Union Songs

Work for the dole

A poem from 1933

Now work for the dole, you bastards
Take that gleam of hope from your eye
Just work for the dole, you bastards
Or watch your children die

We've got batons and bullets, you bastards
We'll see you all toe the line
But we'd keep you down much better
If it weren't for these communist swine

Notes

First published in the magazine "Workers Art" 1933 quoted in "The Reds" Stuart Macintyre 1998. For a poem of similar sentiment from the 1930s see "The Sandy Hollow Line" in this collection



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