(Workfare and my week) The World…according to Zola de Cwtchi 18feb12
‘Workfare and my week’ The World…according to Zola de Cwtchi
I had quite an intresting week, Cwtch last saturday, renewable energies workshop at the RBU on the sunday, Action against Workfare on friday…and lots of socialising too.
A wee bit of negativity regarding OccupyCardiff, but i wont go into that, i like them and regard them as friends and hope things get sorted out so they can get moving again in a positive direction.
So…Workfare,
As i write this. lots of people are now discussing Workfare…having been made aware of the facts, it has caught fire on the internet, on the social networking sites. Its funny, ive been discussing Workfare with some friends for a little while now…and then boom…since thursday really, the pressure on the BigBusiness has started to increase.
We went out on Friday…Albany Road, Cardiff…armed with two megaphones and a little banner, hastily written on was,
‘Is Workfare really fair on £
2.19 per hour ???’
Tesco was the first stop…we decided to stand on the corner at first, put the banner up on the wall…and i had some roughly written notes to begin with, i wasnt feeling nerves like the last time…Albany Road was quite busy, the corner we were on always had a few people waiting to cross the road both sides.
I started speaking, explained why we were there…Tesco’s involvement with the Government regarding The Workfare Programme,
‘I have no political affliciation’
I wasnt with any group, this wasnt organised as such, the usual suspects…this was me wanting to act…and with a couple of like minded friends wishing to inform the public…and they were very generous in their response,
‘Sir…would you work for £2.19 an hour? Madame…would you?’
was what i was asking, the man and lady asked would glance at the banner, raise an eyebow and shake their head, some saying nothing and walking on, some saying something like ‘its a disgrace…and quite a few stopping to give their opinion and asking for more information…
I found plenty info thanks to these friends…
http://www.boycottworkfare.org/
http://www.consent.me.uk/tag/workfare/
http://www.workprogramme.org.uk/unemployment/workfare-category-page-1.html
The Tesco security guard was a nice guy, wasnt in yer face at all, i think he could see we werent terrorists and acted accordingly thankfully. We were told the police were on their way, they turned up, asked the usual questions, told us to take banner down but someone holding it outside the front of the store was ok. They hung around for five minutes, said they were happy and left.
I cant confirm as to whether Albany Road Tesco Metro has Workfare Claimants working at that particular site, and to be fair it isnt just Tesco either, i looked down the Albany Road and thought all the major chains would be involvedsooner or later…it would make sense to employ someone for nothing…Boots, our old friend, no doubt they ar einvolved, accusations against SuperDrug still unanswered properly, tweeting a denial isnt good enough…
ALL BIGBUSINESS WILL DO WORKFARE IF THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT !!!
http://jobcentreplus.jobhits.co.uk/RETAIL-ASSISTANT-id-EAN-29944
Ive just found this above link, an example of Superdrug advertising YESTERDAY for a retail assistant position in Bristol…
Wage= JSA plus EXPENSES
Hours- 25hrs per week TBA
Albsolute madness, i also found BoycottWelfare.org stating that Tesco took on 1400 Workfare claimants, whilst during the same period they filled 300 positions…thats 1 in 5 positions filled, so the chances of getting a permanent job is roughly 20%…
And thats after 6 weeks of working for nothing, other than the £67.50 paid each week JSA …averaging £2.19 per out (based on 30 hour week).
I DONT THINK SO !!!
Next Blog…More Action at Charles St Job Centre, after Tesco on Fri 18feb12…
