Becca Bayman, Liverpool North Socialist Party
The overwhelming majority of people are already feeling the impact of another surge in the cost of living. 79% of adults surveyed in April said they were feeling the effects, and prices have only gone up since.
The biggest driver was the cost of food, with 92% of those affected mentioning higher grocery bills, 80% pointed to rising fuel costs. Rents are increasing to record highs too and over a million households are stuck on council housing waiting lists. Wages are simply not keeping pace with the rising costs of essentials.
At the same time, workers face growing economic uncertainty. Unemployment is rising, increasing pressure on workers and making employers more confident to suppress pay and enforce unfair working conditions. Young people especially face the sharp end of this, with around one million currently not in education, employment or training.
With rising prices and job insecurity, living standards are being squeezed from both sides. Keir Starmer’s Labour government is overseeing a further driving down of working-class living standards to appease big businesses’ need for profit. It is clear the system is broken and workers should not be forced to foot the bill.
We need the trade unions to step up and lead a fight for pay rises to meet the rising cost of living, fully funded in the public sector – and for a minimum wage of at least £15 an hour, with no age exemptions.
Trade union leaders are under growing pressure from members to fight nationally, and to coordinate across unions. This pressure must be carried through and linked to the need for the working class to have its own party to fight in our interests against big business.
Trade unions should demand councils use every power at their disposal to address the cost-of-living crisis – for example by immediately capping council rents and taking steps towards democratic rent controls; by expanding free school meals to all pupils, including during the holidays; and by using emergency hardship grants to ensure no-one goes cold or hungry.
The capitalist system will continue to move from crisis to crisis, so we need a socialist solution. Nationalisation of the top companies would mean energy and groceries can be treated as essentials instead of sources of profit. And a democratic socialist plan could be developed to meet the needs of all rather than to maximise the profits of the super-rich.
