AUSTERITY – The Westcountry Mutineer

MAYBE IT’S MAYDAY, MAYBE WE’RE BORN WITH IT

THE FOLLOWING FROM some of Bristol First of May Group:

May Day has been celebrated as International Workers’ Day since 1890, and is a time to remember our collective history, and to re-ignite our present day struggles for a better world. For May Day 2013, unions in our sister-shitty Bristol are calling for a March Against Austerity on 04/05. We are one of the ones calling for a Radical Block/Bloc (dictionary, anyone?) to march with them.

Come and join us on the streets if you are:

Mad – at the govermint which continues to attack society’s most vulnerable for the benefit of no one, other than themselves (and their rich mates)

Angry – that the costs of living are going up and your boss won’t pay you more

Frustrated – that your working conditions are being destroyed and the bureaucrats at the top of your union don’t seem up for the fight your fellow workers are ready for

Worried – that if we don’t do something soon, there will be no NHS or decent education left for your children

Bored – with the latest lies from the politicians and press you’re expected to believe

Inspired – by the courage of those that have gone before us, who have fought against exploitation, and won us all victories which last to this day

Optimistic – about creating a society that can meet all our needs and seek an end to: sexism, racism, transophobia, ableism, ageism, religious intolerance, homophobia, and the many other oppressive ways we are divided.

Grab your red flag, your black flag, your pirate flag, or no flag at all, and get together at 10.30am, Saturday the 4th of May on College Green to take to the streets of Bristol, and lets rekindle the spirit of resistance!

THEORY CORNER: GETTING ANGRY

I SPEND A lot of my time talking to ordinary people, whether it is on demos, walking the dog or when just out and about around town. What has really pissed me off is that most people don’t give a shit about anyone else. It is all me me me, with no understanding or empathy towards other people. I guess it is just the society we have been brought up in, capitalism has definitely made people less responsible for their own actions and has created a blame culture, which has led to most people being whining little brats who don’t think about others’ suffering, and if they do have a moment of clarity it is quickly pushed aside for a shiny new i-toy of some sort. The N.H.S. and the benefit system are in tatters, people are being forced into Victorian-style workhouse labour, others are being forced onto the streets, the vulnerable in society are being abused and some people just say ‘well I’m able to survive so why can’t others?’ ARGH! What they don’t seem to understand is that if we don’t stick up for each other then it will be us next. We would rather aspire to be in the minority of rich, controlling bastards than look out for our neighbours. Lets make no mistake; those at the top are bastards. They were born into wealth and are unlikely to let too many share what they have. They sell you the dream of wealth and power, with no intention to let you have any. They make you compete against those who would otherwise help you and share their knowledge and skills with you.

Instead of getting angry and jealous of those around you, get angry and those who have put us all in this fuckstick of a situation. Get to know your neighbours, maybe an elderly neighbour could do with some company, or there might be a single parent that might need some time off. If you have skills in D.I.Y. or cooking, you can offer your skills to others in return for theirs. And from creating this community you will develop more empathy for those around you. Now doesn’t that sound much better than watching the prejudice and hateful bullshit on the news? Keep your hate for those that deserve it… and that really isn’t those who are worse off than you.

OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH SATAN AND THE DENIZENS OF HELL AT THIS DIFFICULT TIME…

IT’S FINALLY HAPPENED: It’s finally happened: the woman who destroyed the unions, created mass unemployment and fucked up generations of British people through war and discrimination, has popped her clogs. Tonight, thousands of people will be taking to the streets in celebration of the death of the ‘Iron Lady’, and don’t forget to get to Trafalgar Square this Saturday for the biggest free party so far this decade!

However, with things being shitter than ever before (mass unemployment, the end of the N.H.S. and the benefits system, workers’ rights getting destroyed despite all the lives lost to win them, and people losing their homes), I am sure most of us wish that the whole of government had been blown up instead.

But nothing’s better than a party to cheer you up! And the destruction of a half-dead, evil, mean-spirited old Tory monster is a much better celebration than a couple of posh kids getting married… and it’s not like you were invited to the wedding anyway!

