Showing posts with label Employment Issues. Show all posts
How Iain Duncan Smith lives – compared with people who must live his policies by Kate Belgrave
How Iain Duncan Smith lives – compared with people who must live his policies by Kate Belgrave
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Here’s Iain Duncan Smith’s weekend place, which was occupied last year by UK Uncut and Disabled People Against Cuts in a protest against the bedroom tax. It’s a very nice pile indeed. It comes with a tennis court, the sort of lake that Mr Darcy might emerge from in clinging pants, happy lambs and a very large house. Very. If you must lie around somewhere thinking of ways to piss the rest of the exchequer away on Universal Credit, then this is the place to do it:
For more click here: How Iain Duncan Smith lives – compared with people who must live his policies by Kate Belgrave
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Here’s Iain Duncan Smith’s weekend place, which was occupied last year by UK Uncut and Disabled People Against Cuts in a protest against the bedroom tax. It’s a very nice pile indeed. It comes with a tennis court, the sort of lake that Mr Darcy might emerge from in clinging pants, happy lambs and a very large house. Very. If you must lie around somewhere thinking of ways to piss the rest of the exchequer away on Universal Credit, then this is the place to do it:
For more click here: How Iain Duncan Smith lives – compared with people who must live his policies by Kate Belgrave
Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: Confirmed - The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face
Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: Confirmed - The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face
diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com - Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Since the coalition came to power, sick and disabled people have claimed we are being fundamentally harmed by the coalition welfare reforms. Not scroungers or skivers, but people living with long term serious illnesses like me, or who live with physical disabilities. Adults AND children. Young and old. People with terminal conditions, people with kidney or heart failure, people waiting for transplants and even people in comas. None have been spared. The government repeatedly assure you they have.
The government have of course denied that they are putting an unreasonable share of austerity cuts on us. Repeatedly and often aggressively. This is how they respond to the UN of all people :
Since 2011, almost every main voice involved in the services and systems that support sick and disabled people have argued that we must know how all of the changes TOGETHER have affected us so particularly.
Everything we rely on has been cut severely - in some cases by up to 40%. Disability benefits, sickness benefits, social care services, housing support, legal aid for tribunals, respite care, the independent living fund, council tax relief, higher education funding, everything.
It is very possible that if you were affected by one of the changes, you were affected by several or even all of them.
Whilst the government paid lip service to assessing what impact their reforms would have on sick and disabled people, they only did so one by one. They always claimed it was impossible to assess them all together and specifically, how they would affect disabled people when combined.
It has been a long and dishonest journey. As with so many things, the government have done everything in their power to keep the figures from the public.
They said that it wasn't possible despite a petition gathering over 100,000 signatures calling for what they called a "cumulative impact assessment" or CIA.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43154 (Scroll down for gov response)
The government treated the debate it generated in parliament - a debate sick and disabled people themselves worked so hard for - like a Punch and Judy show of partisan nonsense. You can watch it for yourself if you click on the following link :
For more click here:
Diary of a Benefit Scrounger: Confirmed - The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face
diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com
Tories and Lib Dems engineer fastest fall in wages since Victorian times by Mike Sivier
Tories and Lib Dems engineer fastest fall in wages since Victorian timesby Mike Sivier Pictures displayed by Street Democracy UK
David Cameron must be so proud. He wanted a return to the Victorian era and that is exactly what he has achieved. Wages have nosedived, meaning the gap between the richest and poorest is larger than it has ever been; we already know that diseases once thought long-gone are stalking our streets once again while the […]
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Confirmed – The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face by samedifference1
Confirmed – The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face
by samedifference1 Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Cross posted from here at the request of Sue Marsh.
"Since the coalition came to power, sick and disabled people have claimed we are being fundamentally harmed by the coalition welfare reforms. Not scroungers or skivers, but people living with long term serious illnesses like me, or who live with physical disabilities. Adults AND children. Young and old. People with terminal conditions, people with kidney or heart failure, people waiting for transplants and even people in comas. None have been spared. The government repeatedly assure you they have.
The government have of course denied that they are putting an unreasonable share of austerity cuts on us. Repeatedly and often aggressively. This is how they resound to the UN of all people :
Since 2011, almost every main voice involved in the services and systems that support sick and disabled people have argued that we must know how all of the changes TOGETHER have affected us so particularly.
Everything we rely on has been cut severely - in some cases by up to 40%. Disability benefits, sickness benefits, social care services, housing support, legal aid for tribunals, respite care, the independent living fund, council tax relief, higher education funding, everything.
It is very possible that if you were affected by one of the changes, you were affected by several or even all of them.
