> Can I suggest a trip from Keele down to some of the miners' estates of
> North Staffordshire and whilst there to test the 'can't be bothered to
> get off benefits and racialist' hypothesis. Like North Staffs, Kent's
> mining and engineering industries have been taken away from the workers
And whilst you're there, make sure you take a good look at the
wonderful (service eg call centre type) jobs that are available.
also the nice pay-and -conditions nursing orderly or even better, the
orderly in an OAP's home, on the night shift. Most are paying just
on or v little above the minimum wage, at least they do in South
Yorkshire, and other depressed former mining areas.Then take a
look at the rents payable by these former miners.
If the job is full time, many are not, that will pay ca. £150 a week.
Three times the dole of ca. £50 a week. Oh goody, till you add on
the housing benefit, likely ca. £70 a week, which the newly
employed minimum - wager no longer gets. With tax, rent, and
travel costs, anyonrtaking on such a job goes from the dole+rent
and zero hours work a week on £120 to a net wage of £130-140 for
35 hours a week, ie their "real" pay is, per hour, approx £15/35 or
40p an hour. Whats more, such low paid jobs seldom lead to a
career ladder, or to anything more than a succession of such
jobs.At least this creates jobs for Benefit office fraud detectors,
who must be faced with a mountain of claimants finding it far more
worthwhile to earn the odd £30 or so on the quiet.
Since no "economically rational" benefit claimant will voluntarily
work under these conditions, we have more people employed to
force these claimants into work, or withdraw benefit money. The
only benefeciaries of this process are a) the globalised
corporations who must now see the UK as a haven of cheap forced
labour, and b) the already rich bosses of these companies, also
now guaranteed such cheap labour.
Pwerhaps its the govt's way of deterring illegal immigration into
Dover - make sure anyone coming to work here earns less in real
terms than they could in China. Any illegal UK migrants turned up
at Shanghai docks yet?
Hillary Shaw
Hillary Shaw, P/G Geography, University of Leeds
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