Job bridge or exploitation scheme

national | workers issues | press release Thursday June 30, 2011 15:22 by Seán Ó Murchú - Republican Sinn Féin

A national internship scheme has been launched today in an effort to bring people off the unemployment register and back into the workforce.

This sounds great Geraldine McNamara Republican Sinn Fein PRO said, but when we are told that the person on the scheme will receive a mere fifty euro per week on top of their existing payment then we should start to worry.

Many people will have to pay more than that on transport and food just to get to work and it will cause more hardship for the individual.

Some people are getting a payment of one hundred euro per week at present on job seekers allowance and fifty euro extra to hold down a full time job is almost slave labour.

The employer should have to match the welfare payment which would mean they would still be getting an employee very cheaply but the employee would have some financial reward. We have an unemployment rate of 14 ½ % at present and unless proper jobs are going to be created this scheme will do nothing more than juggle the figures on the live register.

This scheme has to be vigorously monitored by the unions to prevent exploitation as happened in previous schemes when the young person was left go before completing their time to get a qualification and a new person was taken on for cheap labour.