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Fighting for young people’s futures and good jobs for all

The Tories are again attempting to punish young people for the crisis of their capitalist system.

Amid a historic cost-of-living crisis, the Tories have confirmed new ‘youth rates’ of pay for young workers. From April 2023, 16-17 year-olds can expect to be paid as low as £5.28 an hour, for instance. But why should the bosses be allowed to pay us less – and pocket extra profit – just because of our age?

Meanwhile, university students are being told to survive with just 2.8% extra maintenance support next year. And all young people are threatened by a new round of cuts and privatisation to public services, including the NHS, schools and libraries.

Fortunately, millions of young people are now discovering a powerful means to fight back. Stirred by continued attacks from the Tories and the bosses, a force has re-emerged in Britain on a level not seen before in our lifetimes: the working-class, organised in the trade unions.

Through a historic wave of strike action, the trade unions have shown themselves to be the frontline for defending the conditions of everyone in society. By going on strike, health workers are not just fighting for their own pay rises, but to save the NHS altogether. Education workers are not just striking on pay, but for the funding that our schools and universities need to provide a decent education for all. Workers in rail and mail are fighting to protect their industries for future generations to use and work in.

So the current strike wave shows that when workers organise to unite and fight together, they have the power to change not just their workplaces, but society in general. Imagine what almost seven million workers organised in trade unions across Britain could do to combat all the other miseries of capitalist society – like racism and sexism, inadequate housing, or the climate crisis.

Seeing the potential power of the organised working class for the first time, there will be thousands of young people wondering: “How can I get involved?”

As a first step, all young workers should join a union. But young workers can’t just stop at joining; we need to get active in the trade unions, to turn them into spaces where young workers can lead struggles and become the next generation of trade union activists.

Young trade union members can start by getting active in their union’s youth section. Youth Fight for Jobs campaigns for the building of democratic, fighting youth sections in every trade union, to channel young workers’ collective energy and transform the unions into real vehicles for mass struggle against the bosses and their political representatives – be that the Tories, Starmer’s Labour, or any of the other establishment parties.

We also know that under capitalism, the bosses will fight tooth and nail to claw back any gains won from them through collective struggle. That’s why Youth Fight For Jobs campaigns not just for union-led struggle to improve our living standards in the here-and-now, but for a socialist society based on workers’ democratic planning of resources to ensure a good quality of life for all.

If you agree with us, and want to get involved with Youth Fight for Jobs, get in touch below using the contact form.

Contact Youth Fight for Jobs:

yffjobs@gmail.com
07747 174 833