Okay – this is a minor rant, but I’m having it.
I went to Plaistow jobcentre yesterday to accompany a young woman to her JSA signon appointment.
I couldn’t find the woman when I arrived, so I asked the G4S security guard if I could stick my head around the door on the first floor to see if she was already there.
“No,” he said.
“Could I just see if she’s there?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No,” he said.
That was the end of that.
These G4S people get on my nerves very badly. They can be obstructive in the extreme. I would like to know who they answer to. They seem to go a long way to make sure that JSA claimants are denied their right to accompaniment to meetings. Last time I attempted to accompany this young woman to an appointment at this jobcentre, I didn’t even make it as far as the ground floor entrance. The G4S guards parked me outside the jobcentre with the young woman’s bike. They wouldn’t let her leave the bike inside the jobcentre for five minutes when she signed on and she didn’t have a lock for the bike (she couldn’t afford one), so I ended up standing outside on bike-guarding duties.
I am pretty sure that the guards enjoyed sticking me outside with the bike. I am also pretty sure that the guards like saying No, because they can.
It’s the little things, you know.
Picture: Bike
. 
These arrogant, obstructive guards are the living symbol of the new Jobcentre culture. Based on coercion, intimidation, and if necessary, brute physical force. At my local Jobcentre we have a G4S guard known as ‘Terminator’. This is a big, bald man known for his hard stare at the claimants waiting to sign-on.
A combination of his distaste for the people before him, and a secret hope that somebody might start trouble.
JSA claimants are not criminals, and they are not appearing before a court of law. They are not on probation for some criminal act.
Some people believe that this harsh treatment of people on benefits is just the tip of the iceberg.
As we move slowly but steadily to a very British kind of authoritarian state.
With continuing attacks on the poor and disadvantaged, on claimants and the disabled. On Trade Union activity, through repressive new laws. Backed by ever-increasing police and security powers .
A society where injustice and repression is widespread, but no-one wants to make a fuss about it.
Oh trust me I’m always first to complain very loud and clear. Best place to complain is on Camerons f.b page. It’s quite entertaining now because support for the P.M is diminishing on his own f.b page. Yes I know times are hard thanks to the tories. But tory days are numbered and they know it.
He is down with his pigs.
Hi, I think it is great that you are providing advocacy skills and support. That is great. Perhaps, in future, you could liaise with the young person and meet up outside of the job centre at an agreed time, so that you can go in together. The bike lock problem needs to be resolved somehow. JSA may not wish to take responsibility for care of the bike for five minutes on their premises and that is their call. You then had the invidious choice of either accompanying your client and leaving the bike unprotected, or protecting the bike and leaving your client unprotected. I do not have an easy answer for this.
I agreee that the power-trip thing is intimidating. The only response to it is by being more powerful and more prepared ourselves!
good points – the problem really with the bike situation was that the guards said I wouldn’t have been able to accompany the woman even if the bike hadn’t been a problem. I get that they may not want to look after bikes or have them in the building, but they always have the option of showing discretion. It’s the way these things are handled and the way that claimants and supporters are spoken to that is the issue as much as anything else.
This sort of thing happens time and time again as I go to jobcentres – guards simply say No, you can’t accompany this person. I tend to take the guidance I’ve got at the moment and also to have guidance on my phone to show people. The point is that their first response is No – and they are wrong to say that. They say it because they think they can. No other reason.
Take the chain off and disconnect the brakes and go with your client. I get this kind of thing all the time. Mostly, it seems as though I’m showing JC staff how to do their jobs! The new guard is way worse than the last one…
The first point of contact in ours IS now the security guard, which I think is the wrong approach. He isn’t trained and it’s not his job to deal with claimants. He’s there to keep the peace.
It’s the guards I find most difficult. They are not looking to make things straightforward and they’re always the ones to approach you when you first enter a glorious jcp… some are ok, to be fair, but a lot are far too heavy and make up the rules about accompaniment as they go along.
It comes back to the point I made above. They don’t know what to do so say no/guess/make it up/whatever. Really I think they should avoid contact with the public unless there is a security issue. The DWP should make sure there is some-one prominent to speak to people as they enter the building.
Claimants have a right to be accompanied. See the following link for details of such a case:
http://www.boycottworkfare.org/?p=4491
Also keep on eye on the forthcoming court case in Forfar on 13th October 2015, details of which are mentioned in the above link.
I’m surprised you gave in so easily to G4S!
Just spotted on this week’s (Thurs 5 Nov 2015) ‘Forum’ piece in Camden New Journal [print edition only so far] by Becka Seglow-Hudson of Global Women’s Strike:
“…. As visitors walked out [of G4S-run] immigration detention centre, I turned to the electric fence, easily 10ft high, which enclosed our loved ones.
“A sign was pinned to it: ‘G4S: Care and Justice Services. We are all one big family, no matter who we are.’
“This might sound like a cruelly ironic PR blunder.
“It is more than that….”
“All this and more will be discussed at an international grassroots women’s conference, Caring, Survival and Justice vs the Tyranny of the Market, on Sunday November 14 and 15 at WAC Arts, Hampstead Old Town Hall, 213 Haverstok Hill, NW3 4QP.
“Becka Segloow-Hudson, Global Women’s Strike, http://gws.conf15weebly.com”
For online publication of the same as ‘Forum’ piece, see ‘Opinion’ listings on CNJ ‘Comment’ page at a later date.