[OccupySheffield] The public: winning the fight against workfare

[David Kirkham]

The public: winning the fight against workfare


We are winning our fight against workfare, exposing the rot at the heart of the ConDem government’s jobs plan.  More and more big companies have pulled out of unpaid workfare schemes; they know that the public and customers, who provide their profits, don’t want their taxes helping large corporations make huge profits with unfair slave labour.  No matter what our political views, public opinion against workfare is unstoppable.  Despite government and media lies, the public realise that workfare is not voluntary; all five workfare schemes use sanctions – taking away welfare benefits– to force people to undertake unpaid work. We know that workfare doesnot take people off benefits. We know that workfare does not create jobs. At least one MP has said that when people are forced into unpaid work, permanent workers in already low paid retails jobs are squeezed out. Tesco are making standard contracts of just four hours; WHSmith now have a zero hour contract policy. This leaves existing, low-paid workers even worse off. Unlike the government and some media, the public are not conned by false claims about workfare. We know that workfare does not work; the government’s own Social Security Advisory Committee’s report was damning about workfare.  The public know that workfare affects them; with unemployment standing at 2.67million and over 500,000 public sector job losses due over the next 5 years, we know that the government wants to use workfare to replace the gaps they've left in public services.  That’s why this Saturday, 3 March at 1pm, people will meet at Devonshire Green in the heart of Sheffield, Nick Clegg’s constituency city. We will be joining thousands of others across the country, persuading more companies to pull out of unfair, unpaid labour schemes. The fair minded majority of the UK will stop workfare.
 




 		 	   		   		 	   		   		 	   		  
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