With job losses in the manufacturing sector, call centres have become a large source of employment for the working class, especially young people.

The conditions in these centres are on par with battery houses for chickens, with employees crammed in together so tight the customers on the phone can hear the person next to you talking. With conditions like this the spread of illness is guaranteed - but a trip to the doctor requires either a paid holiday or an "employment issue".

The centre I work in was bought over at the start of the year. This was a glimmer of hope for the demoralised staff who had had no voice in the company as the owners had blocked unionisation, then appeared to make up rules as they went along. Sadly this has not changed.

The union is recognised in the original site in Belfast at Apollo Road but is not at the Armagh site. This is strange as the new contracts forcing people to be totally flexible in their work hours also stated that they may be moved from site to site when needed.

An employees' forum is in operation in the centre at the minute. This is the management's attempt to cut across the growing demand for unionisation. In the last five months the only issue raised that has been dealt with is cutting the grass, and that was raised by a manager! The big businesses that run these centres are not about a happy environment for the workers.

They are solely about squeezing literally every second of work from the employees. Warnings have been issued for being 30 seconds late. I have received one. This is so the highest possible profit can be made whether or not that involves the employees dreading work.

Socialist Youth has recently established a new branch in Strabane, County Tyrone. Seven young people from the town attended the G8 protests and ISR youth camp with Socialist Youth.

Campaigning on a number of issues is planned in the town throughout the summer. One of the new members, Emma Daly, explains why she joined:

"With every passing moment the claws of the capitalist system are tightening their grip around us. The system is brainwashing us, filling our newspapers and television with tripe about celebrities, soaps and TV reality shows.

"Although we may see this as mere entertainment we have to realise that we are living in a world where this is the bulk of what we see. We have to question what is it we do not see, what are we not being shown.

"Exploitation, poverty, destruction; these are the realities of the world we live in today and although we get a glimpse of them on the news every now and again we are not aware of the full extent to which these atrocities are taking place. Capitalism has failed us.

It helps the rich get richer while standing back to watch the poor struggle and die. The day I joined Socialist Youth I made a conscious decision not to stand by and watch the world deteriorate around me, but to do all I can for all its worth to try and stop these atrocities from happening!"