Ballance of power, workers vs employers

[Eric Arthur]

I like his ideas about salary scaling maximums as the ultra top earners are taking the Michael recently while jo public don't get raises or get less than inflation. Not sure I'd want jeremy corbin for pm however!

 

As HSBC are demonstrating at the moment, business is international. They can simply move their registered office and HQ to a friendlier country and carry on with business as usual. In the meantime the United Korbyn economy will be destroyed as business takes their profit and taxes somewhere else.

 

I feel most sorry for the regular people who work in non essential industry because they will be out of work under El Jerementé. All's not lost though because the Rolls Royce factory worker could turn their hand to tractor production, and Burberry could do a natty line in Workers Plaid. The luxury yacht makers could turn their hand to submarines when they don't have to worry about all that radioactive stuff. Print workers will be safest though because we'll need lots of high denomination notes printing to use in the rebranded Ninety Nine Pound shops.

[Penistone999]

I would have thought the minimum wage going up to £9 an hour was their worst worry.

 

Companies will just get shut of staff if this happens. It will be the workers who suffer from a stupid rise of the minimum wage , not employers.

[999tigger]

Companies will just get shut of staff if this happens. It will be the workers who suffer from a stupid rise of the minimum wage , not employers.

 

Not actually true because employers who depend on paying people less than that are unlikely to be able to compete. They will go out of business. Both sides will suffer.

[ChrisT70]

Everyone said the minimum wage would close hundreds of companies and cost thousands of jobs. It was proved to not be the case. A decent minimum living wage isn't unaffordable in a modern society.

[Vague_Boy]

I believe that we have much fewer strikes, compared to years ago.

Might that have something to do with the legislation brought in by Mrs. Thatcher to curb excessive union power. Altering, if you will, the balance of power away from the workers.

 

Look at the old news film of union mass meetings where votes to strike were carried out in public by a show of hands. Look at the people scanning round for the "no" voters. The conservatives brought in the secret ballot to avoid such intimidatory tactics [LINK]. How very dare they!

 

If you want to know who is to blame for the decline of union power, blame those who took part in the strikes during the Winter of Discontent.

[Chez2]

Everyone said the minimum wage would close hundreds of companies and cost thousands of jobs. It was proved to not be the case. A decent minimum living wage isn't unaffordable in a modern society.

 

I disagree. In my line of work it would not be possible to take on a younger person and pay this wage plus pay for day release study and give them one day off per week. It would be better to pay a nature, qualified and experienced person (over thirty) more money because they would be capable of earning the money to cover their wages. Younger people will suffer. I take it you have never run your own business with the comments you are making.

[Anna B]

As HSBC are demonstrating at the moment, business is international. They can simply move their registered office and HQ to a friendlier country and carry on with business as usual. In the meantime the United Korbyn economy will be destroyed as business takes their profit and taxes somewhere else.

 

I feel most sorry for the regular people who work in non essential industry because they will be out of work under El Jerementé. All's not lost though because the Rolls Royce factory worker could turn their hand to tractor production, and Burberry could do a natty line in Workers Plaid. The luxury yacht makers could turn their hand to submarines when they don't have to worry about all that radioactive stuff. Print workers will be safest though because we'll need lots of high denomination notes printing to use in the rebranded Ninety Nine Pound shops.

 

Well in that case, if they have us over a barrell, we might as well all give up and go home... Basically you're saying they own us and can do exactly what they want, and we just have to put up with anything, in case they decide to take their business elsewhere. And that includes paying their proper taxes.

 

That's not a world I want to live in thanks, but when people like Occupy were trying to raise awareness, organise, and get something done about it, they got no support from people on here.

 

We are now serfs, soon we will be slaves.

[Chez2]

Anna b, people are much better off than they used to be back in the 60s, 70s and 80s. People expect so much more now. That goes for house prices and cost of living in comparison to wages of the day.

 

If you think it's so easy why don't you set up your own business? I know some employers aren't as good as others and take advantage but people have to earn their money, they need to be cost effective. I am speaking from experience.

[tinfoilhat]

Well in that case, if they have us over a barrell, we might as well all give up and go home... Basically you're saying they own us and can do exactly what they want, and we just have to put up with anything, in case they decide to take their business elsewhere. And that includes paying their proper taxes.

 

That's not a world I want to live in thanks, but when people like Occupy were trying to raise awareness, organise, and get something done about it, they got no support from people on here.

 

We are now serfs, soon we will be slaves.

 

We've always been over a barrel and always will be. If you think we weren't pre-occupy or weren't pre-2008 you're mad. We've been over a barrel pre-thatcher and hundreds of years before that. And that's a global thing. The difference between countries is how to take it on.

[Anna B]

Anna b, people are much better off than they used to be back in the 60s, 70s and 80s. People expect so much more now. That goes for house prices and cost of living in comparison to wages of the day.

 

If you think it's so easy why don't you set up your own business? I know some employers aren't as good as others and take advantage but people have to earn their money, they need to be cost effective. I am speaking from experience.

 

Not sure I would agree with this.

 

Not all people are better off than in the past. Some are worse off financially. The disparity between those at the top and those at the bottom has never been greater. Some, who work very hard, have little in the way of disposable income at the end of the day. And it's not just about personal income.

 

Add to that a lack of job security, working longer until retirement (not everyone lives longer either, particularly in the North East,) cuts in social services which we will all need someday, lower work's pensions, average house prices now being nearly 10 x the average wage, (it used to be 4X) rent also being a higher proportion of take home salary, more expensive transport costs, more things no longer available on the NHS, The law being no longer within the pocket of ordinary people (except for some criminal cases,) paying £9,000 a year for University fees which used to be free, closed Libraries, 0% interest on savings, and more and more stuff being priced out of reach of the average working man.

 

No, we're not all better off by any means.

 

Also, I have never said it's easy to start your own business, in fact I think the opposite is true. It's never been harder to start a successful business than it is now.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Anna B