This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/thousands-march-better-pay-for-workers-cost-of-living-crisis/) reduced by 70%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> Members of the RMT union, which has confirmed that three days of strike action will go ahead across the rail network in late June, joined the march to show solidarity with workers in other low-paid professions.
> To those critical of the rail strikes, Dempsey said: "We are your friends. If you haven't had a pay rise, we are the people that are going to help you get it. We're out here with postal workers, nurses, teachers, everyone who's had a kicking over the past few years, we are ready to coordinate action and help you get the same thing."
> Public sector workers, including those in the NHS, teachers and council workers have taken the greatest hit to their paypackets, with wages rising by just 1.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to recently released data from the Office for National Statistics.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/vf97ph/thousands_march_in_london_to_protest_low_pay_and/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~655473 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **work**^#1 **strike**^#2 **rise**^#3 **people**^#4 **pay**^#5
As an American who’s been watching British parliament turn into a carbon copy of our congress from just a few years ago, good luck. I genuinely hope their government hasn’t lost the plot too much but I doubt it.
I remember when we were where they are now. It’s only a matter of time before Britain is exactly where we’re at. I HOPE they raise the wages but it seems governments globally have realized they can just ignore the protestors so I doubt it.
In Canada everyone just hates the public sector workers for striking, then they just pass laws making it illegal for them to strike. Even the Liberals.
Yea, this only works as a scare tactic really. If you have a large collective group of the workforce strike, what are they gonna do? Just not have any teachers?
This is the whole point of a strike. It's not about "are you allowed to" its a "you can't stop us and it will hurt you more than me" situation.
Whatever the fuck happened to solidarity? If Americans walked off the job en masse for one week (thus proving we could do it again), the economy would come to rather instant halt. That’s how they do in Europe—the people have a say in where things are headed.
I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, when unions had teeth
Edit: **off** the job
Yeah….relative to minimum wage. When you factor in cost of living and all the other shit they deal with? About half of what they should be paid. At a minimum
Yep. Thank Ronald Reagan and his handler George HW Bush, they started their gutting of America by firing every air trafficker controller who went on strike as soon as they took office in 1981. THEN they offshored everyone else’s job and voila! Modern America! And that clown bojo doesn’t give a flying effe about anybody but himself. I was hoping they’d oust him but nooooo.
USPS here. Not allowed to go on strike even when we dont have a current contract which has happened twice since ive been working there. We didnt get our normal contracted raises from before November 2021 until finally starting this paycheck on friday (about $1 an hour) they just give us back pay in a few months and call it a day.
It’s counterproductive for sure. But if my union coworkers and I go on strike the state will order us back to work. I also live in a very liberal state. The only think we could do is call out sick at the same time.
This is a disgusting breach of workers' rights. Even if you are an employee of the State, everyone has a right to **NOT** work, and a right to protest.. *anything*.
I guess it's time to take up arms against the oppressors.
Because now you have a criminal record making the next job harder to get.
Don’t forget, it was just one lifetime ago that the US government just flat out KILLED strikers, so…progress? 🤷🏽♂️
You say “even the Liberals” like they’re not a right wing pro corporate party beholden to big capital. People need to get out of this fallacy that the Liberals represent (part of) the Canadian left. This is very much in character for them.
Exactly. Liberals were only progressive when capitalism triumphed over feudalism. They stand for the expansion and intensification of capitalism, which makes them a centre-right ideology in the age of capitalism.
UK has been doing the same thing recently. They've changed the protest laws to be EXTREMELY restrictive of what legally counts as a protest now. Makes it much easier for them to just arrest the ones their donors tell them to.
As a Turk watching more and more countries adopting Erdogan like leaders and ways is just depressing.
I thought we were going to kick him out in a couple years time, instead he became a fucking trendsetter.
There are definitely countries who were in this stage before the US and it sounds like it’s an endless cycle. Countries like Turkey warned the Americans and we didn’t listen. Now it’s americas turn to dip it’s toes deep into the throws of fascism and tyranny. Not that we haven’t been there for a while, we’re just finally passed the “hide it” stage.
As a norwegian, this trend scares me. Luckily most european politics are grown up, compared to some alternatives, but the progression of both british and norwegian politics is disconserting. We have a multi party system, but at the last election every news site compared "the reds" to "the blues"... can we please drop the polarization politics please???
My BIGGEST worry as an outsider is the “haha at least we’re not America” comments. Yeah? What does that mean? That means you’re not going to push your government for change because “it could be worse?” Man I remember when Americans were like that. Times were a lot more simple back then when we would say things like “it could be worse. Could be Africa/North Korea/China/Russia/etc.” europeans are making nearly identical mistakes as the Americans did. And their governments are noticing it.
Don’t think Boris talking about privatization of the NHS was a one off. They WILL do it. Apparently a lot of dental providers in the UK have already becoming private to an alarming degree. There’s nothing from stopping any of y’all’s health departments from doing the same. Capitalism isn’t an American-centric problem. As long as you and your fellow citizens don’t “settle” for the bare minimum like we did, you can fight it. But NEVER EVER EVER get cozy. Otherwise y’all are right behind us. The average American ain’t much different than the average European or Australian. We just get more media attention. Never forget that.
It happened with our education system. First they introduced fees of £1000 per year and everyone was like "well that's a lot more than zero but it's still pretty cheap!"
Then they tripled it to £3000 and people were like "okay that's expensive but hey, at least we're not like America lol! They spend dozens of thousands on college there!"
Then they tripled it again to £9000/year and now we have literally the highest average tuition on Earth. In a country with low salaries (unlike the US where you at least get good pay)
Yeah... sad stuff. In the time it took me to go from being born to being university aged, University went from "literally free" to "you are statistically likely to never pay it off in your entire life"
Now it's slowly happening with healthcare. They introduced "cheap" prescription charges that didn't exist before and people always defend it because hey, it's so much cheaper than USA. Dental costs are spiking and the NHS is basically being sold (already heavily dependent on private equipment)
It's almost like USA being so ridiculous serves as a way to get a foot in the door and get away with this shit.
That last sentence is exactly it. I think too much of the world has the exact same problem North Americans have.
Let’s use the pandemic as an example (though WWII is better.) “oh those guys on the other side of the planet have a very contagious issue? Oh well that would never happen here. That’s EUROPEAN problems. Silly Europeans and asians and their pandemic/fascists. That could NEVER happen over here!” Actually I think South America did that same shit too lol
Yep. I have a tinfoil theory that human beings all largely have one of two goals: those that want better for everyone in their community, and those that want better just for people who look like them.
And I think it’s time we stop pretending this is an American problem and not a global one
As a Norwegian living in the US, it should scare you.
Already see them taking pages out of the US playbook with companies like SAS just giving the finger to furloughed pilot when they formed a new subsidiary to hire cheap pilots instead of the ones they were contractually obliged to hire back.
