AD on Actavis/Teva layoffs: Globalisation at its worst

Alternattiva Demokratika spokesperson on industry, energy and transport Ralph Cassar expressed solidarity with hundreds of workers facing the sack at the profitable pharmaceutical manufacturing company Actavis.

“The layoffs by Actavis’ new owners Teva is proof of the damaging effects of a globalisation based on greed. It is yet another example which shows the urgent need for EU governments, the EU Parliament and national parliaments to come together and collectively regulate the runaway neoliberal system in which huge short term profits and shareholder value come before social responsibility and the just distribution of wealth.

“We are not talking of a company which is facing difficulties. We are not talking of a company which is making losses. Actavis consistently makes huge profits. What we are seeing here is a game of Russian roulette on the stock markets at the expense of the livelihood of workers. Teva’s consolidation’ is just another excuse to make the super rich richer. It is high time that governments and the Socialist-PopularLiberal grand coalition in the European Parliament stop blocking EU-wide measures such as the Tobin Tax, and other measures which put the brakes on corporate greed at the expense of society.”