Uncharitable
I work for a small migrant rights charity. A few weeks before Christmas, everyone was given a redundancy notice. We were told that some jobs may be saved, but that there were no guarantees – and in the worst case scenario the charity would have to close.
Senior management told us a week prior that we were experiencing financial difficulties and that some redundancies were likely to be made, which came as a shock, but none of us had any idea that things were this bad.
We were given a few days to decide if we should take voluntary redundancy. No incentive was given, and we were told that we would receive statutory redundancy pay which meant that some of us could lose our jobs without any financial compensation.
We were initially in shock, confused about how things could have got to this point with no warning.
We decided that we needed to unionise. With the support of the IWGB we arranged union meetings to collectively discuss concerns and agree demands.
At our next meeting with the board, we made a strong case for an incentive for voluntary redundancy and redundancy pay for everyone – a demand which was eventually accepted. My team requested a copy of our budget, which we reworked to make enough cuts to be able to save a job.
It was an incredibly difficult and stressful time for everyone, but going through this brought us all closer. We felt strong working together and being proactive. It felt powerful to take control over our budget and decide what would work for our team.
Sadly, we lost some of our colleagues during this process, but we continue to exist as a smaller organisation. It shows what’s possible when workers have control. What happened has had a lasting impact: we have lost our sense of security and our trust in management.
We are now in the process of getting union recognition. We want to ensure that our position is protected, that we have financial oversight over our organisation, and are planning a campaign for a four-day working week.
A charity worker in Peckham
“Unavoidable Realities”
Some bosses like to present themselves as hard-nosed realists: practical, efficient, and focused on ‘what the business needs’.
In our workplace, that realism has led to a bold staffing model: one manager, one supervisor, and the apparent discovery that two people can do the work of several if you simply remove their free time.
The result is a six-day working week, with a more-than-twelve-hours shift. Rest days are treated less as a necessity and more as an optional luxury. We’re told this is just how things are. Hiring another supervisor? Not viable. Budgets are tight. Margins are under pressure.
Then there’s payroll, which operates with a similar spirit of creativity. When my manager noticed he was being underpaid, he raised it and was assured everything was correct. Months later, the story changed: there had been a mistake after all. They owed him roughly £3,000.
Problem solved? Not quite. The repayment would come as a lump sum in the next tax year. After tax deductions, that £3,000 came closer to £2,000. It seems an accounting error can be remarkably cost-effective when it flows in one direction.
Individually, these might look like oversights: a staffing gap here, a payroll issue there. Taken together, they form a coherent logic. Keep staffing low, keep hours high, and treat wages as flexible where possible. It’s not chaotic, it’s efficient – just not for the people actually doing the work.
Paige Fawcett, York
Company covers their costs but leaves workers out to dry
I work for a survey company. We drive around the country before construction to survey fields, etc. As you can imagine, driving becomes a big expense for the company, so with the increased cost of diesel, they announced that the clients will be charged £50 more a week.
When asked if we will get an increase in pay to cover the same cost, we were told the company has no money for an increase in wages.
Construction is incredibly profitable. However, it is clear that big infrastructure projects and all newbuild housing are being looted for the dividends of shareholders – not for the wages of workers, or even to make a decent project.
Phil Car, Southampton
Doctors on the dole
Resident doctors were recently on strike. As with every strike, we were forced into this by the stubbornness of the government.
In retaliation, Starmer withdrew the offer of more training places for doctors. Training means more skilled doctors, better workplace protections, and therefore better patient care. For the sake of protecting his capitalist crony pals, Starmer is prepared to hold the whole nation hostage.
Last year, 52 percent of doctors who finished their first two years of postgraduate training had no stable job prospects. Gone are the days when a medical degree guaranteed stability.
On top of that, the recent Graduate Prioritisation Act which passed parliament means that immigrant doctors, many of whom have years of healthcare experience in their home country, will be shut out from jobs in the NHS. We are a country of understaffed, underskilled, underpaid doctors.
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Let’s be clear: the shortage of jobs for doctors is not due to ‘job-stealing immigrants’ nor ‘juvenile delinquents in the BMA’. It is completely the fault of the the bosses and the bankers, whose representatives in parliament are willing to throw doctor and patient wellbeing under the bus, to drive the NHS into the ground in order to sell it to the highest bidder (and to avoid forking out money, which the government doesn’t have, to fund the NHS).
Instead of fighting over the few training jobs available, British doctors should unite with immigrant doctors to fight for more jobs, better pay, and a better-funded NHS.
Patricia Mosely, BMA (personal capacity)
William Hill closes 200 shops, workers still pay for bosses’ mistakes
The betting company William Hill has announced over 200 shop closures, putting around 1,000 staff out of a job. The bosses blame this on the government’s tax hike on gambling.
Whilst the hike has had some impact, more of the costs can be blamed on the company leadership. When the company was haemorrhaging money, the leadership decided to roll out a new uniform, which cost a daft amount. Some staff had barely worn it a month before they were made redundant – after which it probably ended up in a skip.
The same goes for monitors and machines. Rather than stripping them for parts, many machines have just been thrown away, even with engineers saying they can be fixed.
William Hill owner in takeover talks with gaming operator Bally’s Intralot https://t.co/fD2U4ImyV0
— Financial Times (@FT) April 20, 2026
It goes without saying that amidst all these redundancies, the big bosses aren’t taking a pay cut.
Some will say that the bookies closing shops is a good thing, but obviously this isn’t going to stop gambling. Meanwhile, the head honchos face no repercussions and the workers take the brunt.
A William Hill staff member
“NS&I boss Dax Harkins resigns over £476 million missing in customer savings”
I recently read the above headline in the press. I also found out that Dax Harkin’s still got a £25,000 bonus in 2025!
Meanwhile, in my role as a bank teller, I was penalised by half my Christmas bonus this year (£350 out of a possible £700 seems like peanuts in comparison) as a result of petty errors. These are significantly pettier compared to Harkin’s “misappropriation” of funds – and that could have been averted with better staffing, more time to complete work, and consistent training.
This time of year is also ISA season, so for almost every one-hour appointment I bring in £20,000 for the company – which throws my yearly salary of £24,000 (less than Harkin’s bonus!) into stark relief.
The responsibilities of individual workers in this role have doubled in the last five years. Pay definitely has not.
Meanwhile, I have to contend with the fact that the money I process daily all ends up going through the same systems as Barclays, as with every other bank. Truly, as a worker, there’s no way at all to disentangle your money from the machinery of imperialism.
A bank teller in Ipswich
