Take Part In Boycott Workfare Week Of Action This Week

Next week sees a week of action against workfare, as the government introduces the harshest forced labour scheme yet seen – “community work placements”. These placements are full time, lasting for 6 months and build upon the failure of the “Community Action Programme” pilot scheme which had no effect on the chances of someone finding work.

Workfare is the system whereby unemployed and disabled people are forced to work for charities, community organisations and companies under threat of having their benefits stopped entirely for up to three years for unemployed people and losing 70% of their benefits indefinitely for disabled people.

We Will Remember The Victims Of Austerity Britian And Oppose The DWP Which Broke Their Soul

A group of claimants in Birmingham have called a vigil to remember the victims and those suffering from the welfare reforms and culture being created at the DWP. All of you who oppose social injustice in the Birmingham area are invited to take part in commemorative vigil to remember some of the vicitims of companies like ATOS, workfare profiteers like A4e and the Publicly funded Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), all of whom have pushed people over the edge of the emotional abyss.

Saturday 7th September
Broad Street Jobcentre 1pm-2pm
ATOS five ways 2pm-3pm

Boycott Workfare: Picket Of Marks And Spencers – Sat 13th

This week is Boycott Workfare’s week of action against forced labour. The campaign has been very successful in getting companies and charities to withdraw from schemes that force unemployed and disabled people to work for free. Workfare doesn’t help people to find work, it cannot reduce unemployment because it doesn’t create and jobs and it threatens paid work by supplying unpaid labour to companies.

Saturday, 13 July 2013
13:00
Marks and Spencers, High Street, Birmingham
Join the facebook event

West Midlands Solfed have called a demonstration and we will be joining them to support the Boycott Workfare campaign as Marks and Spencer have recently publicly backed workfare, boasting that 2% of their workforce don’t get paid. We will be picketing Marks and Spencers in Bimingham near the bull ring from 1pm.

A Response To Mark Hoban’s Lies: Workfare Doesn’t Work

In the Telegraph today, ahead of the vote which will pass retroactive legislation so that the government doesn’t have to repay £130m of sanctions illegally robbed from unemployed people on workfare schemes, Mark Hoban – the minister for employment – sought to justify this move and workfare generally.

It is almost to his credit that he claims criticism is “misguided and insulting” whilst lying and misleading about schemes which are misguided in their methods. This is a response to the points he made in the article, showing his lies for what they are.

Help End Workfare – Online Actions All Week And Picket On Saturday

This week is a national week of action to help end workfare, called by Boycott Workfare. Monday to Friday sees online actions targeted at workfare supporters and providers, and on Saturday there will be a picket of Poundland on Corporation Street in Birmingham, as following the Appeal Court ruling that the schemes were run under illegal regulations, the company re-affirmed it’s involvement in unpaid workfare schemes. However, the tide is turning against workfare, with many charities and companies leaving the schemes in the past month as a result of public pressure and the court ruling.

Monday – Friday Online actions – see the Boycott Workfare website for details of who to contact each day.
Monday’s action: 24 hours to stop IDS rewriting history and robbing £130 million – Day 1 in the Workfare Week of Action

Workfare Can Be Broken – Join the Week of Action and help make it happen

Take part in the week of action 18-24 March called by Boycott Workfare. We’ll be organising events around Birmingham – get in touch if you want to be involved in decided what, where and when or keep an eye out for announcements as we get towards the week of action to break workfare. Email BirminghamAgainstTheCuts@gmail.com

UK Uncut and Boycott Workfare Demonstrations in Birmingham – Reports and Photos

Yesterday demonstrations took place in Birmingham city centre as part of a national day of action called by UK Uncut and Boycott Workfare. Starbucks on Colmore Row and New Street were occupied in protest at tax avoidance which costs us £25bn each year, whilst Argos, Superdrug, Poundland and McDonalds were visited by people demonstrating against the use of forced unpaid workfare labour by these companies, and the work programme which reduces your chances of finding work.