Solidarity greetings from Trade Union Left Forum to the working class of Ireland and around the world who continue to struggle against the “Cost of Capitalism Crisis” manifested in poverty, inequality, precariousness, homelessness, war and environmental catastrophe.
As inflation soared last year Irish workers took a 3.9% pay cut while workers share across the globe was cut by an average of 3.19%.
The difference between wage growth and surging prices meant workers in Ireland effectively worked for nothing for 8.3 days.
Wages lagged behind inflation by an average of €2,107 per worker amounting to a total cut of over €5billion from the Workers share of the wealth we produce.
Average CEO’s pay rose by 9% over the same period widening pay scales and inequality.
These pay cuts boosted profits as shareholder dividends hit a record $1.56tn last year, a 10% real-term growth compared to 2021.
US corporations paid out $574bn (€518bn) to their shareholders, over double US workers’ total real wage pay cut.
Brazilian shareholders received $34bn, just shy of what the country’s workers lost in real wages.
It’s called #Capitalism
Progress towards reducing extreme poverty ground to a halt as extreme poverty and extreme wealth grew simaltaneiusly for the first time in 25 years.
Capitalism continues to tighten the screw on workers, we’ve gone from the days where there was a plentiful supply of public housing, no Hospital Waiting lists, when one person working in a household was enough to feed, clothe and provide a home for the average family to today with two people working it is not enough to feed a family never mind pay the rent.
Another difference between then and now is union Density, union density has fallen from 60% of workers to less than 25% today.
These two facts are not unrelated.
Today we have 140,000 people on the housing waiting list, 12,000 people are homeless and over a million people on hospital waiting lists.
These stats are identical on both sides of the British imposed border in Ireland and similar for workers around the world as Capitalism forces workers to take an ever decreasing share of the wealth we produce.
This hasn’t just happened it is not an accident, it is planned by the elites and executed by there lackeys in parliaments from Dublin to Paris from Tokyo to Berlin.
As James Connolly said “Government in a Capitalist Society is but a committee to order the affairs of the Rich.”
Employers are well organised and they are winning the war being waged against the working class.
TULF call on all workers to join a union and get active and organised and fight back.
Our numbers are our strength:
Working Class Solidarity can be the sword that slays the capitalist beast and finally gives back to the working class what is rightfully ours.
We only want the Earth!
Statement Ends.
