Campaigners are claiming a major scalp in the fight against workfare after retailer Holland & Barrett announced they were pulling out of the scheme. On hearing the news, Brighton Solidarity Federation tweeted "we've won an important battle against workfare, but the war is far from over." The announcement came just 24 hours before a planned national week of action against workfare organised by the Boycott Workfare Network.
La campaña anuncia una gran victoria en la lucha contra el workfare después de que la compañía comercial Holland & Barret anunciara que sale del esquema. Al conocer la noticia, la Solidarity Federation de Brighton escribió en Twitter “hemos ganado una importante batalla contra el workfare, pero la guerra está lejos de terminar”. El anuncio llegó justamente 24 horas antes de una semana nacional de acción prevista contra el workfare y organizada por la Red de Boicot al Workfare.
En apoyo a los Días de Acción de la AIT en el Reino Unido, la Solidarity Federation convocó una campaña de acción directa contra el Workfare. La idea era usar los 3 Días de Acción de la AIT para lanzar una campaña concertada con el propósito de dar fin al trabajo no remunerado. Esto va en apoyo de la actual campaña de Boicot al Workfare que se está organizando en conjunción con numerosos otros grupos y organizaciones.
En un momento de paro juvenil sin precedentes en el Reino Unido, que ahora supera el 22%, el gobierno está subvencionando empresas mediante el envío de parados que trabajan para ellos sin salario, y con el nuevo Contrato Juvenil intenta expandir aún más estos esquemas.
La decisión sobre qué empresa elegir se dejó hasta justo antes de los Días de Acción para asegurarnos de que la compañía elegida no estuviera alerta sobre las manifestaciones y piquetes previstos. Tras una discusión en el seno de la Solidarity Federation, se decidió elegir la empresa Holland and Barrat, una importante cadena de tiendas de alto nivel que vende productos de salud. SolFed decidió elegir Holland and Barrat porque la empresa intenta tomar más de mil personas para que experimenten el empleo este año y con una fuerza de trabajo de alrededor de 4000, los trabajadores sin sueldo supondrán una porción significativa de su plantilla.
In support of the IWA Days of action in the UK, the Solidarity Federation called for campaign of direct action against workfare. The idea was to use the IWA 3 Days of action to launch a concerted campaign to put an end to unpaid work. This is in support of the ongoing Boycot Workfare campaign, that is being organised in conjunction with numerous other groups and organisations.
At a time of unprecedented youth unemployment in the UK , which now stands at over 22%, the government is subsidising businesses by sending the unemployed to work for them without pay and with the new Youth Contract it intends to expand these schemes even further.
The decision on which company to target was left to just before the Days of action to ensure that the company chosen were not alerted to the planned demos and pickets. After discussion within the Solidarity Federation it was decided to target the company Holland and Barratt a major high street chain of shops selling health products. The SolFed decided to target Holland and Barratt because the company intends to take over 1000 people on work experience this year and with a workforce of around 4000, unpaid workers will comprise a significant portion of their staff.
As part of the International Workers Association (IWA) days of action against austerity, exploitation, and oppression, the Solidarity Federation will be launching a national campaign against Workfare. On the 29th & 30th March, Solidarity Federation Locals will leaflet companies using the Workfare scheme advising workers of their rights. On the 31st March one national company will be targeted with coordinated nationwide pickets and a communications blockade with the aim of forcing the company to stop using Workfare. The name of the target company will be announced a few days prior to the 31st March to ensure the company cannot prepare against the planned actions.
The Solidarity Federation is launching a national campaign against Workfare as the scheme amounts to little more than a modern form of slave labour. Under the government’s various Workfare schemes unemployed workers are made to work for free for up to 6 months with no guarantee of a job afterwards. They are forced to work on these schemes or risk losing welfare payments.
Como parte de los días de acción de la Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores (AIT) contra la austeridad, la explotación y la opresión, la Solidarity Federation lanzará una campaña nacional contra el Workfare. Los días 29 y 30 de marzo las Locales de la Solidarity Federation llenarán de panfletos las empresas que usan el esquema de Workfare informando a los trabajadores sobre sus derechos. El 31 de marzo se elegirá una empresa nacional para ser objeto de piquetes coordinados a nivel nacional y de un bloqueo en las comunicaciones con el propósito de forzar a la empresa a dejar de usar el Workfare. El nombre de la compañía elegida será anunciado unos cuantos días antes del 31 de marzo para asegurarnos de que la empresa no se puede preparar contra las acciones previstas.
La Solidarity Federation lanza una campaña nacional contra el Workfare, ya que este esquema representa poco más que una forma moderna de trabajo esclavo. Bajo los variados esquemas de Workfare del gobierno, los trabajadores desempleados se ven obligados a trabajar gratis hasta seis meses sin garantía de conseguir un empleo después. Se les fuerza a trabajar en estos esquemas o se arriesgan a perder el abono de sus beneficios sociales.
The Ryanair Don’t Care Campaign is calling for a Week of International Action against exploitation and recruitment scamming by Ryanair, starting on March 12.
Ryanair Don’t Care was started by John Foley after his daughter was sacked as a flight attendant mid-flight and abandoned abroad without any money. This led to the exposure of a cynical and highly exploitative recruitment scam by Ryanair.
Ryanair current policy of “recruitment-for-termination” is part of the massive exploitation of young people who apply to work for the company. As it stands potential cabin crew have to pay a fee of 3000 euro through an agency to undergo training for Ryanair. As many as 60 are sacked at one time after this initial training period with up to 200 people a month losing their job. All those sacked lose the money they have paid out for training. There are 11 Ryanair cabin crew training courses already underway, to end at the end of March which gives you some idea of the amount of money Ryanair is making out of the “recruit-for-termination” scam.