Whilst the government paid lip service to assessing what impact their reforms would have on sick and disabled people, they only did so one by one. They always claimed it was impossible to assess them all together and specifically, how they would affect disabled people when combined.
It has been a long and dishonest journey. As with so many things, the government have done everything in their power to keep the figures from the public.
They said that it wasn't possible despite a petition gathering over 100,000 signatures calling for what they called a "cumulative impact assessment" or CIA.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.
The government treated the debate it generated in parliament - a debate sick and disabled people themselves worked so hard for - like a Punch and Judy show of partisan nonsense. You can watch it for yourself if you click on the following link :
They said it wasn't "robust" when both the very well respected Dr Simon Duffy from the Centre for Welfare Rerform and the equally well respected think tank Demos produced models they believed were viable.
And finally, just 2 days ago, Lord Freud, the failed millionaire ex-banker who re-designed our entire welfare system in just 3 weeks, wrote an official response to the SSAC, the government's own Social Security Advisory Committee, who also called for a CIA relating to disability, confirming yet again, that he believed it was impossible to assess all of the changes sick and disabled people have faced and claiming that the IFS, the all powerful Institute for Fiscal Studies, agreed with him.
This was yet another lie from Freud - there is no other word for it. As the IFS have confirmed
“We can’t find anything we have written down saying we can’t do a CIA....We do think it is possible to do a CIA of tax and benefit changes for the disabled population as a whole."
As it happens, they did one themselves for Wales
Today, at the request of the European Human Rights Commission, (EHRC) NIESR, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research have produced a definitive CIA and it is shocking equalityhumanrights.
For more click here:Confirmed – The FULL Impact of Cuts Disabled People Face
by samedifference1Care UK pay cuts made me homeless, says Doncaster striker
Care UK pay cuts made me homeless, says Doncaster striker
‘Care UK workers in Doncaster are fighting pay cuts so devastating that they have already made one woman worker homeless.
Mags Dalton has been a care worker for 26 years. But pay cuts of £400 a month mean she can’t afford her rent anymore—and will be forced to move out of the city altogether.
Mags told Socialist Worker, “I only moved into my house about a year ago. The move cost quite a lot—paying a bond, rent and hiring a van. Then Care UK took over our workplace in September, and by December they were cutting wages.’
Killed by benefits cuts: Starving soldier died ‘as result of Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reform’
Killed by benefits cuts: Starving soldier died ‘as result of Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reform’
‘A diabetic ex-soldier died starving and skint after officials axed his benefits.
David Clapson, 59, was stripped of the cash after missing an appointment under harsh Coalition reforms.
He died in Stevenage, Herts, with just £3.44 left in his account.’
Sign The Petition For An Inquiry Into The Benefit Sanctions That Killed David Clapson by johnny void
Sign The Petition For An Inquiry Into The Benefit Sanctions That Killed David Clapson
by johnny void
The family of David Clapson - the former soldier who recently died after his benefits were stopped as punishment for missing a meeting at the Jobcentre - have launched a petitioncalling for an inquiry into benefit sanctions.
In his sister's own words:
"My brother, David Clapson, a diabetic ex-soldier, died starving and destitute because he was penalised by the Job Centre for missing a meeting.
"David had his £71.70 weekly allowance stopped meaning that he couldn’t afford food or electricity. He was penniless, starving and alone. His electricity card was out of credit meaning the fridge where he should have kept his diabetes insulin chilled was not working. Three weeks after his benefits were stopped he died from diabetic ketoacidosis – caused by not taking his insulin.
"David wasn’t a “scrounger”. He had worked for 29 years; 5 years in the Army – including two years in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, during the height of the troubles – 16 years with British Telecom, eight years with various other companies, and in recent years was a carer for our sick mother. When mum went into a home, David turned to the state for help, receiving benefits while he looked for work and taking unpaid work placements.
"When he died he had just £3.44 to his name, six tea bags, a tin of soup and an out-of-date can of sardines. A coroner also found he had no food in his stomach.
"People turn to the state when they are in need - that is what the system is for - a safety net for hard working people like my brother when they need a bit of support. That £71.70 a week was his lifeline. To withhold it from him for missing one meeting is cruel. And the heartbreaking thing is that he was really trying. CVs for job applications were found near David’s body. He had been on work placements, passed his fork lift truck certificate and had been on a computer training course."
To read more and sign visit: http://www.change.org/
Please sign, share, tweet and blog this. Let's make sure this tragic story does not go away.
You can also sign the petition calling for benefits sanctions to be scrapped without exceptions.
Even The Work Programme Advisors Think It’s Shit by samedifference1
Even The Work Programme Advisors Think It’s Shit
by samedifference1 Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
So yesterday morning I went to the Work Programme which I have been sent on by the Job Centre after I passed my ESA medical and was put in the "work group".
