The battle for decent pay must be fought both at home and abroad

Today is World Day for Decent Work, when the International Trade Union Confederation marks the day in support of decent work for all people of working age across the globe. This year’s theme is corporate greed – and that couldn’t be more timely. We’ve all seen the cynical ways that multinational companies (MNCs) and the super rich manage to ‘legally’ avoid paying their fair share of taxes. If MNCs paid their fair share the revenue generated could fund decent public services, create decent work and contribute to genuine prosperity for all. That’s because government matters – and public services matter. The right have spent decades arguing otherwise, but even they are coming around. This week even the Tory Prime Minister acknowledged that the state is a power for good. And it’s obvious why that argument resonates, in a year that has seen flooding in British towns, earthquakes in Italy, hurricanes in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and bombings in France. As people flee from natural and human-made disasters there are always people running in the direction of danger – public servants who are there to help. Ambulance crews, police, fire fighters, medics all put their lives on the line to help those caught in the path of destruction. If we all paid our taxes instead of using legal loopholes, then public service champions like that and so many others would have the funding they need. This is a battle we’ll need to fight at home and abroad. Whether it’s tea...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News Source Type: news