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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/672/12107
From The Socialist newspaper, 25 May 2011
Slave labour schemes must be resisted
Graham O'Reilly
The supposed training opportunities the government is offering young people are nothing more than a back door way of moving people from the unemployment figures into unskilled work whilst not having to spend any money.
An example of this happened recently in Boots in Southampton, where the manager has agreed to take two people on for work experience. They will receive basic Jobseeker's Allowance of around £45 a week and work a 38 hour week for the next three months, which is equivalent to £1.20 an hour.
When challenged by a member of staff, who is a member of the Socialist Party and Youth Fight for Jobs, about the fact that this will take work away from the fully employed staff, the manager became abusive, accusing him of stirring up trouble.
The manager called him an extremist who has no idea about how the world works and said he was not to talk to other members of staff about his ideas as he was frightening them with his lies.
He also said the people doing the work experience should be grateful for the opportunity.
Over the next seven years between £3 billion and £5 billion of government money will be paid to various organisations to help tackle 'long term benefit dependency'.
This money is to come from the benefit 'savings' made from people getting back to work. The government trumpeted these organisations as belonging to the voluntary sector.
However of the 18 organisations only two are from the voluntary sector, the rest are private companies. But there is no public accountability within the voluntary or the private sector. This is nothing short of the wholesale privatisation of the unemployed.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
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In The Socialist 25 May 2011:
What we think
Weak and unpopular coalition can be defeated
Anti-cuts campaigning
National shop stewards conference - Unite to stop the cuts
As the cost of living soars...: 'We are going to fight back'!
Why Liverpool needs a needs budget
Showing an alternative to cuts in Dorset
Defending the NHS
NHS demo in London needs to be a step towards united national strike action
Unison leaders failing to adopt the demands of health workers
Challenging Tories' plans to kill our health service
Socialist Party workplace news
PCS conference: developing strategies for struggle
UCU facing battles on all fronts
Southampton city council workers strike
Three day strike to stop redundancies at Sheffield College
Firefighters discuss strategy to fight cuts
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
"We are London Met Uni, not EasyMet"
Atos Origin - profiting from pain
'Slutwalk' protests: Women reject sexism
Slave labour schemes must be resisted
Reviews and comments
Leadership failed print workers in vital battle
Review: The street that cut everything
Socialist Party news and analysis
McNulty's railway report: not 'value for money'!
Care homes privatisation hits the elderly
International socialist news and analysis
Eyewitness report: Mass youth protests in Spain
Greece: Resist bosses' agenda and the far right
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