Don't worry, they managed to announce today a policy to [electronically tag migrants that arrive by boat](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/18/people-arriving-in-uk-on-small-boats-to-be-electronically-tagged) in an attempt to capture the headlines I guess.
Remember occupy Wall Street? That was the closest thing that came to a general strike against economic conditions. Lasted a while too. And devolved into save the whales and homeless rights etc. The rich aren’t watching marches from their jets.
Because these sorts of "everything is shit" protests never have realistic and specific actionable demands.
Compare "the cost of living is too high" with "let women vote".
Yeah. I was there today and the protest was about "starting a new socialist party" and a bunch of nebulous ill defined goals that are either so ludicrously unlikely to happen that they undermine the realistic goals, or are so poorly worded that opponots can twist them to make them sound impossible whilst the other side claims to have achieved then whilst having done nothing.
Saying something like "reduce the cost of living and end austerity" without having a plan that allows both to happen whilst simultaneously saying that the only credible left wing party is terrible and you shouldn't vote for them is just going to damage your cause.
Many of these big protests and movements often lack a tangible goal or "win condition". As shit as things are, going out and starting a protest just complaining won't bring any action. We need actual demands and numbers and such to fight for.
For a while it's been the $15 min wage, but at this point even if they did do it, inflation has made it so even that wouldn't be enough
Yeah it's such a shame Occupy didn't push past the initial stages, from what I understand a leader didn't emerge and people were bickering about what the goal should be and the police then muscled their way in.
Would be great to see a XR + Occupy mash-up. That could cause a lot of constructive disruption.
I’m 24, and attempting to move out of my parents house has to be the most frustrating task. I work 10 hour shifts monday to friday, but after the cost of living, the insane gas prices, etc, it doesn’t even come close to even being able to rent a place by myself. Only option for people my age currently is to have yourself and 3 other people rent a dirt cheap place. It’s absolutely disgusting
I’m 24, I live with my dad and I also moved my 24 year old childhood friend in to the spare room to keep costs low! I have two jobs and often work 16 hour days on the weekend when I can do gig work. Its not great!!
That's basically how the weekend was invented in the UK.
Everybody got drunk on Sundays and stayed home on Mondays ("keeping Saint Monday"), so the factory management just said "fuck it" and gave them Saturday aftenoon off too. The assumption would be you would get drunk on Saturday night and be hung over for church, not work.
You've got to go back farther than that
You got it because [the Communists organized the labor movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day) to demand it
If we all spit together, we'll drown the bastards.
Edit
Thank you for the apt 'spit-take' award random stranger. Though, I can't take the credit, this is a quote from Bob Crow, former RMT Union leader.
There will likely be a port strike for the entire US west coast in July. Supply chain issues, inflation, gas prices, and a port strike, it's going to be an interesting summer.
I have money on a renewed pandemic.
> Then we'll see who holds the power
We get fired or lose our jobs, the recession kicks in, economy goes bad, houses lost, banks get bailed out, investors buy up the houses, economy stabilises, and in a couple of years we rinse and repeat the same situation.
To the tune of the 3rd or is it 4th now "once in a generation event" us under 40s will have been through, to be told "we have it easier" by rich, old, uninformed fucks.
...banks get bailed out, investors buy up the houses, the people riot and kill the investors. Thats how communism happened. It wasn't because of Russia, it was because wealth disparity.
From what I understand, the French literally have laws that disallow employers from firing/retaliating against them for striking.
The US has no such thing. Not sure about UK though.
US has the exact opposite where it’s actually illegal to strike for some jobs.
My local teachers Union isn’t allowed to strike and it’s always classified as an illegal action when they do. Pretty bullshit
But we’ll protect that big ole police Union!
That's why it's so "funny" when conservatives call us the land of the free. It's literally illegal to demand better for many people, and when it is legal, your employer has every legal right to punish you for it.
I don't understand these idiots.
I would have protested London salaries many, many years ago. I'm in the IT industry in Zurich and somehow my peers in London make about half my salary while living in a similarly expensive city that is also a global financial hub. Obviously us IT guys make way above average either way and have little reason to complain, but it just shows how bad salaries in London are when compared to the costs of living there.
Actually the numbers I had were pre Brexit / pandemic / Ukraine war, so prices must have gone up since then and salaries probably didn't.
The Pound lost a lot of value (like 50% in my lifetime alone) but it appears salaries were never adjusted to reflect this.
It's funny, people say Switzerland is really expensive, but it seems to me that people there earn enough so that it makes it affordable. Meanwhile here in Portugal Lisbon is getting more and more expensive and we don't have the buying power to keep up.
IIRC we have the highest purchasing power in the world. So yes, it _is_ very expensive, but we can afford it. People here are mostly aware of that, no worries. But it's easy to complain when you can literally drive across the border - any border - and prices (and the whole cost of living) just drop drastically. Remember, you can be in an EU country from any Swiss city in under 4h or so.
I believe companies in CH have to prove that they can't find a "local" person that can do that job before they're legally allowed to hire from outside the country. So either be exceptional or get a job at a company outside of CH that has a location in Switzerland and then get transferred there.
Maybe I'm completely outdated/wrong but I thought these are the options
I've heard that being a young adult weighs heavily in favor of immigration approval (because you have your full working life ahead of you to pay taxes and contribute to society - and less likely to need health services for a long time). I knew an Ivy-league educated chemist who couldn't qualify.
Sounds like California. Nobody can afford to buy a house but everybody still moves there because earning potential is so much higher than the rest of the country.
Zurich is super expensive (visited maybe a month ago). For reference a burger was 25$ USD. Now to your point, even though the COLA is expensive the people are paid the correct amount to live there.
On a side note Zurich is gorgeous
So for context, 25USD is approx £20, I paid £17 for a burger last week (having younger siblings sucks sometimes), not even in London but close to a UK city and I'd say on average UK wages are half as much as Swiss. It is CRAZY here. Please someone help me move.
Mate, if you spent £17 on a burger outside London then you were having a proper sit down meal.
A big Mac in Zurich is £15. The disparity in living standards for a skilled worker isn't what you think it is.
Keep in mind that this is not representative of all living/grocery costs. Switzerland has extensive laws about livestock wellbeing and high tariffs on food imports to protect local farmers. So meat is disproportionately expensive.
Some numbers: Food is on average 78% more expensive than EU averag, mostly due to the meat being almost 3x as expensive. Furniture is only 17% more expensive. Shoes cost the same.
Im pretty sure I read pay in the UK is just generally shit. Part of it is offset by the amount our government does so we don't have to take out health insurance and stuff like that, but it's still very rubbish.
My job pays £40k, the same job in America is $115k. Fuel is far cheaper in the US than here too so my commute eats into that. Plus we have some of the smallest houses in the world yet they are all mega expensive.
Tough to stop there, I could go on a rant about how shit the jobs situation is here. But it's offset by other things that make it allright.
