Pay back

Whilst the media has been consuming the cut in child benefit to higher taxpayers, my eye has been taken by three inter related stories.

The first is this coalition governments plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board, since the first world war this has set minimum wages for farmer workers.

The second was the CBI calling for Agency workers to legally cover for striking workers.

The third is the CBI and Boris Johnson Calling for a 50% turnout for a strike ballot.

This country has the toughest anti strike laws, whilst strike action must always the absolute action taken by workers, this action is the last resort for workers.

Low skill manual workers are completely undermined by agency workers, these workers has no sick pay, no holiday pay and no other social benefit, many local companies use agency workers, these workers are like those dock workers at the turn of the last century who turned up for work to be selected, if not selected there was no work.

Last week the Labour Party debated why they lost many voters, Agency workers is one of the main ingredients why industrial employees were left feeling industrial flexibility was one way, low pay rises and many wages being forced to minimum wages, the loss of industrial muscle, as the industrial base reduced to many small employers with the loss of quality pensions and sick schemes.

It is now a year since employers can use tips in the hospitality trade to subsidise the National minimum wage.

This is why so many feel the inequality of wages between their own pay and their employers, I support the "Living Wage", the national minimum wage has it's uses, but £237 before tax is not enough to live on, the London Citizens has calculated that £7.50 is a more realistic hourly rate.

So, the forward may be a High Pay Commission to look at the top end of the pay scale and the Living Wage needs investigation.

Most people want a fair day pay for a fair day work, sadly I am not convinced if this can be said in modern Britain.