If anything shows that workers need to be protected against unrestrained exploitation, its what has just happened at City Link. You couldnt get more scummy than announcing mass redundancies late on Christmas Eve. It meant City Link staff mainly found out through the TV news on Christmas day. It also means that the holiday period cuts into the brief window for attempting a rescue. As well as 2727 employees, mainly van drivers and associated staff, there are about another 1000 who the bosses had persuaded to become technically self-employed (not even eligible for redundancy pay) plus the supply chain. Overall thats 5000 jobs gone from an industry thats rapidly expanding ad internet shopping replaces the high street. City Link paid poor wages, but claims other companies were undercutting it. It is owned by a private equity firm led by Jon Moulton, who we understand incidentally is a Ukip supporter. See the report below for his open advocation of job losses. Private Equity firms are especially renowned for lack of interest in anything apart from worshipping the gods of profit. The Government and Labour Party obviously wont do anything to outlaw this sort of casual mass sacking, prevent poverty pay and zero hour contracts. They wont unshackle the unions or restrict the activities of their mates in big business. They may shed crocodile tears, but they are all partly responsible. This report is from the BBC on10 May 2011: Economic cuts should be deeper, and made faster to balance the countrys books, says venture capitalist John Moulton. Cutting the deficit has been a relentless aim of the coalition government since it was formed a year ago this week, although Labour claims too much state expenditure is being cut too quickly. Mr Moultons radical plan advocates short-term pain for long-term gain.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 13:58:16 +0000
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