Reece Wilson, Public sector trade union rep
As a young worker, my pay packet has had to stretch more and more to cover the essentials – rent, food and travel. After years on youth rates and low-hour contracts as a student, I am now in secure full-time employment that does not have youth rates. But the core issues remain the same.
I’m a trade union rep too. My colleagues are overworked, with sickness rates greatly increasing since the pandemic – largely due to stress. Many can barely afford to travel in. Many are in debt.
Many young workers cannot move out of their parents’ home. The promise of a secure job that will allow us to own a house is looking more like an impossible dream.
Other young workers I speak to feel trapped in dead-end, low-paying jobs, with no opportunity of earning a good wage, or progressing towards a career. Young people face a bleak future – unless we fight.
The Socialist Party demands a decent future for young people, but it is clear that none of the main parties standing in this general election do. That’s why Socialist Party members across the country are standing under the banner of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). This is a step towards a new mass workers’ party, which would fight for the working class.
Young workers can see that a change is needed. Real wages have been falling for years, but the recent cost-of-living crisis meant a significant number of workers turned to the unions and pressed them into taking strike action for pay rises out of sheer necessity. Many young workers were striking for the first time.
The inflation rate on essential goods like food is often higher than the official headline figures, and even more if you are paid a lower youth rate. To this attack on our living standards, we must demand that the trade unions struggle for an immediate increase to a £15-an-hour minimum wage, without exemptions, and that wages are linked to cost of living.
We are fighting for repeal of the anti-trade union laws, for pay rises, employment rights from day one, and so on. Socialist Party activists are pushing for their unions to back election candidates who back these policies.
The main parties provide no good answer to the problems we face, because they do not break with capitalism. We point to socialism as the answer.
We can use the massive wealth that exists in society for investment in socially useful jobs, with trade union rates of pay, secure and stable hours, and free training schemes for skilled work. We can share out the work with no loss of pay.
The wealth is there for all of this. Big business has accumulated a record amount of profit. Even a 50% levy on this hoarded wealth would raise billions.
We fight for a socialist government to take into public ownership the top 150 biggest companies, and the banking system, that dominate the British economy, and run them under democratic working-class control. This is a step towards a democratic socialist plan for the economy, based on meeting need, not prioritising big business profit.
The Socialist Party says:
- Mass trade union struggle for a £15-an-hour minimum wage now! Inflation-proof pay rises for all
- Same pay for the same work! Ban unequal youth pay rates
- For the right to stable income and working hours – ban zero-hour contracts
Young workers:
- Vote for workers’ candidates
- Get involved in the TUSC campaign in your area
- Get involved in your trade union, and ensure it puts pressure on Labour to meet our demands
- Join the Socialist Party to fight for jobs, homes, and a good life for all.
