Sick of the profit system?

17–18 November 2007

University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1.

Ticket prices:

Weekend £20 waged, £10 unwaged/low paid;

Rally/one day only £10 waged, £5 unwaged/low paid.

See www.socialism2007.net for full agenda of discussion, debates and rallies.

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It makes my blood boil. Here in Sheffield, a group of low-paid hospital workers face pay cuts of £50 a week. Then I read that chief executives in Britain's top 100 companies have doubled their 'earnings' in the last five years, to an average of £3.17 million each, up 16% in the last year. In 2000, these fat cats got 62 times the pay of their average employee, now they pay themselves 104 times more!

Alistair Tice, Sheffield Socialist Party

But a business consultant on the radio told me that they are worth it. That they are rewarded for success. Like Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier I suppose.

After forcing postal workers to strike to try to protect their jobs, pay and pensions, it has just been announced that his pay went up 26% last year despite profits going down by one third. This "junk male boss" got nearly £1 million, even more with share options. It would take posties 59 years to earn that, yet Crozier had the cheek to tell them they were overpaid!

Even worse, Post Office boss Alan Cook stands to get an extra £1 million in bonuses if he closes another 2,500 post offices down. How is that for rewarding 'success'? It's sick!

Another 'success' was Northern Rock with its junk mortgages. Since the run on this bank due to its dodgy dealing, the Treasury has bailed it out to the tune of £23 billion so far – that's £730 for every taxpayer in the country.

So the New Labour government can find our money to help its friends in the City but will not put enough funding into the NHS which has to make cuts and closures to balance the books. As Michael Moore would say, that's sicko.

And all this is going on under a Labour government. But Labour today is a party for big business and the rich. Look how they rolled the red carpet out for the visit of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and his five jumbo jets, 84 limousines, 13 princes and over 600 aides and servants. Gordon Brown got dressed to the nines for this state banquet.

And the Foreign Office minister spoke of "shared values and interests". Like the £43 billion arms deal with this repressive dictatorship, allegedly oiled by kick-backs paid to Saudi princes by BAE Systems.

Just don't mention human rights' abuses. What are 124 executions (so far this year according to Amnesty) between royal friends? No this is business, big business. This is capitalism, corporate and corrupt.

This system stinks. If it gets you mad, don't just kick your telly. Do something about it. Come along to Socialism 2007 (see above). Join hundreds of others for a weekend of discussion and debate.

Get educated on "why capitalism doesn't work", learn about trade unions and why we need a new workers' party, and most of all, find out how you can join the struggle to change society.