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Fighting fire and rehire
Amid a general upsurge in organised workers fighting back, we need to build a specific campaign against this shameful ruling-class tactic, writes MARY ADOSSIDES
British Gas workers outside the headquarters of Centrica in Windsor, Berkshire, last year on the first day of a seven-day strike over new contracts

THE notorious tactic of fire and rehire has been a favourite tool used by employers to push the costs of the pandemic onto workers. It is in the headlines constantly, as one employer after another puts a gun to workers’ heads and tells them to take worse pay and worse working conditions or face unemployment.

Bosses of Britain’s biggest companies will have made more money in 2022 in a day than the average British worker will earn in a year. Super-rich shareholders demand their dividend payments — workers and their families are expected to pay the price.

Household names like British Gas, British Airways, Tesco, Clarks and Weetabix are using the disruption of the Covid crisis to threaten workers with the sack in order to drive down their wages and get more work for less pay.

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