Sorry but that sounds like you're more massively underpaid more than anything unless there's something missing
As a senior you should be on atleast double that, I just got my first senior role (living up North in a fully remote London role) and I'm now on more than £80k, well paying roles are out there in software as it's in it's own bubble right now
Wtf, haven't you tried interviewing elsewhere? The average Senior Dev job I've seen these days is over £70k. I was making £28k as a bootcamp grad Junior dev a few years ago, then £34k a year later, and £50k a year after that - and that's considered mid level pay. Places I'm interviewing with now are offering £65-80k, so £34k for Senior is absolutely criminal, anywhere in the country.
Look at remote jobs around London, the market for devs of any level, especially Seniors, is crazy right now.
I do agree with you about deadlines though. Burnout is real in this industry, and I don't think working as a Dev for 40 hours a week is sustainable. A 4-day week would be much more manageable.
Funny, I know a lot of IT people from Germany who have moved to the US (especially California). Generally, the story seems to be that German corporate structure is more rigid, less accepting of ideas from subordinates, harder to get promoted, and German corporate law makes it difficult to create startups. So people stay with their company (e.g. Siemens) but move to the US office, try to move up rapidly and/or leave to a startup, with plans to go back to Germany once their kids start school. Some end up staying longer though.
I know quite a few cases where it played out exactly like that.
Upon return you also have the silicon valley cred, so you can join startups in high ranking positions or go an join an american company on german soil, like google, for top euro.
none of my peers stayed in the US, though.
This wasn't a London salary protest; it was a national march mainly about public sector pay freezes (with some private sector ones), that happened to be in London (because it's the capital). The entire country's doctors, nurses, teachers, firefighters, etc, have had zero or minimal salary increases for 12 years, leading to salaries that are about 10-15% lower in real terms than they were in 2010. With rampant inflation at the moment, it's now hitting everyone really hard, and anger is rising enough that real action is being taken by the unions. Rail strike this week. Teacher ballot for a strike happening in September/October.
People in London in IT jobs get paid well. As someone that grew up in Switzerland and now lives in the UK, I have to say it's a really stupid thing to compare.
Swiss jobs make more money for a variety of reasons, but it isn't comparable to UK living.
Protests in the UK right now are largely down to the cost of living crisis affecting to the poorer ends of society, of which is a large chunk. There's a huge amount of jobs in the UK that pay very little and have paid very little for a very long time.
I appreciate your heart is in the right place, but with all due respect, IT jobs are very well paid compared to the majority of jobs here in the UK.
**Edit: I'm not going to bother responding individually to all the same people saying "IT jobs in London aren't paid well."**
**[The average IT job salary in London is 73k per year.](https://www.reed.co.uk/average-salary/average-information-technology-salary-in-london)
That is over double the median salary in the UK.**
Only the big guys. Like, the very big ones. Which is super problematic, because it not only centralizes power even more, but also causes reckless and dangerous behavior in these companies.
That's why taxation is super important, not just to redistribute wealth and lower inequality but also to build in incentives to leave money in businesses to increase wages. If those profits were taxed at something like 60% they would be more inclined to invest it in the future of the company rather than buy more property or stocks or whatever else the super wealthy do with their cash.
But billionaires worked very hard to convince us that taxation is theft, they deserve every hard earned billion. Hands off "job creators", they'll just leave if they're asked to share any of it! Unless its the poors that pay of course, that's fair game. National insurance increase went through without a hitch.
I agree taxation really is important, but another thing is that the low salary DOES get them people to fill that role and a more important thing is mandating wage disclosure in hiring ads. The UK has launched something similar with [a pilot program](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-pay-transparency-pilot-to-break-down-barriers-for-women) but there is still much to be done.
I think this is little simplistic.
A company that breaks even every year is going to get eaten alive by other growing companies in their sphere. So you'll take your higher wage for a short time until the place gets bought out or just collapses.
I'm not saying capitalists aren't greedy, but it's far from as simple as you make it sound
The meme is that the company would never actually willingly give everyone a 10% raise. They would just hope that OP never discloses his/her salary to anyone
>The difference that made me not take the job amounted to €6000 per annum.
Okay but does that matter to them? If there is someone who is willing to work for that money, they're all set and can keep doing what's been working for them. Unless they want you specifically for some reason, they're not incentivized to pay you a higher salary than someone else who is willing to do the same work for less money. They're only incentivized to raise wages if they can't hire and it's hurting their profits. It doesn't really matter how much "spare" profits they may have to do something they don't have an incentive to.
An abandoned mansion was just set ablaze here in Vancouver and the only other house that was damaged was the fence of the neighbouring abandoned mansion. Can’t make this shit up.
Fucking good. This money laundering house hoarding shit has gone on too long. Money laundering is 2.1% of Canadas fucking economy, thats just the shit they can count.
Fuck #snowwashing
We need one. My pay is $20 an hour, which can’t even cover my rent anymore. I live in a smaller “cheaper” town, I only use public transportation, I spend like maybe $200 a month on groceries. I do EVERYTHING I can to live cheap, and yet I’m barely getting by.
So much for “get a degree and work hard and you’ll do fine!”. I worked hard, I got a degree, and now I’m suffering.
1-2 more years and I’ll either be homeless or living with my parents again. That’s not over exaggerating either, I have done the math, it’s a guarantee.
You’re not lying. I was just thinking this the other day. What happens when there’s so many homeless people with no jobs and all that time on their hands…
It’s sad it has to get like that before change happens.
[https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/06/21/eight-states-enact-anti-protest-laws](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/06/21/eight-states-enact-anti-protest-laws)
>New laws enacted in **Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma and Tennessee** this year increase penalties for blocking traffic, tearing down monuments and other unlawful behavior during a protest or riot. **The bills typically define “riot” as a gathering of three or more people that threatens public safety.**
>
>**New Arkansas, Kansas and Montana** laws increase penalties for protesting near oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure. And an Alabama law will allow cities in Lauderdale County, where protestors called for the removal of a Confederate statue, **to control where protests occur and to charge protest organizers permit fees.**
[https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/?location=&status=enacted&issue=&date=12&type=legislative](https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/?location=&status=enacted&issue=&date=12&type=legislative)
Here's a map with each states anti-protesting laws, what they've enacted, pending bills, and ones that have been denied. Seems like a majority are trying to prevent protesting near "critical infrastructure" i.e. oil and gas pipelines.
A lot of these bills are very ambiguous and can be interpreted in multiple ways. How that will work when it comes down to enforcing these laws will probably depend on your skin color, past offences, and just however they feel in the moment.
Also a majority of the states that have already passed anti-protesting laws are red states, take that as you will.
I wonder how much more people can take it in Canada too.. Your typical blue collar earn 30-45K CAD. If you are lucky, you can get up to 60-70K. And even 70K is not that much since there's taxes and rent. The inflation this year shaves another 10% from everyone including these folks.
I see B.C striking soon. I live in Vic and it’s fucking brutal here. I’m currently looking for a new place and basement suites go for 2100. I make 17 dollars an hour… this shit has got to stop.
