Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2012 17:10:46 GMT
Fascist Government Providing Corporations Free Slave Labour
Work below the minimum wage or starve.
Share Fascist Government Providing Corporations Free Slave Labour
Feb 10th, 2012 | By Keelan Balderson | Category: Breaking News, Economy | Print
A controversial austerity scheme that has forced the unemployed to work for free in Supermarkets and other chains, has come under fire from the Unions today.
The coalition Government’s myriad of back to work programs has created a system whereby the UK’s largest retailers can employ staff from the dole line and not have to pay them a penny. Instead of truly getting the record unemployed back to work, citizens on Job Seeker’s Allowance are being forced to work for their benefits for up to 6 months, without the prospect of actually getting a full time position.
John Hannett, general secretary for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, commented:
“The unemployment crisis is never going to be solved by forcing people to work for nothing…participants should receive the rate for the job, and there needs to be transparent checks and balances in place.”
The average UK weekly wage is around £451 [1] and declining. The average minimum wage of £6.08 per hour, for 40 hours a week is £243.20.
Therefore somebody working in retail is expected to make at least £243.20 if the employer is following the law.
However under this scheme, workers are simply paid the weekly £64.30 JSA benefit. This is tantamount to slave labour.
If a jobseeker refuses then their benefits are stopped.
While Sainsbury’s and Waterstones book chain have pulled out of the program, Boots, Tesco, Asda, Primark, Argos, TK Maxx, Poundland and the Arcadia group of stores run by billionaire tax avoider Sir Philip Green, are still lapping up the free workforce.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “While unemployed people may benefit from short periods of work experience, forcing them to work effectively for free for up to six months is not the way to solve the UK’s jobs crisis.
“Not only are the high street names involved […] in danger of exploiting participants, the scheme also poses a very real threat to the jobs and pay of existing workers. It is also far from clear whether the placements actually involve any genuine degree of training or work experience that will be of any use to the unemployed taking part.
“The danger is that [this] is simply encouraging employers to continue using unpaid labour when what they should be doing is recruiting unemployed people into properly paid jobs.”
There is a growing media storm targeting the supposed “benefits culture” in this country, but where is the media storm against the corporate benefits culture that is destroying this country?
Can it not be argued that bailing out the private banks for their own failures is a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t letting giant corporations off without paying tax a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t providing retail chains a slave force that doesn’t have to be paid, a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t the Bank of England giving £50bn out of thin air to the financial sector a form of corporate welfare?
The chav up the street with 2 kids on benefits, pales in comparison to welfare cheques the bank executives and corporate chiefs are getting.
What makes it worse, any government expenditure is simply a tax on the people anyway, because the Government is funded through taxation and borrowing at the people’s expense.
The ponzi scheme continues!
Mainstream Coverage @ The Guardian
Work below the minimum wage or starve.
Share Fascist Government Providing Corporations Free Slave Labour
Feb 10th, 2012 | By Keelan Balderson | Category: Breaking News, Economy | Print
A controversial austerity scheme that has forced the unemployed to work for free in Supermarkets and other chains, has come under fire from the Unions today.
The coalition Government’s myriad of back to work programs has created a system whereby the UK’s largest retailers can employ staff from the dole line and not have to pay them a penny. Instead of truly getting the record unemployed back to work, citizens on Job Seeker’s Allowance are being forced to work for their benefits for up to 6 months, without the prospect of actually getting a full time position.
John Hannett, general secretary for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, commented:
“The unemployment crisis is never going to be solved by forcing people to work for nothing…participants should receive the rate for the job, and there needs to be transparent checks and balances in place.”
The average UK weekly wage is around £451 [1] and declining. The average minimum wage of £6.08 per hour, for 40 hours a week is £243.20.
Therefore somebody working in retail is expected to make at least £243.20 if the employer is following the law.
However under this scheme, workers are simply paid the weekly £64.30 JSA benefit. This is tantamount to slave labour.
If a jobseeker refuses then their benefits are stopped.
While Sainsbury’s and Waterstones book chain have pulled out of the program, Boots, Tesco, Asda, Primark, Argos, TK Maxx, Poundland and the Arcadia group of stores run by billionaire tax avoider Sir Philip Green, are still lapping up the free workforce.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “While unemployed people may benefit from short periods of work experience, forcing them to work effectively for free for up to six months is not the way to solve the UK’s jobs crisis.
“Not only are the high street names involved […] in danger of exploiting participants, the scheme also poses a very real threat to the jobs and pay of existing workers. It is also far from clear whether the placements actually involve any genuine degree of training or work experience that will be of any use to the unemployed taking part.
“The danger is that [this] is simply encouraging employers to continue using unpaid labour when what they should be doing is recruiting unemployed people into properly paid jobs.”
There is a growing media storm targeting the supposed “benefits culture” in this country, but where is the media storm against the corporate benefits culture that is destroying this country?
Can it not be argued that bailing out the private banks for their own failures is a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t letting giant corporations off without paying tax a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t providing retail chains a slave force that doesn’t have to be paid, a form of corporate welfare? Isn’t the Bank of England giving £50bn out of thin air to the financial sector a form of corporate welfare?
The chav up the street with 2 kids on benefits, pales in comparison to welfare cheques the bank executives and corporate chiefs are getting.
What makes it worse, any government expenditure is simply a tax on the people anyway, because the Government is funded through taxation and borrowing at the people’s expense.
The ponzi scheme continues!
Mainstream Coverage @ The Guardian