Another thing to look out for is Thatcher’s state funeral, with full military honours: a blatant incitement to riot on behalf of the Tories, if ever there was one. At a cost of £3 million, I am pretty sure the only reason she is getting one is so that we will all be allowed to form an orderly queue to get the opportunity to piss on her. I personally think her grave should be under a public toilet so millions of people for decades will be able to relieve themselves on her… if you get charged £1 a shit then I am sure it would get the country out of debt. Or perhaps if the rest of the Tories (yeah, and Lib Dems too, why not?) start to follow suit, the sales of alcohol and party food alone should be enough to pull us out of whatever economic crash we’re told isn’t happening that we find ourselves in.

Anyhow; have a drink to the old bitch’s death tonight, and think of her roasting in the deepest circles of hell.

In other news, Atos Origin allegedly announced this afternoon that they found Margaret Thatcher for for work.

A RETROSPECTIVE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME, WORKFARE-STYLE

LAST WEEK’S WEEK of Action against Workfare saw 11 demos around the country, and got off to a positively super start, as Superdrug announced their withdrawal from the scheme (get it? “Super”? As in “Super”drug? No? Ahh, forget it). Okay, it was on the Friday, not the beginning of the week, you pedant, but they pulled out all the same.

But as a reminder, what is Workfare? From the B.A.R.F. leaflet: “Unemployed people being forced to work for free for up to six months with no guarantee of a job afterwards, many of them for major high street companies, such as British Heart Foundation, Debenhams, Poundland, Superdrug, Tesco, W.H.S. Smiths, and more.” So, yeah, modern slavery, but without the obligation to keep the slaves healthy, because this time there’s more than enough of us.

At the beginning of the week, the Employment Related Services Association (E.R.S.A.) put out a ‘myth buster’ in defence of Workfare – conveniently made up of mythology itself. The E.R.S.A. is the trade body for welfare-to-work companies like A.4e and J.H.P. Employability. Though they claim that the scheme is only used in limited ways, 163,000 people were on “Government training and employment support programs” in February 2013 – over 10% of J.S.A claimants – most of which were Work Experience Placements. They think that Work Programme providers wouldn’t force people to do something that won’t help them get work, because they won’t get paid if they don’t help find someone a job; which is a logical perspective if you have no basis in reality. They also allege that mandation is used only in a minority of circumstances and must benefit to the local community, ignoring how claimants are pressured into placements, or not properly informed about their mandatory nature, and how the so-called “benefit to the local community” often includes cleaning private homes. And one of their most naïve claims: placements organised via the Work Programme and Mandatory Work Activity programme are unpaid precisely so they do not displace paid workers. But it is patently obvious that access to a ready supply of unpaid workers does replace paid jobs and undermine wages, and the companies know it too: Asda reduces overtime hours for staff; Argos replaced its Christmas temps with Workfare staff; J.H.P. Employability cuntishly even advertised workfare as “free temporary staff for up to four weeks” on their site. It’s uncertain to what extent this impact is, as the govermint refuses to actually carry out any trials. The E.R.S.A. also claim the public don’t object to workfare, in the face of growing opposition, and to prove it they hark back to a March 2011 poll done for thinktank Policy Exchange – long before workfare hit the headlines.

Another factoid to consider in all this: incidence and severity of assaults on JCP staff are apparently on the up, with frustration and confusion about sanctions are cited as the cause.

On Tuesday, attention was turned to the Salvation Army, whose U.K. H.Q. was paid a surprise visit. Nevertheless, the media-savvy Sally’s showed how they’re happy to act as Iain Duncan Smith’s Workfare foot soldiers, as their heavy-handed response to a peaceful protest left one person temporarily arrested after being falsely accused of assault, until police realised they’d been lied to. Never content to just stop there, when questioned about how they “can morally take sick and disabled people and force them to work?”, the charity replied that they believe in “emancipation through employment” – just like at Auschwitz. Should you wish to let them know exactly you think about their use of forced labour, ring them on 02073 674500 (or e-mail them at: info@salvationarmy.org.uk) – and please spare a thought for their witless P.R. officer who is probably even now just entering the dole queue. ‘Arbeit macht frei’, indeed.

