On Mayday we are calling on all those fighting back against the government's austerity plans to join us in taking direct action against companies participating in the workfare schemes. Instead of standing around and listening to speeches at the end of the TUC march we will be heading straight into the West end to regroup and start taking action.
END UNPAID WORK
Workfare is a range of government schemes that make people on benefits work for their dole. The government and some in the media present it as a way of encouraging people back into work by gaining experience. This ignores two things – first, there are not enough jobs available for those who want them; and second, workfare placements themselves are taking jobs away from paid workers.
The companies using workfare all make large profits. The work being done would need to be done anyway. By getting forced labour to do it for free, the companies' profits will grow. Their regular workers are often on low pay themselves and find their overtime cut and pay held back because of the forced labour schemes.
Bosses prefer not having to pay for workers. Instead, we are all paying to subsidise their profits. Protests have already forced some to pull out of the scheme. Let's make it all of them.
Mayday became International Workers Day because of the anarchists killed by the US state during the struggle for the eight-hour working day. Now we are struggling to ensure that workers get paid and those out of work or unable to work are not forced to work for their benefits.
We will be releasing a map of companies participating in the scheme over the next few weeks. So when the march has finished, instead of standing around to listen to the likes of Tony Benn bore on, head into the West end and start to target the companies benefiting from forced labour!
South London Solidarity Federation
North London Solidarity Federation
The companies using workfare all make large profits. The work being done would need to be done anyway. By getting forced labour to do it for free, the companies' profits will grow. Their regular workers are often on low pay themselves and find their overtime cut and pay held back because of the forced labour schemes.
Bosses prefer not having to pay for workers. Instead, we are all paying to subsidise their profits. Protests have already forced some to pull out of the scheme. Let's make it all of them.
Mayday became International Workers Day because of the anarchists killed by the US state during the struggle for the eight-hour working day. Now we are struggling to ensure that workers get paid and those out of work or unable to work are not forced to work for their benefits.
We will be releasing a map of companies participating in the scheme over the next few weeks. So when the march has finished, instead of standing around to listen to the likes of Tony Benn bore on, head into the West end and start to target the companies benefiting from forced labour!
South London Solidarity Federation
North London Solidarity Federation
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The state can't solve the problems; the state is the problem!
09.04.2012 19:02
That is the real reason for "work fare", or should it be called "work unfair". While they are working in your workplace, unpaid, they probably aren't making much money, if any at all, for your firm, but they are learning your job and threatening your livelihood, just to keep you asking for a constant value of wages for your efforts.
The government likes to keep people on benefits, i.e. pay them to be redundant, and ready to threaten the jobs of low paid workers, just to prevent wage inflation keeping up with government money printing. And this is how the unemployed are helping the government to subjugate the lower paid workers. Unemployment isn't a failing of capitalism, it is created by the state, for a reason.
The people who should really be kicking off about "work unfair" are the people in the low paid jobs rather than the unemployed. And if the unemployed really don't want to support the system, best get out of it alltogether, and create a job themselves in the illegal untaxed "black market".
The state can't solve the problems; the state is the problem!
anarchist
Spot play with ball.
11.04.2012 12:16
Aha,
That's the one.
Many thanks for posting that...and many thanks for taking the time to write well too.
This is language those employed in large companies implicitly understand as second nature.
Spot
Deeper
12.04.2012 11:42
A