“By all means, pay companies incentives to employ young people, but do not take advantage of the vulnerable by using them as free labour.”
The above quote is from Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu and one of a growing number of voices in the Church condemning this Government’s obsession with unpaid labour.
Unfortunately the Bishop is also the president of workfare riddled YMCA, as has just been revealed by @boycottworkfare.
YMCA are involved in the Mandatory Work Activity (MWA) programme – four weeks full time unpaid work for organisations with a ‘community benefit’. This scheme is the teeth of the workfare regime, used solely as punishment for those who refuse ‘voluntary’ workfare or are judged to be not trying to hard enough to find work. The evidence shows that MWA does not help people find a job, and it is not intended to. Under current rules it is not possible to volunteer for MWA.
The YMCA (@YMCA_England) have remained silent about their use of unpaid workers ever since the workfare row broke out. Dr John Sentamu can be found on twitter (@JohnSentamu). Perhaps he will have the grace to tell the truth about how his own charity takes “advantage of the vulnerable by using them as free labour”.
*I really wish I could claim credit for the above headline, but that goes to @wolvopingu
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The Void
