£1 •issue 422 •16th - 29th August 2013 … · · 2017-06-17as McDonald’s and Boots use zero hours ... week that a surge in personal thefts and acts of violence on Britain’s

Bin the Bedroom Tax demo: the masses takethe axe the tax message to the Lib DemsUK conference in Glasgow on 14 September

• see page 12£1 • issue 422 • 16th - 29th August 2013facebook.com/scottishsocialistvoice

facebook.com/ScottishSocialistVoice @ssv_voice

BAN ZERO HOURSCONTRACTSWORKERS NEED A LIVING WAGEBuild a socialist future basedon people, not profits •See pages 6&7

WAGE SLAVERY: household name employers suchas McDonald’s and Boots use zero hours contracts

NEWS

2 • Scottish Socialist Voice • issue 422

RAIL union RMT said thisweek that a surge in personalthefts and acts of violence onBritain’s railways, revealed bythe British Transport Police andrail chiefs, is directly linked tothe government’s attack on sta-tion and train staffing numbersand is set to worsen if the rec-ommendations of the McNultyRail Review are not reversed. The shocking new figures

show that the number of thefts ofpersonal property from railwaypassengers has risen by 16 percent and that there has also beenan increase in violent incidents inthe past year, which rose by 201on the National Rail network.

WarningRMT is warning that cuts to on-

train and station staff encouragesviolent and criminal behaviourand is set to escalate into a whole-sale de-staffing of the network ifthe government get away withtheir McNulty review plans. RMTGeneral Secretary Bob Crow said: “These shocking new figures

on thefts and violence onBritain’s trains should be a wake-up call to the Government as theyroll ahead with their plans to axeguards, station and platform staffin the name of maximising thetrain operators’ profits. “Without a physical presence

of staff on our trains and stations,the muggers, the drunks and theviolent are given the green lightto launch thefts and attacks andthe sooner the government wakeup to the consequences of theircuts plans the safer our railwayswill be for all of us.”

SURGE INVIOLENCELINKED TOCONDEMATTACKS

LGBT campaigner PamCurrie explains how thisphoto went viral

“MY partner and I decidedto take a snap of ourselvesoutside of Moscow, Ayrshireon the spur of the moment,while in the area to pick up avan in nearby Kilmarnock.

“Uploading the snap, Itagged a couple of Facebookfriends who I knew had aninterest in LGBT issues,including our local campaign

and support group, LGBTQAyrshire, with a wee messagesending our solidarity to theLGBT community in Russia.

“I’d switched my phone offwhile we took stuff from mymother in laws’ place to theskip in Cumnock - switched itback on when we finished toget a text from my sister...she’d been idly scrollingthrough Twitter to see my picretweeted by Stephen Fry!

“LGBTQ Ayrshire hadtweeted us and from there it

went viral. Pink News pickedup the story (with over 1100Facebook ‘likes’) and dozensof folk re-tweeted it aroundthe world. It’s been picked upby the Gay Pride website inChicago and we hope thatthere’ll be a piece in Divamagazine - as well as nextweek’s Kilmarnock Standard!

“All in all, a successfulcouple of minutes’ work tohighlight the legal andphysical attacks on Russia’sgay community.”

A Moscow kiss

IT STARTED WITH A KISS: Pam Currie and Aileen Connor kiss to highlight attacks on Russia’s gay community

NEWS

by Colin Fox, SSP jointnational spokespersonand Yes ScotlandAdvisory Board member

THOSE who look at the opinionpolls and conclude little has changedin the independence debate over thepast year overlook a great deal. Theyforget Yes Scotland set itself two ini-tial objectives; to get everyone talk-ing about independence and to build‘the biggest grassroots campaignScotland has ever seen’. It would befoolish to deny substantial progresshas been made on both fronts. The entire country is now talking

about independence in a way itwasn’t this time last year and thegrassroots campaign made up ofthousands of SNP, SSP, GreenParty and activists of no particularaffiliation deserve a great deal of thecredit for that.

MomentumWhilst it is true the No side has

maintained its lead, detailed researchevidence shows a sizeable numberof voters have still not made up theirminds, and we will return to them ina moment. But it is significant that46 per cent of voters feel they arewell enough informed about the is-sues and 47 per cent of these intendto vote Yes with 48 per cent for No.Moreover, momentum counts for agreat deal in these type of campaigns

and as Blair Jenkins of Yes Scotlandsuccinctly puts it this research alsoshows that ‘the direction of travel isunquestionably towards Yes’. Notwithstanding the compla-

cency of the No side who apparentlythink the result is already in the bag,Yes Scotland retains every chance ofwinning. Indeed there are severalsub-strata of the population alreadyshowing a majority for independ-ence, parents with young families,the social media community andunder 25s to name but three. As well as the statistics from the

headline poll, which are scrutinisedintensely by both sides, there is alsothe regularly asked question ‘Howwill you vote if the Tories look like

winning the 2015 Westminster gen-eral election?’ In January, this debut poll re-

vealed a 60:40 Yes lead over No. In other words it revealed a com-

plete turnaround from the headlinefigures. So we know the prospect ofanother Tory Government not onlydisgusts a large majority of Scots theprospect could have a significantbearing on the referendum. Most re-searchers agree that if the Tories looklike staying in office at Westminsterthat will help the Yes campaign. Equally if Ed Miliband’s dismal

streak ended voters might be moreinclined to vote No. It is ironic thatthe future of this particular ‘Unionmovement’ now rests not with theTories or Lib Dems but withMiliband’s ‘anti-union’ NewLabour. The latest Westminster pollspredict a dead heat with Labour andthe Tories both on 36 per cent of thevote. Another poll gave Labour anarrow lead but one insufficient towin an outright majority. Clearly the Scottish independence

referendum does not take place in avacuum and will be heavily influ-enced by such ‘outside events’. The standard of living of the Scot-

tish working class is another impor-tant factor likely to have a large bear-ing on the result. Many people inScotland are experiencing a drasticdecline in their standard of living asincomes are held back just as theirbills continue to increase. We in the Yes campaign clearly

must convince people that inde-pendence can provide relief fromthe worst recession in 80 years. Per-suading undecided voters clearly re-mains crucial to a successful Yesvote next year.

PassionHaving emphasised the demo-

cratic right to determine our own fu-ture the Yes Scotland campaignmoved on this last year to highlighthow Scotland’s prevalent socialdemocratic values of fairness andjustice are repeatedly thwarted byWestminster governments we did notelect who introduced the Poll Taxand Bedroom Tax against ourwishes. More recently, the campaignemphasised the economic prosperityScotland could enjoy and Yes Scot-land intends next to stress the passionwe have for our cause and our deter-mination to win what is expected tobe a very tight contest indeed. This then is the backdrop to the

independence debate that supportersacross Scotland will sense as we allconverge on Edinburgh on 21 Sep-tember for the ‘one year to go’march and rally. I am delighted toagain speak on behalf of the ScottishSocialist Party. Calton Hill hasproud memories for us because itwas there where SSP members andmany others gathered in 2005 – asthe Queen officially opened the newHolyrood Parliament building downthe road - to declare for a moderndemocratic republic for Scotland.We will all do so again on 21 Sep-tember as part of our vision of an in-dependent socialist Scotland.

INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM:one year on - one year to go

INDEPENDENCE rally and marchorganiser Jeff Duncan told theVoice: “Last September’s eventwas a great success - 10,000assembled to hear speeches fromMargo MacDonald, Alex Salmond,Dennis Canavan and many more.

“This year we’re assembling inthe heart of Edinburgh, in the HighStreet, which leads onto the RoyalMile, and proceeding to the highly

iconic Calton Hill for the rally itself.Coaches depart from all overScotland on the morning of therally, dropping off at the assemblypoint and picking up again at thefoot of Calton Hill.”

• See IndependenceRally.comfor full details. Call the rallyoffice on 0131 541 2194 from10am-7pm for coach details

issue 422 • Scottish Socialist Voice • 3

RALLY FOR SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCEEDINBURGH•SAT 21 SEPTEMBER 2013

RALLY 2012: the SSP’s Colin Foxaddresses 10,000pro-independencedemonstrators incentral EdinburghPHOTO: Craig Maclean

HIDDEN HISTORIES


says Campbell Martin

TO call the organisation led by EdMiliband the ‘Labour Party’ is agrotesque distortion of meaning andhistory. It is many years since theLabour Party even attempted to rep-resent the interests of those whomake their living through sellingtheir labour. Today’s Labour Party isindistinguishable from the Tories:both parties now champion free-market capitalism and put the gener-ation of private wealth before thepublic interest. Looking at the eventsthat led to the creation of the LabourParty shows the extent of today’s be-trayal of the organisation’s foundingprinciples and the people who gaveso much to build a political party torepresent ordinary men and women. Towards the end of the 19th cen-

tury, significant changes began to af-fect the working-class as suffrage(the right to vote) was extended. Atelections in 1885 and 1886, theHighland Land League (HLL), es-sentially an organisation representingthe interests of crofters, made a spec-tacular breakthrough by securing theelection of five MPs committed toland reform. An office bearer of theHLL was an Ayrshire-based Miners’organiser called James Keir Hardie.

FrustrationMembers of the working-class

entitled to vote initially put their faithin the middle-class Liberal Party.However, growing frustration withthis situation led to agitation for thefielding of candidates who truly rep-resented those who made their livingfrom selling their labour. This led toLiberal-Labour (Lib-Lab) candi-dates fighting elections in seatswhere there was a large working-class population. In March 1888 aby-election in the constituency ofMid-Lanark was caused by the res-ignation of the sitting Liberal MP.James Keir Hardie, a member of the

Liberal Party at the time and also thetrade union organiser for Minersworking in Lanarkshire pits, puthimself forward as a Lib-Lab candi-date for the seat. But, despite hislocal credentials and support fromtrade unions and workers, the LiberalParty declined Hardie’s offer and, in-stead, selected as its candidate JohnPhilipps, an English solicitor. Against this background, and

without the support of a recognisedpolitical party, James Keir Hardiestood in the by-election as an inde-pendent representative of labour. Insupport of his campaign a broadgrouping of individuals and organi-sations came together, including theScottish Miners’ Federation, tradeunions, socialist societies, HighlandLand League MPs and the radicalLiberal MP Robert CunninghameGraham who represented the seat ofNorth West Lanarkshire. Cunninghame Graham had been

elected at the 1886 General Election,on a manifesto that included: theabolition of the House of Lords; uni-versal suffrage; the nationalisation ofland, mines and other industries; freeschool meals; disestablishment ofthe Church of England; the introduc-tion of an eight-hour working day;and Scottish Home Rule. Hardie fin-ished third with a credible 8 per centof the vote. Philipps retained the seatfor the Liberal Party ahead of the

second-placed Conservative,William Bousfield, another Englishsolicitor. However, the Mid-Lanarkby-election proved to be a crucialpoint in the development of workingclass representation. Following the Liberal Party’s de-

cision to field a London-basedlawyer instead of the local Miners’organiser, Hardie and others reachedthe conclusion that for the interestsof the working class to be repre-sented in parliament, there requiredto be a party of labour. After a seriesof meetings preparing the ground,the organisations and people whohad supported Hardie’s candidacy inMid-Lanark met in the summer of1888 to formalise a new politicalbody, which they called the ScottishLabour Party. The first electoral testfor the new party came at the Gen-eral Election of 1892. Robert Cun-ninghame Graham had resignedfrom the Liberal Party and stooddown from his North West Lanark-shire seat in order to contest theGlasgow Camlachie constituencyfor the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). In total, the SLP fielded five can-

didates at the 1892 election but nonewere elected. However, James KeirHardie had been invited to stand asan independent labour candidate inthe working class London con-stituency of West Ham. Although of-fering no support to Hardie, the

Liberal Party did not stand, whichmeant a straight fight between thecandidate of labour and a Conserva-tive. Hardie polled 5,268 to the Torycandidate’s 4,036 and was electedwith a majority of 1,232. Hardie’s outspoken advocacy of

the rights of the working class, andhis confrontational style of speakingin parliament made him a focal pointfor the Britain-wide labour move-ment. At a Trades Union Congressmeeting in September 1892, propos-als were moved for the establish-ment of an independent labourorganisation to represent the work-ing class of Britain. It was agreedthat a conference on the subjectshould be held in January 1893.

Home ruleA large delegation from the Scot-

tish Labour Party attended the con-ference held in Bradford fromJanuary 14-16, where it was agreedto work on a cross-Britain basis toform the Independent Labour Party(ILP). James Keir Hardie waselected chairman of the new politicalbody. From its beginning the ILP’sstated objective was to secure for thepeople “the collective and commu-nal ownership of the means of pro-duction, distribution and exchange”. The party also advocated an eight-

hour working day, free educationand provision for the sick, disabled,widows and the elderly. In addition,the ILP also supported Home Rulefor Scotland and Ireland. In 1894 the leadership of the Scot-

tish Labour Party took the decisionto merge the body with the ILP.There then followed 8 years of inter-nal restructuring before, in 1906, apolitical organisation to represent theinterest of the working class acrossthe British Isles was formed. It wascalled the Labour Party. The organi-sation’s founders will be spinning intheir graves to see the Tory-clone thatthe Labour Party has become.

LABOUR’S FOUNDERS WILL BE‘SPINNING IN THEIR GRAVES’ ATWHAT THEIR PARTY HAS BECOME

KEIR HARDIE: a primary founder of the ILP and later the Labour Party

JOHN McALLION


says John McAllion

WE are now into the fourth yearof a government that has ar-guably the worst record in officeof any government electedsince the end of the SecondWorld War. After three full yearsin power, output in the UK econ-omy is still nearly 4 per centbelow pre-recession levels. Thelevels of growth the governmenthas achieved have been a thirdof those under the Labour gov-ernment that was kicked out in2010 for economic failure. Real wages are down. Living

standards are falling. Unemploy-ment and underemployment re-main rife. More than a fifth of thepopulation are trapped inpoverty. Up to half a millionBritons now depend on foodbanks to keep hunger at bay.

Savage attacksOn top of all of this economic

misery, the government hasalso launched unprecedentedand savage attacks on publicsector workers. More than half a million jobs

have been scrapped across thepublic sector. Wage freezeshave been imposed. Pensionentitlements have been slashed.Working lives have been length-ened and the retirement age re-morselessly raised. Zero hours contracts that

deny workers job security andredundancy and pension enti-tlements have been forcedonto hundreds of thousands oflow paid workers across arange of social care, NHS andeducation services. Then there are the welfare

cuts. While the rich are feted as“wealth creators”, the poor aredemonised by government min-isters as “skivers”. The alreadyrich are rewarded with tax cutsworth £100,000 a year. The al-ready poor are penalised bybenefit cuts and welfare caps.

Those who look to profit frombuying second homes-to-rentout are rewarded with a£130million “Help to Buy”scheme. Those who can’t affordto pay the rent in their only homeare forced on to the street by thehated Bedroom Tax. For the first time since the es-

tablishment of the welfare state,the spectre of Dickensian levelsof poverty has returned to hauntour streets. Given such an abysmal

record, most would expect thatthis government would pay aheavy political price. Yet in thelatest opinion poll, Labour en-joys just a 7 per cent lead overthe Tories and actually trailsthe Coalition parties when theirsupport is combined. Indeed, ifyou combine support for theCoalition parties and UKIP to-gether, Labour trails the rightof centre parties by a stagger-ing 19 points. The personal approval ratings

for the Tory Prime Minister arealso 13 points ahead of thosefor the leader of the Labour op-position. With less than twoyears to the next election, thealarm bells are ringing ever

louder within Labour ranks. Theprospect of losing the next elec-tion is now being taken very se-riously by leading Labourfigures. Senior figures warn thatthe Tories are making the politi-cal weather, that the party lackspolicies and that time is runningout for Labour to avoid defeat in2015. Calls are made for the re-turn of New Labour figures likeAlistair Darling and Alan John-son to front-line Labour politics.Some even want Mandelson,the Prince of Darkness, back.Under pressure, Labour’sleader promises a ShadowCabinet reshuffle before theparty conference in September.

ImbalanceThe underlying cause of this

panic is the imbalance in re-gional support for Labour. Theirlead in the national poll disguisesLabour’s inability to win supportin the southern half of England. South of a line drawn from the

Wash to the Bristol Channel,and excluding London, Labourholds just 10 of 197 seats. In theby-election in the southern seatof Eastleigh earlier this year,they polled a miserable 10 per

cent of the vote and trailed infourth behind the Coalition par-ties and UKIP. In this year’s county elections

in the south, Labour’s perform-ance was eclipsed by UKIP’ssuccess. All the evidence pointsto Labour losing the south in2015, and without southernsupport there will not be aLabour government. In Scotland, the near invisible

leadership of the party know thisto be the case. Their trump cardin the referendum vote has al-ways been to urge a No vote onthe grounds that a Labour gov-ernment in 2015 would rescueour country from this dreadfulgovernment imposed upon us. With every passing month,

that card will become less andless playable and more andmore Labour supporters will re-alise that the only certain secu-rity against more of the same isto vote Yes to independence. The recent manufactured at-

tacks on ‘Labour For Independ-ence’ signal Labour’s growingfear that as the prospect of a UKLabour victory in 2015 retreats,the likelihood of a Yes vote in2014 will increase.

Labour’s UK crisis will boost Yes vote

HEART OF DARKNESS: things are so bleak for Labour, the return of Peter Mandelson could be on the cards

NEWS


by Richie Venton

ZERO hours contracts perfectly en-capsulate the disgustingly exploita-tive system we live under. These arethe ultimate in casualised labour, thepinnacle of job insecurity, the worstextremes of the ‘race to the bottom’on workers’ rights. All in the nameof profit. And far from being on themargins of the labour market, zerohours contracts are mushrooming,encouraged by the employers’ or-ganisations and the mainstream pro-capitalist political parties. A survey by the Chartered Insti-

tute of Personnel and Development(CIPD) has put the estimate at overa million - and growing astronomi-cally in the last few years. Zerohours contracts (ZHCs) give all theflexibility to the employers and allthe risk and insecurity to the workerson them. It means being contractedto work for a particular employer,but with absolutely no guarantee ofhow many hours of work you get -if any! - and insistence that theworker is on call, unpaid, ready towork whenever asked to. Apologists for this system claim

it suits people who want flexibilityon the hours they work but their ar-gument is just a cover-up for a sys-tem of ruthless exploitation.

Surrender of rightsOne of the many High Street out-

fits using them - Subway – sum-marises the reality in the wording oftheir contracts: “The company hasno duty to provide you with work.Your hours of work are not prede-termined and will be notified to youon a weekly basis as soon as is prac-ticable by your store manager. Thecompany has the right to require youto work varied and extended hoursfrom time to time.” To underline the surrender of

rights involved, Subway make it aprecondition of being hired thatworkers waive their rights (underEuropean Working Time Regula-tions) to have the working weeklimited to 48 hours. In other words,you could be dragged in to workover 48 hours one week, but literallyno hours the next, and all along youare contracted to Subway, unable to

get work with another firm, and onlypaid for the actual hours worked.And it’s all perfectly within the law! Numerous reports give accounts

of people being starved of hoursafter they have said ‘No’ to a partic-ular shift. And they are frequentlyleft with no work at all for weeks onend, because the employers can useZero Hours Contracts as a weaponto reward, reprimand or punish peo-ple according to their whim - the ex-ploiters’ ultimate dream of control. As one woman reported, she’d

been denied any work as a HomeCarer for several weeks after askingfor a day off for her child’s medicalappointment. And such insecurityover hours and therefore wages arenot the only consequences. ZeroHours Contracts also involve zeroguarantee of sick pay, holiday pay,or redundancy pay. It makes it virtually impossible to

plan your life, particularly for workerswith childcare responsibilities or othercare duties, let alone the impact onfamily and social life. As one Edin-burgh care worker explained, “Youbasically have to take what hoursyou’re given. So on any typical weekI might have a Friday off when I’drather be working, but then have tomake up my hours on a Sunday whenI want to spend time with the kids.” It makes it a nightmare to meet

the bills and budget for daily life -and because there is no fixed, regu-lar weekly wage involved, it makesit almost impossible to negotiate thebenefits system, such as WorkingTax Credits and childcare al-lowances. The one million-plusworkers subjected to this form ofexcruciating insecurity are also con-

centrated in the lowest-paid sectorsof employment - and indeed that isone of the aims of these contracts. The Tory-Lib Dem Coalition

might try to claim it just blessesworkers with infinite flexibilitywithout reducing incomes. On thecontrary - according to the recentResolution Foundation Report, theaverage weekly pay of those onZHCs is £236, compared to £482 aweek for workers on other contracts.And they get an average of 21 hourswork a week - compared to 32 hoursfor the rest. These contracts are notconfined to the fringe of the Britisheconomy - nor are they the preserveof unscrupulous backstreet employ-ers struggling to survive and cuttinglabour costs. Quite the opposite. The government’s own Work-

place Employment Relations Sur-vey of late 2011 found that 6 percent of workplaces with less than 50workers used them, whereas twicethat proportion (11 per cent) ofworkplaces with 50-99 workers didso - and a whopping 23 per cent ofworkplaces employing 100 or more.

Household shamesHousehold names exploit the

power to dictate that ZHCs offerthem. We’ve already mentionedSubway. Sports Direct has been ex-posed by protests against them hir-ing 20,000 of their 23,000 workersunder ZHCs. Burger King andDomino’s Pizzas use them exten-sively. So do McDonald’s - with 90per cent of their staff (82,000 in theUK) on them. JD Wetherspoons hire80 per cent of their staff this way.Others include Boots (4,000); TateGalleries; The National Trust; Buck-

ingham Palace; the Kirk of Scot-land’s social care wing. And Labour councils are up to

their necks in this exploitation too -directly in the cases of Brent andRhondda Cynon Taff, to quote twouncovered so far, and indirectlythrough work they’ve contracted outin vast numbers of councils. One in four public sector employ-

ers use these ZHCs, as do one inthree voluntary sector employers.The areas of greatest concentrationinclude hotels, catering and leisure;education, and healthcare. Thehealth sector alone account for100,000 people on ZHCs! And theruthless Michael O’Leary’s Ryanair- the biggest airline in Europe - em-ploys an incredible 75 per cent of its2,625 pilots on Zero Hours Con-tracts, as part of a regime of bullyingand sackings aimed at gagging thesehighly skilled workers. Are these forms of employment

new? And why are they growingwith relentless speed? The mediahas just now caught up with theirexistence, but ZHCs have been in-creasingly common since the late1980s, and are indeed part of a muchbroader, deeper trend towards casu-alised, insecure work since the mid-1970s. What is new is the sheerscale of their use. For about 30 yearsafter World War Two, governments- both Labour and Tory - tended toaim at full employment, reluctantlytolerated the strength of the tradeunions, and generally thought risingwages and secure employment wasgood for capitalism. It provided a growing market for

their goods amongst millions ofworkers on better wages than their

A million modern serfs...BAN ZERO HOURS

CONTRACTS

NEWS


parents or grandparents - and thepower of organised workers’ unionswon wages as their highest share oftotal national wealth on record by1975. That changed with the firstsigns of crisis in their profit-basedsystem in the mid-1970s, when UKgovernments began to claw back thegains working people had won inprevious generations so as to boostthe flagging rates of profit. Thatcher’s government in partic-

ular unleashed civil war againstworkers’ conditions, seeking tosmash the ability of trade unions toresist, deploying the weapon of massunemployment to drive downwages. In subsequent years, bothTory and Labour governmentsobeyed the orders of the bankers andcapitalists, ripped manufacturingapart, concentrated far more on fi-nancial capitalism’s interests andlow-paid service sector employment.

‘Least regulated’Alongside deregulation of work

and globalisation of capitalism, thisswung the balance of power deci-sively to the employers, unleashinga reign of terror in workplaces,which accelerated in the wake of theminers’ defeat in 1985. New Labourgovernments carried on where theTories left off in fashioning the con-ditions for maximum profit at theexpense of workers’ wages and con-ditions - neo-liberalism, what TonyBlair boasted was “the least regu-lated labour market in Europe”. Privatisation was a major driver,

for instance fuelling local authorities’current hunt for the cheapest bidderthrough outsourced contracts for thelikes of home care services, where avast array of private companies bidfor the care cutting costs to win thecontract by hiring people on ZHCs.Privatisation invariably means cutsto workers’ terms and conditions,and in recent years has helped createthe longest fall in real wages sincethe 1870s! The TUC reckon four outof every five new jobs created sincethe 2008 banking crisis have been inlow wage sectors. Since the un-elected Westminster Coalition seizedoffice in 2010, half a million publicsector jobs have disappeared. Thesejobs were ‘permanent’.

The Westminster Coalition claimto have performed a miracle by re-ducing unemployment in the midstof a recession. But this mirage is ex-plained by the fact that most of thejobs created since 2008 are eitheragency work, enforced part-time,ZHCs, and half of them are tempo-rary. The Tories manage to massagethe unemployment figures, but work-ers can’t even manage to cope as theyplunge into insecure, low-paid jobs. In Scotland, just short of one in ten

workers (9.8 per cent) are underem-

ployed. Research shows this is dou-ble the rate prior to the 2008 bankers’crisis, and that the workers starved ofhours and wages against their willwant additional hours that are theequivalent of 50,000 full time jobs.This desperate need for more workamongst the precariously employedis mostly because wages have per-sistently fallen for 41 consecutivemonths, a relentless decline in wagesclashing with rising prices. That is the real context of the gal-

loping growth of ZHCs. They arenot a lifestyle choice for workerswho prefer ‘flexibility’. They areone major strand to the package ofcasualised, insecure, low paid workthat is imposed on desperate people,in pursuit of short-term profit booststo the employers.

Back in the mid-1990s, whenmany of us who were the foundersof the SSP were at the heart of build-ing Scottish workers’ solidarity overa period of three years with the 500locked-out Liverpool dockers, Ioften wrote and spoke of casualisa-tion being ‘the curse of the modernworking class’. That was a subjectespecially dear to the hearts of dock-ers, whose predecessors had foughtfearlessly to end the casual laboursystem on the docks. A system thatmeant workers lining up in the

dockers’ pen of a Monday morning,hoping to be picked by the gaffersfor a day’s work at a time, prayingnot to be one of the many not givenwork, maybe because their face did-n’t fit or they were too outspoken oractive in the unions. Nowadays, instead of forming up

in the pen, workers sit by the phoneor keep an eye on their emails, hop-ing to be offered work, never know-ing exactly when or if the offer willarrive, nor for how many hours.That is 21st century casualisation, amodern form of serfdom, whereyou’re tied to an employer with ab-solutely no guarantees of work orother entitlements. Bosses’ organi-sations boast it is better to have 20hours one week and none the nextthan to be unemployed. They all op-

pose tighter regulation of ZHCs - asthreatened by Coalition Lib DemMinister Vince Cable. But Cableshares their opposition to an outrightban on these malicious practices. If ZHCs are so good for the health

of the economy, why have any lawsthat limit the ‘flexibility’ of workers’exploitation? Why not repeal lawson working time and child labour? Every minor or major improve-

ment in working class conditions, atwork or in communities, had to befought for in the face of oppositionfrom capitalists. We can’t rely onVince Cable, let alone the Westmin-ster millionaires’ government, tooutlaw exploitation. The trade union movement

should launch a massive recruitmentdrive amongst unorganised workers,demanding the outright banning ofall ZHCs, fighting instead for a de-cent Living Wage as the guaranteedminimum hourly rate for all over 16.They should demand secure andpermanent jobs for all - includingfull time jobs for all who want them.

Insecure workBy fighting to boost the hourly

rates of pay, the working week couldalso be drastically reduced to a max-imum of 35 hours across the board,without loss of earnings, ending thecrazy contradictions of millionsstressed out by working the longesthours in Europe whilst millions ofothers suffer the poverty and insecu-rity of no or insecure work. There arevast areas of work that need to bedone - in building decent affordablehomes, hospitals, state-of-the-artlocal schools; in green energy and anintegrated public transport network. But instead of foisting insecure

work on workers, we need to buildthe crusade for dignity at work, de-cent and secure jobs, democraticrights at work, and a vast, radical shiftin power and wealth from the capi-talist profit-junkies to workers’ wagesand public services. Today’s West-minster parties will not deliver sucha vision. All the more reason to linkthe struggle against modern serfdomin all its forms - including ZHCs - tothe call for an independent Scotlandwhere we can build a socialist futurethat is founded on people, not profit.

