You would think that they would hate their jobs, right?
Well...
Leicester
Wales
Hansworth
South London
Tower Hamlets
South Yorkshire
Manchester
South Manchester
Essex
They don't look too unhappy about working as slaves for no pay to me. Sadly I couldn't find any pictures of workfare people working in Tesco, but I'm sure they would be smiling too.
These pictures were mainly from the Future Jobs Fund - the predecessor to the current system, but run along similar lines. The "workfare" jobs covered vocational areas such as retail, administration, information technology, environmental and community work.
The main opposition to "workfare" seems to come from Tory hating Labour supporters, but "workfare" was actually introduced by the last Labour government. The main complaint about the scheme seems to be because it is compulsory, but it was compulsory when Labour ran it too.
The people who are opposed to "workfare" today were complaining when George Osborne cut the funding in May 2010 so that the scheme could be improved.
These same people also fail to mention the fact that the current government has created thousands of new apprenticeships for young people.
It seems that when workfare involves a job at Tesco it is bad, but when it involves a job atthe local council then it is OK. Work is work. If their argument that Tesco should pay then so should the council.
Among the voices from the left railing against Tesco for training workers without paying them is the Guardian. The Guardian were also complaining about the Future Jobs Fund being cut and calling for it to be restored. They actually gave Tesco an award not so long ago.
Talk about jumping on a band wagon!
Mind you, the Guardian are doing their best to help out. They currently have adverts for 37 intern positions on their website - most of them unpaid. They also offer unpaid slave jobs in their own newspaper.
It's good you have brought attention to what has overwise been portrayed in a rather one-sided manner. However, I have to agree with those who are complaining in regards to Tesco et al. A job at the local council will equip people with skills which they can use to rise up the job ladder; "training" from Tesco does not offer anything like this. All it does is provide Tesco with very cheap labour. For this scheme to be any good, it has to give duel benefits and if these benefits are weighted in any way, it should be on the side of the jobseeker (that is why the scheme has been created).
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