What are Academies?

The academy schools program began in 2000 under New Labour. They are state sector schools run independent of local authority control and with a private sponsor. Less than two ago, there were less than 300 academies in England, but the Academies Act 2010 sought to expand the number of academies and there are now over 1600. Some  schools that are deemed 'outstanding' by Ofsted have been ‘fast-tracked’. It is thought that many 'outstanding schools may not even need a sponsor, and might be able to opt straight out of local authority control regardless.

Workfare is a catch-all term that refers to a range of state sponsored wage-less work schemes. Recent withdrawals by high-street firms that had been involved in  the Jobcentre’s nominally voluntary ‘work experience’ scheme has put politicians on the defensive forcing them to emphasise the (dubious) voluntary nature of the scheme. However the same defence cannot be made of the coalition’s flagship Work Programme, a compulsory scheme with a ‘mandatory work related activity’ component. But aside from the recent controversies surrounding workfare provider A4E relatively little has been said with regard to the Work Programme, which forces jobseekers as well as many sick and disabled Employment Support Allowance claimants into mandatory unpaid work through a number of private companies.

Sector-Based Work Academies (SBWA) combine work experience-style placements with a short job-related training components. Launched in August 2011 SBWA are one of the Government’s 5 workfare-centred labour reform schemes in which unemployed people are compelled to perform unpaid work for private companies.

The Work Experience scheme offered through the Jobcentre Plus (JCP) is one the five workfare schemes that are currently running in the UK. Recently this has become the best known of the workfare schemes thanks to the government’s damage limitation efforts after the negative publicity surrounding its policy of making people work without wages. By focusing on this scheme and emphasising the ‘voluntary' aspect of this particular scheme it sought to distract attention from the other compulsory schemes such as Mandatory Work Activity (MWA), the Work Programme (WP), and the Community Action Programme (CAP).

A new compulsory work scheme for the long-term unemployed was announced by the government in November 2011. The Community Action Programme (CAP) is currently being trialled (or ‘trailblazed’, in the government’s terminology) in four regions with the intention to implement the scheme nationally in 2013.

The CAP will be organised through private companies and in many ways resembles the Work Programme but with a greater focus on community work. Participation in the scheme is mandatory – refusal to take part will result in loss of benefits. Placements last six months at 30 hours a week of work with an additional 10 hours of job search under the supervision of the provider (source).

Most people will have heard about the CWU leadership endorsing the Royal Mail's participation in the workfare scheme, whilst at the same time ignoring rank and file members views on forced labour and attacks on workers rights.

Concerned posties from SOLFED, IWW, Boycott Workfare, and CWU send you the following call out, and request for solidarity.

See you on the picket!

Solent Solfed 

NO TO WORKFARE AT ROYAL MAIL- APRIL 2ND 11am

Open Letter to all members of the Communication Workers Union, (CWU)

The North West Infidels (NWI), a splinter group from the English Defence League, are holding a demonstration in Bolton on Saturday 24 March. Liverpool Antifascists is calling on all anti-fascists, anti-racists and organised workers to mobilise in opposition to the presence of these fascists on our streets.

This demonstration comes in the wake of a number of incidents which show that the far-right is aiming to re-assert itself as a physical force on the streets. The British National Party’s electoral support is hemorrhaging thanks to internal splits, whilst the EDL is viewed as just not radical and racist enough for hardcore supporters, allowing the NWI to gain prominence with disillusioned far right activists.

To round off our week of action against Ryanair, Liverpool Solidarity Federation and Ryanair Don't Care campaigner John Foley today picketed Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Though not quite the spectacle that the previous day had been, it was succesful in getting across the key message: end the Ryanair recruitment scam!

We pitched up outside Departures at around twelve o'clock, with banners and signs, and began distributing leaflets to people as they came and went from the airport. This quickly attracted the attention of the police, though this time they felt no need to bring in horses and we were allowed to carry on our picket without interruption.

As part of the international week of action against Ryanair, on Friday 16 March Liverpool Solidarity Federation members joined John Foley of the Ryanair Don't Care Campaign for pickets in the City Centre. The targets of our action were a bank and a solicitors who are complicit in the budget airline's recruitment scamming.

The Allied Irish Bank formerly provided 3500€ loans to probationary cabin crew for their training with Ryanair, though they stopped this practice in 2010 under pressure from the Ryanair Don't Care campaign. More recently, however, it has come to light that they are still sending threatening letters to terminated staff, warning them to pay up outstanding fees (for training they did not finish!) or face bankruptcy.

Members of Northampton Solidarity Federation went to Birmingham International Airport this afternoon (16th March) to picket Ryan Air passengers as they checked in. This was an attempt to get the passengers to complain about the exploitative nature of the company's recruitment procedure. The leaflet labelled it a SCAM, for that is essentially what it is.

This was in part of the International Week of Action called by the International Workers Association, who have thrown their support behind the RyanAir Don't Care Campaign. This week was identified to coincide with a RyanAir sponsored race at the Cheltenham Festival.