Workfare the blight of Britain

The Tories plans are for mass workfare in affect lowering the minimum wage to a new level that is below poverty wages. Working for your benefits is the new workhouse I’d say. So many people who are out of work will experience workfare at some point if they cannot find a job. George Osborne's latest idea to be presented at Tory party conference this week which his latest attacks on the poorest in society and the unemployed. His latest idea is to force everyone who is looking for a job to attend the job centre every day in a working week to sign on. This is similar to a punishment for not having a job. Anyone can lose their job through all sorts of reasons and could turn from a hard worker to being on the doll at the turn of the day. Workfare is horrible and very degrading for anyone having to work for your benefits becomes working for low pay not seen for a long long while. Workfare could be the new low pay society in this country where labour costs are driven down to a new level. This is all in order to make the UK competitive again on the world market apparently the global race for capital to become profitable once again. Take the Tories latest idea that the unemployed which are all stereotyped to be lazy work shy scroungers of course are to pick litter for their benefits. Those out working will maybe think oh good they shouldn’t be getting something for nothing as George Osborne would most probably agree. Yet cleaning litter is already someone’s job. Not a very well paid one granted but by paying someone’s benefits to pick litter is taking someone’s job further division even more. Can you start to see yet where this is all going? It is clear to me that workfare on a mass scale will likely become the norm if capital in Britain gets its way. Fighting back is a must but so many are on the verge and finding getting by incredibly hard as it is. The threat of losing their benefits which are at a low level is something many do not wish to go through with so does end up going along with it. I think this is where solidarity must come in. Those of us who are in jobs should in my view be looking to set up hardship funds for those who are possibly looking to boycott workfare to help out those who will lose their benefits as a result. I am not sure how this could work but this is certainly something I think could help if we are going to look to take on workfare with mass action. Making people aware of what workfare is and who is still involved in the scheme is key. The actions taken by boycott workfare for example calling out companies and charities involved in the scheme is a good way of targeting them but clearly bigger action is needed to really take it on. Another question is will we see workfare workers in the public sector such as the fire service, police etc? Could we see this? It’s possible I guess with the help of the private sector no doubt. This is the route we are heading unless we do something about it. This post is simply highlighting my fears and thoughts of workfare and where we are heading. I would be interested and happy to cover anyone who has been on workfare and their stories keeping your identity hidden if you so wish.

Effects of vicious bedroom tax worst than first thought, axe the tax!

As the bedroom tax’s effects grow and grow like an out of control beast the effects are appalling. Worse than many first thought. The National Housing Federation said today that the effects of the bedroom tax are far worse than even it expected. The group said rent arrears have soared and large properties are lying vacant as people refuse to move in. The cruel tax sees housing benefits cut if homes are deemed "under-occupied" despite a perilous shortage of smaller council properties for people to move into. "The impact is at least as bad as we had anticipated, in many respects even worse," federation chief executive David Orr told the BBC. "What we've seen are really bad effects on individuals, people whose lives have been turned upside down, who are very frightened about the future." But out-of-touch Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith insisted that cash-grabbing policy had been a success. The millionaire minister said it showed what a mess Labour had left the benefits system in. He arrogantly told his opposite number Liam Byrne that Labour should either commit to reversing the policy or "stop moaning about it." The shadow work and pensions secretary said Mr Duncan Smith must be "living on a different planet," pointing out that rent arrears had soared by 300 per cent and there were empty houses across Britain. Housing association chiefs agreed. Teeside's Coast and Country Housing boss Iain Sim said: "The numbers of empty homes we've got to let are increasing significantly. "People are now telling us that because of bedroom tax, they can no longer afford to move into the bigger family homes, and as a consequence of that we're getting fewer lettings and more empty houses." Clearly the labour party won’t defend you from this vicious cruel tax which is so anti poor it is dripping with class contempt from the tories. Labour cannot pledge to scrap this tax and thus should not receive our support. If labour councils refuse to pledge not to evict those who have fallen into arrears then I believe that people should stand against them as TUSC and make it clear we will take you on in your own back yard and threaten your seat if you don’t back down. Labour councillors who are more often than not career driven will have to respond when their career is under threat. A serious campaign to protect tenants is needed similar to the bailiff busting army during the poll tax. Phone trees are needed to make sure vicious councils be them Tory or labour tries to evict people for inability to pay this tax. We need to make this tax unworkable, slow the whole process down disrupt it anyway we can and try and force this tax to be scrapped. If labour won’t then TUSC will pledge to scrap the bedroom tax and not evict anyone from their homes. This should be basic working class solidarity if labour won’t oppose it then we will oppose labour.