a rant from the precariat - about Universal Credit

A rant from within the ranks of the precariat  -

about Universal credit.

Universal Credit consolidates 6 benefits into 1 payment, so it includes benefits for those in work such as income support and tax credits and housing benefit 

We need to be alarmed because there's been a significant rise in use of food banks and cases of homelessness in areas where UC has been put into effect 

and for this the Government needs to be made accountable.

Croydon Council has requests an extra 3.1 million from the Government to cover the cost of rent arrears.

The Croydon chronicle reports - last year council gave a total of £2m in emergency rent money to families on benefits who would otherwise have risked losing their homes – by next March that figure is set to be £3.1m.

But it’s not just difficulties for claimants during the that we need to be concerned about,

there is a very sinister side to UC.

Payments are conditional.

There is a work preparation requirement that forces claimants to commit to 35 hours/week in work related activities such as job searches, unpaid internships etc. 

the onus is on  claimants to  improve their financial circumstances

  

and if this requirement is not met, then sanctions are imposed.

And sanctions cause destitution.

           

Rather than providing support for working people, UC, through the DWPs toolbox of harsh punishments for any deviance from its plan to get people in work, can be used to force people to accept unsuitable work conditions such as low pay, unsociable hours or unreasonable shifts or simply to work during times of personal difficulty or ill-health.

For example I quit my job as a warehouse operative last year, I’ve spent my savings, and I’m looking for job, 

the only job I’ve been offered in the past month that met my requirements for a decent terms, ie. guaranteed hours and a real living wage, was the nightshift as a pump truck operator in a warehouse.

As a single parent with a teenager in college I didn’t take the job because it would miss daily contact with my family.

But under UC I might get sanctioned if I didn’t accept work that was offered to me.

I’m no expert, but it seems to me that this 'commitment to work' requirement undermines some very basic human rights; rights to health, dignity and family life.

UC leaves us with no choice other than complicity in the system that exploits workers and serves the fat cats.

I’ll explain

UC is fundamentally flawed. It has been designed to ‘make work pay’.

But

decades of neoliberalism and policies that have supported corporate growth and

undermined worker’s rights have served to normalize low wages and work insecurity

and forcing people to work in this system of exploitation is simply 

feeding the market.

There is no doubt, we are in crisis.

Nurses, are now relying on pay day loans and food banks.

Despite record low unemployment figures, statistics from the DWP show a sharp rise in recent decades of in-work poverty, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports that 1 in 5 children in poverty in UK today are living in a household with at least 1 adult working.

This trajectory must be stopped and reversed.

So, before this gov pushes people to work, it has some work to do

- it needs to end public sector pay caps

- set a minimum wage that is a real living wage, and keep it pegged to the real cost of living

-end zero hour contracts

-end use of Swedish Derogation so that agency workers get proper pay

- abolish legislation such as the Trade Union Act 2016 that restricts trade union activities

- support Trade Union membership and organization.

If the government wants to make work pay then there needs to be an employment strategy that is fair and dignified

and that makes work pay for workers.

So Unite community is running a campaign to urge the Gov to stop and fix universal credit.

The campaign has had some successes:

claimants may now make calls without being charged;

and the recent budget had some helpful concessions;

- the 7 day wait for new claims has been abolished in response to complaints about the 6 week wait for new claimants

- advance payments (loans) can be given for 100% of claim, up form 50% - to be repaid over 12 months

- and in response to the problem of rent arrears 2 week Universal Credit payment can be claimed for those transferring from housing benefit.

We can be effective.

You can stand up for your rights with us at Unite Community, together we can, and must, negotiate for systems that work for us.

#fixuniversalcredit