Odun, Leicester Socialist Party
Hundreds of workers in social care under the aegis of Unison, predominantly migrants, gathered in Westminster on 10 June to protest against the Labour government’s new immigration rules.
The new rules, amongst others, seek to introduce an increase in the length of time to settlement (ILR) from 5 years to 10 or 15 years, including a plan to apply this retrospectively. Other demands of the protest were for the introduction of a sector-wide mode of visa sponsorship as opposed to the current scheme that ties workers to their employers by placing certificates of sponsorship in the hands of employers, including private employers who have continued to use this as a weapon of exploitation.
Workers at the demo shared experiences of how rogue employers have continued to use the certificate of sponsorship (COS) as a whip to exploit workers through low pay, bullying and working in very precarious conditions. A delegation held a vigil at the Home Office and displayed names and photos of care workers who have lost their lives as a result of these rogue private profiteer employers putting them in harm’s way.
In order to end this exploitation, we need to include the demand to renationalise social care and health services under the democratic control of workers and service users.
The demo ended with a rally where workers aired their anger on the unfairness of the immigration policies and the scapegoating of migrant workers.
Angela Rayner was one of the speakers, ostensibly jumping on the bandwagon to echo the demands of the protest. But what was her position in May last year as Deputy Prime Minister when Starmer introduced the immigration white paper after his infamous ‘island of strangers’ speech?
Opposite the road at Downing Street where the protest was taking place, there was a very small number of counterprotesters holding up flags and chanting “Starmer Out”. The big question is: Who and which party would replace Starmer? This raises the need for a party that stands for workers. Come to the NSSN conference in London on 27 June to discuss this with other trade unionists, socialists and workers.
