There?s two changes to the welfare system you should know about which are coming up. ---
First, there?s an extension to the workfare program being introduced in August called
?Traineeships?. This is supposed to replace the existing programs of work experience for
unemployed 16-19 year olds, with plans to expand it to 24 year olds, and as we?ve come to
expect, it?s all about unpaid labour. As with all workfare schemes, the point is to
provide free labour to businesses, which in turn undercuts the security and wages of those
who do actually have real paying jobs. It is simply an attack on working-class living
standards. To make matters worse for the young ?uns, the length of the scheme is being
extended from 8 weeks up to 6 months, including up to 5 months unpaid graft at a work
placement.
And is there a job at the end of it? Well, there?s a guaranteed interview, which might get
you an apprenticeship, on the princely wage of ?2.65 an hour. Or it might just be an
opportunity for them to tell you to fuck off ? but in a constructive way, obviously.
The second change is the launching of Universal Credit in October. The aim here is to
combine all existing benefits in a single scheme. The sting in the tail which is going to
give a nasty shock to a hell of lot of people (about 1.1 million in fact) is that those
working less than 35 hours a week while claiming Working Tax Credit or Housing Benefit
will be subject to mandatory job search activity which is supposed to encourage them to
work more hours. Basically, they?re in for all of the joys of being treated like
unemployed scum, scrabbling about for non-existent jobs. (At the time of writing there are
382,607 jobs listed on the Universal Jobmatch system, and upwards of 2.5 million
unemployed. Once Universal Credit is launched, that?ll instantly mean a further 1.1
million people in the jobs market, effectively bringing the ?official? unemployed figures
up to 3.6 million. Still, things can only get better, right?)
Resistance to workfare is still ongoing, with numerous charities and businesses pulling
out after having pickets turn up outside their premises, accusing them of profiting from
forced labour. In the North-East, NEA have supported comrades from the Solidarity
Federation in pickets of Holland & Barrett and Poundland. The workfare system can be
stopped, by hitting the greedy bastards where it hurts: their profit margins. Pickets and
consumer boycotts of businesses using workfare labour is one prong, what?s needed is
supporting action from trade unions (needless to say, the spread of forced, unpaid labour
is a threat to their existence too).
Union members need to put pressure on their branches to refuse to work alongside workfare
labour. It?d be nice if PCS members at the DWP refused to implement these rotten policies too.
It really is a case of ?an injury to one is an injury to all? here, and we need to respond
as a class. You might think you?ve got a secure job and it won?t effect you: don?t count
on it.
www.boycottworkfare.org/
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» (en) Britain, North-East Anarchist Nee-Nar! #4 - Welfare Update