The FT has noted:
Gordon Brown was on Tuesday battling to contain union demands to tighten the law on the use of foreign workers in Britain as he attempts to prove to the rest of the world he is serious about fighting protectionism.
I am opposed to protectionism.
I am utterly opposed to xenophobia.
But it's Gordon Brown who has brought Mandelson back into government and he is a proponent of the Doha trade round, which liberalises labour markets. And it is he who has helped relax labour laws in the EU.
The consequence is that the UK will not have control over labour rights in the country. It is wholly unacceptable that an Italian company working in the UK can work to Italian health and safety standards, Italian employment standards including those relating to the minimum wage and so on.
This is not the creation of a level playing field. It is creating a very, very unlevel playing field in which the loser will always be labour.
Those who are striking have a good point: basic labour protection is being lost because of the rampant advance of the madness of free market neo-liberal dogma into labour markets just at the time it has been convincingly proven to have destroyed our banks.
Now is the right time to protest. If Doha is approved it will be too late: labour will be on the back foot forever, or turmoil in society will be inevitable. It will be one or the other: maybe both if it happens.
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“Italian employment standards including those relating to the minimum wage and so on.”
No. The Posted Worker’s Directive says that an Italian company, employing Italian labour in the UK, must pay at least the UK minimum wage.
The direction of travel is as I indicate
It is in all regulation
Doha will increase that trend
That is, and remains, my point
Now please address the point and stop nit-picking
Nit-picking is important Richard. If you can’t get the details right then how can we know that the logical structure built on such details is sound?
You know, I am surprised if the Italian minimum wage is lower than the UK one. Have I become too cynical about UK Plc?
We are becoming a net energy importer – the state is giving assistance to the building of new nuclear power stations and (under)investing in renewables. Is this not a kind of import substitution?
Are protections for workers’ rights not protectionism?
I find the term a little hard to grasp. For example, in the past Cameron has called on us to “buy British” – is this not an encouragement of protectionist sentiments?
And Tim, do give over with the nit-picking. The odd detail – minimum wage of Italy or UK – ignores the fact that migrant workers are favoured by employers because they want to pay them lower wages!
Charlie
I suspect you will find that Tom uses pedantry and nit-picking as a deliberate campaigning mechanism.
As is becoming increasingly apparent he will not actually answer any challenges presented to him Maybe he can’t. But he does, like the perennial coward and bully (the two usually combine) seek to suppress others, in this case by feigned intellect evidenced through nit-picking, so hoping, in the process to suppress debate of the real issues of concern.
It won’t work.
Richard
Foreign employers have to pay the legal minimum wage in the country to which they post workers, this will have the effect of making it the going rate to the detriment of workers on higher wages. It levels wages down to the minimum wage.