Workers are being lined up to take the fall again. Both the Governor of the Bank of England and the Prime Minister have called for ‘pay restraint’ – essentially a national pay cut.
But just like that other recent disaster, the financial collapse of 2008, no one reading this paper today caused the problem, so why are we being told to pay for it again? Well, we are not really being told the truth.
This time, the wall of silence has been about profits and firms using rising costs to put up their prices more than they need to.
The first report of Unite’s Profiteering Commission was released on Friday and it showed that the average profit margin of FTSE 350 companies had gone up by over 70% since 2019. So the average profit margins of the biggest companies in Britain have increased when compared to before the pandemic.
So, why is this not being discussed? It’s not because those with power don’t know, it’s because they don’t want to do anything about it. Many of the firm’s lining their pockets are the same ones that used the pandemic to ‘Fire and Rehire’ employees or to cut jobs, pay and conditions.
The trade unions now have to step up. It’s clear that our politicians are failing to protect workers and communities, as living standards are being attacked.
There has been a lot of talk about a ‘summer of discontent’. Well if that means unions sticking up for workers at profitable firms, then I have no problem with that. Strike action is not easy for the workers involved. But what can you do when your boss is making money but trying to cut your pay? And when one set of workers take action, all workers benefit. It’s a stake in the ground.
What is clear, is that if we don’t do anything, then bad bosses will come for us all.
Sharon Graham is due to be speaking at the TUC We Demand Better rally, Saturday June 18. tuc.org.uk/DemandBetter
