Socialist Party member Robbie Segal is standing for president of the shopworkers’ union Usdaw. She spoke to The Socialist about the threats to jobs in the retail industry:
“Woolworths and MFI are in administration. Whilst the banks are bailed out, 30,000 workers at Woolworths face redundancy due to the collapse in retail brought on by the banking crisis.
Low-paid workers always pay for the failure of the employers. Yet vultures, the so called “turnaround investors” are already circling the living body of Woolworths looking to buy off profitable parts.
They are people like Sir Phillip Green, who bought a 28.5% share in Moss Bros two weeks ago, sold the share on Friday and made nearly a million. Not bad for two weeks’ speculation.
Woolworths has 5,000 Usdaw members. If elected as president, I will launch a mass campaign to stop the job losses – demanding that the government takes Woolies and any other failing retail giant into public ownership. At the same time, we need a campaign for an £8 an hour minimum wage for all.
If the government can find the money to bail out the bankers, then they can find it to help shopworkers in difficult times.”
For more information about Robbie’s campaign see: www.robbiesegal.org
