The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #157045   Message #3704550
Posted By: Steve Shaw
27-Apr-15 - 11:49 AM
Thread Name: BS: election uk
Subject: RE: BS: election uk
Vast numbers of unskilled workers in this country are paid the minimum wage and 'twas ever thus. Immigrants cannot legally be the reason for the suppression of wages because employers are not allowed to pay below the legal minimum wage. Of course, employers can and do employ people on temporary, seasonal, part-time and zero-hour contracts, not to speak of on those bogus apprenticeships. Many will find ways of paying as little as possible. That will happen with or without immigrants, and the problem is caused by unscrupulous employers and the unregulated nature of employment contracts in this country (lest we forget, a situation that has been encouraged by the Tories in order to artificially suppress the unemployment statistics, along with forcing former benefits claimants to become "self-employed", whether there's work or not). The first bloody great big clue that this charade exists is the fact that productivity in this country is stubbornly stuck in the ditch, not reflecting in the slightest the Tory-constructed illusion that there are more people "in work" than ever and we've created over a million jobs, blah blah. As for immigrants taking up the jobs of our yoofs, employers have been complaining for years that they can't find the young people with the right skills. So whose fault is that then?