A Sticky Situation For The Workfare Exploiters

This pic has been going viral on facebook,  Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.

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Boycott Workfare Go To Brighton To Smash Benefit Sanctions

Boycott Workfare joined the Civil Service Rank and File Network (CSRF) and Brighton Benefits Campaign in Brighton yesterday to lobby the PCS Union to take meaningful action on the brutal benefit sanctions currently driving hundreds of thousands of people into unbearable poverty.

The rally was called outside the annual PCS Conference, with claimants, disabled people and public sector workers joining forces to resist the endless attacks on the welfare state that PCS members are being expected to administer.

Shortly after the rally began, disabled protesters from DAN Cymru arrived with an impressive banner and launched into an impromptu direct action, blocking the busy road along the sea front.  They were soon joined by folk from Boycott Workfare and several PCS members for a noisy and angry demonstration which drew a small police response.  One lane was eventually opened to allow some traffic to pass through and the blockade stayed in place for almost an hour whilst PCS conference delegates mingled outside.

When Universal Credit is finally launched, Jobcentre staff themselves, along with many other part-time public sector workers, will face the same regime as unemployed claimants.  Sadly two motions calling for some form of workplace action against these measures were removed from the PCS Conference agenda.  An emergency motion brought before the conference yesterday to discuss sanctions was also not discussed.  The PCS leadership has dismissed calls for any form of real action to defeat benefit sanctions.

The same PCS leadership were conspicuous by their absence as the drama unfurled outside their conference yesterday, but it was reassuring to see some PCS members take to the road and support claimants and disabled people.  This, along with the efforts of the CSRF in organising the lobby, shows that amongst the rank and file at least of the PCS, there is support for practical action to support unemployed or disabled people and low paid workers.

The day also saw the first appearance of the mysterious Sanction Sabs (pictured above), follow them on twitter @SanctionSabs

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Demand Action On Benefit Sanctions at the PCS Conference

The Civil Service Rank and File Network have called a rally outside the PCS conference this week to demand action from the union on the vicious benefit sanctioning regime.

Benefit sanctions are set to become a huge issue for public sector workers when Universal Credit is fully introduced. Under the new rules even part-time workers will be expected to continually look for ‘more or better paid work’ or face in-work benefits being stopped. This will lead to Jobcentre workers being expected to police and sanction their colleagues, along with other low paid DWP workers.

It is clear how this toxic regime will not just place intolerable pressure on working relations at the DWP, but also could be used to undermine future industrial action.  DWP management will be given unprecedented power over the lives of part-time public sector workers, including the option to send people on workfare during the hours they are not in paid employment.

This is not scare-mongering. 85,000 benefit sanctions were imposed on claimants in just January of this year. Jobcentre workers who do not sanction enough claims are placed under Performance Improvement Plans. PCS members right now are being disciplined for not meeting targets to sanction benefit claims – yet DWP ministers have denied that these targets even exist.

When Universal Credit is launched PCS members at the DWP will not just have the power to sanction their lowest paid colleagues, they will face disciplinary action if they don’t do it often enough.

Astonishingly the PCS leadership have said that this sanctioning regime is not a workplace issue. Two motions calling for urgent  debate on how to take meaningful action against these measures  – and Universal Credit will begin to be rolled out nationally from October this year – have been removed from the PCS Conference agenda.

Claimants have long called for action not words from the PCS to help bring about an end to benefit sanctions. There is no doubting the sincerity of the PCS in their support of claimants and low paid workers, but leaflets and strongly worded statements are no longer enough, if they ever were.

Benefit sanctions mean child poverty, ill health and even in some cases homelessness. Lives can be shattered by decisions Jobcentre workers are forced to take under threat of losing their jobs if they refuse. Very soon some of those having their lives ripped apart by DWP created poverty will be low paid public sector workers. Only collective action from the PCS, along with active support from claimants and low paid members of other unions, will bring this regime to an end.

If the PCS leadership will not let a discussion take place inside the conference on how to fight these devastating attacks on those both in and out of work, then that conversation will have to take place in the street.  Join the lobby, supported by claimant groups including Boycott Workfare and Disabled People Against Cuts, outside the PCS Conference in Brighton on Tuesday 21st May.

