Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.

Work

Working nine-to-five, round-the-clock shifts, only when the boss wants you or not working at all ...

End of the Line

Submitted by Janine on 01 September 2022 at 17:11

Walk down locked and empty streets alone,
arrive for start of shift, it's bear-the-brunt time
to serve some others' families not your own
Going from the home front to the frontline

Frozen pay, now tiny, ice-cold 'offers', 
red-bordered bills alert approaching deadline
The firing line ignites key workers' coffers
Going from the frontline to the breadline

Summertime

Submitted by Janine on 13 July 2022 at 15:58

after Gershwin's song from Porgy and Bess

---

Summertime 

and the cost of livin' ain't easy

Bills are jumpin'

and prices are high

Oh, the bosses are rich

and the workers are strugglin'

But hush, little baby

don't you cry

 

One of these mornin's,

you're going to wake up strikin'

Poetry & Opposition

Submitted by Janine on 27 March 2022 at 18:23

Pompous & Opulent
Prosperous & Ostentatious
Profiteering & On-the-take

Parsimonious & Obstinate
Penny-pinching & 'Orrible
Private & Obscene

Perfidious & Odious
Poisonous & Objectionable
Punishing & Oppressive

Petition & Organise
Protest & Outrage
Picket & Occupy

Public & Ownership.

TUC Disabled Workers Condemn P&O Sackings

Submitted by Janine on 24 March 2022 at 15:13

The TUC's Disabled Members' Committee has made this statement: Accessible public transport is essential for disabled people to participate in society on an equal and independent basis. To be genuinely accessible, public transport must be adequately staffed by workers with decent standards of training, pay, conditions and security of employment.