Making unemployed and beneficiaries suffer
John Howard has never made any secret of the plans to destroy the Australian social welfare system. His first major step in this project was to privatize the old Commonwealth Employment Service and putting unemployed in the hands of private job network agencies. Being private, these agencies are motivated by profit and paid by results. �Results� means either finding jobs or kicking unemployed off the dole.
The next step was to establish work for the dole. Under Keating Labor, there already was a form of work for the dole called work experience. The Keating philosophy was to force unemployed people to respond to economic restructuring. This meant forcing them into training programmes. The programmes were expensive to run. had a shelf life of six months and were an expensive way of providing very few jobs.
The Howard government philosophy is to attack the unemployed outright. This is indeed the effect of work for the dole. In 2001 there were quite a few soft community programmes. Some radical organizations such as food co-ops and green groups benefited from work for the dole labour. No doubt this softened the opposition of much of the radical left. However, as of last budget, the gloves are off and all work for the dole schemes involve hard labour. Unemployed are forced to do concreting, carpentry, bush clearing, painting, nurses and teachers aid work being paid $15 per week on top of their normal dole payment. This is indeed slave labour It is an attack on the unemployed forced to endure such slavery. It is also an attack on the work force. Those who normally do this work as their paid labour are deprived of their jobs. Work for the dole is not a job creation project. It is a job destroying one. It is part and parcel of Howard�s attack on work place rights.
This year, Howard has continued his �reform� programme. Over fifty year olds are being forced to do work for the dole if they are deemed to be �shirkers� .. Howard has also introduced Full time Work for the Dole.
Under Full Time Work for the Dole the victims are forced to work twenty five hours per week paid $15 on top of regular dole payment. They also must attend their job network agency office and prove that they are actively seeking work. This is indeed oppressive.
The Howard programme to deal with single parents and those with disabilities is to force them to look for the work like those on Newstart. They must pass the work test. For those with disabilities it applies if you are less than 18% disabled. Victims of this new work testing include those with Cystic fibrosis leukemia and multiple sclerosis. Which are serious chronic diseases. Centre Link changed its mind in relation with the person with leukemia, but only after the case was promoted by the Sydney Morning Herald Often some with cystic fibrosis look normal and can do a limited amount of work. But this may aggravate their condition and lead to weeks bed-ridden, perhaps in hospital!
It may appear to many that single parents have plenty of time on their hands, and may be able to do work. But sole parents have to be there aftershool to pick up their children. Work does not often allow this. Also work often means tiredness and a tired parent may not be able to look after their child properly. Bringing up a child is work and sole parents have to do this below the poverty line. A living wage should be a right for all! This should be index under workers control.
For hundreds of thousands of unemployed and beneficiaries in this country, the effects of Howard�s �reform� are extremely oppressive. They mean hardship and poverty.
However these attacks are also part of Howard�s industrial agenda � to smash organized labour.
It is heartening to know that virtually every Church has abandoned any support for Welfare to Work. Most have though benefited from work for the dole. Apart from the moral blow this means to Howard it also means that the government will have to employ rather than banking on the Churches to do their dirty work.
Why should bosses employ if they can get unemployed labour � to work for nothing! Bosses will use all this as a gun to workers head. �Accept these conditions or we will bring in unemployed labour� will be the message. And so hard fought for conditions such as holiday pay, overtime pay (etc) will be thrown out the window. Unemployed also have no work choice. If there is a suitable job available, they must take it. If they don�t they will be breeched which will mean loss of income.
So it is extremely important that the workers movement fights both unemployment and attacks on the unemployed. This should be done not only out of solidarity with others under attack, but because these attacks directly affect workers.
All work should be paid for at full award rates. The working week should be shortened, without loss of pay until everyone is employed. As long as there is one person looking for work the working week is too long!
Workers should support the unemployed and unemployed should support the union movement in its struggle against Work Choices. Unless there is education then unemployed or guest workers will be used to undermine hard fought for conditions.
Unions should take action against the work test which forces unemployed people to take jobs with low poor and poor conditions.
The union movement must take an active stand against work for the dole. It must be blacked now! Bans should be placed against institutions which utilize this slave labour!