Sun, 27 Sep 1998 12:37:24 -0700 (PDT) Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 12:37:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Franklin Wayne Poley Subject: Re: NY Daily News editorial on workfare To: margaret In-Reply-To: <01bdeab5$8b793ac0$LocalHost@vucqprlj> It absolutely boggles the mind to think of the numbers involved here. I forwarded a post yesterday on a global figure of 150,000,000 unemployed. If the IMF/World Bank/APEC/MAI financiers and big business bosses can get away with using forced welfare labour in lieu of minimum wage plus labour by falsely calling it some kind of "pre-employment training" they will save literally trillions of dollars. Plus they will destroy unionization itself with this policy in due course because once the new workfare system is perfected they can force unions to accept any terms by simply saying, Look either you accept our terms of we'll close the business down and re-open it with workfare labour. All it takes is a few corrupt judges and politicians willing to lie through their teeth and call work something other than work. FWP. On Mon, 28 Sep 1998, margaret wrote: > > > > >The editorial on Workfare appeared 23rd. Sept in the New York Daily > >News. The editor extols the virtues of a recent NYS Appellate Court > >decision overturning a lower court's ruling -- ordering the city to pay > >workfare recipients the prevailing wage. > > > >Farewell Welfare? > > Thankfully, a journalist paid far more than $5.15 per hour can stand up for > the Rich and keep the poor in their place applauding the state appeals court > overturning the decision by state Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon that > ordered the city to pay workfare recipients the prevailing wage. > > Keeping the wage-slaves divided and therefore conquered is an age-old > practice one which you can appreciate is a tradition like exploiting racism, > sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry and political ideology to further > divide the poor so they will never stand up and dump the bosses off their > backs. > > Gang warfare is good for business as usual too busy shooting at each other > the youth don't assassinate politicians as has become the alarming trend in > other countries and at other times in our necessarily rewritten history. > > >You after a daily life spared the traumas of poverty know how great such a > ruling that upholds basic principles of workfare exploitation: That public > assistance > >recipients are not employees. (Hell they might begin to think they are > equals, that the Government is corrupt wrking for the Corporations that rule > the planet not just America and really need their welfare tax dodges etc to > increase profits... That workfare is a temporary program aimed at teaching > the work ethic. That you believe like the Nazis who had at the front gates > of Auschwitz Arbeit Macht Frei/Work Makes You Free or the Stalinists that it > is performed in exchange for benefits. Oh lucky citizen to be born to serve > such a glorious State! > That it is not the destination, but merely a transfer point on the way to a > job so you can be used to scare those working that others will work cheaper > than you and so keep them in their place, in fear of losing theirs and being > treated like that or even accept cuts in wages, trade off conditions for > continued insecurity at the Bosses whim. > > Solomon, in her infinite wisdom (she probably tried living on that income > for a day, thought about it extended into weeks, months, the future and felt > glad it was not her and hey cut them some slack:) ruled that it is unfair to > pay workfare recipients the equivalent of minimum wage, $5.15, if other city > employees doing similar work get $8 or $10 an hour. > The State Appellate Division (a far more world wise in the needs of and ways > of the Rich) found that Solomon's ruling ignored state of misery law. It > also violates common > sense poor people are salways with it and it feels good to humiliate them, > it works for concentration camp guards hy you may be feeling gloomy but you > can always get relief from torturing someone else. Paying welfare recipients > more than the minimum wage is unfair to those New Yorkers who do toil at > $5.15 an hour. Hell they might all want a pay rise and ask why is all the > money going to the Rich. It's also unfair to rich > avoid tax non-payers who don't foot the bill what is the incentive if there > is a call to share the wealth? > There are only some 340,000 city adults on public assistance, yet only > about 40,000 of whom are on workfare at any one time. the 300,000 others > need to be made to work for their poverty Civilian conscription in this time > of Crisis of confidence in the capitalist system makes peopl get used to > following orders no matter how futile they may be eg dig a hole now fill it > in again; don't do as I do do as I say and don't answer back or you'll go to > Jail and be a sex slave if you are young and can be overpowered by strong > individuals or gang rapists because that is the way of Power a corrupt > violent abusive system you can't beat it so join it humiliate abuse someone > else if you can dominate them: it's the American way. > >Opponents of welfare reform have tried to kill workfare through various > avenues. They've called it menial and likened it to slavery. They've > demanded that recipients be unionized. Students have complained that they > can't study and work. Unlike the editor ,who has no life outside of stirring > up hatred of powerless vulnerable groups in a society where the readers like > to pretend slavery is "history"... All that bellyaching ignores the damage > done to the individuals by welfare dependency (like really living it up on > say one meal a day, sleeping fitfully in fleapit dangerous accomodation) > yeah something the Editor can really relate to in their everyday life. > (not!) The aim of the reforms is to get people off the dole, to make them > work for the pittance they get paid that is hard to survive on, to put fear > into workers: fear for their jobs, fear of insecurity being replaced by > cheaper labour, not make it more comfortable. > In fact a lot like Australia run by the present Government as "relaxed and > comfortable" (irony of course!) > > > > > Yours for defiance of the Authorities & class war. > Peter Riley > Melbourne IWW Group > PO Box 145 Moreland > Australia 3058 > peter@iww.org.au ----------------------------------------------------------- > -------- > > > -> Workfare-Discuss, the list for fighting workfare internationally > -> To subscribe, send subscribe workfare-discuss to majordomo@icomm.ca > -> List web site, http://www.icomm.ca/workfare/