Staff at the Eastern Avenue jobcentre in Sheffield are on a PCS strike today in protest at the government’s proposed closure of Eastern Avenue jcp and a raft of other jobcentres around the country.
People are furious about these jobcentre closure plans. As readers of this site will know, local people who claim benefits have told me that they can’t afford to travel to jobcentres in other towns, that public transport to other jobcentres is patchy at best as transport is cut and disappears, and that they worry they’ll have no access to computers to use locally to search for jobs if local jobcentres close. People say they can’t always afford internet access on their phones.
Local people also say that these non-stop closures of public services in their towns are destroying smaller places. Post the Brexit vote, government is supposed to be deeply concerned about people in the regions who feel left behind, but you wouldn’t know that from government’s ongoing removal of local services.
Clare Goonan, PCS rep and Eastern Avenue jobcentre worker (she is jobcentre’s disability employment adviser and has worked at the jobcentre for 12 years) said on the phone from the strike this morning:
“We [at the Eastern Avenue jobcentre] offer a personalised, one-stop service… people can pop in from local, whereas if it was closed, they’d have to get on a bus, or two buses, and go online. We have a lot more interviews than what they would do if they were in town.
“And the jobsearch and computers – we’ve got 12 computers [at Eastern Avenue] that customers can come in and use if they want on internet. What people would have to do [if the jobcentre closes], is to pay to go into town, because there is no other services around here.
“There is a library, but the possibility is that the library won’t stay open, because of cuts, so if we don’t – we [at the jobcentre] send a lot of people around there [to the library], so if we are not sending people around there [if the jobcentre closes], they [the library] may not stay open. [We have] more a personalised service than town.
“It costs £4.90 a day to go into town [on the bus]. The cheapest ticket is £15 a week, is the cheapest one to go to town.
“Not sure on the reimbursement of travel… in town, there would be a lot more reimbursement of fares. If we get a customer to come in and it’s not their signing day, then it would be to their expense, so they would have to claim it back. [People need to pay for a ticket themselves first].
“[We are striking] to show management that we are standing together. At the moment, there are no members gone in [to work past the picket line] as yet. We’ve not seen any staff go in, apart from higher management that usually go in, we’ve not seen any staff go in as well. The office is not definitely open yet. We want to show management that we’re serious about it, we don’t want the community to lose the last public services that around here. If it’s [the jobcentre] is closing, then this area, which is one of the most deprived areas of Sheffield, will lose its last public services.
“We’ve got people [who use the jobcentre] with mental health issues, anxiety and depression as well, so coming into this office is easier than going into a large busy office and they’re able to get here as well.
“I’m the disability employment adviser. I am here full time as a DEA. At the moment, I am training work coaches to do a similar role. So, [the work involves] confidence boosting, getting customers in to learn CVs, stripping it back to the basics. It’s a one-stop service from making the claim to ideally coming off the claim and into work, or going to where they need to be. The itinerary that we do for people depends on what the customer needs.”
I asked if having local services like a jobcentre and a disability employment adviser helps people avoid sanctions and claim closures
Literally… they know us by name, it’s more of a local place. Rather than going in a place where they are all strangers and [claimants] have got to get over the fact that they got to speak to a stranger, here we know them by name and they are more comfortable and it’s more regular.”
I’d note that Eastern Avenue is a Universal Credit jobcentre, which means that people who sign on need housing assistance assistance with applications for the housing component of Universal Credit to pay their rent. God knows people find it difficult enough to negotiate UC applications and get that assistance as things stand. Making help even harder to get by removing jobcentres does seem to me to be a recipe for failed applications, rent problems and homelessness. Just a thought.
Government won’t publish its responses to consultations on the closures until after the election.
More soon. Further strike action is planned.
How quickly the PCS can move when it is a question of civil service jobs ( with pension), and how slowly over the sanction system and the ruthless way that ‘customers’ are treated.
Faux brotherhood manufactured by the union towards claimants.
Cue green puke emoticon.
No doubt PCS are more concerned, that their members are going to have to travel to another location, than any public inconvenience.
Funny how this union has zero qualms about its members being directed to agitate and bullying claimants and handing out more sanctions a year that fines
by Magistrates and Sheriff courts.
https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/benefit-sanctions-britains-secret-penal-system
Odd they never complained or went on strike about that.
Best outcome is all the Job Centres close and the staff are stuffed into call centres, so rather than lazy days waltzing around the jobcentre, interrogating as few as 15 claimants a day, they can do some work.
And the claimants might wake up too and demand an overhaul of the system rather than being half asleep.
Going on strike,,, seriously?, where else are they, a bunch of unskilled clerks with fancy job titles, going to find work in Sheffield etc for £12+ and hour..
”they know us by name, it’s more of a local place. Rather than going in a place where they are all strangers …”
And they are probably sick of the sight of you and the prancing security guard bouncers.
It’s like having a probation officer and being interviewed under caution.
Very inventive kate – getting another anti Brexit dig in…
Bargaining power of the workers would be a lot higher without an endless supply of cheap labour.
Thanks for the article, and really saddened by the responses above, I don’t work in the same jobcentre, but as a PCS branch rep that covers the jobcentre, I can say that PCS as a whole, disagrees with the sanction regime, and in Sheffield we work together with Unite the community to stop the awful things that have happened to the welfare system under this government. We are all the same, this government just want to divide us. I, for one have worked 25 years and have never sanctioned anyone. The PCS members I represent work hard to support those that want support, the members at eastern Avenue are taking industrial action to fight the proposed closure of the site, as they know that so many customers need it to stay open and receive help in an ever increasing complex welfare system.
I personally would be dancing in the street with joy if every fucking Jobcentre in the land was burned to the ground. The only possible way forward is for the government to abandon conditionality from claiming Dole and abolish Sanctions. Pay an unconditional citizens basic Income to everyone of working age whether they are working or not, say £100 per week. No need for the DWP, no need for jobcentres, No need for working Tax Credit, no need to fund the leeches in the lucrative Welfare-to-work industry. It would be cheaper in the long run, & local authorities could still pay housing benefit to those who need it, & people would be free to work part time jobs instead of spending 35 hours a week doing jobsearch. Fuck the Jobcentres.
Great post Trev.
And all the stress that the DWP generate would dissolve too.
Perhaps we could have the Job Centres stay, but as places where people voluntarily go, to actually find jobs, and maybe employers could use them too, rather than the leech agencies.
The nice DWP staff, could be kept on.
All the bullies and the G4S guards could be retrained as
road sweepers – a dose of humble pie might make them partially human over time.
Yes but the Jobcentres cost a fortune to run. Maybe they could be replaced with IT Centres. P.S. I should clarify that I am NOT advocating that people commit arson! It was just a figure of speech.
The need for an unconditional citizens basic Income is obvious & I think inevitable. The present system is out dated & unworkable. We are Transitioning into being a post-industrial society, with a growing population, there cannot be enough full time jobs for everyone & unemployment is inevitable. The industrial revolution is over, traditonal industries have gone, most of GDP is created in London. Time now to redistribute & share the wealth, & give people the flexibility they need to work part time jobs. Universal Credit is a shambles & doesnt address the problem or answer our needs.
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