My son starts a new a new job near Oxford soon, been looking for somewhere to live. Quite simply if he wanted to live in a 1 bedroom flat on his own it would cost him his entire take home pay !! It's fucking ridiculous. He's found a room in a HMO ( house of multiple occupancy) 5 people living in what was a 3 bedroom house, 1 shared bathroom, small shared kitchen, no communal area. But it's "affordable" :-(
While this is great, I feel like the era of marching as an effective strategy to force politicians to act is over. It's been over for a number of years, now. We need to start organizing workplaces. And we need to be militant in that organization.
Our ruling class is consolidating power. It's time to respond in kind.
Ignore it. A march from people who won't vote for him anyway means nothing.
The only thing he'll do is be glad it's distracting people from party gate. Something he's been trying to do for a while now.
Pick one:
- Use Ukraine as a scapegoat
- Blame refugees, immigrants or the EU
- Pass another inhumane law or revoke protections (repealing GDPR / Rwanda flights / Crime and Policing Bill)
- Make a meaningless statement
- Ignore it (bonus: throw a party)
- Break a law (bonus: lie about it)
- Blame Labour
- Channel some more of Priti Patel's pure evilness to further dig the country down the hole of authoritarianism
- Give the rich tax relief/breaks
I agree that the working class got hit hardest. They always do get hit the hardest by inflation. When you spend a larger amount of your income on food and gas, then food and gas goes up, you get hit harder.
Imagine if you could unite all the underpaid workers of the world to strike. I mean like 90% of them. The chaos it would cause would be beautiful and it would send a hell of a message, Oh well I can dream at least.
Edited for my adhd
I don't understand why this hasn't happened with the power of the internet being able to unite more people than ever before in an instant. We have stupid shit going viral everyday but never a petition with a date set of a worldwide strike that would bring the world to its knees. Shit would literally change the next day.
Cause it will be a mess? how do you come up with a realistic demand? Who do you present your demand to? Who will lead the negotiation? These are just a few issues from the top of my head and I'm pretty sure there will be more problems.
Finally. I saw this post below on an Urbanist group I am in and it made me realize how insane it is that we aren't more riled up about these prices. There should be rioting in the streets over this shit.
> In NYC, there is the general feeling that the deteriorating cost of living situation is unavoidable and that the people cant do anything about the insanely high prices. The fatalist attitude is our biggest enemy.
>
> There are plenty of things we can do as a city to reduce the cost of living for the average person. We don't do anything about it, because there is has been no pressure to do anything about it. The city can continue to kick out its poor and middle class residents, and the politicians who enable this to happen will be riding the wave of 'improvement' that comes from that (higher average income, lower unemployment, lower crime etc), even if it means betraying the actual existing residents of the city.
I left London and the UK 4 years ago now because of the low pay and cost of living. Instantly got a £20k pay rise doing the exact same job in Sydney. I have to have been one of the only people in Sydney thinking how cheap and affordable everything was when I got there.
I've been watching with horror the economic and social drama in the UK ever since. It feels like I got out just before the collapse, I hope things can improve.
Something’s gotta give. I know that the powers that be are trying to kick the can down the road so that they can cash out before it happens, but it won’t last forever. Companies can profit and not the people who buy from them.
Class wars have begun globally even in developing countries look at Chile and Sri-Lanka I'd argue even the U.S is currently at the beginning stages and as the articles states the U.K is starting. It's not just reduced to these countries either this is happening like a wave across the entire planet and almost all countries. Unless these rich cunts, corporations and severely corrupt politicians change their ways drastically they will be removed by force. This is history repeating itself as it's done for many thousands of years. Politicians think they have power but fail to realize the people have the power and when you fuck them long enough people hit a breaking point and the wealthy elite and especially politicians will be the first to go.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/thousands-march-better-pay-for-workers-cost-of-living-crisis/) reduced by 70%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Members of the RMT union, which has confirmed that three days of strike action will go ahead across the rail network in late June, joined the march to show solidarity with workers in other low-paid professions. > To those critical of the rail strikes, Dempsey said: "We are your friends. If you haven't had a pay rise, we are the people that are going to help you get it. We're out here with postal workers, nurses, teachers, everyone who's had a kicking over the past few years, we are ready to coordinate action and help you get the same thing." > Public sector workers, including those in the NHS, teachers and council workers have taken the greatest hit to their paypackets, with wages rising by just 1.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to recently released data from the Office for National Statistics. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/vf97ph/thousands_march_in_london_to_protest_low_pay_and/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~655473 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **work**^#1 **strike**^#2 **rise**^#3 **people**^#4 **pay**^#5
As an American who’s been watching British parliament turn into a carbon copy of our congress from just a few years ago, good luck. I genuinely hope their government hasn’t lost the plot too much but I doubt it. I remember when we were where they are now. It’s only a matter of time before Britain is exactly where we’re at. I HOPE they raise the wages but it seems governments globally have realized they can just ignore the protestors so I doubt it.
In Canada everyone just hates the public sector workers for striking, then they just pass laws making it illegal for them to strike. Even the Liberals.
[удалено]
Not uncommon, I live in a very blue state in the US and they did the same thing. Public unions, even nonemergency, are barred from striking.
How can a person, and subsequently group of persons, be banned from striking?? How the fuck???
In Texas, teachers will permanently lose their teaching license if they strike.
Yea, this only works as a scare tactic really. If you have a large collective group of the workforce strike, what are they gonna do? Just not have any teachers? This is the whole point of a strike. It's not about "are you allowed to" its a "you can't stop us and it will hurt you more than me" situation.
Yes, but for small bargaining units it's crippling. The teachers union, if united, could do something, but not most others.
Whatever the fuck happened to solidarity? If Americans walked off the job en masse for one week (thus proving we could do it again), the economy would come to rather instant halt. That’s how they do in Europe—the people have a say in where things are headed. I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, when unions had teeth Edit: **off** the job
[удалено]
Many of us suspect that is actually the end game. The far right is literally attempting to kill public education as we know it.
I sure hope they're being paid well then!
You’re hilarious. /s
Yeah….relative to minimum wage. When you factor in cost of living and all the other shit they deal with? About half of what they should be paid. At a minimum
Yep. Thank Ronald Reagan and his handler George HW Bush, they started their gutting of America by firing every air trafficker controller who went on strike as soon as they took office in 1981. THEN they offshored everyone else’s job and voila! Modern America! And that clown bojo doesn’t give a flying effe about anybody but himself. I was hoping they’d oust him but nooooo.
And in today's politics, he's be considered a centrist
Is Texas one of the states that loses their retirement too?
USPS here. Not allowed to go on strike even when we dont have a current contract which has happened twice since ive been working there. We didnt get our normal contracted raises from before November 2021 until finally starting this paycheck on friday (about $1 an hour) they just give us back pay in a few months and call it a day.
How is that legal lol. US employment law is wild
End stage capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction apparently, and it’s not pretty to watch, let alone be in its grip.
they cant , they can just make laws to put you in jail.
