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psych
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Age: 35
Posts: 2665
Location: w london
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 Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 5:16 pm Post subject: boycott workfare (UK) |
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http://www.boycottworkfare.org/
Everyone in the UK who isnt a scab, sociopath or venal social elite-type should read this.
Ive stopped going to sainsburys as of today, and ill email them and explain why.
| Quote: | ' I personally know a fifty-six year old man who worked at Tesco for 40 hrs a week for 6 weeks for no pay. He said he was given the worst job, constantly filling freezers in the hope he would be taken on. After the 6 weeks were up the manager asked him if he would like to stay on for some extra weeks, my friend asked "with pay"? The manager said why would he pay him when he can pick the phone up and get more unemployed people who have to work for nothing of face sanctions meaning loss of ALL benefits for up to three years!
My friend wasn't alone, he was part of twelve extra staff taken on to cover the xmas rush, no one was given a job at the end of the xmas period.
He told me they had all worked really hard and were gutted they were abused in such a way. The worst was one day he had to throw out lots of food one day over the use by date. He asked the manager if he could take some home as he was having to eat more due to being active all day. The manager refused saying if he gave him free food he wouldn't come through the front door and buy it!
I swear I will never shop at Tesco ever again.' |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2012/feb/07/work-programme-hidden-jobs-video |
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ruveyn
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Age: 76
Posts: 29709
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:23 pm Post subject: Re: boycott workfare (UK) |
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| psych wrote: | http://www.boycottworkfare.org/
Everyone in the UK who isnt a scab, sociopath or venal social elite-type should read this.
Ive stopped going to sainsburys as of today, and ill email them and explain why.
| Quote: | ' I personally know a fifty-six year old man who worked at Tesco for 40 hrs a week for 6 weeks for no pay. He said he was given the worst job, constantly filling freezers in the hope he would be taken on. After the 6 weeks were up the manager asked him if he would like to stay on for some extra weeks, my friend asked "with pay"? The manager said why would he pay him when he can pick the phone up and get more unemployed people who have to work for nothing of face sanctions meaning loss of ALL benefits for up to three years!
My friend wasn't alone, he was part of twelve extra staff taken on to cover the xmas rush, no one was given a job at the end of the xmas period.
He told me they had all worked really hard and were gutted they were abused in such a way. The worst was one day he had to throw out lots of food one day over the use by date. He asked the manager if he could take some home as he was having to eat more due to being active all day. The manager refused saying if he gave him free food he wouldn't come through the front door and buy it!
I swear I will never shop at Tesco ever again.' |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2012/feb/07/work-programme-hidden-jobs-video |
Excuse me for being an uninformed United Statesean. What kind of laws do you have that force people to work for no wage? I just do not understand. Could you explain it? Thank you.
ruveyn |
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DC
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 16, 2011
Posts: 1477
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: boycott workfare (UK) |
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| ruveyn wrote: |
Excuse me for being an uninformed United Statesean. What kind of laws do you have that force people to work for no wage? I just do not understand. Could you explain it? Thank you.
ruveyn |
Ever since the last election anyone claiming unemployment benefit has to undertake mandatory work experience.
If you refuse the government will blacklist you from receiving any form of benefits for six months. The work experience is fulltime, unpaid and you don't get to pick and choose. Refusal means no food & no roof over your head. You also do not get the cost of travel to work refunded.
The work experience is undertaken with large corporations many of whom have recently been posting record profits.
And yes, the UK government currently has a whole load of legal challenges against it for introducing blatant slavery. |
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ruveyn
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Age: 76
Posts: 29709
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:58 pm Post subject: Re: boycott workfare (UK) |
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| DC wrote: |
Ever since the last election anyone claiming unemployment benefit has to undertake mandatory work experience.
If you refuse the government will blacklist you from receiving any form of benefits for six months. The work experience is fulltime, unpaid and you don't get to pick and choose. Refusal means no food & no roof over your head. You also do not get the cost of travel to work refunded.
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If you guys are working for no pay, how do you buy your food and lodging? You must be getting some support from somewhere.
And what about people who have already had jobs but have been laid off. Why do they need "work experience"?
I am having trouble following this.
ruveyn |
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Jacoby
Phoenix
Joined: Dec 11, 2007
Posts: 4102
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Well work experience is certainly something good to have. I'm guessing the "benefits" are the pay? |
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abacacus
Rock 'N Roll Outlaw
Joined: Apr 16, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 3350
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Jacoby wrote: | | Well work experience is certainly something good to have. I'm guessing the "benefits" are the pay? |
My guess as well.
But, still wrong in my opinion.... the government shouldn't be paying them to work for a corporation.
_________________
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We'll not rest until the purge is complete
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DC
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 16, 2011
Posts: 1477
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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The benefits that a person receives work out as slightly under a quarter of the legal minimum wage.