But the real shit in ya slippers was Duncan Sith’s Workfare bill getting itself enacted in Parliament. Aside from a few votes against, Miliband’s goons put the ‘Slave’ back into Labour as their abstention slipped the law through with ease. Not only did politicians enable a retroactive law to be enacted, they also deprived 225,000 people of justice, effectively robbing £130 million in welfare payments people were lawfully due. Neo-nazi I.D.S. (who has grown fat off benefits via his unemployed albeit rich, wife, four child benefit-enriched children and his own periods of dole claims) had this particular wet dream extraordinarily rushed through, with the Second Reading, Committee Stage and Third Reading all being scheduled for the same day. Which is nice. This spate of legal time travel now means that the govermint has ‘always complied’ with the court ruling, even though for two years it did not. Slavery is Peace, Ignorance is Strength, and Orwellian fiction becomes fact.

But then again, if Babyface Smith didn’t get his way, “If the Department cannot make these retrospective changes, then further reductions in benefits might be required in order to find the money to repay the sanctions.” Otherwise known as: “Fuck you, plebs!”

Wednesday seemed a bit of a quiet one, but saw Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group leafleting outside the local Job Centre, in solidarity with the day’s strike by the P.C.S. union.

One highlight of the week, for what it’s worth, is on the Thursday when the govermint was forced to admit that jobcentres have been setting targets to sanction claimants, despite assurances by employment minister Mark Hoban in Parliament that this sort of thing doesn’t happen. According to a leaked e-mail, staff in Walthamstow were threatened with disciplinary action for being 95th out of 109 on the league tables, only punishing six of their 300 claimants a week, when they should be setting up 25 innocents for sanctions (the keywords staff were on the lookout for were: “Do not accept the same job search every week, do not accept ‘I dropped off C.V. to shops like Asda or Sainsbury’s’, listen for telltale phrases ‘I pick up the kids’, ‘I look after my neighbours children/my grandchildren’ or just ‘I am busy’”). Bearing in mind that such a league table could only have been compiled based on data supplied by senior management; makes you wonder what the top prize is? The D.W.P. is of course trying to blame this faux pas on a couple of middle management bad eggs, rather than admit a general culture of top-down institutional hatred for ordinary people; surprise surprise, but why be so naïve as to expect that honesty is the name of the game? So all we’ll get out of it is a bullshit inquiry distraction before they start screwing us harder, but at least they were caught lying.

On the Friday, seven activists from the Black And Red Federation held a modest afternoon demo to greet the new Poundland on Westgate Street. Despite the focus of the High Court judgement (where Cait Reilly – the Geology Graduate forced to give up voluntary work in a museum to work for nothing at Poundland – whose successful challenge led to the ruling declaring Workfare regulations unlawful), Poundland are still at it. Poundland have 30-hour ‘Work Experience’ placements across 71 of their stores, though allegedly not in Bath. 80% of placements do not even get offered any kind of job there; considering how Poundland’s profits rose by 27% to £40 million in the last financial year, they can probably afford to hand out a bit of wage. Though they claim that their scheme is completely voluntary, it does involve Job Centre Plus, so the threat of benefit cuts are still on the cards for those who refuse. The degree to which the scheme is genuinely voluntary is disputed though, as there are countless reports of lies and intimidation to force Jobseekers’ participation, and after one week the scheme becomes mandatory. Not only are placementees getting an effective £2 or so an hour (do we not have a minimum wage in this country anymore?), the scheme is also a direct attack on Poundland’s other workers – replacing paid jobs, holiday pay & ending temporary posts for students and others who rely on this type of work. Boycott Workfare have received various complaints from Poundland staff who have had their hours cut, because of the Workfare job destruction scheme.

The demo was met by overwhelming support from the passersby (at least those who have heard of Workfare, which is surprisingly few), with such classics as the posh elderly former Tory (“Well, the government are just a bunch of cunts aren’t they? Pardon my language”), the Tory-hating U.K.I.P.-enthusiast, and Red Army Faction tattoo guy coyly suggesting a much-needed bombing campaign – perhaps we’ve been aiming a bit low with our action? Well, maybe they will, once they work our way through the bag of donuts they got donated. Protests like these do add up; until Poundland gives in, help us in fighting this attack on all workers’ terms and conditions – Donut Shop At Poundland.

