The Socialist 9 August 2016

Stand firm for socialism

#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism

Liverpool: Corbyn slams "politics of the elite"

Wallasey Labour meet in resistance to the Blairites

Mood for unity but not with right-wing Labour infiltrators

Thousands attend Corbyn rally in Cornwall

Bristol: Jeremy Corbyn wins support from young people

Hull: Jeremy Corbyn rally the biggest for 20 years

Jeremy Corbyn attracts 1,000 in York

Fresh bank crash looms

No to new grammars

Fight to defend HIV drug victory

UK wage drop as bad as Greece

Privatised medical record chaos

Them & Us

Grunwick strike 40 years on - lessons of an epic battle

Fawley strike defeats 'race to bottom' exploitation of migrant workers

Low paid cleaners declare victory after 58 days on strike

Samworth Brothers step up bullying and intimidation of workers

Communication Workers Union backs Jeremy Corbyn

HMY Radford shopfitters strike against penny-pinching company

South Wales NUM supports Jeremy Corbyn

Paul Reilly for RMT EC

2011 riots: An outpouring of anger at the system

Axe the Housing Act: 'We can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'

Great reception in Hackney for Chicago 'Black Lives Matter' socialist

South London #BlackLivesMatter protest marches on Downing Street

Leeds Pride 2016: Pride must be political!

Sanctioned - a victim of government callousness

Food waste - the logic of capitalism

PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT

020 8988 8777

[email protected]

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/912/23338

Search the site	Printable version

Home | The Socialist 9 August 2016 | Join the Socialist Party

Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook

UK wage drop as bad as Greece

UK workers have lost a tenth of their real wages, while bosses continue to grow richer, photo Dan Moyle (Creative Commons) (Click to enlarge)

Aaron Bailey

Workers in the UK have suffered the biggest fall in real wages among advanced capitalist countries, according to new analysis published by the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Meanwhile, bosses are cutting more jobs.

The analysis shows that between 2007 and 2015, real wages in the UK fell by 10.4%, a drop equalled only by Greece. The average among all OECD countries - most of the leading economies - was +6.7%.

In contrast, the UK's richest 1,000 families have more than doubled their wealth since 2009, rising by 112% to £547 billion. They now own more than the poorest 40% of British households combined.

And due to the majority of workers defying the bosses and voting to leave the capitalist EU, bosses have struck out at us.

Recruitment consultants say they have seen the number of full-time permanent posts drop rather than rise for the first time since 2009. The cause? "Heightened uncertainty" surrounding the referendum.

I myself am a worker on the minimum wage who is forced to go above and beyond for my workplace while receiving little to no gratitude from my bosses.

All these situations show again that austerity measures are not delivering for workers like we were promised. The rich continue to get richer, while us workers continue to get poorer.

But this can be stopped. 2015 had the fewest days lost to strike action in ten years.

It's time for trade unions to turn that around and lead a fight for decent jobs and wages for all. Coordinated strikes against austerity and for a £10 an hour minimum wage would be a good start.

In this issue

#KeepCorbyn

#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism