It has been a very interesting week on the welfare front. More and more organisations and companies are pulling out of the government’s flagship Workfare scheme. Tesco took heavy flak after advertising a nightshift position giving the wage as ‘JSA + Expenses…’ And rightly so, JSA is not and cannot be considered a wage. Then Grayling and IDS came out on the (very) offensive labelling those of us who objected to what is clearly exploitation as ‘Anti-Capitalist Extremists’ and ‘Job snobs’. Deary me. What they have willfully ignored and painted as extremism and snobbery is a simple desire for fair play, which is now being backed by an increasing amount of people in this country who are begining to realise what is going on, and that what is going on is deeply wrong. Work experience is of course a good thing, but it should not be done through coercion and threat of benefits being stopped. It should also be paid. There it is, it’s that simple, pay people for their time and labour, don’t threaten them to work for free or else. That ain’t on, and that’s why more and more companies are pulling out leaving you, Mr Grayling, and you Mr Smith, looking like the prize plonkers you are. You cannot have it all your own way. You cannot make people work for nothing, for the profit of large multinational corporations, paid for by the tax payer at the expense of their exsiting employees, and effectively undermining the existing workforce, making a mockery of the notion of a minimum wage while you’re at it. There’s no snobbery, or anti-capitalist extremism, simply a recognition that exploitation is wrong, and that people should be paid for the work they do. The end. Speaking of which, goodbye Emma Harrison, no longer ‘families champion’ (whatever the hell that is) or chairperson of A4E. Allegations of fraud, coupled with the rising hostility to the Workfare programme, and pressure being applied by protesters, she has fallen on her own sword and stepped down. Shame that wasn’t a literal sword, but it’s a start. Who’s next Mr Grayling, any ideas?
As I have previously detailed, I have a pretty dim view of the work programme, having experienced first hand the pointless bollocks that was the old new deal, followed by FND or flexible new deal. I am still against the mandatory aspect of the whole scheme, and the shameful way many are treated by these so called providers, who exist soley to make a profit. However within this system exist people with a genuine desire to help the unemployed. I have grudgingly come to realise that my current advisor seems to fit into that category. My advisor has listened to me and is genuinely trying to help, without being patronising or mercenary. Of all the people who I have been shovelled in front of she has come closest to actually helping. She apears to be a human being and somehow recognises that I may just be one too. This may appear to be a u-turn on my part but the point of this blog is to detail my experience of the work programme, which must include the positive.
