Joe Higgins – OECD Implies Newly Employed Should Be Pauperised

Creation of Reserve Army of Very Cheap Labour the Aim The paper Activation Policies in Ireland presented by the OECD to today ‘s ESRI Conference in Dublin strongly implies that benefits should be cut for the unemployed. The thrust of the paper tends to put the blame for high unemployment on the unemployed rather than on the economic crisis that generates joblessness.  

Creation of Reserve Army of Very Cheap Labour the Aim

The paper Activation Policies in Ireland presented by the OECD to today ‘s ESRI Conference in Dublin strongly implies that benefits should be cut for the unemployed. The thrust of the paper tends to put the blame for high unemployment on the unemployed rather than on the economic crisis that generates joblessness.

 

The OECD document states: ‘In general labour market outcomes reflect characteristics of the labour market [eg. the level of the dole], and not only the scale of the demand shock,banking crisis, exports etc.

“Further the OECD use the following example: “Example 2: In early 1990s Finland and Japan both suffered a dramatic asset price bust and banking crisis, but unemployment rose to 17% in Finland and to 4% in Japan:Finland has generous benefits – unemployment at 17% generated little social hardship Japan provides no benefit coverage of long-term unemployment”.

In Ireland far from being ‘generous’ as frequently stated in sections of the media, the dole provides for mere survival in a country which boasts prices among the highest in the world. Cuts in unemployment benefits would pauperise the tens of thousands of newly unemployed.

The aim of those calling for cuts in unemployment payments is very clear – the creation of a reserve army of labour living in such straitened circumstances that it is forced to work for exploitation wages. This is more than the creation of an exploiters’ charter.

Hammering the living standards of both workers and the unemployed is, in fact, the recipe of the economic and political stablishments for allowing market capitalism to crawl out of the chasm where it now is as a result of its own workings. This is the meaning of the policies of the Fianna Fail/Green Party Government with the active participation of most of the media.

The government is greatly mistaken if it believes that hundreds of thousands of unemployed will not fight back against the injustice of swingeing cuts in unemployment payments added to the shock of unemployment.

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Protest: Stop the slaughter of Tamils in Sri Lanka !

Next Article

Rejuvenation application for Tallaght Town Centre: a pre election gimmick.

Related Posts
Read More

Reject ICTU’s Sell Out Deal

A press release from Joe Higgins, Socialist Party MEP responding to the cancellation of tomorrow's day of industrial action by the ICTU leadership and their promotion of a deal with the government based on enforcing unpaid leave on public sector workers.

Rank and file trade unionists must reject this sell out deal and organise to replace the weak union leadership with one who will seriously fight government policy.

Workers unite to defend jobs and wages

  • No to social partnership
  • For democratic fighting unions

 

ONE HUNDRED and twenty thousand marched through Dublin in the biggest workers demonstration in 30 years. Following on from the success of the 21 February demonstration the ICTUs’ executive committee called for all of its affiliates to ballot their members in the South for a one-day national strike on 30 March. Here STEPHEN BOYD looks at the situation.