Feedback form: http://www.poundland.co.uk/enquiry/customer-enquiry/
Press centre: poundland@bottlepr.co.uk
Chief Executive (Warburg Pincus – their U.S.-based private equity fund owners): egustafson@warburgpincus.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Poundland
Twitter: https://twitter.com/poundland

Then on the Saturday, B.A.R.F.ers joined 50 or so Bristol Afed, Solfeders, Wobs and Socialist Partygoers and fiends for a rolling picket throughout Bristol centre, meeting at Castle Park at 2p.m., and chaosing its way through Cabot Circus for Dorothy Perkins, then Poundland (where a worker bizarrely knifed the banner and stole a demonstrator’s camera), then Debenhams, then McDonalds and then into the Galleries for Greggs, where protesters were handed another donation of donuts, from an amused competitor (notice a pattern?). The day finished up inside the Marriot Hotel, just before everyone froze to death. Saturday also saw action in Kirkgate, Scotland;

So, who has pulled out of the sinking ship we call ‘Workfare’? Well, we have Holland and Barrett, the Red Cross, Capability Scotland, Sue Ryder, Scope, Superdrug, P.D.S.A. and Cancer Research, just off the top of my head. The Children’s Society has also pledged not to use Workfare. Already before the latest withdrawals, the govermint complained how “The high profile withdrawal of placements from a number of larger charities meant a sharp reduction in placements.” British Heart Foundation, for its part, are also now “moving away”, whatever that means; recently they declared they had withdrawn from the Mandatory Work Activity scheme, but are still openly declaring on their website that they are participating in the Work Programme – despite the fact that, in December, the scheme was extended to give providers the power to force many sick and disabled claimants on Employment and Support Allowance to work for nothing, or face sanctions. Nah, bollocks, B.H.F.’re still fair game! Contact them via phone (retail H.Q. tel: 01372 477300; head office tel: 02075 540000; customer service centre – 03003 303322) or e-mail (customerservice@bhf.org.uk).

Also fair game is the Y.M.C.A., who recently made a statement defending their use of forced unpaid workers, ignoring the fact they are responsible for pushing people into destitution and possible homelessness, through sanctions which can last up to three years. Uselessly, their president Bishop John Sentamu has spoken out against workfare in the past. They can be rung on 02071 869500 or their shops’ hotline: 08456 010728, and e-mailed on shop@ymca.org.uk and enquiries@ymca.org.uk, tweeted at @ymcaint and then Facebooked at www.facebook.com/ymcas. But remember whilst it’s well worth trying to speak to a manager if possible, bear in mind most people taking calls/e-mails will be low paid retail or admin and could even be on Workfare themselves.

For the number-crunchers out there, one in five people sent on Mandatory Work Activity in charity shops face benefit stoppages of three or six months. Alongside B.H.F. and Y.M.C.A., charities like the R.S.P.C.A. (head office tel: 03001 230100), the Papworth Trust (e-mail: info@papworth.org.uk; utilising disabled labour) and T.C.V. (The Conservation ‘Volunteers’, formerly B.C.T.V.; head office tel: 01302 388883, e-mail: information@tcv.org.uk, www.btcv.org.uk/volunteer/index.html) are still involved – with the latter previously boasted of using 20,000 unpaid workers on various govermint schemes since the ’80s, and their current lucrative D.W.P. contracts have forced at least 589 people into unpaid work.