I’M NOT LOVIN’ IT: 90 per cent of McDonald’s workers are on ZHCs

NEWS


by Ken Ferguson

AMIDST a gatheringcampaign of hype aimed atconvincing voters thateconomic good times are onthe way, the WestminsterCoalition, desperate to holdon to power, opened asecond battlefront, using oneof its oldest and most reliableweapons. Wrapped in the union jack,

they unleashed a headycocktail of racism at home,and flexing of military muscleabroad, aimed at reinforcingtheir campaign to blame it allon foreigners, the EU,scroungers and immigrants. This nasty campaign throws

a harsh spotlight on theessentially insular extremistpolitics of the ConDems andtheir willingness to ride thetiger of racism and militarismin order to hold on to power.

Racist languageFirst to break cover was

UKIP’s Godfrey Bloom whorailed against UK foreign aidgoing to buy Ray Bans andfast cars for the leaders ofwhat he termed “BongoBongo Land”. Of course, this sparked

much official “outrage” atBloom’s racist language but itwas notable that behind theoutcry, a much moremainstream hue and crycontinued in the pages of theright wing press and acrossthe Tory back benches againstforeign aid, underpinned by abarely concealed racism. Enter next to the fray the

well upholstered figure of Torycabinet minister and Thatcher-disciple Eric Pickles, whostoutly defended the use of ad

trailers in London telling“illegal” immigrants to gohome or face arrest. As advertising watchdogs

launched an enquiry into theposters with their neo-BNPmessage, Pickles raised theprospect of their beingdeployed across the country,by which he presumablymeant England. As the Labour poll lead

stalls and the sunshineprosperity tales are pumpedout by a compliant media, thedeployment of the racism andimmigration cards by theTories both aims to mop upright wing votes and protectthem from UKIP. Of course, this agenda is a

close relative to the “war onscroungers” which is a constanttheme of both Tory and Liberalministers and a key reason why

the hapless Nick Clegg canexpect a hot reception fromBedroom Tax protestors atthe Lib Dem conference inGlasgow next month. Finally, no Tory election

drive is really complete withoutthe prospect of deployment ofcrown forces against a foreignfoe and, on cue, it has beensupplied by a return of that oldfavourite - a Gibraltar crisis.

Roaring defianceOlder Voice readers may

recall when such events werea regular feature with theBritish lion roaring defiance atthe then fascist dictatorFranco - carefully avoiding thefact that Britain’s policy in pre-war Spain helped Franco topower and then kept himthere after WW2 as an anti-Soviet ally. It was Marx who

made the remark abouthistory repeating itself first astragedy then as farce, and theannouncement of thedeployment of the Royal Navyto Gibraltar with its Falklandsecho is a classic case. Meanwhile back in the real

world, food banks mushroomto feed the victims of austerity,and wages fall at a faster ratethan anywhere else in the EU,while the full horror of the zerohours culture - which we lookat elsewhere in this Voice - isrevealed. With each passing day, the

truth that the British state is arotten militaristic, neo-liberalstructure becomes everclearer, as does the fact aYes vote next year can play amajor role in ending it’sdepredations at home andabroad.

Posters, bongos and battleshipsas Britannia waives the rules

AD NAUSEUM: Home Office’s racist ‘Go Home’ ads are driven around carefully selected areas of London

CULTURE


Rosie Kane was at TheBungalow in Paisley onSunday 4 August. Shebravely stars as herself inI, Tommy (written by IanPattison) at The PavilionTheatre in Glasgow from17-21 September

by Sandra Webster

OVER the past few monthsRosie Kane has started totour agin with a new versionof her one woman showwhich was premiered at theGlasgow Comedy Festivalearlier this year.

She is taking this show - amixture of her stories alongwith some music - to differentaudiences in clubs and barsthroughout the west ofScotland. This might seem adifficult audience but with anew confidence, Rosietransforms even a humbleperformance area into that of atheatre and has the audiencein the palm of her hand.

PersonalThe show includes stories

from her childhood growingup in Pollok to the beginningsof her political involvementand election to the ScottishParliament.

She makes it clear from thebeginning that these storiesare told through her own twoeyes and this is her verypersonal view of the eventsunfolded in her stage set.

These stories included herprotest in the City Chamberswith the ever expandingelevator cable and herarrests at Faslane. Withthese stories she had theability to make the audiencelaugh out loud and henremember that perhaps the

good old days were not all asrosy as we remember.

All of the stories werepunctuated with her uniquebrand of humour and somereferences to the politicalscene today. The BedroomTax and welfare cuts werecommented on. The set wasalso personalised by Rosie’sname-checking of friends andcomrades she has met alongthe road of her life.

An extra layer of colour andwarmth to her performancewas contributed by her brotherTam McGarvey. One of “TheOsmonds with fillings”, he is atalented blues guitarist in hisown right. He performed acouple of songs andaccompanied Rosie with songssuch as Those Were The Daysand This Life from Miss SmithThe Anti-Poverty Musical.

It was easy to see the handof Rachel Jury the show’sdirector and how she hadhelped take a group of storiestogether and combine theminto an interesting narrative.

ConfidenceHaving seen Rosie perform

in various settings and hervery first one woman show, itis good to see her growing inconfidence. She controlledthe pace of the storytellingand easily filled the stagewith her personality andperformance.

The audience, who werethere mostly I think to seeRosie perform, were drawninto an act that a moreexperienced actress could beproud of. They left TheBungalow full of praise forher show.

What’s next for Rosie?She’ll continue to tour hershow and will next take it toher parent’s hometown inIreland. And she’s justannounced that she’ll beplaying herself in I, Tommy atthe Pavilion Theatre inGlasgow in September.

Rosie was offered the roleafter its writer Ian Pattison(writer of Rab C. Nesbitt) sawher perform her one womanshow at the GlasgowComedy Festival.

I’m sure her performancewill impress her newaudience, and will no doubtbe the source of some of herfuture material.

This woman has a longway to go, and I hope manyother people will be able toexperience her talent in manyother venues.

