Indymedia YorkSave Our Local Economy
Hi, I'm considering calling a meeting with a view to initiating a new group in the city, entitled something like "York Save Our Local Economy" (York SOLE, bit cheesy, apologies). Why? because the city is bleeding dry of jobs right now, especially in manufacturing, and house prices are going up and very little is being done to benefit the majority of people in York.
With Terry's gone, Nestle's and Norwich Union drastically reducing staffing and GNER on the verge of going under, there's no end of bad news. The apparent solution: build a science park by the University. The catch: the jobs are highly skilled in comparison to those we've lost, and few people will be able to train up to them.
Look at the new bars which have opened in town, or this proposed casino; they're aimed at the top quarter of earners in the city, while the rest of us are stuck with nothing but big supermarkets. This process of gentrification is making York a playground for an increasingly small number of people, and young families are being forced to move out to other cities, thus destroying the real community of York. At the same time, the NHS trust that runs York District Hospital is underfunded. Most of us can't afford to 'go private' at York's new Nuffield Hospital.
Anyhow, the idea would be to draw together people who have an interest, whether as workers facing redundancy or those affected by other issues in York's economy, or simply as concerned local residents who really care for York.
Comments
Quite right. The great and
Quite right. The great and historic city of York is a sterling example of the deindustrialization that has seen the U.K. become very much a service economy. The factories shut down and cheap foreign labour is exploited; office-based, IT-related jobs requiring higher skill levels become ever more prevalent; & non-skilled workers are left with no option but to move, often far away, taking their families with them. I have immense sympathy with this latter group; indeed, I belong to it.
I was born in York, and have lived near Selby, not far from York, all my life. I have also had great difficulty finding work of the unskilled variety (I am currently unemployed), even though I am young (21), physically very fit & have no criminal record. Selby has a particularly high proportion of immigrants (mostly Polish), as does Goole; and, as long as human nature remains as it is, they will be prioritized over natives for said work. Indeed, whenever I've been in an employment agency in one of these towns (Goole in particular, in my experience), all I've heard is Polish accents!
Then there's York, which doesn't have the same high immigrant population; unfortunaely for people like me, it ain't exactly a friendly place for the unskilled or lower-skilled worker. Any one of the hundreds of people -- and their affected families -- recently made redundant by British Sugar, Terry's & Nestle would no doubt agree. (Going further back in time, you have all the manufacturing jobs lost in York's once-great rail manufacturing industry). And, on the IT-related side, the same may be said for the 450 people recently sacked from Norwich Union's York call centre.
And can we be sure that the IT sector, upon which York's economy now basically relies, will not go the same way as manufacturing? In this age of globalization, firms are ever-more willing and able to switch production / development to lower-wage countries with dodgy human rights records in no time at all. India, for example, is increasingly being used to produce computer software; it is also full of call centres, serving customers of corporations based in Europe -- like our old friend Norwich Union. And look at Red China, the darling of globalization: an increasing number of young people are becoming educated, able to perform skilled work, & business costs are low thanks to that country's notorious disrespect for human rights. If I were a Western IT-worker, I would be very concerned about the implications of these developments.
As someone who was born in York, loves the city & wants to get on the property ladder in the city, the way York has gone and is going is very disheartening (the property prices in particular). What about all the people who are more than capable of performing good, honest, hard work yet aren't given the chance? That can't be right! The balance needs adjusting, surely. So Graham, if you read this, send me an email (murdoch5150@tiscali.co.uk) and I'd be glad to offer my support.
Let's not save the 'economy'
Hi Murdoch,
You make a very well presented and clearly presented case about our present system. I am afraid however you may be mixing causes and outcomes together.
Let's look at the 'economy', or at least the effects you observe:
Why are there less 'unskilled' jobs available for people 'born locally'?
Why are there 'no' 'unskilled' or 'low-skilled' jobs?
What 'human nature' makes Polish workers to be employed before 'natives'?
Why are 'factories shut down and cheap foreign labour exploited'?
