Despite rhetoric that the new EU agency worker regulations will ‘stifle business’ and ‘cost jobs’, the extent to which the British government will go to use agency work to attack hard-won legal rights and undermine working conditions is becoming increasingly clear.

A case-in-point is the recent decision by the Central London Employment Tribunal that Dave Smith, a union activist and blacklisted construction engineer, is not entitled to legal protection against blacklisting because he was employed through an agency. This is despite Carillion, the firm who ultimately employed Smith, admitting in a signed statement that their managers had supplied the blacklist with information about Mr. Smith.

Firms drop proposed 35% pay cut after direct action campaign from ‘Sparks’

Electricians are celebrating a major breakthrough in their battle to stop a co-ordinated attempt by some of Britain’s biggest construction firms to deskill their jobs and impose pay cuts of up to 35% after main players Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey threw in the towel. A source told a trade magazine that “one thing is definite, BESNA is finished.” The news was later confirmed in Construction News.

The employers had wanted to kill off JIB, an industry-wide agreement on pay and conditions, so it could be replaced with the vastly inferior BESNA plan. This would have let contractors raise and lower hourly pay rather than maintaining a standard wage for skilled work. For some electricians this would have meant a fall in hourly rates from £16.25 to £10 – a 35% cut.

There is little evidence that workfare increases the likelihood of finding work. It can even reduce employment chances by limiting the time available for job search and by failing to provide the skills and experience valued by employers. (…) Workfare is least effective in getting people into jobs in weak labour markets where unemployment is high.

 

Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) Research Report No 533

Workfare means doing unpaid work for your job seekers allowance (JSA) of up to £67 per week. The government claims workfare helps the unemployed and create jobs, and yet their own report says this is not true, especially when unemployment is high (see quote above).

As part of Boycott Workfare's National day of action against the government,s divisive workfare program, members of NLSF met up In Islington to show their opposition. McDonalds on Chaple Market was our first port of call. Loads of leaflet were handed and some good conversations were struck up, mostly in support of our presence outside these exploitative and unscrupulous shops. Although couple of the market stallholders gave us a bit of verbal and the McDonald's manager couldn't understand why his shop was being targeted as "they had nothing to do with the program", Chaple Market was undeniably supportive. Moving on to Upper St, the manager at Holland & Barrett just didn't want us there at all. We didn't plan staying there too long as some wanted to go to the main event in central London. But after the manager informed us they'd called the police, we thought we would stick around for a bit longer.

Solent Solfed answered the call from Boycott Workfare on Saturday morning (3rd March) and joined a picket outside Primark in Portsmouth’s Commercial Road. A small group of anarchists from Solfed, Surrey and Hants Afed, and Portsmouth Anarchists turned out alongside the local SWP group. Although the anarchists and socialists had their own specific leaflets it was good to see political differences put to the side to unite against workfare. Our leaflets were drawn up and printed by Surrey and hants Afed, (thanks guys!).

The cops came for a quick chat and to read the leaflets, with one saying he would be with us if he didn’t have to work…not sure we believed him! Once they realised we were peaceable types with no commanding officer they warned Primark what was happening and left us to it. The reaction from the public seemed good; the only problem was that we ran out of the anarchist leaflets really quickly!

Saturday March 3rd was a national day of action against workfare, called by Boycott Workfare. In Brighton, members of Solidarity Federation headed down to Jubilee Street to support the Brighton Benefits Campaign picket of Tesco.

Turnout was encouraging, with over 50 people in attendance. A sizeable socialist contingent marched from Tesco in St James Street to Jubilee Street, before moving on to McDonalds. As numbers were still high outside Tesco, we were able to take another group to picket the Tesco store on Queens Rd. This was quite successful in turning people away, with only one person manning the checkouts inside the store.

Leaflet handed to the public during the Combat Workfare demonstration in Liverpool.

A leaflet for the Combat Workfare day of action, specifically aimed at workers in the companies that support the workfare programme.

Article by Vadim Damier at the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the Federalist International Workingmen´s Association

The “first” International Workingmen´s Association was founded in 1864 through the initiative of workers themselves but also with some participation of “politicians”.  Organizationally, it was built as an association of workers´ unions. According to the Statutes, there was no centralism. The workers of the same profession or area formed a section, all sections of any country formed a federation, and every country federation sent delegates to the General Council. This Council was purely a coordinating body - it could  not issue any decrees, instructions, etc. It was to analyze disputes and misunderstandings between the sections. All sections and federations maintained their autonomy.

Brief report on the Boycott Workfare demo in Birmingham 3rd March.

About 60 people in Birmingham today protested against the government’s Workfare schemes, which see people forced to work for up to 6 months in order to keep their benefits for already obscenely profitable companies. Boycott Workfare had organised March 3rd as a national day of action, including London, Brighton and Belfast.

Many companies have already pulled out of the scheme due to public outcry, including, TK Maxx, Sainsburys and Waterstones. Protestors hoped that greater pressure will force more companies to pull out of the scheme.