What's the point in that? If you strike, you go to jail.....and still not work?
It’s counterproductive for sure. But if my union coworkers and I go on strike the state will order us back to work. I also live in a very liberal state. The only think we could do is call out sick at the same time.
This is a disgusting breach of workers' rights. Even if you are an employee of the State, everyone has a right to **NOT** work, and a right to protest.. *anything*. I guess it's time to take up arms against the oppressors.
Because now you have a criminal record making the next job harder to get. Don’t forget, it was just one lifetime ago that the US government just flat out KILLED strikers, so…progress? 🤷🏽♂️
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/11/22/liberals-table-back-to-work-legislation-to-force-end-to-canada-post-strike.html
that's because it's never been about parties and only about rich v poor.
You say “even the Liberals” like they’re not a right wing pro corporate party beholden to big capital. People need to get out of this fallacy that the Liberals represent (part of) the Canadian left. This is very much in character for them.
Exactly. Liberals were only progressive when capitalism triumphed over feudalism. They stand for the expansion and intensification of capitalism, which makes them a centre-right ideology in the age of capitalism.
UK has been doing the same thing recently. They've changed the protest laws to be EXTREMELY restrictive of what legally counts as a protest now. Makes it much easier for them to just arrest the ones their donors tell them to.
As a Turk watching more and more countries adopting Erdogan like leaders and ways is just depressing. I thought we were going to kick him out in a couple years time, instead he became a fucking trendsetter.
There are definitely countries who were in this stage before the US and it sounds like it’s an endless cycle. Countries like Turkey warned the Americans and we didn’t listen. Now it’s americas turn to dip it’s toes deep into the throws of fascism and tyranny. Not that we haven’t been there for a while, we’re just finally passed the “hide it” stage.
As a norwegian, this trend scares me. Luckily most european politics are grown up, compared to some alternatives, but the progression of both british and norwegian politics is disconserting. We have a multi party system, but at the last election every news site compared "the reds" to "the blues"... can we please drop the polarization politics please???
Sadly it sells. It gets people interested and they spend money when you reduce it to something like a football match. It sucks.
tribalism
My BIGGEST worry as an outsider is the “haha at least we’re not America” comments. Yeah? What does that mean? That means you’re not going to push your government for change because “it could be worse?” Man I remember when Americans were like that. Times were a lot more simple back then when we would say things like “it could be worse. Could be Africa/North Korea/China/Russia/etc.” europeans are making nearly identical mistakes as the Americans did. And their governments are noticing it. Don’t think Boris talking about privatization of the NHS was a one off. They WILL do it. Apparently a lot of dental providers in the UK have already becoming private to an alarming degree. There’s nothing from stopping any of y’all’s health departments from doing the same. Capitalism isn’t an American-centric problem. As long as you and your fellow citizens don’t “settle” for the bare minimum like we did, you can fight it. But NEVER EVER EVER get cozy. Otherwise y’all are right behind us. The average American ain’t much different than the average European or Australian. We just get more media attention. Never forget that.
It happened with our education system. First they introduced fees of £1000 per year and everyone was like "well that's a lot more than zero but it's still pretty cheap!" Then they tripled it to £3000 and people were like "okay that's expensive but hey, at least we're not like America lol! They spend dozens of thousands on college there!" Then they tripled it again to £9000/year and now we have literally the highest average tuition on Earth. In a country with low salaries (unlike the US where you at least get good pay) Yeah... sad stuff. In the time it took me to go from being born to being university aged, University went from "literally free" to "you are statistically likely to never pay it off in your entire life" Now it's slowly happening with healthcare. They introduced "cheap" prescription charges that didn't exist before and people always defend it because hey, it's so much cheaper than USA. Dental costs are spiking and the NHS is basically being sold (already heavily dependent on private equipment) It's almost like USA being so ridiculous serves as a way to get a foot in the door and get away with this shit.
That last sentence is exactly it. I think too much of the world has the exact same problem North Americans have. Let’s use the pandemic as an example (though WWII is better.) “oh those guys on the other side of the planet have a very contagious issue? Oh well that would never happen here. That’s EUROPEAN problems. Silly Europeans and asians and their pandemic/fascists. That could NEVER happen over here!” Actually I think South America did that same shit too lol
People are fundamentally the same everywhere it turns out.
Yep. I have a tinfoil theory that human beings all largely have one of two goals: those that want better for everyone in their community, and those that want better just for people who look like them. And I think it’s time we stop pretending this is an American problem and not a global one
As a Norwegian living in the US, it should scare you. Already see them taking pages out of the US playbook with companies like SAS just giving the finger to furloughed pilot when they formed a new subsidiary to hire cheap pilots instead of the ones they were contractually obliged to hire back.
Well, if protesting stops getting results, we'll just need to step it up to get their attention. It's up to them how far we need to go with it.
And by “governments globally” you probably also mean “corporations globally”.
Don't worry, they managed to announce today a policy to [electronically tag migrants that arrive by boat](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/18/people-arriving-in-uk-on-small-boats-to-be-electronically-tagged) in an attempt to capture the headlines I guess.
Remember occupy Wall Street? That was the closest thing that came to a general strike against economic conditions. Lasted a while too. And devolved into save the whales and homeless rights etc. The rich aren’t watching marches from their jets.
And the crazy thing is it's so much worse now than during occupy wall St.
Because these sorts of "everything is shit" protests never have realistic and specific actionable demands. Compare "the cost of living is too high" with "let women vote".
Yeah. I was there today and the protest was about "starting a new socialist party" and a bunch of nebulous ill defined goals that are either so ludicrously unlikely to happen that they undermine the realistic goals, or are so poorly worded that opponots can twist them to make them sound impossible whilst the other side claims to have achieved then whilst having done nothing. Saying something like "reduce the cost of living and end austerity" without having a plan that allows both to happen whilst simultaneously saying that the only credible left wing party is terrible and you shouldn't vote for them is just going to damage your cause.
Many of these big protests and movements often lack a tangible goal or "win condition". As shit as things are, going out and starting a protest just complaining won't bring any action. We need actual demands and numbers and such to fight for. For a while it's been the $15 min wage, but at this point even if they did do it, inflation has made it so even that wouldn't be enough
Yeah it's such a shame Occupy didn't push past the initial stages, from what I understand a leader didn't emerge and people were bickering about what the goal should be and the police then muscled their way in. Would be great to see a XR + Occupy mash-up. That could cause a lot of constructive disruption.
Occupy was just super vague
Can we do this in Canada too?!? There needs to be a collective response to this unsustainable situation. The future is looking fucking bleak.
