Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
From higher education to ‘fire-and-rehire’ tactics, we must oppose the cowardly assault on workers’ rights
Mass job losses during the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes will carry an immense human cost, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
[Pic: Mountain Eric / Creative Commons]

GIVEN the immense suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it is absolutely appalling that some companies see the crisis as an opportunity to be exploited for financial gain.

Across the country, unscrupulous bosses from Heathrow airport to Go North West in Manchester, and the Jacobs Douwe Egberts site in Banbury and British Gas nationwide, have used the pandemic as a smokescreen to implement disgraceful “fire-and-rehire” tactics in which salaries and terms and conditions are torn to shreds. 

In Leicester, we experienced this with SPS Technologies, an aircraft parts manufacturer, in my constituency of Leicester East. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, July 2, 2025
Features / 15 July 2025
15 July 2025

The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Palestinians women mourn people who were killed while returning from one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers operated by the U.S.-backed organization, according to Nasser Hospital, during their funerals in Khan Younis, June 30
Features / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

Israel’s monopolisation of ‘aid’ to slaughter Palestinians means there is no other option: direct international intervention now, says CLAUDIA WEBBE

Mourners carry the flag-draped coffins of five men reportedly killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral in the city of Khorramabad, Iran, June 16, 2025
Features / 17 June 2025
17 June 2025

With missiles penetrating the air defences to strike Haifa and Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s transparent appeal to Trump demonstrates the Israeli underestimation of Iranian retaliation, and they are desperate to drag their allies in, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Sherin Wafi, center, and her daughter Mira, 4, mourn during the funeral of her husband Hosam Wafi who, according to family members, was killed during an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025
Arms Trade / 3 June 2025
3 June 2025

Starmer should not need to wait for the High Court’s decision on F-35 parts in order to do the right thing, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE

Similar stories
School support staff members of Unison during a rally outside the Scottish parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, September 27, 2023
Features / 20 June 2025
20 June 2025

Almost half of universities face deficits, merger mania is taking hold, and massive fee hikes that will lock out working-class students are on the horizon, write RUBEN BRETT, PAUL WHITEHOUSE and DAN GRACE

University graduates
Britain / 16 March 2025
16 March 2025
DAMAGING AGENDA:
Work and Pensions
Secretary Liz Kendall
Features / 24 February 2025
24 February 2025
Labour is deliberately continuing Tory policies that cost us £38 billion more than they save while driving illness rates higher — despite the evidence that previous sanctions doubled suicide attempts, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Sanjida consoles her mother after receiving the remains of h
Features / 30 July 2024
30 July 2024
Support for both the students and the workers of Bangladesh is an imperative, as they fight unjust and brutal government impositions, says CLAUDIA WEBBE