Whole lotta Rosie

ARRESTING PERFORMANCE: when Rosie’s not being arrested, she’s a great performer

NEWS


by Voice Reporter

THEUS owners of Scottish Heraldtitles Gannett are living up to theirname as they push for more profitsthrough enforcing job cuts. Thecompany who also own US Todayhave told shareholders to expect$1.3billion in rewards over the nextfew years. To do this they are de-manding more from their titlesacross Scotland and England. Up to20 editorial jobs are at risk in theScottish titles but journalists at TheHerald, Sunday Herald andEveningTimes, remain committed to chal-lenging the job cuts at Gannett’s UKcompany (Newsquest) and are vot-ing in another ballot for industrial ac-tion as the Voice goes to press. The daily reality for Newsquest

journalists is the company continueto slash jobs. Newsquest have re-fused to move on compulsory re-dundancies that could have beenavoided if the company agreed tooffer a better redundancy dealrather than the statutory terms. Thecurrent cost cuts across editorial,advertising and circulation is ex-pected to generate savings ofaround £700,000. As well as the job cuts the union

is concerned about the introductionof a new editorial system, which ap-pears to be a threat not only to jobsbut editorial quality as the companytries to reduce the number of sub-editors. Interestingly sub-editorswho have been pushed out of

Newsquest have been snapped upby rival titles such as The Scots-man, whose management aremore willing to work with the NUJto ensure there are sufficientstaffing levels to address the intro-duction of new technologies. Last week the union announced

that journalists at the NUJ GlasgowHerald and Times chapel voted de-cisively by 86 per cent for strike ac-tion and 96 per cent for action shortof a strike. Rather than acceptingthe will of the union members andnegotiate, the company resorted tousing Thatcherite, anti-union lawsto stop the action. The NUJ is nowre-balloting members, at ScottishNewsquest titles in the wake oflegal threats challenging the firstballot on minor technicalities. Paul Holleran, NUJ National or-

ganiser for Scotland, said: “Ratherthan acknowledge the overwhelm-ing result of the ballot and thestrength of feeling that existsamongst their journalists and mak-ing efforts to resolve the dispute,Newsquest has chosen to rideroughshod over the democratic de-cisions taken by staff with an at-tempt to block strike action byexploiting the many hurdles cre-ated by anti-trade union legislation. “The reality is that their actions

do nothing to dissipate the angerand frustration our members feel atThe Herald, Sunday Herald andEvening Timesand merely renewstheir collective determination to fightthese poorly thought out proposals,even if means action is temporarilydelayed. The re-ballot shows theunity of the chapel and the strength

of feeling amongst our members.Gannett has a total revenue of£848million yet they want to keepon cutting jobs and make compul-sory redundancies on what arenearly statutory terms.”Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general

secretary, said: “Decisions taken byNewsquest management in Londonare gradually eroding the Scottish ti-tles. In the past similar decisionshave been rewarded with a bonuspot for directors worth £240,000. Itis an utter disgrace that big businessis allowed to destroy people’s liveli-hoods and squeeze the life out ofnewspaper titles so that those at thetop can fill their own pockets. “It seems that greedy managers

in London are interfering in Glasgowas rivals jockey to replace the chiefexecutive Paul Davidson before theend of the year. The Scottish jobcuts are signed off by London with atotal disregard for local readers, localjournalists and the titles they pro-duce. The NUJ calls on Newsquestand its parent company Gannett tostop slashing jobs.”

Scale of cutsThe scale of the cuts is shown by

the fact that the NUJ in a previousballot against compulsory redun-dancies had over 250 membersthat is now down to 124. Circulationand advertising revenues havefallen and the union blames the fallin quantity of editorial staff for bothfalling profits and quality of journal-ism. The ballot result is expected onWednesday 27 August. The NUJ Scottish Executive

Council have also expressed theirconcern as to the further diminutionof quality journalism in the lead upthe independence referendum.They are angry that at a time whenthe people of Scotland should bebenefiting from expanded deliveryof balanced news and information,it is becoming increasingly difficultfor remaining staff to cover all rele-vant issues in detail designed tohelp people make up their mind inthe referendum.

Herald owners Gannet gobble up profits

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INTERNATIONAL


by Alex Miller in NewZealand

WITH the right wing coalition op-position riding high in the opinionpolls, in June the governing Aus-tralian Labour Party voted to replacethen Prime Minister Julia Gillardwith Kevin Rudd, himself a formerPrime Minister who was ousted byGillard in 2010. Rudd has now called a Federal

Election on 7 September, and sinceresuming as Prime Minister hasbeen attempting to wrong-foot thexenophobic opposition leader TonyAbbot by imposing what Australianjournalist John Pilger calls a punitiveand racist policy on refugees. Rudd is introducing the so-

called “PNG solution”, on whichno refugees on boats will be al-lowed to reach Australian soil, butwill be held in detention centres inAustralia’s vastly poorer neigh-bour, Papua New Guinea. Peter Boyle, Socialist Alliance

candidate for the federal seat ofSydney, writes in the 7 AugustGreen Left Weekly: “This racist pol-icy is a weapon of mass distractionwhose objective is to scapegoatrefugees for the pain and insecurityimposed on ordinary peoplethrough an agenda of serving the in-terests of the billionaires and their

corporations ahead of the interest ofpeople and the environment”. Boyle points out that the Rudd

government is introducing $17.4 bil-lion of cuts and tax hikes, the greatbulk of which will be shouldered byordinary working people. According to the 31 July Green

Left Weekly, a third of the refugeesattempting reach Australia by boatare from Iran. Australian foreignminister Bob Carr describes these as“economic migrants”, despite thefact that Iran’s economy is sufferingunder the weight of crippling sanc-tions imposed by the US, the EU and

Australia. One effect of the sanctionshas been to prevent an estimated sixmillion Iranians suffering from dis-eases such as multiple sclerosis andcancer from accessing the requiredmedicines. Inflation in Iran is cur-rently running at 34 per cent, and be-cause of the sanctions the amount ofoil Iran is able to export has droppedfrom 2.5 million barrels a day in2011 to 700,000 a day now. The United Nations Refugee

