WAGE inequality in Britain is equal to the worst in Europe and this has worsened, hand in hand with precariousness and deunionisation, both driven by neoliberalism.

Precarious work is not new, capitalism has seen all this before. It has existed since the industrial revolution. Marx referred to an “industrial reserve army of labour,” able to be coerced into filling in gaps as employment patterns changed.

According to author Jonathan White, in his article “Precarious work and contemporary capitalism” published on the Trade Union Futures website, Marx argued that “capitalism constantly creates a surplus population amongst the working class who live in a state of precariousness and poverty.”