Decent jobs not slave wages
We hear all the time about the numbers of jobs created in the private sector under the Con-Dem government. But I wonder how many of these are similar to or identical to the job my step-daughter managed to get last year with one of our largest high street clothing retailers.
At 17 years old, she was given a starting salary of minimum pay at £3.91 an hour. She had to attend two training course days at the store for eight hours each day without pay. She had been given a 20-hour contract. This was luckier than eight other people starting the same day, who were given eight-hour contracts.
The shifts change week to week. She is told her week’s shift the Friday before. This ensures she cannot seek more hours with another employer as she never knows when she will be available to work.
This company does not supply a uniform, but demand employees buy their clothes to wear while working in the store. Giving them a 50% discount on those clothes is supposed to make this okay! A regular change in design ‘seasons’ means staff having to keep buying clothes.
To gain employment in any form, people everywhere feel they have to accept pay and conditions like these. People in work live in poverty, while the capitalists running the show gain greater and greater wealth.
For this reason, and many more, I have joined the Socialist Party and encourage others to do the same. We must fight for a socialist Britain that will act as beacon to the world and attract others to the cause of work for all with a living wage and equal rights. As a part of this we must fight all cuts and the evil bedroom tax!