Miscellaneous Rogues Gallery

From Boycott Workfare:

Asda has been at the heart of workfare in the UK, helping the government relaunch its “Work Experience” scheme last year. We have had reports that one of their stores in Manchester uses disabled people on workfare on the night shift.
A.4e is one of the biggest beneficiaries of govermint welfare policy – in 2011 the company turnover was £180 million, 100% of which came from public coffers. Out of this the bosses shared out £11 million between them. A4e utterly fail to meet even the paltry minimum targets set by the D.W.P. for finding people jobs on the Work Programme. Not content with just this scam, aided and abetted by their friends in government, there are numerous accusations of fraud against them, where records are apparently falsified, so that they can claim even more public money for not doing their job. They are further subsidised by the public by their use of mandatory unpaid labour within the company as well.
customer services: customerservices@a4e.co.uk; freephone tel: 0800 345666
head of communications: kmccrory@a4e.co.uk
media relations manager: jkerr@a4e.co.uk
head office fax number: 0114 275 4632; send free faxes via: www.freepopfax.com; many classic books are available as free P.D.F.s online – perhaps A4e would like to read them?
website complaints form: mya4e.com/contact-us/complaints-form
Also, why not send a secure e-mail via: www.hushmail.com
Argos appears to be using six week placements from the Job Centre on a massive scale. Multiple reports of Argos using workfare placements so that paid staff hours are being reduced, and fewer Christmas temps employed have emerged.
business e-mail: info@argos.co.uk
corporate irresponsibility (H.R.G.): gordon.bentley@homeretailgroup.com, corporate.responsibility@homeretailgroup.com
media relations (H.R.G.): media.relations@homeretailgroup.com
managing director: john.walden@argos.co.uk
head office tel: 01908 690333
customer Services tel: 01785 710253
Debenhams has 165 stores across the U.K. and Ireland, and a turnover of £2.2 billion. They too have been taking advantage of wageless, rightless workers supplied by the D.W.P. at the taxpayers’ expense. They’re very keen to insist that the scheme they’re involved in is voluntary, but D.W.P. rules say if you don’t get take part you’re referred to a scheme which carries 3 year sanctions. So it’s only voluntary if you say ‘yes’.
press office: press.office@debenhams.com
customer services: customerrelations@debenhams.com
company secretary (Paul Eardley): company.secretariat@debenhams.com
Tesco has committed to 3000 workfare placements, and so far 80% of the 1,500 people who have gone through their stores have not been given a job. Tesco’s profits last year were £1.7 billion. 1,500 eight- week, thirty hour placements would mean the company has so far profited from 360,000 hours of free labour on the schemes.
head office e-mail: online@tesco.co.uk; tel: 08457 225533; Tesco Direct: 08456 004411
customer service e-mail: customer.service@tesco.co.uk
Phil Clarke, current C.E.O.: philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/03/five-things-the-government-wont-tell-you-about-workfare/

http://www.channel4.com/news/now-asda-is-accused-of-employing-youths-for-no-wage

AXMINSTER CARPETS COMMIT WORKERS PURGE

300 WORKERS AT Axminster Carpets have been told that they no longer work for the company because, as they told the rest of the media, this is an attempt to stop liquidation of the company. Staff are without a doubt devastated. This has also had a terrible effect on families who have been working there for many years, such as the Kaxee family: “There’s three of us who have been made redundant today. For the last two weeks we’ve had no wages. There is no work around here at all.” Mr Kaxee said his wife, who still has her job, is very distressed about this loss; while she may have the fortune of keeping her job she now has to run a department by herself that would normally require at least eight people.

With all these mass job losses and companies going into administration, along with the savage attacks from the ConDem govermint, circumstances for both employed and unemployed alike will be getting a lot worse. Out of all the staff that have worked there only 95 are keeping their jobs, less than 25% of the workforce; which means that workers will now be working more for less. There is no doubt either that this won’t be the last of their problems – with all the economic troubles and austerity measures there will probably be a lot more similar headlines…

INVOLUNTARY/VOLUNTARY WORK LOOKING VOLATILE

THE CON-DEMS’ FAVOURITE neo-slavery plans – Workfare – were dealt a nasty blow on Tuesday 12th, with the Court of Appeal’s decision with Cait Reilly that unpaid schemes were legally flawed. Definitions are blurry on exactly what this all means, and the government are eager to deny that Workfare will be overturned, and are themselves talking about overturning the Court of Appeal decision, blah blah blah.

