Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/656/11139
From The Socialist newspaper, 9 February 2011
Jobs massacre at Pfizer
On 1 February it was announced that 2,400 workers at Pfizer's research and development facility in Sandwich, Kent, will be made redundant after the company's decision to close the site completely.
The government claims that the private sector can provide enough employment to compensate for savage cuts in public sector spending. David Cameron commented only a month ago that companies like Pfizer will spearhead job creation.
The closure is being explained largely by Pfizer's decisions to cut costs due to the pressure of drugs coming 'off patent'. This will affect profits as Pfizer's monopoly on producing those drugs comes to an end and generic production can begin.
The patents system allows prices to be maintained at exorbitant levels. When the patents run out it becomes an excuse to reduce the workforce.
Pfizer is the main employer in the town and surrounding area. It is predicted the loss of Pfizer will result in an estimated total of 4,000 jobs lost from contractors and other employers.
This profit driven decision does not reflect a lack of demand for the development of new drugs or research. Generic production will reduce the cost of many drugs and make them more accessible to ordinary people, but that should not take place at the cost of workers' jobs.
The Socialist Party calls for nationalisation of the Sandwich facility. This call must be linked to the demand for the nationalisation of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole, to be run under democratic workers' and patients' representatives' control.
Jon Redford
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In The Socialist 9 February 2011:
International socialist news and analysis
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Defend the NHS!: Fight the Con-Dem cuts
The madness of King George cuts
Anti-cuts campaigning
Scottish Anti-Cuts Alliance established
Stop attacks on disabled claimants
Liverpool: Jobs axe must be fought
No to the racist EDL! Unite to fight the cuts
Protesting against all of the cuts
Socialist Party news and analysis
Tommy Sheridan jailing: Political vendetta ends in draconian sentence
TV Review: Posh and Posher Why Public School Boys Run Britain
Socialist Party feature
'Struggle or starve!' 1932 - when Birkenhead workers beat the means test
Socialist Party youth and students
Young people march for a future
Tories have no solutions to youth crime
Police attack 'save EMA' protest in Leeds
Socialist Party workplace news
Unison self-destructs at TSA but unionism stronger than ever
Defending jobs at Leeds council
Ford challenged in legal bid: Pay the Visteon pensioners now!
Arriva Trains Wales - strike called off
Discussing an electoral challenge to service cutters
Socialist Party Marxist analysis
'In reality, Britain is facing a savage economic ice age'
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