A letter a day to number 10. No 1,012
Thursday 26 February 2015.
Dear Mr Cameron,
A good mate of mine was sacked today for speaking out against a situation at work that was unjust. He’s come home sick to death of the entire stupid system of work, bullshit and injustice. It was only by chance, having gone out for a cigarette, that I spotted him, head down, bent over his push bike, standing silently and very still; a picture of misery.
He’s a good man, Mr Cameron, not something that you would understand and he did the right thing, and by that I mean he really did do the right thing, again, not something that you would understand.
He’s 30 years old and was working on minimum wage and whatever job he can get will doubtless also be on minimum wage. Do you know what that means? It means he has no hope of getting his own place, of gaining independence in life, of having an independent life with his girlfriend who works part time on minimum wage. She did have two jobs, but in Britain under your misrule she was let go one Friday afternoon with an hours, cowardly, notice.
I note the Low Pay Commission is recommending a 3% increase in the minimum wage from October 2015 for workers of 21 years of age and over. Whoop de do. I am sure there are businesses who are struggling who cannot afford to pay more than the minimum wage, fair enough, but for many, if not most, businesses and corporations that is not the case, they exploit the minimum wage to maximise profits and don’t give a damn that it’s not enough to live on.
Of course, the minimum wage means nothing, businesses are adept at finding ways to exploit workers, which is what zero hours contracts are all about. The BBC reported only last week that thousands of people working in Leicester’s textile industry are paid £3.00 an hour cash in hand and subject to verbal abuse on the factory floor.
It’s no surprise that the Independent reports 2.5 million British children living in poverty and a study by the Fabian Society reckons it is going to get much worse with a further ‘1.2 million children falling into poverty between 2015 and 2030 whilst high income families will reap huge rewards, their real disposable incomes ending £13,000 higher than today’.
That’s the reality of your austerity; targeting the poor. Children suffer but I guess they’re just collateral damage to you in your war on the poor. My mate said he just feels like going on a rampage. What could I say to that? I just nodded.
http://www.welfareweekly.com/low-pay-commission-recommends-3-increase-in-national-minimum-wage/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-31531924
Fear and Loathing in Great Britain 