The following advertisement recently appeared in my local newspaper. ‘Female carer required to support client with all aspects of personal care in own home. Five calls a day between 7am and 10pm over 7days. Driver preferred. £6.75 an hour, 16-20 hours a week.’
New figures published by the TUC suggest that low wages in the Bangladesh textile industry have nothing to do with cash-strapped consumers demanding cheap clothes.
As anger and contempt at the 'Olympishambles' and for G4S' astoundingly hapless CEO fill columns and airwaves, little attention is being paid to the light this débâcle has shed on the callous and amoral attitudes towards employment which are taking root in our culture.
“It's aw a muddle, lass. Aw a muddle.” This was the dying lament of Stephen Blackpool, the power-loom operator of Hard Times who was driven to physical and emotional ruin by the ruthless economic and industrial system of his day.
Work in the 21st century is no longer what it was in our parents and grandparents generations, says Jill Segger. May day gives us an opportunity to re-evaluate work and the lives we build through it.