So in real terms: it looks like there is an opportunity for people now who have been sanctioned in various ways by the Department for Work and Pensions to look for reparations – financially speaking – if they have been told schemes are ‘compulsory’ when they’re not, or if they have been sanctioned for unnecessarily long times, or they might be able to reclaim benefits that were wrongfully withheld. It’s a lot of maybes. But this may be the time to have a word with a friendly lawyer or Citizens Advice Bureau to check out your rights. At the very least, when you’re at your next sign on, your adviser will probably be more reluctant to bring up the idea.

What does this mean to activists opposing the scheme? It now seems that the Workfare (and similar copy-cat) scheme(s) is also facing challenge from the legal side of things, offering us another potential angle of attack. But we can also use this as a fresh chance to hit out with propaganda, to take advantage of this latest media spotlight on what is essentially a rich man’s wet dream. Remember, some companies have rapidly backed out of the scheme and the associated slur on their names, with Holland and Barrett being a good example. We need to drive home the point that Workfare is a modern dressing-up of slavery, and is helps neither the claimant or the taxpayer; it is more than anything a good old Tory social policy to attempt to put the poor in ‘their place’, and Duncan Smith’s friends in Big Business are merely sniffing around it as a convenient tool to cut their staffing costs.

Whilst there is no surprise that a lot of people see benefits claimants as good-for-nothing scroungers, and might see these schemes as a way of dealing with this problem, the reality is that it does not. What merely happens is that the beneficiary of the taxpayers’ wages that would normally end up in the claimant’s hands, is now finding its way into the pockets of the shareholders and companies who use the opportunity to save on wages – with politicians’ tacit complicity. The ‘free ride for scroungers’ is anything but over; the faces of the scroungers only change.

Perhaps a new tactic for campaigners would be to not only call for the D.W.P. to pay back wrongfully-withheld benefits for Jobseekers, but also demands to be made to the companies who have benefited from these schemes to pay out, as well, the sum of any differences between their newfound slaves’ benefits and the standard wages they should have been paid. A pipe dream, maybe, but we need to do everything we can to dissuade these parasites from lobbying for similar schemes in the future.

According to the Socialist Party website: “The fight for decent jobs continues. 2.5 million people are unemployed, including one million young workers… There are less than 500,000 job vacancies – many are not even real jobs. Millions more are under-employed or in the growing ‘precariat’ – low-paid workers in insecure jobs with bosses that don’t allow even basic rights such as guaranteed hours.“

If we really want people to work, and the work exists for these people, then it’s time to pay your workers. Simple as that.

BBC article

Socialist Party article

Boycott Workfare article

STOP THE PRESS:

According to Boycott Workfare: “(i)t didn’t take long for the humiliated government to get forced unpaid work back on the road again. Last night, promising a “short sharp shock”, it rushed through regulations which mean that from today these schemes may be mandatory. We say may because the DWP doesn’t exactly have a good track record of following the law; the new regulations were rushed out in 24 hours and may not respect the judges’ ruling.

The new regulations haven’t yet been put in the public domain, so once again people are in a limbo where we have no way of knowing our rights.“

PERMANENT CULTURE NOW PRESENTS: ‘RESISTANCE IN AN AGE OF AUSTERITY’

THIS IS THE most recent video uploaded by Permanent Culture Now, filmed in December 2012. This film features a panel of Bristol-based political and activist organisations, who discuss and debate resistance during these harsh economic times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5Hw5C3jQY&feature=player_embedded

“What does resistance mean in an age of austerity, how can we change the world for the better when all around us we see the dismantling of our public services, watch this debate to get a range of views on this thorny issue.

What does resistance mean take in an age of austerity?

As we see the austerity agenda having massive consequences in Greece and Spain and the UK bracing itself for the real impact of the austerity agenda, we ask what should a resistance to austerity look like. In Greece we see outright violent resistance, combined with a development of bartering systems and many people returning back to the land to support themselves. Should we just resist or do we push for more radical change in society, if yes how can we do this. Are these the right ways to resist, could this occur in the UK, what can be done in this new age of the austerity agenda? We will look at short films about the impact of austerity, hear from Bristol groups attempting to effect change and highlight new ideas of resistance and social change. The night will feature speakers from a range of speakers from Bristol IWW, Afed, Solfed, Socialist Party Badaca plus many others talking about the issues they are coming into contact with, the resistance they have been involved in and the future of resistance in Bristol to these appalling cuts.

