This article has been written for Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! by Juan Carlos Piedra, an activist with the Movement of Ecuadorians in the UK (MERU)
In the face of an economic, political and social crisis, it is important to consider its effects on vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities and workers on poverty pay. For example, at around £1,000 per month, the average salary of a cleaner in London will barely cover the rent.
It is vital that we challenge the discourse and actions of the Con-Dem government. They want to place responsibility for the economic crisis on the working class, when in fact it is the ruling class who is responsible. It is the final straw that thousands of pounds in bonuses are handed over to the ruling class, almost as a reward for their negligence, when in fact their property should be seized!
There are many ways of avoiding looking at the true face of the capitalist system and its neoliberal model, which is on the point of collapse. One easy way is to scapegoat migrants for the current economic crisis, though this contributes to rising levels of racism and xenophobia. It is worrying that people are publicly asserting that ‘illegal’ workers are not contributing to the economy of the country. How about mentioning the lack of protection these workers have from arbitrary dismissal or sexual harassment? How about pointing out that so-called ‘illegal’ workers don’t have a right to decent housing, adult education or social welfare that should be theirs by law? Our question is this: where are the thousands of pounds that undocumented workers contribute to the public purse?
Is it the fault of the undocumented worker that he has a salary well below the basic cost of living? The inequality gap is growing and it is clearly concerning that while, on the one hand, thousands of public sector redundancies are announced, on the other hand, the welfare budget will be slashed. These policies are incompatible because as the number of unemployed grows, it will affect everyone, not only the public sector.
What will happen to our children who are not able to go to private schools and colleges? What will happen to students who, disheartened by the high cost of tuition fees, decide to drop out of school? In the face of such injustice, the students’ response has been entirely legitimate. I have heard the students described as savage. Savage? Savage is a word to describe the attacks on the working class in this country. The pre-emptive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are savage. The looting of natural resources from countries in Africa is savage. What is savage is when your oil companies are investigated for having links to the paramilitaries in Colombia and exploitation in Bolivia. What is savage is when your companies use child labour in India to lower production costs. What is inhumane is allowing wages to fall below the real cost of living; hypocritically talking of human rights while allowing undocumented migrants to suffer every type of exploitation.
Despite every humiliation we endure under this capitalist system, they will never take our dignity. As my president, Rafael Correa declared to the US, ‘I’ll let you keep your military base in Manta, if you let me put one in Miami’. This dignity is inspired by the resistance of the Cuban people, by the Bolivarian revolution, by the indigenous revolution for sustainability (sumak kawsay) and by socialism. This dignity will be expressed not only in England, but in every corner of the world where injustices are committed against the poor. The answer is undoubtedly socialist revolution, there is no other way!
