Back the People, Not the Spivs Unite Urges Government

LONDON - The price for the recession is being paid for by ordinary workers while those who pushed the economy over the edge are getting back to business as usual warns Tony Woodley, Unite joint general secretary.

Speaking at Congress in Liverpool (today), Tony Woodley warned that more must be done to protect the jobs of ordinary working people:

“The bonus-drunk spivs who made billions for themselves while pushing the economy over the edge, taking factories, jobs and communities in the process, have all got their golden parachutes, none more so than Fred the Shred who made off, at the age of fifty, with a GBP16 million pension pot while the bank he ruined sacked thousands of low-paid finance workers.

“And what is worse is that they are all now getting back to business as usual, handing out taxpayers’ cash to each other as if nothing had happened.

“Well it is time for us to call time on the casino and stand up for the real economy. We need an economy in which millions of people work hard to make a living, producing the goods and services our society needs.

“We need our government to tell the so-called ‘Masters of the Universe’ that they are our servants so stop stuffing your pockets with our money and start lending it to the businesses and the home owners who desperately need it.”

Calling on the government to curb the activities of the City speculators, Tony Woodley continued: “The City got away with it for far too long. Light-touch regulation was a licence for gambling with the difference being that the losers could hand us the bill.”

Urging the government to use the time before the next election to show working people that they are on their side, Tony Woodley said: “Let’s put the people first in dealing with this crisis.

“Boost redundancy pay for workers losing their jobs so they get decent rewards for years of loyal work. Fund short-time working, as was done in past recessions and just as they do in Wales today, to keep in place the jobs and factories we need for our future.

“And make bosses consider alternatives to shutting down.”

Source: Unite the Union

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