This is a link tot he film we showed at the start of the evening called Athens: Social Meltdown as it shows a range of responses to a much more intense austerity agenda.“
https://vimeo.com/50028620

Bristol I.W.W.
Bristol Anarchist Federation
Bristol Solidarity Federation
Bristol Anti-Cuts Alliance
Bristol Socialist Party
Bristol Feminist Network

HEALTHCARE HIJACK RECEIVES RESISTANCE!

AS PART OF the brutal government attack on our N.H.S., 20 health trust bosses across the southwest have met behind closed doors in an effort to slash spending. After shelling out £200,000 in taxpayers money to form a ‘consortium’, they have reached a decision. Will they be taking a hit from their pay? Will they be standing up to a bullying government hell-bent on destroying and flogging off our N.H.S. to the highest bidder? Nah, of course not! As usual, the savings will come straight out of the pockets of hard-working nurses and other healthcare workers. In a leaked document, the bosses’ consortium is suggesting a range of far- ranging attacks on pay and conditions , the worst of which include whopping 15% pay cuts, reduced pay for unsociable hours, reduced sick pay and slashed holiday time for frontline staff. Not in a mood to take this lying down, healthcare workers across the west have been holding huge workplace protest meetings, with one hospital in Bristol seeing 250 workers turn up. The meetings led to a huge protest in Bristol, which saw 1,500 healthcare workers and supporters hold a noisy, colourful and well-received march under the banner ‘unite the resistance’ – a great slogan to show that the fight for the N.H.S., and workers’ rights is all of our fight.

While rank and file workers on the demo were obviously up for a scrap, and pushing for action, it now remains to be seen if union bosses will get properly stuck in. While the unions have played an important role in protecting rights at work, T.U.C. bosses have shown themselves too willing to roll over and give up when confronted by a government determined to shaft us. Think back to the pensions debacle – with millions of workers champing at the bit to get properly stuck in to the Con-Dems, the T.U.C. managed one day of token strike action before calling workers back into work and urging them to accept the same deal that was on the table before the strike! The T.U.C. bosses want us to bide our time and wait for a Labour government – who, despite their rhetoric, are still pledged to massive spending cuts – to sort it all out for us. Well, even if Labour had the guts to stand up for ordinary people (unlikely), health workers can’t wait. The N.H.S. is being dismantled now, and to save it, workers, service users and the community who value the commitment and hard work of frontline staff will need to organise themselves, using tools that will beat back the bosses – wildcat strikes, direct action, protests and occupations – with the union chiefs when they’ll fight, without ‘em when they won’t! But, if the huge, determined crowd at the demo can carry that energy back into their workplaces, it looks likely that the N.H.S. bosses will have a serious fight on their hands, and one they’ll live to regret picking!

WORK PROGRAM EXPOSED AS THE CON IT IS

Work Program officially does more harm than good; only 3.6% of participants secured a steady job compared to a predicted 5.5% if the program had never existed.

The Work Program is one of five government ‘workfare schemes’ that force unemployed people to work usually menial jobs for no money. Benefit claimants are threatened with poverty and sanctions if they refuse to participate and given the vague promise of a ‘real job’ at the end of it. The statistics for the first year of the program shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, least of all the government, whose own research predicted this outcome! Getting people to work for free during a time of high unemployment means the few jobs that would have been available to unemployed people are instead given to workfare placements. Sure, you get a bit of ‘experience’, but after your six months of unpaid work, will your employer really want start giving you a wage when they can just rely on the government to force more people to do the work for free?

Workfare isn’t cheap either: the Guardian recently reported how it was costing more than the entire bill for Jobseekers Allowance. If you already have a job you can still be affected, as the surplus of free temporary labour that workfare provides allows employers to cut down on staff overtime, give less work to those on flexible contracts, and drives down wages for everyone.

