those on the national minimum wage, given price rises, is when he called the proposed rises "modest".
Barber of course does not criticise the current level of the national minimum wage because it was his New Labour friends in government that maintained it at a poverty level. I don't recall generous increases when they were in power during a so-called boom.
If this so-called increase for 21 year-olds and over is not a disgrace enough, the rate for young workers, - 18 to 20 year olds and 16 to 17 year olds will only rise by 1.2% and 1.1% respectively. For many all capitalism can offer is legalised poverty, where young workers are valued less and exploited more than older workers.
If Barber and most of the other trade union leaders won't lead the fightback against the Con-Dems or any other government that seeks to place the burden of the crisis of capitalism on our shoulders, then they should stand aside for those who will.
The Socialist Party fights for a minimum wage of £8 per hour for all.
We feel a fair days work should be equalled with a fair days pay no if's and no buts. Employees should think more of their workers rights than their profits. Onlya change in society will bring this fully into line i believe.
The money is certainly available in society, but it's by only working people getting organised and fighting for a socialist society, that we will be able to meet our needs and redistribute the wealth of society in a planned and democratic way.
NOT ONLY do Britain's employers and government want us to work for longer years for smaller pensions. They also want us to work more hours a week - and they'd rather we toiled unpaid too!
Employees in Britain work the longest hours in western Europe but a TUC survey shows that millions of workers do £23 billion worth of unpaid overtime a year. They regularly put in extra hours - averaging about two months a year - without getting paid a penny for it.
The worker pressed into unpaid overtime would receive an extra £4,650 if he or she got paid at the proper rate. The total shortfall adds up to £23 billion.
Teachers and lecturers get the worst deal, doing on average 11 hours and 36 minutes unpaid overtime a week - and that could be a huge under-estimate. Lecturers' union NATFHE calculates that their members are underpaid by £215 a week for their overtime.
Many companies will try and get round having to pay minimum wage which for adults which now sits at £6.08 p which is scandelous in itself in my view. They will try to do this by putting misleading clauses in the small print of workers contracts that's if they get a contract which again by law they must have. They may claim that the worker is self employed for example many trainee hairdressers in this country now are classed as "self employed" getting their employers out of paying any holiday pay and can pay under the minimum wage. This is also the case notably in the care sector which it is estimated up to 200,00 care workers could be being paid less than the national legal minimum wage.
Another area which companies use to exploit workers are graduates who straight out of university with a degree desperatly wishing to find work to start paying some of their huge debt they have mounted up via tuitian fees are finding they are having to take internships and jobs below the minimum wage.
This is a disgrace again and is total exploitation of young people and workers. Due to the shortage of jobs at the moment with nearly 1 million young people unemployed its no wonder young people will take anything they can get to get money and avoid being labeled unemployed as it would seem the media have turned it into something of a stigma .
I will blog about this in another blog but unpaid internships should be abolished in my view. They are deeply unfair to those who cannot afford to work for nothing to gain experience and often you end up doing the same job as if you were employed properly only difference being you get paid nothing at all maybe only expenses for travel if your lucky.
This is quite common amongst our very own MP;s the shining light of democracy and upholding of morals and the law note the sarcasm there unpaid internships with MP's and their offices is rife right across the political spectrum in Westminster from tories to Labour and Liberals.
So when a MP starts banging on about internships and how unfair they are do remember to think they are probably employing unpaid interns for work that should be paid for legally.
A Labour Research Department publication has stated that the TUC welcomed the government's confirmation that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for workers aged 21 and over will go up by 2.5%. This really is the TUC clutching at straws because this percentage increase amounts to a 15p increase in the hourly rate from October taking the NMW to £6.08.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that the increases showed that the government "understands the NMW must remain an important part of working life". He apparently went on to point out that there was evidence that workers on the NMW spent all their pay rises where they work and live.
Someone should point out to Brendan Barber that on the current level of the national minimum wage and the pay rise workers could not afford to travel far to spend it. The closest Brendan Barber comes to criticising what amounts to a drop in the living standards for those on the national minimum wage, given price rises, is when he called the proposed rises "modest".
Barber of course does not criticise the current level of the national minimum wage because it was his New Labour friends in government that maintained it at a poverty level. I don't recall generous increases when they were in power during a so-called boom.
If this so-called increase for 21 year-olds and over is not a disgrace enough, the rate for young workers, - 18 to 20 year olds and 16 to 17 year olds will only rise by 1.2% and 1.1% respectively. For many all capitalism can offer is legalised poverty, where young workers are valued less and exploited more than older workers.
If Barber and most of the other trade union leaders won't lead the fightback against the Con-Dems or any other government that seeks to place the burden of the crisis of capitalism on our shoulders, then they should stand aside for those who will.
The Socialist Party fights for a minimum wage of £8 per hour for all.
We feel a fair days work should be equalled with a fair days pay no if's and no buts. Employees should think more of their workers rights than their profits. Onlya change in society will bring this fully into line i believe.
The money is certainly available in society, but it's by only working people getting organised and fighting for a socialist society, that we will be able to meet our needs and redistribute the wealth of society in a planned and democratic way.
NOT ONLY do Britain's employers and government want us to work for longer years for smaller pensions. They also want us to work more hours a week - and they'd rather we toiled unpaid too!
Employees in Britain work the longest hours in western Europe but a TUC survey shows that millions of workers do £23 billion worth of unpaid overtime a year. They regularly put in extra hours - averaging about two months a year - without getting paid a penny for it.
The worker pressed into unpaid overtime would receive an extra £4,650 if he or she got paid at the proper rate. The total shortfall adds up to £23 billion.
Teachers and lecturers get the worst deal, doing on average 11 hours and 36 minutes unpaid overtime a week - and that could be a huge under-estimate. Lecturers' union NATFHE calculates that their members are underpaid by £215 a week for their overtime.
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