In addition to this if a person is employed working for minimum wage they are automatically entitled to working tax credits, a kind of negative income tax that would give them several thousand pounds a year more on top of their wage.
If you are on workfare you are not entitled to working tax credits.
There are currently one million people (1.5%) of the population on workfare many are people who have worked for decades or have just finished university. Capable people that do not need any work experience, they need jobs.
The government doesn't seem concerned about the slight problem of there being no incentive to create new jobs if you have access to a million slaves for free.
If you are having trouble understanding this you need a little bit of background information on the UK.
For the last decade the press has systematically upped hysteria about 'scroungers' the unemployed and the disabled at the same time as the government operated a complete open door immigration policy. We have a new phrase - chavscum to describe people who used to be called working class and a particular nasty old phrase has come back into fashion 'useless eaters', that one was a favourite of the Nazi propaganda machine when seeking justification to exterminate people.
To cope with the immigration and also the arbitrary government target of getting 50% of school leavers to go to university, funding for further education was diverted to pay for university and the massive expansion of English as a Second Language courses that were offered free to immigrants. The ESOL department at my local college went from a staff of 4 to a staff of 70. Nope not exaggerating, I wish I was. So British born students could not get any non degree qualifications like plumbing or electrician qualifications because the waiting lists on the courses shot up to 4-5 years on the courses that hadn't been cut to provide immigrants with free English lessons.
The net result is that we actually have people with doctorates working in our fields to pick potatoes, while large amounts of our youth have no qualifications and no future while employers openly refuse to employ the feckless, idle, lazy, work-shy, thieving, chavscum that were born in this country and instead operate jobs fairs in Eastern Europe because they can import labour literally by the truck load who can be exploited easily. Meanwhile many disabled people will not leave their homes alone because attacks on disabled people have gone up so much. People in wheelchairs won't go into pubs in the evening because they will definitely be verbally abused and quite often physically attacked.
Where does workfare fit in?
Well the political party that has been apoplectic in it's tirades about the chavscum and useless eaters is now in power and will do every it can for ideological reasons to punish the poor at every opportunity.
So to recap:
Banking crisis causes unemployment to sky rocket.
Government carries out hate campaign against the poor.
The poor become slaves.
Unemployment figures go down.
The bankers get record bonuses and the corporations get record profits from the free forced labour.
Arbeit Macht Frei. |
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psych
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Age: 35
Posts: 2665
Location: w london
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:14 pm Post subject: Re: boycott workfare (UK) |
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| ruveyn wrote: |
If you guys are working for no pay, how do you buy your food and lodging? You must be getting some support from somewhere. |
A person on JSA(dole, unemployment benefit) or ESA(dole for disabled) will often recieve, in addition, housing benefit towards their lodgings.
JSA is about £53 or £65 pw depending on your age. ESA is higher, but extremely hard to qualify for.
So that has to cover everything except rent and council tax.
These are the 'benefits' we talk of, i think you know them as social security payments.
the poverty line is defined as about £110 pw after housing costs.
| Quote: | And what about people who have already had jobs but have been laid off. Why do they need "work experience"?
I am having trouble following this.
ruveyn |
'work experience' is a euphemism, its bare-faced exploitation. I wouldnt be surprised if there are people who have been laid off, who are now doing their old jobs for free.
edit: good post DC! |
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psych
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 23, 2005
Age: 35
Posts: 2665
Location: w london
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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| another aspect that i think gets overlooked is giving such a boost to the chosen corporations will help to wipe out small independant businesses who get turned down for the scheme. or for that matter, any business with a sense of social responsibility. |
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abacacus
Rock 'N Roll Outlaw
Joined: Apr 16, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 3350
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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I wasn't arguing for it in any sense.
It's slavery with a new name. Any politician who voted for such a thing deserves a hard labour prison term, 15 years.
_________________
A shot gun blast into the face of deceit
You'll gain your just reward.
We'll not rest until the purge is complete
You will reap what you've sown. |
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puddingmouse
exclamation mark!
Joined: Apr 25, 2010
Age: 26
Posts: 7347
Location: Cottonopolis
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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I generally agree with DC.
Just a few points, though. Before the expansion of ESOL, one of the most common complaints was that immigrants no speak the English. You do have to pay for ESOL now and there are in fact waiting lists for most places on courses. I used to teach free Adult Literacy classes aimed at aformentioned 'chavscum' and people who were old and have no quals, but I ended up teaching a lot of immigrants because they couldn't get on an ESOL course.
I think it's a bit of a red herring to blame immigrants for this problem so much. Most of the Eastern European migrants have gone back now that our economy is boobs up. We do have an immigration 'problem' but that is mainly caused by non-EU nationals bringing (non-English speaking spouses over from abroad and then having lots of kids. That's a cultural problem and there isn't much we can do about it.
