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How to challenge 4 week forced labour for JSA claimants?
Here here. Forced labour undermines the nature of voluntary work.
Also, it serves a strategy which seeks work replacement - not to the advantage of any individual worker or future workers, but to the advantage of employers. Work replacement will undermine wages and working conditions for everybody. In many cities in America, companies like Maximus managed to replace large part of the municipal labour force with unpaid people working for the dole.
Even Gorgeous George has a view.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/21/for-corporate-welfare-queens-no-caps
[/quote]Duncan - 16 November 2011 11:05 AM
The man getting credits only while signing on should understand that his right to a state retirement pension is being protected which is a benefit.
The IT Consultant should realise that he is requiered to be avaliable for any suitable work which can include manuel labour as a condition of getting JSA.
The 30 year man should also understand he is paid benefit on condition he complies with the Job Centre instructions.
They should stop complaining about being asked to do unpaid work for four weeks.[/quote]Why should they? Everyone has a fundamental right to welfare benefits. That’s your job title. You support people in obtaining their rights.
I’m assuming you undertook your voluntary work by choice and not by force, yes? I’m also assuming you had a genuine interest in your role, paid or not, yes? I’m therefore assuming, if the last two statements = yes, that you actually gave something in return to the company that eventually employed you in way of productivity. To be shipped off to large companies to basically work for your £53-£67 a week is exploitation and does nothing but profit such large organisations. All of those people have every right to be complaining. Seriously, if you can’t see the difference between genuine and productive help to return people to gainful employment and this sort of punitive, disgraceful exploitation then you need to re-evaluate your motives for working within the welfare rights setting. Seriously.
[ Edited: 20 Dec 2011 at 10:33 am by Sharon M ]Well said SharonM. We only need to look across the atlantic to see how the poor are exploited by the large corporations in the “Welfare to work” programmes. Duncan may feel that people should do 4 weeks unpaid but to suggest they shouldnt really complain about it is frankly absurd. I got my job after volunteering and there is a lot to be said for unpaid volunteer work, however it was MY choice and MY choice alone.
The impression I get is that, largely, most people wouldn’t necessarily have an issue with the PRINCIPLE of a 4 week placement IF it was genuinely for the purpose of assisting people into “proper” work. And that’s the problem. “IF”. Based on my experience of life and people in general, the “principle” will be absolutely and unequivocally abused by the majority of employers. I have no doubt whatsoever that the placements will be used by all too many employers as an alternative means to chargeable labour. In my view, the issue is about the motive(s) behind the scheme, not the principle.
Based on first hand knowledge, it’s even arguable that some of the current “assistance” to those seeking work supposedly already in existence is of little use in reality. The knowledge, skills and know-how of those giving advice and assistance varies greatly - some of it positively awful. There is absolutely no reason to suppose that will be improved by any other scheme. There is a fundamental problem with the ethos and until that changes, nothing will substantively change in reality.
Another issue of course regards the establishing of the actual principle of “forced labour”. Certain posters have said here that JSA claimants shouldnt really have a problem with 4 weeks unpaid work. If the coalition establish the principle then the 4 week thing will definitely become a red herring. The 4 week rule may change to 8 weeks, 12 weeks etc etc and we may end up with an army of cheap labour, as per the American welfare to work model. Good way of circumventing the national minimum wage though!
Another issue of course regards the establishing of the actual principle of “forced labour”. Certain posters have said here that JSA claimants shouldnt really have a problem with 4 weeks unpaid work. If the coalition establish the principle then the 4 week thing will definitely become a red herring. The 4 week rule may change to 8 weeks, 12 weeks etc etc and we may end up with an army of cheap labour, as per the American welfare to work model. Good way of circumventing the national minimum wage though!
The laugh is the DWP wouldn’t let you do it voluntarily at a firm like B&Q, they’d slap notional earnings on you of at least £6.08 and stop your benefits for your efforts. When it’s the other way round it becomes mandatory and socially acceptable, to some. Why? because it punishes the unemployed under the guise of being “supportive” Horse apples!
The working classes are so easy to divide. The political elite just need to provide the pitchforks and a tabloid press and away we go…not all of us obviously, but you get my drift. lol.
You are right about the division thing. How many of our clients who fail WCAs complain that they are being picked on unfairly and that the DWP should go after billy down the street as “there’s nowt wrong with him”
here’s a link to Tesco’s job advert for night shift in East Anglia with wage of JSA + expenses -
however, BBC reports that Tesco’s has now said the advert was a ‘mistake’ caused by Jobcentre Plus IT error -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-17066420
DWP tweeted about it yesterday - saying that advert was placed in error but removed from website last week and, in later tweet, that it was ‘actually guaranteed job interview as part of help for unemployed’ -