Unemployment is rising and rising quickly. This recession could see unemployment reach three million in Britain or even higher in a short space of time. When we first heard about the crisis we were told that Britain was particularly well placed to “weather the economic storm” but this isn’t true. The British economy relies hugely on financial services – the first sector of the economy to come crashing down when the crisis hit.
Other industries such as the construction industry have also been very hard hit with collapse of the previously raging housing prices, and recession has now worked its way into every other sector of the economy too.
In a nutshell, Britain’s economy was based very much upon speculation (predicting higher and higher profits all the time) and ordinary people are now being made to pay for this imbalance – with our jobs, with our livelihoods.
Many of the companies now laying off workers now have been making huge profits over the last two years. It was the workers of these companies that created the profits by producing goods and delivering services. Now times are a bit harder many companies are using the recession as an excuse to “streamline” their businesses and lay off their hardworking employees, rather than use the profits they had made to keep them on.
So when a company threatens job cuts and say they can’t afford to keep us, we demand they open their accounts books and prove it to us. If they can’t, then nationalise – under the control of the workers!
One of the most crazy aspects of a recession is that while so many workers get laid off, those still lucky enough to be in work tend to have to work harder, longer, more back-breaking hours, whilst others are left idle, unable to find a job.
That’s why workers need to fight to cut their working hours not their jobs. To boost employment we need to build schools, hospitals, railways and windfarms for sustainable energy. If we fund this by taxing the rich we can make a better world for everyone.
