Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty calls on all opposed to exploitation to join us in demonstrating against the use of workfare schemes by B & M Bargains this coming Saturday 27 June – meet 2pm onwards at B & M Bargains, 91 – 93 High St, Musselburgh EH21 7DA.
B&M Bargains have just won a ‘prestigious’ workfare industry award for their use of forced unpaid labour. We need to let them know this has not gone unnoticed. They need to understand that it is unacceptable to have this sort of exploitation take place in our communities.
B&M bargains are a private, profit making company (they made over £100 million last year) and yet it won’t pay its workers for their labour. People on workfare are given sanctions (loose their benefits) if they don’t work for free, and even when they do work they are sanctioned for ‘misdemeanour’s’ such as being late.
Apart from exploiting claimants, workfare also undermines the hours and conditions of paid employees at B&M. As with all workfare placements in the private sector, workfare provides free labour that replaces paid jobs.
Boycott Workfare has had several reports of reduced hours for paid staff as well as the practice of employing paid staff on a trial basis, sacking them after 12 weeks, and replacing them with workfare placements:
People can only be sent on workfare placements if there is somewhere to send them. Let’s make it impossible to do this!
Not on this street, not in this city!
More info on the Britain-wide Day of Action against B&M, co-ordinated via Boycott Workfare at http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=4397
Demo supported by Edinburgh Anarchist Federation https://edinburghanarchists.noflag.org.uk/
Check out ECAP’s recently updated page on practical steps you can take to resist, if you are being sent on workfare.
