Boycott Workfare’s welfare action gathering on Saturday was a massive success. 80 people from groups across the country came to participate in the day of workshops based around info and skill sharing on the various welfare issues we face. The programme was packed, with sessions on JSA, ESA, housing, fuel poverty, and more, with people remarking on the difficulty of deciding which workshop to attend when there were clashes. We organised the gathering because supporting claimants to know and enforce their so-called rights, and claimants organising together and shaping the campaign, has always been a major part of what we do. For this to happen effectively local mutual support groups are key (it was from a London Coalition Against Poverty group that Boycott Workfare came out of) – we’ve distributed thousands of ‘How to Avoid Workfare’ leaflets but along with these, we really need a buddy or a group of people when challenging Job Centre Plus. The gathering was called to support the growing number of local groups so that we can build on the impressive work of challenging workfare and sanctions across the country through mutual support and direct action, like the examples shared with us early on in the day of the occupation of the £3 million council house and a blockade of the workfare exploiters Salvation Army.
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I had so much fun this afternoon on an M&S workfare picket today.
Feminist Fightback, North London SolFed, Rhythms of Resistance, and Boycott Workfare descended on M&S off Mare Street, Hackney. As the hot sun scorched Hackney, the samba band rang out across the street interspersed with chants of ‘M&S pay your workers’. Passersby were loving the samba, with two children clapping along as they waited for a bus and then improvising their own instruments with two twigs. People stopped and joined the demo to chant ‘M&S pay your workers’ with us. There was loads of support and good vibes from people. We handed out so many ‘How to Avoid Workfare’ leaflets and leaflets explaining about M&S’ use of forced unpaid labour that we had to rush off and photocopy another batch.
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Hundreds of people bombarded Marks & Spencer on social media on Wednesday night after the company boasted of their use of workfare earlier in the week.
The company were forced to lock down their facebook page in an attempt to silence criticism and are now preventing people from posting on their wall. This has simply led to people leaving hundreds of comments threatening to boycott the company on their gaudy posts advertising over-priced food instead.
The ‘workfare party on the M&S facebook page’ as one person described it seemed to be holding strong on Thursday morning whilst the company haven’t fared any better on twitter where they can be found @marksandspencer.
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So, the night before last whilst out walking my dog, I found a guy sleeping in the gardens behind my tower block. Last night he came back. After an internet search I found details for No Second Night Out (NSNO) who claim that they:
focus on helping those who find themselves rough sleeping on the streets of London for the first time. We will ensure there is a rapid response to new rough sleepers, and will provide an offer that means they do not have to sleep out for a second night...
Elsewhere on the site , we are informed that:
Homelessness charity Broadway has won the £5 million two-year contract to take on the mayor of London’s no second night out project from June this year. Howard Sinclair, chief executive of Broadway, said: ‘We are committed to ending rough sleeping in the capital and by working in partnership on this tender – and by expanding the service to south London – we are confident that the great strides we have already made to ease homelessness problems in London will continue.’
So, is this expensive scheme involving Mayor Boris and a homeless NGO a good thing, or is it is just more spin which sees the Tories handing out cashpayers money, with little positive result to be gained? And yes, of course the question is rhetorical......
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