Tuesday 21 May, 12.30-14.00
The Brighton Centre, King’s Rd, Brighton, BN1 2GR
Bring flags and banners

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/258534454291849/

Universal Credit and Benefit Sanctions, What Every PCS Member Urgently Needs To Know

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Defend London’s NHS – Mass Demo This Saturday May 18th

From Defend London NHS

Saturday 18 May, Assemble 12 noon

Concert Hall Approach /Belvedere Rd, Waterloo http://goo.gl/maps/Lg6MT

March to Downing Street then rally in Whitehall at 2pm

This demonstration has been called by an unprecedented coalition of London residents, medical staff, trade unions and health campaigners who have come together to raise the alarm regarding the biggest threats to A & E’s, maternity units and in-hospital care for a generation.

Closures planned across the capital include nine accident and emergency departments, a number of maternity units and thousands of hospital beds that campaigners believe will put lives at risk..

Hospitals and community services are also threatened with take-over by multi-national private companies. Hundreds of thousands of London residents have pledged their opposition to these privatisation plans for the NHS.

Across the capital, tens of thousands have taken to the streets to protest and demonstrate to save their local hospitals. 80,000 signed a petition against the closures in North West London. 25,000 joined the demonstration to defend Lewisham hospital.

The local campaigns have joined up to call on the government to stop these closures. We are working together to undermine the government’s divisive tactics of playing one hospital off against another. Instead we are demanding that the government provide the funding needed for safe levels of care across the capital.

Visit the website for details of local meet up points: http://defendlondonsnhs.wordpress.com/

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Turn up the heat on British Gas: protest at the British Gas AGM on Monday 13th May

From Fuel Poverty Action

When? Monday 13th May, from 1pm
Where? Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Broad Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3EE
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/Vf1rI

On Monday 13th May, Centrica – parent company of British Gas – are holding their 2013 AGM.

British Gas bosses and shareholders will be planning to pat themselves on the back after another year of soaring profits. We’re planning to turn their AGM into a public embarrassment.

While shareholder activists from Fuel Poverty Action, the Greater London Pensioners’ Association and Disabled People Against Cuts will be speaking out inside the AGM, we’d like you to join us for a protest outside.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH BRITISH GAS?

>> British Gas are making a killing from annual energy bill price hikes. British Gas bosses earn multi-million pound payouts every year on the backs of the millions of us forced to choose between heating and eating.

>> British Gas are buying off ministers to ensure that energy policy prioritises their profits over the public interest.

>> British Gas are lobbying for a new generation of dirty and expensive gas power stations instead of cheaper, clean renewable energy.

TURN UP THE HEAT…

Join us outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster from 1pm. Bring banners and placards and come along to speak out against British Gas and the impact of their profiteering on our lives.

Community owned renewable energy and mass investment in insulation and energy efficiency would bring down bills, keep our homes warm, tackle climate change and put power back in people’s hands.

There are alternatives, but Big Six bullies like British Gas are getting in the way. They’ve got the government in their pockets, so it’s down to us to turn up the heat…

http://fuelpovertyaction.org.uk/

Above pic from: http://occupynewsnetwork.co.uk/reclaim-the-power/

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Atos To Sponsor (or sponsored) Nursing Awards – Shame on the Nursing Times

Latest: Nursing Times have now confirmed themselves that Atos will not sponsor an award this year.  Still no apology as yet.

UPDATE 3/5/13:  According to @Soniapoulton EMAP, publishers of Nursing Times, claim Atos are ’100%’ not sponsoring any awards this year, and seem to have removed some of the references to Atos as sponsors on their website.  No apology has been forthcoming so far from the magazine about accepting money from the company last year when they did sponsor an award.

UPDATE: Confirmation is needed  urgently from the Nursing Times about whether this sponsorship refers to 2012 or 2013.  Atos definitely sponsored an award at the event in 2012 (how’d we miss that!).  Either way that doesn’t get them off the hook and pressure needs to be maintained to ensure Atos are not invited back and ensure that Nursing Times apologise.

In the week in which nurses at the annual Royal College of Nursing conference passed a resolution that disability assessments in the UK are discriminatory and unfit for purpose, widely read journal the Nursing Times seem to have accepted Atos Healthcare as a sponsor of their annual awards.

This shocking decision (spotted by @WNSnews) is a slap in the face for all those sick and disabled people who have been abused by the company who carry out the notorious Work Capability Assessment.  This is the short computer based test designed to find sick and disabled people ‘fit for work’ in order to justify slashing their benefits.

Figures released this week by the DWP show that huge numbers of people have been wrongly assessed by the company and plunged into desperate poverty as a result.  Despite this, the Nursing Times have decided they are only too happy to take money from the Atos, even giving them space on the award’s website to claim:  “The sensitivity of the Disability Assessment process calls for enormous skill in a non-traditional healthcare setting as well as a broad range of medical knowledge.  Atos is proud to sponsor the Nursing in the Community category of the Nursing Times Awards and we wish all entrants the best of luck.”