The government has declared war on the poor and the further education sector is dire. I actually think the skills gap and the decline of industry in our country are the main culprits. The business culture in our country is also whack. I went into my profession in order to help people upskill but found out that it was bs and left. I won't go into detail about why FE and Adult Ed in this country are BS, because that's another thread.
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Danimal
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jun 16, 2011
Age: 48
Posts: 159
Location: West Central Indiana
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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Do supermarkets in the UK really throw outdated food in the trash?
I know that large supermarkets here donate such food to the Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis or to local food banks.
I would like to visit the UK someday, but if they are attacking disabled people, I may revisit Germany. |
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puddingmouse
exclamation mark!
Joined: Apr 25, 2010
Age: 26
Posts: 7347
Location: Cottonopolis
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| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Danimal wrote: | Do supermarkets in the UK really throw outdated food in the trash?
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Yes * over 9000. That's where 'freegans' come from.
Disabled people do get attacked in the UK in working class areas. You'll generally be safe if you stay out of those areas, You get this phenomena of bored kids who live in poor areas who attack disabled people because it's something to do and because they are evil little scumbags. It can be really horrific and there have been a few cases of disabled people either being killed or killing themselves because of the abuse.
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ruveyn
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Age: 76
Posts: 29709
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:30 am Post subject: |
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| DC wrote: | The benefits that a person receives work out as slightly under a quarter of the legal minimum wage.
In addition to this if a person is employed working for minimum wage they are automatically entitled to working tax credits, a kind of negative income tax that would give them several thousand pounds a year more on top of their wage.
If you are on workfare you are not entitled to working tax credits.
There are currently one million people (1.5%) of the population on workfare many are people who have worked for decades or have just finished university. Capable people that do not need any work experience, they need jobs.
The government doesn't seem concerned about the slight problem of there being no incentive to create new jobs if you have access to a million slaves for free.
If you are having trouble understanding this you need a little bit of background information on the UK.
For the last decade the press has systematically upped hysteria about 'scroungers' the unemployed and the disabled at the same time as the government operated a complete open door immigration policy. We have a new phrase - chavscum to describe people who used to be called working class and a particular nasty old phrase has come back into fashion 'useless eaters', that one was a favourite of the Nazi propaganda machine when seeking justification to exterminate people.
To cope with the immigration and also the arbitrary government target of getting 50% of school leavers to go to university, funding for further education was diverted to pay for university and the massive expansion of English as a Second Language courses that were offered free to immigrants. The ESOL department at my local college went from a staff of 4 to a staff of 70. Nope not exaggerating, I wish I was. So British born students could not get any non degree qualifications like plumbing or electrician qualifications because the waiting lists on the courses shot up to 4-5 years on the courses that hadn't been cut to provide immigrants with free English lessons.
The net result is that we actually have people with doctorates working in our fields to pick potatoes, while large amounts of our youth have no qualifications and no future while employers openly refuse to employ the feckless, idle, lazy, work-shy, thieving, chavscum that were born in this country and instead operate jobs fairs in Eastern Europe because they can import labour literally by the truck load who can be exploited easily. Meanwhile many disabled people will not leave their homes alone because attacks on disabled people have gone up so much. People in wheelchairs won't go into pubs in the evening because they will definitely be verbally abused and quite often physically attacked.
Where does workfare fit in?
Well the political party that has been apoplectic in it's tirades about the chavscum and useless eaters is now in power and will do every it can for ideological reasons to punish the poor at every opportunity.
So to recap:
Banking crisis causes unemployment to sky rocket.
Government carries out hate campaign against the poor.
The poor become slaves.
Unemployment figures go down.
The bankers get record bonuses and the corporations get record profits from the free forced labour.
Arbeit Macht Frei. |
I had no idea to what extent Britain has fallen into Liberal neo-Fascism. This is scary. Because the U.S. is generally 20 years behind Britain but on the same blighted path. Your present is our future and it is not too far off.
I am a bit sad for this. My memories of Britain was a courageous people fighting hard against the Nazis and finally winning the victory. You Brits used to be among the Best and and Toughest and it saddens me to see that you are in a bad way.
ruveyn |
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Danimal
Snowy Owl
Joined: Jun 16, 2011
Age: 48
Posts: 159
Location: West Central Indiana
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| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:30 am Post subject: |
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I certainly hope the US is not on the same course as the UK.
I know the benefits for the unemployed here aren't generous, either. It's not unusual now to see older adults working at fast food restaurants, dollar stores, and Wal-Mart. Many factory jobs were lost here in Indiana because of the recession, so people take whatever jobs they can find.
I'm probably quite sheltered living here. The largest city is Chicago, but it's 200 miles away. Indianapolis doesn't have a big city image. I wouldn't be too worried if I was in one of the poorer neighborhoods.
Perhaps some of you in the UK would like to come live here to live. We don't enslave people. We gave that up a long time ago. |
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