16/09/2026
“Increasing the minimum wage isn't enough, the whole system needs to change” - we agree!
In just a couple of hours, 37 people on Erdington High Street signed our petition for a ÂŁ15 an hour minimum wage. In particular, people agreed that zero-hours contracts should be banned!
The bosses like to argue that zero-hours contracts give employees flexibility with their working patterns. In reality, the bosses are the ones with all the flexibility, as they can reduce your hours to zero for any reason at any time. Workers are left not knowing if they’ll get enough hours to pay their bills and unable to stand up for themselves in the workplace for fear of losing pay.
In their 2024 manifesto, the Labour Party promised to ban “exploitative zero hours contracts”. Two years later, zero-hours contracts are still being used to exploit workers and plans to ban them have been watered down to just “tighter regulation and increased employer responsibilities” in 2027. This is not enough!
We’re living in a period of increasing economic instability driven by speculation, war, and climate breakdown. The ruling class want place the burden of this instability onto workers. It’s time to fight back. Increasing the minimum wage and ending zero hour contacts is only the first step for what workers need.
To combat rising bills, rent, and food prices, we need to nationalise the commanding heights of the economy, placing them under workers' democratic control, as well as a massive programme of council house building, including taking back into public ownership the 303,185 long-term empty homes.
None of the mainstream parties has any interest in fighting for such a radical programme. That’s why we need to fight for a new mass workers party led by the largest organised sections of the working class - the trade unions!
If you agree, join the Socialist Party today!