The awards ceremony will be held on the 3oth October this year at the Grosvenor Hotel in London.   If Atos are sponsors the event could draw fierce protests from benefit claimants and disabled people who have previously picketed the British Medical Journal’s annual recruitment fair over the presence of Atos Healthcare.

In the meantime Nursing Times are on twitter @NursingTimes whilst a separate account exists for the awards @NT_awards.  They can also be found on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/EMAP.NT

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Remember The Dhaka Workers And All Those Killed By Capitalism On May 1st

Stop G8, the coalition formed to resist this year’s UK hosted G8 meeting, have issued a call to join the Trade Union May Day march in solidarity with the deaths of 300 workers killed in the recent factory collapse in Dhaka.

After the march demonstrations are to be held against those responsible for the tragedy – who are not working class people buying cheap clothes but clothing chains like Primark exploiting unsafe working conditions to maximise profits.

Meet at Clerkenwell Green, London from noon on Wednesday May 1st.  Look for the Stop G8 (@stopg8uk) banners and black and red flags.  More details at:  https://network23.org/stopg8/2013/04/28/may-day-remember-the-dhaka-workers-and-all-those-killed-by-capitalism/

Then later in the day the Space Hijackers will be holding a May Day after party where they will launch the Emergent Service Workers Party at a currently undisclosed central London location.  The group have said:

“When we demanded an end to wage labour, we didn’t just mean the wages!

From people being forced to stack shelves in Poundland for free, through to office workers pushing their hours later and later, our wages no longer reflect our work.

The casino banks are being bailed out with our money, the corporations dodge their tax, our services are cut and we’re forced to work even more for even less.”

Keep an eye on their website or join the facebook page for details of the party’s location which is set to begin at 6pm somewhere in London.

Above pic from Newcastle’s May Day demonstrations in 2011.

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What’s So Fucking Great About The Minimum Wage?

A minimum wage which condemns people to poverty is an insult to the millions of people who often do the hardest forms of work.  Yet this pittance of just £6.31 an hour – or less for those under 21 – is increasingly seen as some kind of Holy Grail by politicians from all three main parties.

Both Iain Duncan Smith and Liam Byrne talk of gaining a minimum wage job as if this will transform the lives of those in poverty, showering riches, opportunity and joy upon them as they become decent, moral, hard-working wage slaves.   In reality most minimum wage work is temporary, has little or no prospects and is supplemented by and often punctuated by benefit payments.

But worse than this, whilst people are marginally better off on minimum wage than on out of work benefits – despite government lies to the contrary – it still isn’t enough to meet the most basic costs of living.  In Leeds, the bottom end rent for a private sector three bedroom flat is around £150 a week.  A full time job on minimum wage pays just a few pounds over £200 a week.  Whilst a family would still receive Housing Benefits and Tax Credits, even this barely provides an income that will provide for food, bills and other essentials after housing costs.

The so called Living Wage, currently being trumpeted by Ed Miliband, is barely any better.  In London a full time job (37 hrs per week) on the Living Wage would leave a take home pay of just under £270 a week.  A recently announced affordable housing project, based in Stratford and claiming to be for the low paid, is set to charge £323 a week for just a two bedroom flat.  The ‘Living Wage’ isn’t even enough to pay an ‘Affordable Rent’.  And try telling a bank manager you want a mortgage when you are paid just over £8 an hour.

The minimum wage sets a government approved standard of poverty that grasping employers are only too happy to endorse.  As rises in the minimum wage have failed to keep up with inflation, this has meant the lowest paid steadily receiving less and less.  Last year George Osborne froze the minimum wage for young people at a disgraceful £4.98 an hour.  There have been calls within the Tory Party to cut the minimum wage even further or to exclude certain groups such as disabled people or the young.

Neither government or bosses should set wages, workers should.  It is no accident that during the 60s and even 70s, when Trade Unions were at their most militant, working class wages were at an all time high.  Lying Tory revisionists would claim the 70s were a desperate time and these unions had to be reigned in and in many cases smashed.  The truth is for most workers they’d never had it so good.

In the absence of a strong trade union movement the minimum wage is now the only protection against both gross exploitation and in work poverty – and it fails at both.   This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight tooth and nail to keep it.   In the context of ever increasing benefit conditionality, to lose the minimum wage would be a disaster as claimants could be compelled to take any job, no matter how low the pay.  With trade unionism almost dead in most low paid sectors, whatever scant compromises have been won need to be maintained as the benefits system disintegrates.