Agency estimated at the end of 2012that there were 15.4 million refugeesand 28.8 million internally displacedpersons worldwide. Most of these

have been driven from their homesby war, with the war in Afghanistandisplacing more people than anyother. As Boyle notes, Australia ispart of the western military occupa-tion of Afghanistan. According to refugee rights ac-

tivists in Australia, Rudd’s “PNG so-lution” is illegal under internationallaw: the UN Refugee Convention, towhich Australia is a signatory, obligesstates “to provide protection and re-settlement, and nowhere considersthe ‘outsourcing’ of these obligationsto third countries that are far less ableto provide durable solutions”. More than 50 per cent of the pop-

ulation in PNG live on less than $2a day, while 61 per cent have no ac-cess to clean water. Australia rankssecond in the UN human develop-ment index, while PNG ranks 156th. According to Pilger, since 1998,

some 1376 refugees have drownedattempting to reach Australia byboat. The Australian Socialist Al-liance is fighting the 7 Septemberfederal election on a platform thatdefends refugee rights and calls forthe nationalisation of mines, banksand energy corporations.

• See socialist-alliance.org andgreenleft.org.au for up-to-datenews and analysis of politicsand current affairs in Australia

REFUGEES SCAPEGOATED IN RUN UPTO AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

Join the SSP hereFill in this form and send it to: Scottish Socialist Party, Suite 370, 4th Floor, Central Chambers, 93 Hope St, Glasgow G2 6LD.Or telephone: 0781 126 5388Or see our website: www.scottishsocialistparty.orgg I would like to join the Scottish Socialist Partyg I would also like to join Scottish Socialist Youthg I would like more info on the Scottish Socialist PartyName........................................................................................Address...........................................................................................................................................................................................Phone.........................................................................................Email...........................................................................................

ABBOTT AND RUDD: falling over each other’s racist policies

facebook.com/[email protected]

Issue 42216th - 29th August 2013

for Socialism, Independenceand Internationalism

by Voice Reporter

TENANTS organisations, theSTUC, disability campaignersand housing associations areamong those backing an anti-Bedroom Tax protest focussingof the UK Liberal Democratconference in Glasgow nextmonth. Last week, the tenantled No2BedroomTax campaignannounced a march anddemonstration at the Lib Demconference in Glasgow nextmonth. Glasgow DisabilityAlliance are one of the groupsmarching which also include theSTUC, the Scottish Tenant’sAssociation and the West ofScotland Housing AssociationsForum. The mass march anddemo under the name Bin TheBedroom Tax will take place onSaturday 14 September.

This is the first time acampaign has been made upboth by those affected andsome of the landlords and staffhaving to deal with the day today realities of implementingthe Bedroom Tax. The grouphave been keen to stress thatthis group will always remaintenant-led and hope it will helpbuild a mass movement.

Critical voicesThere have been voices

critical of the involvement oflandlords who may be evictingtenants. Can this movementtruly reflect both the needs oftenants struggling to pay theBedroom Tax and fearingevictions, with the agenda ofHousing associations and othersocial landlords who are facingmassive deficits in rental incomeas more and more people areunable to pay the Bedroom Tax?

The SSP, in common with thetenant-led No2BedroomTaxcampaign, have opposed sociallandlords threatening evictionsfrom the very start of thiscampaign. We have lobbiedand demonstrated, demanding

LIB DEMO! Clegg and his collaborators tobe told: ‘Bin the Bedroom Tax!’

BIN THEBEDROOMTAX DEMOSAT 14 SEPTMass marchand rally on Lib Dem UK Conference• Assemble at noon at Glasgow Green• March to SECC

PHOTO: Simon Whittle

that councils and local housingassociations join a campaign oftenants and staff trade unionsfor funding of the rental shortfalloff the Scottish Government,rather than threateningevictions of people who simplycan’t afford to pay.

And we have fought for themto reclassify rooms to avoid theBedroom Tax. In the case ofNorth Ayrshire, the SSP’spersistent efforts have wonpromises on no evictions andreclassification of rooms fromboth the council and a localhousing association.

It is to be welcomed that theHousing Association Forum arejoining the demo demandingabolition of the Bedroom Tax.But they should accompanythis with a public pledge of noevictions, and steps toreclassify rooms to avoidliability, whilst offering facilitiesto tenants to build a mass

movement for its abolition.Unity between tenants affectand staff affected is crucial.

The backing of the STUCoffers the hope that thousandsof trade unionists will marchmaking this demonstration thebiggest one Scotland has seenfor years. This may lead to theend of the ‘us and them’narrative that divides so muchof our society. It will be good forboth tenants and staff to havemeaningful dialogue on theimpact the Bedroom Tax ishaving on their lives.

Legal battleFollowing the recent defeat of

a challenge to the Bedroom Taxin the London High Court manydisabled people and theorganisations that representthem getting ready to take thelegal battle to the higher courts.

Bill Scott from InclusionScotland called on the Scottish

Government to allow legal aidfunding to be made available toorganisations to make a legalchallenge in the Scottish courts.

Other charities such asBarnardo’s and Capability havealready consulted legal teamsabout individual cases and feelit will be worthwhile to make astand in the Scottish courts.

In the end this battle must beone for those affected.

Tenants voices must be at thefore. It is a positive step to seethe Glasgow Disability Allianceand The Scottish TenantsAssociation are giving theirsupport. These are both groupswho actively involve and consulttheir members and are a truereflection of their concerns.

The September demo needsto be the biggest yet and aim todrive home to Clegg and hisTory collaborators the messagethat the Bedroom Tax needs tobe binned now.

Documents

£1 •issue 422 •16th - 29th August 2013 … · · 2017-06-17as McDonald’s and Boots use zero hours ... week that a surge in personal thefts and acts of violence on Britain’s