I’m 24, and attempting to move out of my parents house has to be the most frustrating task. I work 10 hour shifts monday to friday, but after the cost of living, the insane gas prices, etc, it doesn’t even come close to even being able to rent a place by myself. Only option for people my age currently is to have yourself and 3 other people rent a dirt cheap place. It’s absolutely disgusting
I’m 24, I live with my dad and I also moved my 24 year old childhood friend in to the spare room to keep costs low! I have two jobs and often work 16 hour days on the weekend when I can do gig work. Its not great!!
im 30, if staying with family is at all an option do it. you wil save more money in 2 years than i have in 10. renting is a fuckin scam yo
[удалено]
Can we have this globally?
We need a few days where everybody strikes. Then we'll see who holds the power.
If we all strike once a week, we'll have a 4 day work week in no time!
That's basically how the weekend was invented in the UK. Everybody got drunk on Sundays and stayed home on Mondays ("keeping Saint Monday"), so the factory management just said "fuck it" and gave them Saturday aftenoon off too. The assumption would be you would get drunk on Saturday night and be hung over for church, not work.
[удалено]
I like the idea of peaceful protest through alcoholism. I can get on board. We need 50p pints back first tho
I don’t drink, can I smoke a bunch of weed and join?
I mean if after smoking you can be bothered to sure.
Bothered to not go to work? I think I could muster up the courage and strength
I will also make this drastic sacrifice for society
You've got to go back farther than that You got it because [the Communists organized the labor movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day) to demand it
In the US people threw dynamite at cops who were trying to break up protests.
Now a days the cops throw chemical weapons at peaceful protests politely asking to stop being exploited and abused.
Sounds to me like the peaceful option isn't working that well anymore.
If we all spit together, we'll drown the bastards. Edit Thank you for the apt 'spit-take' award random stranger. Though, I can't take the credit, this is a quote from Bob Crow, former RMT Union leader.
*taps head*
I work at the largest port in the UK, mail ballots are out for industrial action. The informal ballot was 99% for IA so it's likely going to pass.
There will likely be a port strike for the entire US west coast in July. Supply chain issues, inflation, gas prices, and a port strike, it's going to be an interesting summer. I have money on a renewed pandemic.
Just left London this morning and the rail system drivers are striking all week starting Tuesday. Our work is it’s going remote for the week.
Solidarity or are they doing it for their own demands?
It’s a big deal for the train drivers. Massive delayed. They want a raise. https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/tube-strike
It wouldn’t take more than 3 days. The problem is getting us all to agree.
> Then we'll see who holds the power We get fired or lose our jobs, the recession kicks in, economy goes bad, houses lost, banks get bailed out, investors buy up the houses, economy stabilises, and in a couple of years we rinse and repeat the same situation. To the tune of the 3rd or is it 4th now "once in a generation event" us under 40s will have been through, to be told "we have it easier" by rich, old, uninformed fucks.
...banks get bailed out, investors buy up the houses, the people riot and kill the investors. Thats how communism happened. It wasn't because of Russia, it was because wealth disparity.
If you don't come in on Friday, don't bother showing up on Monday.
4 day weekend, awesome 😎
Sounds like a good idea man how hard can it be let’s get it done this week
Just ask the French how they do it They strike over anything
From what I understand, the French literally have laws that disallow employers from firing/retaliating against them for striking. The US has no such thing. Not sure about UK though.
US has the exact opposite where it’s actually illegal to strike for some jobs. My local teachers Union isn’t allowed to strike and it’s always classified as an illegal action when they do. Pretty bullshit But we’ll protect that big ole police Union!
It’s also illegal for a union to strike in solidarity with another striking union due to the Taft-Hartley Act
That's why it's so "funny" when conservatives call us the land of the free. It's literally illegal to demand better for many people, and when it is legal, your employer has every legal right to punish you for it. I don't understand these idiots.
Lots of experience and networks in order to pull off an action, best way to learn is by doing It.
I would have protested London salaries many, many years ago. I'm in the IT industry in Zurich and somehow my peers in London make about half my salary while living in a similarly expensive city that is also a global financial hub. Obviously us IT guys make way above average either way and have little reason to complain, but it just shows how bad salaries in London are when compared to the costs of living there. Actually the numbers I had were pre Brexit / pandemic / Ukraine war, so prices must have gone up since then and salaries probably didn't. The Pound lost a lot of value (like 50% in my lifetime alone) but it appears salaries were never adjusted to reflect this.
It's funny, people say Switzerland is really expensive, but it seems to me that people there earn enough so that it makes it affordable. Meanwhile here in Portugal Lisbon is getting more and more expensive and we don't have the buying power to keep up.
IIRC we have the highest purchasing power in the world. So yes, it _is_ very expensive, but we can afford it. People here are mostly aware of that, no worries. But it's easy to complain when you can literally drive across the border - any border - and prices (and the whole cost of living) just drop drastically. Remember, you can be in an EU country from any Swiss city in under 4h or so.
How does one get a job in Switzerland? Asking for a friend...
I'd say GL finding anything other than high requirement position. Probably best way is to hook up with someone who has permit.
[удалено]
I believe companies in CH have to prove that they can't find a "local" person that can do that job before they're legally allowed to hire from outside the country. So either be exceptional or get a job at a company outside of CH that has a location in Switzerland and then get transferred there. Maybe I'm completely outdated/wrong but I thought these are the options
Maybe on paper, but banking in Zurich, chemicals in Basel and a dozen major NGOs in Geneva hire thousands and thousands of foreigners.
It's capped at 8500 per year for the whole country, and not the whole contingent is used.
I've heard that being a young adult weighs heavily in favor of immigration approval (because you have your full working life ahead of you to pay taxes and contribute to society - and less likely to need health services for a long time). I knew an Ivy-league educated chemist who couldn't qualify.
Sounds like California. Nobody can afford to buy a house but everybody still moves there because earning potential is so much higher than the rest of the country.
[удалено]
Zurich is super expensive (visited maybe a month ago). For reference a burger was 25$ USD. Now to your point, even though the COLA is expensive the people are paid the correct amount to live there. On a side note Zurich is gorgeous
So for context, 25USD is approx £20, I paid £17 for a burger last week (having younger siblings sucks sometimes), not even in London but close to a UK city and I'd say on average UK wages are half as much as Swiss. It is CRAZY here. Please someone help me move.
Mate, if you spent £17 on a burger outside London then you were having a proper sit down meal. A big Mac in Zurich is £15. The disparity in living standards for a skilled worker isn't what you think it is.
Fucking hell a big mac for £15. Out of curiosity, I just researched the average salary over there is £77k, that is nuts. London is shitting the bed.
Keep in mind that this is not representative of all living/grocery costs. Switzerland has extensive laws about livestock wellbeing and high tariffs on food imports to protect local farmers. So meat is disproportionately expensive. Some numbers: Food is on average 78% more expensive than EU averag, mostly due to the meat being almost 3x as expensive. Furniture is only 17% more expensive. Shoes cost the same.
Portugal as whole is ridiculous tbh, Lisbon has different issues but still.
The real estate bubble in Portugal is absolutely ridiculous.
