One of the few remaining vaguely radical policies to which labour is supposedly committed is the reform of worker's rights.
This is from the front page of The Timed today, via Twitter:
Is there any great surprise that business does not like what Labour is suggesting?
Will there be any more surprise when Labour caves in, as it surely will?
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I think a translation of the tagline is in order:
“Bosses fear ‘full fat’ plan would hurt economy” =
“Bosses fear ‘full fat’ plan would reduce profits for owners” =
“Workers are expendable at the expense of profits”
Even then, the maddening thing is, better worker’s rights is GOOD for the economy. On a macroeconomic scale, bosses don’t even realise that workers and consumers are the same people. The only exception is if you’re selling, land rovers, cruises or predatory loans. Even then, the immiseration “trickles up” to the middle classes anyway.
I have requested Ladbrokes to open a book. Given it is almost certain, one might just as well make some money on it.
Cynicism aside, one only need to look at past Starmer actions. LINO a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel and soon a wholly owned subsidiary of big business.
I collaborate with an UK SME, it has no problems with the LINO package – but there again, it does not have zero-hours contracts.
Ah well, a variation on Animal Farm – with the farmers as tories and the pigs as LINO – with us the farm animals looking through the window trying to tell the difference.
I see just stop oil is setting up as a party – they will get my vote.
Don’t stop us exploiting our workers, say bosses, as it will impact our profits.
That is kind of the point. We are saying that there are minimum standards, and that exploitative firms should not be allowed to seek a competitive advantage by undercutting others by deliberately failing to meet these standards. That is how regulation of the market works.
A Labour government *should* be banning zero hours contracts and bogus self-employment, improving sick pay and rights to flexible working, and giving back rights to claim unfair dismissal before two years service.
Everyone knows that a recession creates opportunities to hire and re-hire at lower pre-recessionary rates of pay and conditions.
That is why recessions are brought about in the first place isn’t it?
I was thinking the other day what it must be like to be the relation of a victim of one of the faulty Boeing airliners that basically flew itself into the ground.
The people who made that happen – the aviation authorities who did not do their job to the CEO who walked away with a golden handshake and did not go to prison – are the extreme examples of the world we live in now.
A world driven by corporate and personal greed that you are not allowed to get in the way of even in the name of preserving life.
It is as simple as that at the moment it seems to me.
The age of the veneration of greed.
Thank you, Bill.
You should see it in live action.
PSR, I meant.
Colonel Smithers
I have read a lot of Satyajit Das over the years – I believe he was quite instrumental in the ‘modelling’ that created derivatives and also – like you – saw close up and personal the mis-application of these ideas in the banking system up to 2008.
He was far from generous with his analysis and conclusions about (say) credit default swaps etc., so I have no reason to doubt your word at all on this matter.
This is exploitation enablement as government policy – there is no other way to call it.
Labour. No thanks.
Shurely the BoE wouldn’t deliberately create a recession to drive down wages and wage demands ?
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/monetary-policy-report/2024/february/mpr-press-conference-transcript-february-2024.pdf
Probably not before the election. Many would ask why they were voting Labour at all were that not to be the case. I wonder too how much longer Raynor, arguably the last visible (and presumably, token) Lefty can last before she falls or is pushed.
Thank you, Richard.
Starmer and the shadow Treasury and Business teams have told the City and Mayfair as much.
I went to a friend, retired journalist and former Labour Party member, for supper yesterday. We talked about how quickly buyer’s remorse will set in.
Very quickly….
Thank you to PSR for the reply and mention of Satyajit Das. I read him, too, often at Naked Capitalism.
I was involved with Basel II, III and what was thought to be IV, but scaled back to 3.5.