Today has been named ‘Fat Cat Tuesday’

Why? Because it has been revealed that it will have taken top bosses in the UK just 22 hours to ‘earn’ what the average worker would take home in the entire 12 months of 2016.

The reality for many workers is even worse as the High Pay Centre, who conducted the research used the median UK salary of £27,645.  Large numbers of people are on zero hour contracts, or forced in to casualised, part time jobs so even attaining the ‘average’ salary is nothing more than a pipe dream.

This comes at the same time as many workers are struggling to make ends meet due to increased job insecurity, pay that has not kept up with rising prices in recent times and where the pressure of work is causing huge stress and anxiety with the growing obsession with ‘performance targets’.

The figures released today show once again why we need to fight to get rid of this system. Under capitalism, a system driven by profit, obscenities like Fat Cat Tuesday will continue. In reality, every day is a Fat Cat Day for the minority who own and control the wealth. We need a massive fight for better pay. The Socialist Party demands a minimum wage of at least £10 per hour, with no exemptions.

We can look to the United States where a movement heavily influenced by Socialists is gaining ground in the fight for a $15 per hour minimum wage. At the same time, we need to challenge and ultimately replace profit driven capitalism with a socialist society, that puts human need before the profit of a tiny minority. Join us in fighting for socialism!