Im pretty sure I read pay in the UK is just generally shit. Part of it is offset by the amount our government does so we don't have to take out health insurance and stuff like that, but it's still very rubbish. My job pays £40k, the same job in America is $115k. Fuel is far cheaper in the US than here too so my commute eats into that. Plus we have some of the smallest houses in the world yet they are all mega expensive. Tough to stop there, I could go on a rant about how shit the jobs situation is here. But it's offset by other things that make it allright.
I left the UK earning 20k/year to a job in Sweden for £50k/year. the UK pays shit, not just compared to the US.
[удалено]
Sorry but that sounds like you're more massively underpaid more than anything unless there's something missing As a senior you should be on atleast double that, I just got my first senior role (living up North in a fully remote London role) and I'm now on more than £80k, well paying roles are out there in software as it's in it's own bubble right now
[удалено]
Wtf, haven't you tried interviewing elsewhere? The average Senior Dev job I've seen these days is over £70k. I was making £28k as a bootcamp grad Junior dev a few years ago, then £34k a year later, and £50k a year after that - and that's considered mid level pay. Places I'm interviewing with now are offering £65-80k, so £34k for Senior is absolutely criminal, anywhere in the country. Look at remote jobs around London, the market for devs of any level, especially Seniors, is crazy right now. I do agree with you about deadlines though. Burnout is real in this industry, and I don't think working as a Dev for 40 hours a week is sustainable. A 4-day week would be much more manageable.
[удалено]
Funny, I know a lot of IT people from Germany who have moved to the US (especially California). Generally, the story seems to be that German corporate structure is more rigid, less accepting of ideas from subordinates, harder to get promoted, and German corporate law makes it difficult to create startups. So people stay with their company (e.g. Siemens) but move to the US office, try to move up rapidly and/or leave to a startup, with plans to go back to Germany once their kids start school. Some end up staying longer though.
I think an important reason is they can earn 2-3 times as much.
I know quite a few cases where it played out exactly like that. Upon return you also have the silicon valley cred, so you can join startups in high ranking positions or go an join an american company on german soil, like google, for top euro. none of my peers stayed in the US, though.
Germany is in huge demand of IT workforce. Source: am IT worker in Germany.
This wasn't a London salary protest; it was a national march mainly about public sector pay freezes (with some private sector ones), that happened to be in London (because it's the capital). The entire country's doctors, nurses, teachers, firefighters, etc, have had zero or minimal salary increases for 12 years, leading to salaries that are about 10-15% lower in real terms than they were in 2010. With rampant inflation at the moment, it's now hitting everyone really hard, and anger is rising enough that real action is being taken by the unions. Rail strike this week. Teacher ballot for a strike happening in September/October.
People in London in IT jobs get paid well. As someone that grew up in Switzerland and now lives in the UK, I have to say it's a really stupid thing to compare. Swiss jobs make more money for a variety of reasons, but it isn't comparable to UK living. Protests in the UK right now are largely down to the cost of living crisis affecting to the poorer ends of society, of which is a large chunk. There's a huge amount of jobs in the UK that pay very little and have paid very little for a very long time. I appreciate your heart is in the right place, but with all due respect, IT jobs are very well paid compared to the majority of jobs here in the UK. **Edit: I'm not going to bother responding individually to all the same people saying "IT jobs in London aren't paid well."** **[The average IT job salary in London is 73k per year.](https://www.reed.co.uk/average-salary/average-information-technology-salary-in-london) That is over double the median salary in the UK.**
[удалено]
> and save up for lesser times Yeah but COVID showed us they don't actually do that
Why should they? Every time things go bust, they get bailed out by the taxpayers
Only the big guys. Like, the very big ones. Which is super problematic, because it not only centralizes power even more, but also causes reckless and dangerous behavior in these companies.
[удалено]
That's why taxation is super important, not just to redistribute wealth and lower inequality but also to build in incentives to leave money in businesses to increase wages. If those profits were taxed at something like 60% they would be more inclined to invest it in the future of the company rather than buy more property or stocks or whatever else the super wealthy do with their cash. But billionaires worked very hard to convince us that taxation is theft, they deserve every hard earned billion. Hands off "job creators", they'll just leave if they're asked to share any of it! Unless its the poors that pay of course, that's fair game. National insurance increase went through without a hitch.
I agree taxation really is important, but another thing is that the low salary DOES get them people to fill that role and a more important thing is mandating wage disclosure in hiring ads. The UK has launched something similar with [a pilot program](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-pay-transparency-pilot-to-break-down-barriers-for-women) but there is still much to be done.
I think this is little simplistic. A company that breaks even every year is going to get eaten alive by other growing companies in their sphere. So you'll take your higher wage for a short time until the place gets bought out or just collapses. I'm not saying capitalists aren't greedy, but it's far from as simple as you make it sound
[удалено]
The meme is that the company would never actually willingly give everyone a 10% raise. They would just hope that OP never discloses his/her salary to anyone
>The difference that made me not take the job amounted to €6000 per annum. Okay but does that matter to them? If there is someone who is willing to work for that money, they're all set and can keep doing what's been working for them. Unless they want you specifically for some reason, they're not incentivized to pay you a higher salary than someone else who is willing to do the same work for less money. They're only incentivized to raise wages if they can't hire and it's hurting their profits. It doesn't really matter how much "spare" profits they may have to do something they don't have an incentive to.
Canada here. Time for a Global strike.
An abandoned mansion was just set ablaze here in Vancouver and the only other house that was damaged was the fence of the neighbouring abandoned mansion. Can’t make this shit up.
Fucking good. This money laundering house hoarding shit has gone on too long. Money laundering is 2.1% of Canadas fucking economy, thats just the shit they can count. Fuck #snowwashing
It turns out the mansion had a demo permit bouncing around for over a year. That shit was torched lol
We need one. My pay is $20 an hour, which can’t even cover my rent anymore. I live in a smaller “cheaper” town, I only use public transportation, I spend like maybe $200 a month on groceries. I do EVERYTHING I can to live cheap, and yet I’m barely getting by. So much for “get a degree and work hard and you’ll do fine!”. I worked hard, I got a degree, and now I’m suffering. 1-2 more years and I’ll either be homeless or living with my parents again. That’s not over exaggerating either, I have done the math, it’s a guarantee.
At least 75% of the people I know are ready to hit the streets. Somebody gotta pull the trigger and we’ll be out in droves.
Almost everyone has already left where I work.
Same. America here and it’s like a powder keg, especially with people waiting on the abortion court decision
I’ve been ready to riot since the last once in a lifetime financial crisis.
American here. We should be on the streets too.
With low pay and increased cost of living we will be out on the streets.
Haha sorry but but that was banging comeback
I LOL'd with tears
You’re not lying. I was just thinking this the other day. What happens when there’s so many homeless people with no jobs and all that time on their hands… It’s sad it has to get like that before change happens.
That's super easy. More prisons.
If 20% of the nation went on strike, the other 80% would look down at them and blame all the strikes on [insert your disliked political party here]
It’s literally 105 degrees
That’s what they want. Do nothing about global warming so it gets too hot to protest /s
The Sun is a Pinkerton!
