'LEFT' with Egg on its Face!

LAST night, at a demo outside Boots on Market Street, Manchester a speaker from Manchester TUC claimed that he thought that  George Osbourne might have cut his intended attacks on the British working class in his budget, because of the mass demo last month by the Peoples Assembly in London.  Last night's Manchester demo was planned as part of a nationwide protest against the Tory government's budget.


In a statement put out earlier the People's Assembly declared:

'Across Europe people are rejecting austerity, and the best thing that we can do here in Britain is make sure the Tory government faces the largest opposition possible.  George Osbourne is planning a further £12bn in cuts to our services.  Join us this Wednesday to protest against the emergency budget and say OXI TO OSBOURNE!'

Meanwhile, cunning George Osbourne installed what he called 'a living wage' of at least £7.20 an hour for over 25s from next April.   Mr. Osbourne said:

'We want to go from a low-wage, high-tax, high-welfare economy, to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.'

This morning, the Morning Star called this a 'LIVING WAGE RUSE EXPOSED', and argued in a leading article that 'Osbourne's promises woefully short of minimum to live'.

Yet, is it not a bit of a poor do for trade unionism when the government of the day, a Tory government indeed, has to call on the bosses to pay more?

Does this not suggest that the British trade unions are failing in their job to increase wages?

The whole notion of a state imposed 'minimum wage' or 'living wage' is clearly a symptom of the failure of the unions in this country to drive up wages themselves.

This was not the case when in the 1960s and 1970s there was a solid shop steward movement in the country, and when the rank and file membership had more control of the situation.  Then there was no need for a state imposed minimum wage, and such a thing was only to be found in countries which at that time had smaller trade union movements like France.  Today, the British trade union movement is a feeble shadow of its former self.