The "advisor" who held our induction session was very critical of the whole Work Programme and spent quite a bit of time slagging off the Job Centre for the way they are running it.
Hundreds Of Disabled People Sent On Workfare Every Week, Is Unpaid Work The New Segregation? by johnny void
Hundreds Of Disabled People Sent On Workfare Every Week, Is Unpaid Work The New Segregation?
by johnny void
Disabled activists protesting in 2007 against Tesco, an early pioneer of unpaid work. Pic from here
The new Minister for Murdering Disabled People, Nick Harper has teamed up with David Cameron this week to boast about huge numbers of disabled people being sent to work without pay, often for profit making companies. The gushing press release forms part of the DWP's cringe-making Disability Confident campaign, the latest gimmick to cover up the endless vicious attacks on disabled people by the department.
According to the figures around 45,000 people registered as disabled with Jobcentres have been referred to an unpaid work placement since 2011. Of those 29,000 were sent on the Work Experience programme and 16,000 on Sector Based Work Academies, which the DWP now appear to be claiming leads to a guaranteed real job. This is a lie, Sector Based Work Academies promise a job interview only as this guidance for employers wishing to scrounge free workers makes clear (PDF).
Both of these schemes are officially voluntary. However with claimants facing benefits being stopped or sanctioned for trivial reasons and seemingly on the whims of Jobcentre staff then little could be said to be voluntary under the current regime. Claimants who refuse could simply be sent on a mandatory workfare scheme instead, and many have been. Almost 22,000 disabled people have been forced onto Mandatory Work Activity since 2011, bringing the total number of known unpaid disabled workers to 67,000 in the last three year. This is more than the 61,000 disabled people who the DWP say have got jobs through the Work Programme - and as ilegal reports this largely represents young disabled people on Jobseeker's Allowance, not those unable to work and claiming ESA, the benefit for people with more serious conditions or disabilities.
For more click here:
Hundreds Of Disabled People Sent On Workfare Every Week, Is Unpaid Work The New Segregation?
by johnny voidHarsh New Contracts Provoke Argos Staff Strike
Harsh New Contracts Provoke Argos Staff Strike
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
BULLYING Argos bosses have botched the long-awaited launch of their latest catalogue by forcing warehouse workers into a walkout today against “sign or be sacked” contracts.
Managers bulldozed through new contracts for distribution staff that include draconian new conditions by showing dissenters the door.
But more than 1,000 determined Unite members began a strike this morning in a bid to get bosses around the table.
And the week-long action at five Argos distribution centres is set to scupper the launch of the company’s autumn catalogue, scheduled for next Saturday.
Walkouts at Basildon, Bridgwater, Castleford, Magna Park and Heywood will disrupt distribution of new products to Argos stores.
“They can fill the stores up for a couple of days but they can’t do a week,” said a workplace union rep who asked to remain anonymous.
“So it is going to have a massive impact.”
Warehouses were abandoned by workers as the strike kicked off at 6am this morning.
The highly disruptive six-day campaign of pickets at warehouses and high street stores will begin on Sunday morning.
The rep explained how the attitude of management — advised by professional union-breaker John Gregory — helped spark the strike over new shift patterns.
They told the Star: “All we’ve said is that they should minimise the impact on our members and they just don’t want to do that.
“It’s one size fits all, I want what I want — that’s the director’s attitude and that’s why we’re in the mess we are today.”
Making workers clock in and out at break times is part of the new performance management measures that the union fears will see older and disabled workers sacked.
Unite national officer Matt Draper said the new contacts — sold to workers with a £2,000 sweetener — will wreck work-life balance.
For more details click here for the Morning Star:
Harsh New Contracts Provoke Argos Staff Strike
Wages Continue To Tumble In Con-Dem Britain
Wages Continue To Tumble In Con-Dem Britain
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Average worker has lost £1,600 a year since 2010, writes CONRAD LANDIN
WORKERS’ wages are still tumbling down the Con-Dem cliff even though dole queues are getting shorter, with experts warning yesterday that the coalition’s economic carve-up has made it more difficult than ever to make work pay.
The average worker is £1,600 a year worse off compared with before the 2010 general election.
That’s despite Office for National Statistics figures showing yesterday that fewer people are unemployed than at any time since 2008.
But more than a million people still have to claim jobseeker’s allowance to get by and there were actually increases in unemployment in Scotland and north-east and south-west England.
Official statistics showed that average earnings rose by a measly 0.7 per cent when bonuses were excluded — the lowest since 2001 and well below inflation.
Click here for Morning Star:
Picture displayed by Street Democracy UK
Average worker has lost £1,600 a year since 2010, writes CONRAD LANDIN