But if we are forced to fight to keep it then we should do so with no illusions.  A government set minimum wage, which has never risen above poverty pay, is a failure of the left, not a success story.

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Blockade the Bailiffs – Take On The Sewer Rats Set To Profit From Welfare Reform

Over the next few months hundreds of thousands of people face losing their homes due to the Bedroom Tax whilst others will be driven into debts they can never pay by the endless tsunami of cuts to benefits.

Already some companies are salivating at the prospect of dragging families from their homes and stealing the few remaining possessions of those with least. Little more than a privatised police force to protect the profits of bankers and landlords, bailiffs will be just one of the many sectors getting rich on the back of the brutal and shambolic welfare reforms.

In the North West of England, Jacobs Bailiffs, one of the largest firms in the area, are chomping at the bit to get started.  A post on their website details how they have been actively promoting their vile services to make every last penny they can from the misery to come.  Whilst exhibiting at a trade show for local authorities recently, Jacobs Bailiffs boasted that “with Welfare Reforms taking effect from 1^st April the Jacobs team can talk you through our recovery strategies for maximising collections.”

A communications blockade against the company has been called for this Monday (29th April) in what will hopefully be the first of many attempts to hold these scum to account for their actions.

For more details join the facebook page or visit: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2013/04/508885.html

Please spread the word.

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Man Jailed After Comments Made In Atos Assessment

UPDATE 26/04/13  Steve Topley has been bailed, has pleaded guilty and is now expected to receive a community sentence.  Seems he wasn’t such a threat to the community after all.

A Nottingham man has now been held in custody for two weeks after he was accused of “threatening behaviour”* due to comments he allegedly made during his Atos benefits assessment.

Steve Topley is a 49 year old father with multiple serious health problems who was required to attend a Work Capability Assessment with the notorious IT firm Atos – the company responsible for stripping benefits from hundreds of thousands of sick and disabled people.  During the process Mr Topley made some comments about someone not present at the assessment.

These comments led to Atos staff calling the police and Mr Topley was asked to attend Queens Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham.  When he refused to do so he was arrested.  At QMC he was de-arrested and received a mental health assessment but no reason was found to detain him under the mental health act.  He was then re-arrested and taken in handcuffs to Nottingham police station where he was later charged.

He has now been refused bail twice in closed courts which his family say they were not permitted to attend.  His sister Gina Topley, who says the family are being kept in the dark about the legal process, has said:

“My brother has not been given any opportunity to speak and give his side of the story to a judge and he was not offered an appropriate adult to accompany him when he was arrested.”

His family have not been allowed to visit him in prison and have raised concerns that his medication may not be being administered properly.  Mr Topley will face another appearance in a closed court tomorrow (Friday 26th April) and there are major fears that he will be remanded once again pending psychiatric reports.

His family and supporters have called a demonstration outside the court tomorrow calling for his immediate release.

Meet outside Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 26th April from 9.30-11.00am – please help spread the word.  For more details and the  latest news visit: http://freestevetopley.wordpress.com/

Thanks to 3monkeys in the comments for spotting this.

*Clarification:  Mr Topley was finally charged with making a ‘threat to kill’.  This can be a very serious charge which can result in a long sentence depending on other aggravating factors, however in this case it seems this was not the view of the Judge.  According to Mr Topley’s family:

“The Judge on the day appeared to accept that Steve was not a threat to anyone, however the ludicrous charge of ‘threatening to kill’ is still hanging over him. Police have not so far informed the alleged ‘victim’ of any plot against him, and cannot seem to find them, demonstrating how seriously they actually take this.”

One point worth making is that this incident happened in the middle of an Atos assessment which are notoriously stressful and frightening for claimants.  If he hadn’t been put through that, it is unlikely he would have said whatever he said, which it seems was not a very credible threat at least as far as the Judge was concerned.  When people who are marginalised are subject to this kind of shit then it can make people react irrationally or angrily and they end up doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.  The context these events take place in is often ignored by ‘professionals’, because to them it is all just a job and they can’t understand why people are not being reasonable.  The stark terror felt by some people facing courts, benefit assessments, arrests, bailiffs, prisons or even more seemingly benign institutions such as social services, Jobcentres and community mental health teams can often cause people to destroy themselves.  This can happen even if ‘professionals’ concerned do their jobs properly within the constrain of the system and no-one is really personally culpable.

Follow me on twitter @johnnyvoid