Join us today!
Printable version
Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1118/31912
From The Socialist newspaper, 27 January 2021
Poverty wages: When workers can't afford to self-isolate
(Click to enlarge)
Chris Parry, Bristol South Socialist Party
The Tories are now floating the idea that maybe if they paid £500 to desperate workers in the gig economy, they might be inclined to self-isolate for two weeks if they contract Covid. It's taken them almost a year to realise that many workers who eke out a living, or struggle to survive these days, cannot afford the luxury of taking any time off.
But it seems unlikely that this scheme will happen anyway. "These people may deliberately get infected to claim the money", declared a Tory spokesperson on the radio!
I'm currently working in three jobs - taxi driving, parcel delivery, and Chinese takeaway deliveries three evenings a week. And I'm still hardly able to make ends meet. I cannot afford to be ill, as I have to be out there hustling seven days a week.
Shared occupancy
Here's something else I've been wondering about. If you have your own property and money in the bank, self-isolation may be possible. But I live in a shared occupancy, where I don't have my own kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Self-isolation isn't so easy for those like me.
The Socialist Party says:
- 100% pay for all workers furloughed, isolating, working from home, or having to stay at home because of workplace or school closures
- 'Insecure' workers should get 100% of their normal income
- Replace the gig economy with secure jobs and guaranteed hours
- A minimum wage of at least £12 an hour as a step towards £15
- Make the £20-a-week increase in Universal Credit permanent and extend it to legacy benefits
- Increase benefits in line with the minimum wage
- Make the bosses and the super-rich pay
Donate to the Socialist Party
Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 27 January 2021:
News
Covid spreading, poverty rising, rich get richer, fight for socialism!
Health, Covid and the vaccine: It's a class issue
Poverty wages: When workers can't afford to self-isolate
Fees frozen at £9,250 a year, fight for free education
DVLA Covid outbreak: They only care about output and productivity
Jaguar Land Rover: West Midlands superspreader
Schools
Schools: 'We have to fight for everything'
Martin Powell-Davies for NEU DGS: "We need to use our collective strength"
What we think
Biden, Labour, and the need for a new mass workers' party
Workplace news
Sage care workers strike again: Billionaires refuse to pay up
Unison NEC elections: United left challenge needed to fight slaughter of jobs and services
Steel site scaffolders strike for the 'rate of the job'
Merseyside: DHL workers at Burton's Biscuits strike against half-baked pay deal and bullying bosses
British Gas engineers continue strike against fire-and-rehire plans
Low-paid hospital workers strike
NHS
Overwhelmed, underfunded, underpaid, and still fighting for safe PPE
Health worker cooperation in the face of the pandemic
Arab Spring
Ten years since the 'Arab Spring'
TUSC
TUSC is up and running for May elections
Come to the TUSC local elections conference - 7 February
Why I'm leaving Labour and campaigning for TUSC
Councillors in Surrey resign from Labour and look to stand independently
Campaigns
Solidarity meeting with Mohamud Hassan
Save Our Square from New Labour gentrification
Help fund a challenge to austerity at the ballot box - donate today!
International socialist news and analysis
Mass protests in Russia against Putin regime
Review
TV review: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain
Home | The Socialist 27 January 2021 | Join the Socialist Party
Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook
2020