Another blow for workfare

The government’s hated workfare schemes suffered another setback recently when a judge ruled that the names of those taking part must be made public.

More than a year earlier, a Freedom of Information request had been made to find out which companies and charities are involved in having unemployed people work for them without pay, only receiving their usual unemployment benefit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had claimed that participating organisations would be seriously financially damaged by the information being made public because of the unpopularity of the schemes. Too right when they’re making a profit from the work of unemployed people without paying a penny!

This legal victory against the government follows another earlier in the year which ruled that the DWP had not provided adequate information to those taking part in the schemes. The Con-Dems (facilitated by a pathetic abstention from Labour) quickly avoided paying compensation by changing the law!

The latest figures also show that while big business makes a killing, workfare fails utterly to succeed in its stated aim – getting the unemployed into work.

In Hull North, where there are about 55 jobseekers chasing every job, government figures from November show that only 0.7% of the people referred to the Work Programme found jobs that lasted six months.

Campaign

This ruling is an opportunity to step up the campaign against workfare. Youth Fight for Jobs was at the forefront of the protests against businesses taking part last year which forced a partial victory on one of the schemes and led to several companies pulling out.

Millions of people are wasting their skills and interests in unemployment. We’ve been told we’re in a ‘jobs recovery’ but the latest figures show that was short-lived and unemployment is already on the way back up.

Millions are ‘underemployed’ – working for the minimum wage, on zero-hour contracts for bullying bosses.

And then to top it all off, the government and the bosses want to force the unemployed to work as the underemployed – but for no money! We demand major investment in a programme of socially useful, paid jobs, with decent conditions and trade union rights for all.

Join Youth Fight for Jobs’ Sick Of Your Boss week of action starting 8 July.
See www.youthfightforjobs.com