Posted: March 18th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Call to action | 17 Comments »
![Salvation Army International and UK HQs were paid a surprise visit to launch the week of action. [Photo: Sinister Pics]](http://www.boycottworkfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/salv-army-photo-300x272.jpg)
Salvation Army International and UK HQs were paid a surprise visit to launch the week of action. [Photo: Sinister Pics]
The Salvation Army released an astonishing statement recently which seems to suggest they will force people on sickness or disability benefits into unpaid work.
In a series of answers to questions asked on social media, the charity are unrepentant about their use of workfare. Responding to a question asking how they “can morally take sick and disabled people and force them to work?” the charity reply that they believe in “emancipation through employment” – a chillingly familiar phrase.
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Posted: March 18th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Call to action | 9 Comments »
Tomorrow IDS wants to pass a law to rewrite history and rob £130 million in sanctions repayments. (Photo: UK parliament / flickr)
Take action now.
In one of his most disgusting manoeuvres yet, last week Iain Duncan Smith laid legislation to rewrite history to stop the 225,000 people who were sanctioned on his unlawful workfare schemes being able to reclaim what they are due.
To make matters worse, the bill is being rushed through parliament; the second reading; committee stage; and third reading are all scheduled for one day: this Tuesday.
It seems likely that Liberal Democrat MPs will line up alongside their tory masters to support this attack on the rule of law. This despite the fact that many of them (including their deputy leader Simon Hughes) opposed workfare when in opposition.
As if this wasn’t outrageous enough, Labour have indicated that they will support the Bill. Liam Byrne was evasive when confronted by campaigners at the weekend on how they will vote, but was candid in parliament last week, telling Iain Duncan Smith:
“Both he and I believe that sanctions are vital to give back-to-work programmes their bite… That mistake [the regulations were not in line with the law] puts in jeopardy about £100 million of sanctions that have been issued… We will support wise and sensible legislation that will fix the problem.”
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Posted: March 15th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Info on schemes | 18 Comments »
Yesterday the Government introduced a new workfare bill to retroactively change workfare legislation judged unlawful by the High Court, so that it has always complied with the court ruling, even though for two years it did not. Its aim? To avoid paying back the JSA money it unlawfully stopped when people were ‘sanctioned’ on its workfare schemes. That the government would try to avoid paying was expected. What no one expected was how it plans to do so.
In its arguments to justify withholding social security people are due – an average of about £500 per person, £130 million pounds in total – the DWP has stated that:
“If the Department cannot make these retrospective changes, then further reductions in benefits might be required in order to find the money to repay the sanctions”
In short, if the government is made to obey the high court’s ruling, it will inflict collective punishment on those who can least afford it by finding £130 million pounds more in new cuts from the welfare
budget. Shockingly this is supported by Labour. Yet again the poorest will be made to pay for the mistakes of the powerful.
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Posted: March 14th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Call to action, Charities | 5 Comments »
YMCA: still backing workfare despite all the evidence (Photo: Joelsp/Flickr)
YMCA released
a new statement on Friday defending their use of forced unpaid workers, and ignoring the fact
they are responsible for pushing people into destitution and possible homelessness through sanctions which can last up to three years. Yesterday a rolling online picket was called to persuade them to join the list of charities who will no longer have anything to do with workfare. Help keep up the pressure today!
YMCA England are on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/THEYMCA
Their President, Bishop John Sentamu, has spoken out against workfare in the past. Contact him on twitter
or the charity direct
Phone them on 020 7186 9500 or their shops hotline on 0845 601 0728.
Email: shop@ymca.org.uk or enquiries@ymca.org.uk
They have a youtube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ymcaengland
To find contact details of your nearest YMCA shop visit: http://www.ymca.org.uk/find/ymcashops
Contact YMCA International to tell the world what this organisation is doing in their name to the poorest and already destitute in the UK @ymcaint or on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ymcas
YMCA have a range of fundraising arms including a Fitness Training company on twitter @ymcafit and facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ymcafit
They also run a corporate conference centre called Dunford House 01730 812381 sale@dunfordhouse.org.uk http://www.facebook.com/dunfordhouse
Join the Week of Action Against Workfare beginning on March 18th.
Please note: Whilst it’s well worth trying to speak to a manager or senior individual if possible please bear in mind most people taking calls/emails will be low paid retail/admin staff and could even be on workfare themselves. Be aware that is an offence to make telephone calls or send communications which are threatening, indecent or offensive.
Posted: March 12th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Call to action, Charities | 14 Comments »
YMCA: still backing workfare despite all the evidence (Photo: Joelsp/Flickr)
YMCA England have come out fighting in the name of workfare with
a new statement defending their use of forced unpaid workers on the Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) scheme. This follows
their slur aimed at anti-workfare campaigners in which they claimed that just a handful of people are opposed to workfare.
Whilst most ethical charities have pulled out or tried to distance themselves from workfare, the YMCA, along with the Salvation Army have happily adopted roles as Iain Duncan Smith’s cheerleaders for unpaid work.
This is despite the YMCA’s own president, the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu, saying last year:
“By all means, pay companies incentives to employ young people, but do not take advantage of the vulnerable by using them as free labour.”
The YMCA are justifying their use of forced unpaid workers by claiming that some workfare participants have had a good experience with the charity and they have heard of ‘several’ cases where someone even got a job after attending the scheme.
