{"id":379,"date":"2015-02-27T21:26:25","date_gmt":"2015-02-27T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk\/?p=379"},"modified":"2017-08-07T21:33:23","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T21:33:23","slug":"protests-to-besiege-maximus-in-work-capability-assessment-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk\/?p=379","title":{"rendered":"Protests to besiege Maximus in Work Capability Assessment storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protests will be held Britain-wide on March 2nd to denounce US based company\u00a0Maximus and its takeover of the Work Capability Assessment,\u00a0previously run by the French IT company ATOS.\u00a0\u00a0 In Edinburgh\u00a0demonstrators are set to descend on the Maximus Assessment Centre in Argyle\u00a0House on Lady Lawson Street from 1pm onwards on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"maximus<\/p>\n

The day of action has been called by Disabled People Against The Cuts (DPAC), disability rights organisation Black Triangle,\u00a0 Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty (ECAP),\u00a0the Industrial Workers of the World and other groups, who are all demanding the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) be scrapped.\u00a0 The WCA is the current test which determines if claimants are awarded the disability benefit\u00a0 Employment and Support Allowance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous administration of the Work Capability Assessment by ATOS\u00a0proved controversial. ATOS was frequently accused of incompetence with\u00a0assessors having no accredited medical training and the process by which\u00a0they assess claimants repeatedly being described as \u201cunfair\u201d and\u00a0\u201ccruel\u201d. Very often these tests amount to little more than a box\u00a0ticking exercise for the assessor with little consideration taken of\u00a0the complexity of the claimants often multi-faceted medical history.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DYING – BUT “FIT FOR WORK”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Numerous reports detail the inhumanity of\u00a0the system. Claimants have been phoned up the day after\u00a0their heart bypass to be told they are fit for work.\u00a0\u00a0 Claimants\u00a0dying of cancer have even been declared fit for work by a computerized\u00a0test which assigns points based on what claimants can\u2019t do and has\u00a0been known to deny points based on whether the claimant arrived at the\u00a0assessment centre unaided or something as simple as whether they were\u00a0able to remove their coat without assistance.<\/p>\n

Activists have little faith that the takeover will represent a change\u00a0in the management of the assessment. Maximus, a US based company which\u00a0provides services to government agencies, has a long record of\u00a0failures and abuses in the US. It has repeatedly failed to achieve the\u00a0duties in government services which it was contracted to do, has\u00a0continuously been involved in Medicaid fraud, has been found guilty of\u00a0disability discrimination, has been found guilty of paying lower wages\u00a0to women than men and has had racial discrimination complaints filed\u00a0against them.<\/p>\n

Esther Macdonald of Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty said:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThese\u00a0tests are completely inhumane. Private companies reap the profits\u00a0while disabled people are suffering the cost.\u00a0 Under ATOS, people were\u00a0literally killing themselves because of how horrific it was. Now given\u00a0all we know about Maximus, we expect no better from them. The only\u00a0solution is to scrap the Work Capability Assessment completely\u201d.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The protests are also backed by UNITE the union. Unite equalities\u00a0national officer Siobhan Endean told Welfare Weekly that\u00a0<\/span>\u201cUnite\u00a0<\/span><\/em>disabled members are sending a message to Maximus. The company should\u00a0realise it has taken up a poisoned chalice and pull out of this\u00a0contract with the Con-Dem government\u201d.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FACING A WORK CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT OR AN ASSESSMENT FOR PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENT?<\/span><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Disabled People Against the Cuts\u00a0www.dpac.uk.net<\/a>
\nBlack Triangle\u00a0www.blacktrianglecampaign.org<\/a>
\nIndustrial Workers of the World\u00a0www.iww.org.uk<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\r\n\t\t