Source: IRNALondon, Nov 18, IRNA – The British government has 14 days to respond and set out its case in the first stage of legal action, challenging that its ‘Mandatory Work’ scheme amounts to unlawful forced labour.
Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) have sent a ‘letter-before-action’ to the Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan-Smith on behalf of 33-year-old Jonathan Shaw from Birmingham, arguing that the scheme amounts to exploitation, with jobseekers forced to undertake up to four weeks of unpaid work.
“At the end of their placements, jobseekers are often not considered for permanent employment and many are simply replaced by other jobseekers who, like them, face losing their jobseeker’s allowance if they fail to carry out the work,” PIL said.
The action seeking a judicial review is on the basis that slavery and forced or compulsory labour is prohibited by UK and European human rights law, in particular by Article 4(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
There are limited exceptions for work such as that carried out in prison or as part of a “normal civic obligation”, but such obligations are limited to work as part of jury service and military service and the like. Forced labour has also been prohibited by international law since 1930.
“This Government scheme of forced labour unlawfully exploits individuals. The only beneficiaries are participating companies, such as Tesco and Poundland, who get their workers for free”, said Tessa Gregory.
Shaw completed an Access course in preparation to go to university to study history, but felt unable to as a result of high tuition fees and has been out of work since March.
Like thousands of jobseekers, he was said to now fear that at any moment a Jobcentre Plus adviser could decide to force him to undertake what he sees as a pointless and demeaning process, during which he will have no time to actively seek employment.
Jim Duffy from PIL said forcing jobseekers to work for free may benefit big business but does “nothing to break the cycle of unemployment and poverty.
Instead it amounts to exploitation, decided at the whim of a Jobcentre Plus adviser.'
“The answer to solving the country’s unemployment crisis is to empower and support people, not to punish them by forcing them to work in dead-end jobs for no pay,” Duffy said.
The DWP has no overall figure for the numbers involved in unpaid work schemes, but the latest official figures show that the number of unemployment has grown to 2.62 million, including a record of more than one million youths.
