7/28/2019 Activist 45: 'Are You Sick of Your Boss?' initiative special

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The Activist warmly welcomes thelaunch of the Are You Sick ofYour Boss? initiative by the Youth

Fight for Jobs campaign. Thisinitiative aims to encourage

young people working in lobswith ow pay, insecure hours withpoor conditions to get organisedto do something about it throughjoining a union and organisingtheir workplace.

As many Usdaw members will beaware, despite Usdaw and otherunions growing in the retail sectorover the past few years there are

still over 2 million retail workersin the UK who arent in a union.

The importance of this wasshown in Primark in NorthernIreland where just the threat ofindustrial action made Primarkbosses concede improved pay.Appropriately, the campaign willbe targeting Primark for its firstweek of action.

We encourage all Usdaw reps andactivists to get involved in thecampaign and try and supporttheir activities in trying to get

young people more active intrade unions. Below we print aintroduction to the campaign.

The profit-hungry, super-

exploitative companies whoemploy the nation's 'precariat' willbe targeted by young workersand campaigners in a nationalweek of action from 8 to 13 July.

The events, planned all over thecountry, are part of an initiativedemanding an end to theinsecurity, low pay and bullyingthat are a daily experience for

millions of workers in Britain -especially the young.

Street meetings, stalls,rallies and protests areplanned, and thecampaign aims to helpyoung people getorganised inside theirworkplaces as well,through joining and

being involved in tradeunions.

Actions will focus ontargeting Primark stores

in particular - a company whosebloody desire for cheap labour,and contempt for the lives ofworkers, was made shockinglyclear by the horrendous collapse

of a garment factory inBangladesh.

In Britain, improvements won bythe labour movement in the pastmean workers have someprotection from these hellishconditions.

But the continual assault onworkers' rights, made by the

government at the behest ofcompanies like Primark, showsthat we need to fight back.

Support Are You Sickof Your Boss? Initiative

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the ActivistIssue 45

Sick of Your Boss?

Bulletin of Socialist Party members in

One Year Since Vote at TUC AnnualCongress to consider a General Strike

We Say - TUC: Name the DayMarch and Rally in BournemouthSaturday 8th September

See www.shopstewards.net for info

Overleaf wereprint 2 articles

which appeared inissue 44 of theActvist. The

Activist appears at

least bimonthlyand can be

subscribed to viae-mail for free!

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Young_workershttp://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Unionshttp://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Unionshttp://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Young_workers

7/28/2019 Activist 45: 'Are You Sick of Your Boss?' initiative special

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Bulletin of Socialist Party members in USDAW

Find out more: usdawactivist.wordpress.com / usdawactivist@gmail.com / Facebook: Usdaw Activist

A day in the life of aPrimark employee

Recently we were given the chanceto fill out an employee survey toinform our bosses of ourexperiences in our time working atPrimark.

One question was along the linesof: 'Do you feel proud of workingfor Primark?' No.

No, I don't feel proud of workingsomewhere that makes obsceneprofits and yet pays me less than Ineed to pay rent.

No, I don't feel proud to work at aplace in which people younger thanme get paid even less despitedoing the same job.

No, I don't feel proud of working ina place that made me buy my ownuniform, structures my contract toavoid paying me overtime pay,doesn't make me feel a part of awelcoming, happy environment

despite telling me to be welcomingand happy to anyone who comesinto the store.

Like so many others at Primark, Ihad intended for this to be merelya temporary position, aspringboard to help propel me ontosomething more fulfilling, but thestress and anxiety that has built upsince my first day has felt like aweight holding me back.

I know I shouldn't feel stressedabout a job that means so little butno one wants to feel like the effortthey put in is meaningless and Iwork hard at a thankless job.

The store is organised into variousself-explanatory departments andyet if one person is away from onedepartment, whether sick or on

organised holiday, it is often thecase that the rest of the workers inthe department have to pick up theslack without cover to help.

Sometimes I have to essentially dothe work of two people. It's badenough being forced to do thework of one person in Primark.

I utilised the survey to vent some

of my frustrations, assuming thatnone of my anger would be takeninto account and no change would

come from it.

The survey itself consisted ofsimple multiple choice questionsbut the comments section at theend allowed us a chance to expressour issues. I probably wrote themost that I've written since myuniversity dissertation!

I told them of my irritation that Irequested more hours to help withmy finances and yet they insteaddecided to hire more workers ontemporary, part-time contracts.

I wrote about how it was ridiculousthat a store that makes the profitsit does can't give its employees a

discount beyond the two weeksbefore Christmas.

Simply put, I don't think that thoseworking in Primark get the respector reward that they deserve.

I don't live in the hellish conditionsof those who make the clothes Iend up selling, but Primark doesjust as much to make my working

experience a monstrous hell of myown.

Many Usdaw members will havebeen horrified by the tragic collapseof the Rani Plaza building whichhoused textile workers who produceclothing for numerous high streetcompanies including Primark.

The disaster is a result of theexporting of textile productionaround the world to lower wageeconomies to boost the profits of thebosses. As wages were cut, ruthlessbosses tried to cut other costs,including on issues of health andsafety as the disaster has evidenced.

A recent TUC document What PriceCheap Clothing? opposes theseconditions and argues that they do

not need to be tolerated to maintaincheap clothing. The briefing pointsout that only 2p of a n item ofclothing sold for 6 would go to theworker who made it. The resourcesare clearly there to increase wages(the TUC suggests 1000%).

Yet the Activist cannot we agree withthe TUCs argument that clothingprices should increase to pay forthis. As the report states, companieshave massively their profits byexploiting these workers. We saythey should pay from their profits.

For example Primarks profits wentup by 24% in the last year.

Moreover its not just workers inBangladesh and other low wageeconomies who are exploited.

Although on a different scale,workers in Primark stores dont evenget paid a living wage either.

Whos to Blame for Rani Plaza catastrophe?

Workfare protestors in Primark

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Payhttp://www.socialistparty.org.uk/keyword/Pay