Wilko’s bankruptcy will result in nearly 12,500 job losses.  Already, 280 shops have closed.  All 400 “Wilko” shops will be gone by October.  True, 121 of these are being bought by Poundland and B&M, but Wilko workers won’t be guaranteed a job.

    Meanwhile, the "intellectual property" - the Wilko brand name and website - has been bought by The Range, which will apparently save the jobs of a few dozen of Wilko's digital team…

    The rest of the Wilko workers, must now apply for redundancy pay.  However, this will be paid by the government's Insolvency Service, rather than Wilko's owners, the Wilkinson family.  And never mind that over the past years, they took out millions in dividends: £750,000 in 2023, £3m last year; £77m since 2013!

    The Wikinsons have also left a £50 million hole in the employees’ pension fund.  Fortunately, this is almost sure to be covered by the government's Pension Protection Fund - meaning that Wilko workers will be compensated for their lost retirement savings.  But their thieving ex-employers are likely to get off scot-free!

    This year, more than 50,000 retail workers have lost their jobs.  Some from collapsed businesses, like Wilko, but also due to job cuts made by large supermarkets like Waitrose, Tesco and Asda.  They might blame inflation, rising interest rates, or competition, but the fact is their huge profits are still flowing!

    Everywhere, bosses are intent on making savings: after cutting 10,000 jobs in March, Royal Mail has announced plans to cut a further 1,300.  At least 4,000 jobs are in the process of being cut in Network Rail and at ticket offices across the country.  BMW and Tata Steel, despite receiving £75m and £500m respectively of taxpayers money, are cutting 450 and 3,000 jobs each.  And now Alstom is angling for free government money, threatening 2,000 job cuts at its factory in Derby, which makes the trains for HS2.

    Everywhere, fewer workers are expected to take on more work, as their workmates are sacked.  And alongside increasing work intensity, bosses are actually lengthening working hours...

    And all this, so they can keep their profits up amid the growing economic crisis.  Of course, their job cuts make that crisis worse: sacked workers buy even fewer products, leading to further job cuts, and the cycle goes on.  Only the working class can provide a solution to this illogical system - by overthrowing it and building an economy based on production for need, not profit.