With all these bad points, why would the government start the scheme in the first place? Well one answer is rigging statistics; if someone is on a workfare scheme they are no longer ‘unemployed’, so the employment figures look a hell of a lot better. More than that, though, it’s simply a con. The private agencies running the schemes get millions in taxpayers money, and whilst one or two have faced charges of fraud, it’s far more widespread than a couple of bad apples. All the free labour for large companies is certainly saving some fat cats a lot of extra money to go towards their bonuses as well.

Of course all of this hasn’t gone unnoticed. The scheme has been wildly unpopular and attracted massive negative press, and hundreds of demonstrations around the country. Boycott Workfare, SolFed, Afed and others have all played their part in forcing large companies out of the scheme with pickets and occupations, and we think its time to kick the scheme while its down and end workfare once and for all. Keep your eyes peeled for updates, and see you on the streets soon!

YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW

SO IT WAS a Wednesday and the National Union of Students were marching again to protest about the fee hikes and the scrapping of E.M.A.; just another N.U.S. demo in London, not much to it, right? Wrong. It was actually one of the worst demonstrations that has ever been organised. Liam Burns and his group of geniuses decided that the march itself should take the route that the Chartist movement used before, but with one tiny exception: they should march in the opposite direction and have a rally in Kennington Park – because that would really show the Tories the brilliance of student movement. And of course we cannot forget to mention their excellent negotiation skills with the Met which resulted in a Section 12 being implemented by the police throughout the day.

Despite attempts by students to encourage fellow demonstrators to stay at Parliament to vent their anger at a more convenient location, the N.U.S. bureaucrats had their say and all attempts to have a more geographically-effective march were called off. To make things even more cheerful, the weather was incredibly shite. So after a wet, windy and miserable march, the remaining student demonstrators finally made their way to Kennington Park, where they faced the option of either listening to the delightful rants of reformist academics talk about how brilliantly effective marching away from central London in shit weather is, or to head to the nearest pub: most demonstrators at this point took the latter.

The bureaucrats leading the march to an out of the way corner is the perfect example of how it has carried out its mission to kill the enthusiasm and effectiveness of rank and file students. Two years ago, the student movement occupied dozens of universities and colleges, smashed the Tory H.Q. at Millbank and took part in dozens of effective, loud and confrontational demos, involving hundreds of thousands across the country, and giving the anti-cuts movement a much needed kick up the arse, without the N.U.S. leadership. Since then, the leadership, terrified of losing control, and even more terrified of losing the overpaid jobs as Labour lackeys and T.U.C. bureaucrats that await ex-N.U.S. scab presidents, has done its best to destroy any energy: distancing itself from direct action and occupations, putting no money or time into organising demos and funnelling dissent into useless gestures. In order for union bigwigs to be able to sit at the bosses table, they need to show that they can reign in their members when they go ‘too far’ and to collaborate with the filth to stop any other alternative or more effective movements from gaining the upper ground. It is this, not the scrapping of fees that has been the task of the N.U.S. leadership.

But not everyone at the rally was happy with how the day went, and approximately half the crowd decided to remind Liam Burns of their feelings, by yelling “N.U.S. shame on you, where the fuck have you brought us to?” and demanding a general strike. Some demonstrators thoughtfully noted how Mr Burns looked a little hungry, and decided to launch whatever food goods they could find, including a satsuma, although there has been much debate around whether or not it as a tangerine. The final account included tomatoes, eggs, two broccolis and one half-eaten squash. None of the items managed to reach Liam, as he later tweeted: “I can confirm no hits. Like Neo I am…” Well, being able to enter bullet time, and dodge incoming culinary bombardment is admittedly important in an N.U.S. president, but he foolishly goaded the upset demonstrators to come closer, to which they willingly obliged; protesters broke past the barricade and security to take the stage. At this moment Liam had already (like a true Bond villain) made a dramatic exit to his secret lair, leaving the rally in a similar state to the leadership itself: an absolute shambles. This shows the feeling among students is they recognise the flaws of the N.U.S. and are ready to throw it off, with the potential for a more sustainable version of the grassroots movement of late 2010.