Growing resistance to austerity regime

by New Worker correspondent

On Tuesday the Office of National Statistics (ONS) confirmed what many of us have suspected for a long time, that the number of working days lost to strikes is highest since the bad old days of Margaret Thatcher drew to their miserable close. To be more precise, in 2022 some 2.4 million working days were lost. To find a higher number we have to go back all the way to 1989, when 4.1 million days were lost. To exceed 1989 will take a great deal of effort but as can be seen below from our selective samples, it is perfectly possible. It is certainly necessary with real pay falling dramatically.
    The same batch of figures also shows real-term pay, excluding bonuses, fell by 3.6 per cent in the last quarter of the year, almost the largest since 2001.
    Although workers won pay rises worth 6.7 per cent in the same quarter, that is still well below inflation. Whilst private sector workers got 7.3 per cent, that figure is distorted by city bankers taking the lion’s share. The 4.2 per cent secured by some public sector workers is effectively a pay cut.
    Strike-wise the year ended with a bang. Some 843,000 working days were lost in December, when postal workers took action in Royal Mail’s busiest month. While action by driving instructors did not have such a great impact, the case of workers not known for militancy taking action is encouraging.
    The Government rejoiced that the workforce has increased, with the ONS showing that many more younger people and students and older people between 50–64 now at work, this is likely to be a sign of desperation for many. Lack of support for students means that an evening or Saturday job, which was once a bonus, has now become a dire necessity. High energy prices will be seen to drive many of the early retired people off the golf course and freezing living rooms back to the workplace.
    These are unlikely to be very secure jobs. The number of zero-hours contracts are now at a record high of 1.13 million. This shows the shame of the claim by Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt that the present (but rising) low levels of unemployment (only 3.7 per cent, which is supposed to be good) were an “encouraging sign of resilience”.
    Hunt added: “The best thing we can do to make people’s wages go further is stick to our plan to halve inflation this year,” a statement which can easily be interpreted to mean that he will not be keen on opening the Treasury’s purse to finance much-needed pay rises for public sector workers – unless, of course, he is forced to by strike action.
    The Resolution Foundation think-tank says that the picture is grim for most people, apart from the likely decline in inflation. That should have started already as wholesale gas prices have recently declined, but unsurprisingly gas bills have not.