Strikes and Strikeability
31st Jan 2009 16:47:46
Right, so what's the problem? Total, the international oil company, decided that it had a building job which it wanted to subcontract out, and promptly subcontracted it to the Italian firm IREM. IREM decided to use its existing workers and employees, rather than hire new, temporary, local ones for the job. Hence, IREM shipped in some Italian and Portugese workers.
Now, there's nothing illegal or wrong about this in the slightest. The BBC reports that the Italian and Portugese contracters will be paid the same as British men would, had they been employed. So there can be no suggestions of importing in cheap unskilled European labour, because they aren't.
This all comes back to the EU. Restrictions apply to Romania and Bulgaria, but all EU citizens may move and work through the whole of the EU with complete freedom. That applies whether they come over here by themselves, or as part of a larger corporation. So, to clarify, there's nothing the Government can "do" to stop this perfectly legal action, and more so, there's nothing they should do. The protesters want the Government to guarantee that British Nationals will have preferential treatment in the job market. Protectionism.
When Gordon Brown said "British Jobs for British Workers", everyone knew that he was lying, and pandering to the working classes and right-wing of the country with fake patriotism. The truth is that he can't do anything, Nick Clegg can't do anything, David Cameron can't do anything, and none of them would do anything about this whole situation.
We sympathise with the unemployed, of course we do, and our party leaders must all put on their "I'm far more sympathetic than you" hats, but nobody is stupid enough to say that the country needs to resort to economy-destroying protectionism. Our leaders too, must be careful about the language they use. The BNP and National Front have been at the forefront of the strikes, stirring up trouble (as if anyone was suprised). But the working-class need to remember that any anger at the wrongs they perceive to have occured should be directed at the companies, not their employees.
To conclude: Whilst Gordon Brown may have been lying through his teeth with his fake patriotism, not even he is stupid enough to lead us into the protectionism that destroys economies, and the Liberal Democrats take this position too. We must all remember that the employees of companies are not responsible for the actions of the boards of directors, and remember to not resort to Xenophobia in these difficult times.
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