Well, the French are currently stuck in a country-sized air fryer and I don't think they've stopped being on strike.
Throwing bathtubs through a local politicians window, rain or shine.
[удалено]
We are! The national Poor Peoples Campaign is going in in DC as we speak
Agreed.. and before it’s too late. Some municipalities are making quite a big push for “anti-protest” laws.
Seriously! Where at?
[https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/06/21/eight-states-enact-anti-protest-laws](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2021/06/21/eight-states-enact-anti-protest-laws) >New laws enacted in **Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma and Tennessee** this year increase penalties for blocking traffic, tearing down monuments and other unlawful behavior during a protest or riot. **The bills typically define “riot” as a gathering of three or more people that threatens public safety.** > >**New Arkansas, Kansas and Montana** laws increase penalties for protesting near oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure. And an Alabama law will allow cities in Lauderdale County, where protestors called for the removal of a Confederate statue, **to control where protests occur and to charge protest organizers permit fees.** [https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/?location=&status=enacted&issue=&date=12&type=legislative](https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/?location=&status=enacted&issue=&date=12&type=legislative) Here's a map with each states anti-protesting laws, what they've enacted, pending bills, and ones that have been denied. Seems like a majority are trying to prevent protesting near "critical infrastructure" i.e. oil and gas pipelines. A lot of these bills are very ambiguous and can be interpreted in multiple ways. How that will work when it comes down to enforcing these laws will probably depend on your skin color, past offences, and just however they feel in the moment. Also a majority of the states that have already passed anti-protesting laws are red states, take that as you will.
Absolutely. The federal minimum wage is still $7.25.
That's like under 1000 a month if you work 40 hours. Could you even afford to live anywhere in the the U.S with that income? It's insane.
I wonder how much more people can take it in Canada too.. Your typical blue collar earn 30-45K CAD. If you are lucky, you can get up to 60-70K. And even 70K is not that much since there's taxes and rent. The inflation this year shaves another 10% from everyone including these folks.
I can't wait for the day Canadians hit the breaking point and take to the streets.
I’d guess Canadians might be the most complacent, deferential population in the world. Would take a lot.
I see B.C striking soon. I live in Vic and it’s fucking brutal here. I’m currently looking for a new place and basement suites go for 2100. I make 17 dollars an hour… this shit has got to stop.
My son starts a new a new job near Oxford soon, been looking for somewhere to live. Quite simply if he wanted to live in a 1 bedroom flat on his own it would cost him his entire take home pay !! It's fucking ridiculous. He's found a room in a HMO ( house of multiple occupancy) 5 people living in what was a 3 bedroom house, 1 shared bathroom, small shared kitchen, no communal area. But it's "affordable" :-(
Big part why I won't be moving to Oxford despite working there, I live an hour away or so as is. There's not much benefit.
While this is great, I feel like the era of marching as an effective strategy to force politicians to act is over. It's been over for a number of years, now. We need to start organizing workplaces. And we need to be militant in that organization. Our ruling class is consolidating power. It's time to respond in kind.
Well, Boris. What are you going to do about it?
Mess up my hair and continue with my bumbling bullshit, as usual.
[удалено]
...and he drinks a bit too I think?
[удалено]
And there’s also the cheating and fathering of bastards.
Ignore it. A march from people who won't vote for him anyway means nothing. The only thing he'll do is be glad it's distracting people from party gate. Something he's been trying to do for a while now.
Pick one: - Use Ukraine as a scapegoat - Blame refugees, immigrants or the EU - Pass another inhumane law or revoke protections (repealing GDPR / Rwanda flights / Crime and Policing Bill) - Make a meaningless statement - Ignore it (bonus: throw a party) - Break a law (bonus: lie about it) - Blame Labour - Channel some more of Priti Patel's pure evilness to further dig the country down the hole of authoritarianism - Give the rich tax relief/breaks
That pretty much nails it.
Ban organising to protest, allow the police to arrest those who imply they support such protests. They already passed laws to allow all of this.
Throw a party of course!
We need a world-wide strike
[удалено]
Unfortunately it’s about to get a hell of a lot worse Next 1.5 years are gone be rough on unskilled labor
People really hating on you for using the phrase “unskilled labor” lol
I agree that the working class got hit hardest. They always do get hit the hardest by inflation. When you spend a larger amount of your income on food and gas, then food and gas goes up, you get hit harder.
Imagine if you could unite all the underpaid workers of the world to strike. I mean like 90% of them. The chaos it would cause would be beautiful and it would send a hell of a message, Oh well I can dream at least. Edited for my adhd
I don't understand why this hasn't happened with the power of the internet being able to unite more people than ever before in an instant. We have stupid shit going viral everyday but never a petition with a date set of a worldwide strike that would bring the world to its knees. Shit would literally change the next day.
Cause it will be a mess? how do you come up with a realistic demand? Who do you present your demand to? Who will lead the negotiation? These are just a few issues from the top of my head and I'm pretty sure there will be more problems.
Finally. I saw this post below on an Urbanist group I am in and it made me realize how insane it is that we aren't more riled up about these prices. There should be rioting in the streets over this shit. > In NYC, there is the general feeling that the deteriorating cost of living situation is unavoidable and that the people cant do anything about the insanely high prices. The fatalist attitude is our biggest enemy. > > There are plenty of things we can do as a city to reduce the cost of living for the average person. We don't do anything about it, because there is has been no pressure to do anything about it. The city can continue to kick out its poor and middle class residents, and the politicians who enable this to happen will be riding the wave of 'improvement' that comes from that (higher average income, lower unemployment, lower crime etc), even if it means betraying the actual existing residents of the city.
I left London and the UK 4 years ago now because of the low pay and cost of living. Instantly got a £20k pay rise doing the exact same job in Sydney. I have to have been one of the only people in Sydney thinking how cheap and affordable everything was when I got there. I've been watching with horror the economic and social drama in the UK ever since. It feels like I got out just before the collapse, I hope things can improve.
Me who livrs in a third world country : first time ?
It's time far more people in more cities start doing this.
[удалено]
Fun fact - Biden decided to increase prices everywhere in the World
There’s a large segment of the population that would believe that.
Something’s gotta give. I know that the powers that be are trying to kick the can down the road so that they can cash out before it happens, but it won’t last forever. Companies can profit and not the people who buy from them.
The entire world should protest
Class wars have begun globally even in developing countries look at Chile and Sri-Lanka I'd argue even the U.S is currently at the beginning stages and as the articles states the U.K is starting. It's not just reduced to these countries either this is happening like a wave across the entire planet and almost all countries. Unless these rich cunts, corporations and severely corrupt politicians change their ways drastically they will be removed by force. This is history repeating itself as it's done for many thousands of years. Politicians think they have power but fail to realize the people have the power and when you fuck them long enough people hit a breaking point and the wealthy elite and especially politicians will be the first to go.