Them and us fishes, photo Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
Branson’s NHS billions…
Turns out things in the health service are actually looking up – if you’re a bootlegging privatiser, that is. Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Care has now gobbled up almost £2 billion of NHS contracts, according to Guardian analysis.
… working while sick
Workers in the UK are taking record-low numbers of sick days: more of us are flogging ourselves in while ill. The average in 2017 was just 4.1 days, compared to 7.2 days in 1993, says the Office for National Statistics. Low pay, insecure work, bullying managers – these days only the super-rich can afford to be poorly.
Pay for nothing…
The ex-head of a Sussex college is still getting his £200,000-a-year salary after leaving – while management denies workers raises. Mike Hopkins, former principal at Sussex Downs, will receive £80,000 over five months, plus an unspecified bonus. The University and College Union is demanding staff pay rises.
… nothing on payday
The Tories’ train-wreck ‘universal credit’ welfare system is underpaying some workers by hundreds – because it doesn’t understand the calendar. Claimants assessed too near their payday show up as receiving two pay cheques within one month. Scrap universal credit and reverse all benefit cuts!
Bread and roses (and beer)
Beer, Paul Joseph CC (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
More than half of adults in the UK say they struggle to afford the pub. With the average pint costing £3.50 – or £5.20 in London – 56% say it’s too much, according to the Campaign for Real Ale.
The socialist movement fights for decent pay and a decent life for working class people, including places to socialise – “we fight for bread, but we fight for roses too!” Meanwhile, in 2017, the world’s top five booze firms reported revenues of £92 billion.
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