NEWLY ELECTED Young Communist League London branch secretary and Communist Party London Assembly list candidate Judith Cazorla Rodenas has big plans to improve the lives of millions of Londoners.

Cazorla, 25, has been living in Newham for a few years after moving to Britain from Spain.

She works in hospitality and has seen first-hand how poverty pay and zero-hours contracts have caused misery for workers.

She tells the Star: “Hospitality and retail are notorious for being rife with the worst and clearest examples of capitalist exploitation.

“Every day I see people working extremely long hours for meagre wages. Very often the pay is barely enough to cover accommodation and food, leaving little left over to pursue enjoyable activities,” she says.

“Low pay is made worse by the huge cost of living in the capital: rents average nearly 75 per cent of Londoners’ incomes.”

She explains that while London was “suffering the highest rates of unemployment in Britain, big business was making a bonanza from the labour of working people.

“The City of London remains the centre of global money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance. It is also often accused of being a global hub for financial crime.”

Cazorla says that the murder of Sarah Everard has brought into the public spotlight multiple issues around women’s liberation, systemic misogyny and policing.

She says: “The systemic failure by the police to protect women from domestic violence, sexual harassment and assault and its ongoing failure to eliminate racism in its ranks requires immediate action by the mayor and government. London must become a safe place for women and black people to move around with confidence and without fear.”

So what does the Communist Party say should be done?

Cazorla says: “Communists say that the answer to this is organisation. The Communist Party supports workers fighting for secure jobs, decent pay and conditions. We urge all workers to join unions and fight for their rights at work.

“London communists demand a reversal of the cuts to local government, the NHS and our emergency services and for privatised services to be brought back in-house and fully accountable to the Greater London Authority and London boroughs.

“We demand that councils take back control of housebuilding and for the GLA to play a key role in developing a housing plan for London. We support a mass council-house building programme, high-quality apprenticeships and secure jobs for workers instead of bogus self-employment and zero-hours contracts.”