In Facing COVID-19: No to Worker Displacement

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The state must intervene to end the disaster of displacing private sector workers. The workers who generated profits for capitalists during times of prosperity are being sacrificed today under the pretext of the crisis. In such crises, the capitalists’ justifications fall apart—they claim to deserve profits because they bear the risks of profit and loss. Yet, we see most giant companies laying off workers or forcing them to take unpaid leave during crises. Hence, the worker bears the brunt of the losses, while the capitalist escapes with their wealth without any potential loss of their accumulated profits over years of prosperity. Some capitalists may even emerge from the crisis wealthier, while only the poor pay the price.
Let’s start exposing companies that exploit the crisis to reduce their workforce or force them to give up part of their salary or take unpaid leave.
Our Demands:
• Support for the marginalized and daily wage workers.
• Mandate the private sector to provide paid leave and prevent layoffs.
• Release prisoners.
• Instead of measures like curfews, the state should facilitate social distancing.
We see that the state’s role is to facilitate social distancing, not impose top-down measures that will not benefit anyone as long as private sector workers and the poor and marginalized classes are forced to go out to earn a living. They do not have the luxury of staying home for fear of infection. For these classes, the danger of the pandemic is far less than the danger of losing their livelihood.