Enough is Enough

Well if you’ve not got anything else to to do you might attend. I certainly will not be watching out for ‘events in my area.’ Still, whatever floats your boat.

‘taking action against companies profiteering from this crisis’. Not very specific is it? I’m with maddy.

I will be attending the rally in my area.

Good to see people interested in looking after others. Shame our political 'leaders' don't seem to care.

taking action against companies profiteering from this crisis’. Not very specific is it?

It’s more specific than anything our current government is proposing.

It seems that people haven't had enough, yet, LizzieD

It is all rather vague, though.

Non-specific as others have said.

Apart from the likes of Shell and BP, which companies are ‘profiteering’? They don’t say. The cost of many supermarket items has risen due to rising fuel and energy costs which are, unsurprisingly, passed on to the consumer. That’s not ‘profiteering’. What ‘action’ can the man in the street take? Refuse to put fuel in his car? Sounds like people without any clear strategy getting together to shout and wave placards.

What ‘action’ can the man in the street take

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I can only see events in London, so I son't be going, but the aims of the organisation are sound:
1. £15 an hour minimum wage to give people a real pay rise
2 Restore the price cap to slash energy bills
3 Free school meals and community kitchens to end food poverty
4 More council houses, a rent cap and a renters' rights charter to provide decent homes for all
5 A crackdown on tax evasion and higher taxes for the top 5% of earners - tax the rich

None of those are unreasonable, and they are not just slogans, but have measurable objectives against them. If they were a political party they would get my vote.

£15 an hour sounds lovely but can business afford it especially the small employer that’s just over £31k a year

rosie1959

£15 an hour sounds lovely but can business afford it especially the small employer that’s just over £31k a year

Well you know what Liz Truss says rosie59, make everybody work harder. Why don’t we just scrap maximum working hours directives and expect those on minimum wage to work 60 hour weeks to survive. That’s fair, isn’t it?

If someone can't afford to pay employees a living wage, they shouldn't be in business, IMO. So many people claim that they can't afford to pay enough for their staff to live with dignity, get sick pay or maternity leave, yet they go on holiday, send their children to fee-paying schools etc. I'm not against profit, or against people getting rich, but it shouldn't be at the expense of others.

Doodledog

I can only see events in London, so I son't be going, but the aims of the organisation are sound:
1. £15 an hour minimum wage to give people a real pay rise
2 Restore the price cap to slash energy bills
3 Free school meals and community kitchens to end food poverty
4 More council houses, a rent cap and a renters' rights charter to provide decent homes for all
5 A crackdown on tax evasion and higher taxes for the top 5% of earners - tax the rich

None of those are unreasonable, and they are not just slogans, but have measurable objectives against them. If they were a political party they would get my vote.

If only!!.. I am a carer on minimum wage and there is no way I would strike and I think the powers that be know that…

No doubt they do, which is why someone needs to act on your behalf.

I'm sad to say that the Labour Party doesn't seem to be doing that, so this lot have stepped in to plug the gap. I hadn't heard of them before this thread, and there might be sinister forces behind them somewhere, but there is no evidence of that yet, and their demands seem perfectly reasonable to me.

I was just pointing out that some small businesses could not afford a jump like that in the minimum wage and would probably cease trading
Liz Truss made those comments quite a while ago and if I am correct it was a conversation about migrant workers taking all the jobs.

I would be happy to support new businesses with grants towards paying a decent wage for the first few years, so long as the owners were not paid more than the staff, and all profits go back into the business (as opposed to salary). If they are not able to do so after that, I would withdraw the grant, as I really dislike the way some companies rely on the taxpayer to ensure that staff earn enough to live on via top-ups whilst the owners make large profits.

I don't know how migrant workers are involved, other than that some of them have no choice but to work for low pay, and I wouldn't use anything Liz Truss says as a yardstick for very much .

rosie1959

I was just pointing out that some small businesses could not afford a jump like that in the minimum wage and would probably cease trading
Liz Truss made those comments quite a while ago and if I am correct it was a conversation about migrant workers taking all the jobs.

Only yesterday Liz Truss refused to retract her statement that British people needed to work harder.
www.itv.com/news/2022-08-17/labour-slams-liz-trusss-claim-uk-workers-needed-more-graft
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses will fail in the next few months I’m sure, but that’s not a reason to not pay employees a living wage is it? We are in for a very bleak time.

The consumer will pay for a £15ph minimum wage.

It sounds like something my father would have called "The Dippy Hippies", looking to find something to protest about and when asked they don't know why they are.
I'll wait and see what happens when the new P.M.
is appointed and what they implement.
The only protest I have ever been on was when the NUT called out all teachers in the Queens Silver Jubilee year can't even remember what it was for . Our head said if we did not go to school we had to go on the March. I was so embarrassed when I saw T.V. cameras I took a shortcut home through a department store.

But it isn't only "business for profit" who need to find the minimum wage. Elderly people and the disabled who have some savings are paying for carers would need to find that money on top of the already increasing food and energy bills. As they are employers they also need to find statutory holiday pay, tax and NI.
If you put up the wages, you put up the prices for everybody and nobody wins. The differential between the lower paid and the higher paid in companies with pay scales will have to kept and so that will increase the wage bill. Any extra money put into the economy by these means will only be for a very short time until prices catch up.
I think the energy crisis is the important thing we should be campaigning about.

Germanshepherdsmum

The consumer will pay for a £15ph minimum wage.

Of course, but nonetheless that’s no reason to exploit workers. People make choices about what they consume, so if they can’t afford goods they won’t buy them. There’s no excuse for paying people insufficient for them to survive on.

There are always excuses to pay people less.

People can't choose everything they consume, Casdon. They have to eat. They may need to use public transport or put fuel in a car. And those on the minimum wage will also find themselves paying for the increase.
icanhandthemback makes good points.