Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/360/5927
From The Socialist newspaper, 4 September 2004
Low Pay Campaign Taps Into Anger
ISR (International Socialist Resistance) members and supporters in Swansea donned monkey masks on 28 August and dished out peanuts to members of the public to expose the low-pay scandal. We wanted to make the point that young workers are fed up with being paid wages so low they may as well be peanuts.
Sarah Mayo, Swansea
We certainly entertained all the toddlers going by as five of us wore our highly realistic monkey masks while we distributed pocket-sized 'Your rights at work' cards to the public. We placed a placard in the centre of the street which had the slogan 'Are you paid peanuts - feel like a monkey?'
We also had an information stall with petitions, leaflets, and ISR's 'Fight for your rights at work' pack on it as well as some chocolate coated peanuts for people to enjoy!
Young workers and their parents were happy to come up to our stall and tell us how angry they feel about their wages and conditions at work. One young kitchen worker was made to work long hours on the bank holiday for £3.00 an hour with hardly any breaks.
We know that young people are angry about this issue so we will continue with protests and information stalls and we plan to collect 500 signatures (as a beginning) to hand in to the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh TUC to put pressure on the government to end the low pay scandal.
We've already had some good publicity from the local newspaper and radio stations and we plan to link up with the local trade unions.
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In The Socialist 4 September 2004:
US Imperialism Further Weakened In Iraq
Mass Protests Greets Bush And Republican Convention
Mark Thatcher And The 'Dogs Of War'
Socialist Party campaigns
Defending the 35-hour week: The Profit System's The Problem, Not The Workers
Young workers fight to End Low Pay
Low Pay Campaign Taps Into Anger
Scottish nursery nurses: How Our Strike Changed Me
Firefighters' dispute: Employers Climb Down
International socialist news and analysis
Joe Higgins: Speaking Tour Of Australia
Che Guevara, Motorcycle Diaries, directed by Walter Salles
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