Unemployed bussed in to steward jubilee, unpaid and asked to sleep rough

Strife212 said:
Well I guess that part is bad, but I don't see what's wrong with making people do something to get their payments.
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I never said that getting people to work was an issue. What I was trying to get was that these people are unemployed, obviously desperate to earn some money. They can't just go to the nearest Premier Inn, can they?

I thought any normal human being would see the inhumane side in providing no access to toilets and told to sleep under the London bridge in cold temperatures. That's just not on!
 
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Nitefly said:
Wow, that is awful. It's totally beyond me how posters in this thread have shrugged their shoulders at this.
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It sounds implausible to say the least. If it is partly true (if you read it you can see the Guardian is cherry picking for effect) then the private companies involved need to be quizzed and prosecuted.

Board level crime is something I'd like to see on the agenda for parliament.
 
Strife212 said:
They volunteered for event security and complained when it turned out to be the Diamond Jubilee and not free tickets to Glastonbury, bad luck :p
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They don't volunteer. This "workfair" scheme is only voluntary in the sense that you lose your benefits if you don't "volunteer". Forcing people to work against their will for no money is slavery. These people should have been paid at the very least the national minimum wage - plus accommodation.

I am a natural Conservative and I can't condone this sort of carry on.
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/05/call-inquiry-jobseekers-jubilee-stewards

Another victory for the government's wealth creation, sorry work experience programme. I wonder how much worthwhile experience the unpaid "volunteers" got out of the weekend, are sleeping rough and standing in the rain skills valued by employers these days? It certainly wasn't the case of the company involved, Close Protection UK, cutting costs - after all, the uniforms which the stewards got changed into in public cost £100 each.
 
Net beneficiaries of the system giving back through voluntary work. Ok conditions werebad, but loads of people in loads of jobs have it rough sometimes. Yes sleeping under a bridge for a night is not on, but that doesn't make volunteering for no pay slavery.
 
dl8860 said:
Net beneficiaries of the system giving back through voluntary work. Ok conditions werebad, but loads of people in loads of jobs have it rough sometimes. Yes sleeping under a bridge for a night is not on, but that doesn't make volunteering for no pay slavery.
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These people don't actually volunteer. They are coerced into working without pay. This sort of carry on just attacks the most vulnerable in society.

By all means insist they take a mandatory work placement but pay them for it.
 
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