Why will 'Red China, the darling of globalization' in the 'age of globalization' threaten the jobs of the 'Western IT-Worker'?
It is undoubtable that the process of what you call 'globalization' is creating some of these effects. But what are the causes? What can we do about it?
Are the causes really these:
The 'cheap foreign labour exploited'?
The Polish workers, who because of 'human nature' get the jobs?
The workers in 'Red China' with it's 'notorious disrespect for human rights'.
No! Obviously not!
Is the cause 'globalization'?
Since the start of Empire workers have been exploited. That's Globilisation - now it's Capitalist Globalisation. That's why work is cheaper in one place than another. That's why workers may want to move (even though they aren't usually allowed to, but the jobs usually are). It hasn't got any better, it's got worse. So in that sense 'globilization' is the cause. But not the workers, the migrants, the individuals themselves... not at all.
This country is built out of a process of growing globilisation and migration.
The present emphasis on the 'economy' is the problem. Let us think about people for once, no matter if they are 'cheap foreign labour' or from 'Red China', Poland, or 'natives'.
Identifying causes
May I firstly make it quite clear that I do *not* blame ordinary individuals themselves, seeking to better themselves economically, for the economic misfortune of others, be they citizens of York or citizens of anywhere else; my previous post does not say this at any point. On the contrary, I blame people in positions of power who exploit desperate / helpless people for profit and power.
Judging by your post, particularly the third-from-last paragraph, it seems to me that your post was motivated by an incorrect assumption that I am somehow blaming individuals or disadvantaged minority groups for the economic misfortune of, in this instance, a significant proportion of the population of York, which is a shame; granted, you do not state as much explicitly, but you do imply it.
You ask what "human nature" is responsible for ensuring that desperate (Polish, in this instance) immigrants are employed before natives. Well, how about the same human nature that has exploited workers "since the start of Empire"? How about the same human nature that has created a world in which it is perfectly normal for ordinary people to buy goods produced under abusive circumstances on a routine basis, usually without even realizing it? Thousands of years of human history prove conclusively that *power tends to corrupt*. People tend to want what they can't have; combine that with power and you're going to see abuse.
And you're not going to see economic abuse of any size or scope from Joe Public, human nature or no human nature; his hands are not on the wheels of power. It's the big business players and the politicians with real power who, possessed as they are of aforesaid human nature, knowingly abuse and exploit -- and take decisions where they know this will happen but they won't have to see it or get their hands dirty -- for profit and power. Joe Public share some blame for his inadvertent support of this system, of course, but it's the people knowingly running and expanding it that are to blame.
Most disappointingly, you fail completely to disprove my premise that unfair competition from abused / exploited foreign workers, whether they be from Indonesia, Mexico, Red China or our fellow EU-member, Poland, is the chief cause of the problems Graham and I have identified. (Loosely, my use of the word "abused" relates to my prior use of the word "helpless", and my use of the word "exploited" to "desperate"; it's a question of degree). I completely disagree with your assertion that I am "obviously" mistaken. You have to prove so! Or, research the issue in more detail, and then rethink.
Your statement that we should "think about people for once [as opposed to the economy]", is also frustrating in that you don't elaborate upon it. What *exactly* do you mean? Were I not thinking about people, surely I would not have spoken out against the abuse of workers in countries that have little or no disregard for human rights? Surely I would not have spoken out against the negative impact that this has on many individuals in developed areas such as York? Buzz phrases sound good, but they're of no good whatsoever to these people and their families at the end of the day.
You also fail to explain why "the present emphasis on the 'economy 'is the problem". Individuals comprise Society, and economics is essentially a social science, as indeed is politics, so of course the focus is on the economy. Studying the economy and society at large is the only way we can see the "big (or bigger) picture". There are 6 billion people on the planet, afterall.
So, in the interest of sensible and lively debate, all I ask is that you clarify your arguments, elaborating upon some of the important statements you made. We all want to learn, myself included, but to do that we need to be clear and concise; the citizens of York deserve it. By the same token, if anyone feels I have not been so, I will gladly look into the matter.