What they are choosing to ignore is the brutal reality for those sanctioned. Those who refuse forced labour at the YMCA are plunged into immediate poverty with benefits stopped, sometimes for up to three years. Whilst they continue their involvement in this scheme, YMCA England are directly culpable for the poverty, desperation and homelessness of those who refuse to, or are unable to serve as free workers in YMCA charity shops. It is often those who face the greatest difficulties, people who may have a mental health condition, or face other difficulties such as homelessness or substance misuse problems, who find themselves sanctioned for being unable to attend workfare – the very people the YMCA would claim to support.
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Posted: March 11th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Call to action, Info on schemes | 6 Comments »
The DWP and workfare thinktank Policy Exchange are seeking ideas on how to extend workfare and conditionality to people who are in work…
According to Lord Freud, the banker-turned-welfare-minister: “The fact that those in work will come under the ambit of the JobCentre Plus for the first time as a result of universal credit gives the government radical new opportunities.”
Having learned their lessons from New Labour in the spin of framing retrogressive steps as ‘radical’, the ConDems aren’t content with their efforts to grind down unemployed and disabled people. They now want to extend workfare and ‘conditionality’ – let’s call it profiteering, time-wasting, potentially life-sapping harassment – to working claimants when Universal Credit kicks in. However, the government is well aware that the usual divisive rhetoric about benefits robbing ‘the taxpayer’ will be more difficult to direct against people who are already working and paying taxes.
Therefore, the DWP and Policy Exchange are both asking for suggestions on how to widen the range of their nets to self-employed, part-time and low-paid workers. In a document with the catchy title of “Extending labour market interventions to in-work claimants – call for ideas”, the DWP requests feedback from “employers, behavioural economists, social psychologists, think tanks, welfare to work providers, academics, charities, application designers and those at the sharp end of delivering existing services”. Of course, this call-out doesn’t include those at ‘the sharp end’ of DWP schemes.
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Posted: March 7th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Charities, Info on schemes | 17 Comments »
Barnardo’s helped the government launch its workfare for young people. [Photo: Howard Lake/flickr]
Debenhams tell us that the workfare scheme they are involved in is “purely voluntary and in no way linked to the receipt of benefits”. We hear “Barnardo’s does not take part in mandatory work activity. Our position is that we are against the principle of benefits sanctions, having successfully lobbied the government last year to drop them for young people taking part in the work experience programme.” * One thing needs to be clear: the Work Experience scheme they refer to is not free of sanctions. It is workfare.
Last year after a huge public response to workfare, the government removed some of the sanctions from ‘Work Experience’, which is one of numerous workfare schemes. However, the idea that since then the Work Experience scheme has been purely voluntary is at best wrong, and perhaps deliberately misleading.
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Posted: March 6th, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Action report, Charities | 17 Comments »
![The Red Cross suspended workfare after just a few people got in touch! What you are doing works :) [Photo: Andy Wilkes]](http://www.boycottworkfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/red-cross-andy-wilkes-300x196.jpg)
The Red Cross suspended workfare after just a few people got in touch! What you are doing works! [Photo: Andy Wilkes]
As 2012 came to a close we had reports of people being sent for 4 weeks workfare on the Mandatory Work Activity scheme (MWA) at British Red Cross. This was probably to fill the void left by the
spate of charities that pulled out in early December when workfare was rolled out for people on disability benefit.
Whereas the British Heart Foundation required a full year of online pressure, pickets and occupations of their stores to finally begin “moving away” from workfare, all the Red Cross required was a letter from a customer who had witnessed workfare in her local store. The Red Cross replied:
“I am sorry that the atmosphere in your local Red Cross shop has been unhappy of late and that there have been ‘volunteers’ who were finding it difficult to cope…
“In line with our fundamental principles our aim has always been to support vulnerable people in crisis and as such we no longer feel that it is appropriate to participate in a programme where sanctions might be applied that could result in an individual losing their benefits.”
This shows holding workfare users to account in any way you can does help bring down workfare! Join events in the week of action on 18-24 March, start your own or join the online protests that week and let Sally Army, YMCA, TCV and all the other workfare users know that “if you exploit us we will shut you down”!
Posted: March 5th, 2013 | Author: boycottworkfare | Filed under: Charities | Tags: YMCA | 8 Comments »
The YMCA have published this report from their Policy and Research department which was written around the end of January. The report contained a page on their participation in workfare, and we have sent them this letter in response to some of the points they raised.
Dear Jason and Mary,
We read your Policy And Research Update document (2013 issue 2) which talked about your involvement in workfare with interest and would like to respond to some of the points raised in the document.
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Posted: March 3rd, 2013 | Author: editor | Filed under: Action report | 20 Comments »
This is the banner one person has put together for the week of action. What are you planning?
“After the excellent court result of Public Interest Lawyers on Tuesday the 12th of February for Cait Reilly and Jamieson Wilson (and let’s face it, for all of us), I was elated. I looked at this result and thought “How can I use this?”
By Thursday the 14th I had the answer. Serve them a notice!
This is the simplest one person action I can think of, no organising a mob to back you up, no great big banners to unfurl. Just a quick in and out!
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![Salvation Army International and UK HQs were paid a surprise visit to launch the week of action. [Photo: Sinister Pics]](http://www.boycottworkfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/salv-army-photo.jpg)
![The Red Cross suspended workfare after just a few people got in touch! What you are doing works :) [Photo: Andy Wilkes]](http://www.boycottworkfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/red-cross-andy-wilkes.jpg)
