HAVE YOU EVER worried that protesting doesn’t change anything? Well, stop – you’re wrong. ‘And who says so?’, you ask. None other than our very own darling government!
Last month, the government blocked the release of a list of companies involved in workfare, admitting that protests and direct action have left the unpopular scheme in tatters. Since its creation, the scheme has met with fierce resistance with dozens of exposed companies (like the British Heart Foundation and Holland & Barrett) being forced to pull out through a high profile campaign of protest. The scheme was appealing to bosses when it was a dirty little secret, but it turns out that they hate being exposed as free labour profiteers, and tend to drop out when exposed to the light of day.
So, enter every big-businessman’s bezzie mate: David ‘Call me Dave if yer rich’ Cameron. Working with the D.W.P., he has blocked calls to reveal a list of workfare providers. Leaked documents from government lawyers state that “Previous targeted campaigns had resulted in the withdrawal of providers from workfare”, effectively citing mass public disapproval as the main reason for hiding the list. However, with more and more employees and people pushed onto the forced-labour scheme and happy to whistleblow, it won’t be long before more big names start falling.
The most important thing about the documents isn’t the length to which governments will go to protect big business, or the contempt for democracy shown by suppressing information from the public – we all knew this went on. What makes this crucial is that the government have admitted – in a document meant for their eyes only – that they are scared of action as it can and does get results. With the government admitting their fear of popular discontent, just think what we could achieve if we pushed a little harder…
So, on that happy note, ask yourself this: what better time than now to get on http://boycottworkfare.org, round up a bunch of yer mates and get stuck into the fight against this redundancy-making, crumbling scheme that puts yet more of our taxes in the pockets of the rich?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/09/mandatory-work-activity-names-witheld
