UK Unemployment Corruption

Not sure if this is the correct forum??

Ok, there are two reasons for this post.

1. People should know the truth about what is happening.
2. What do you think I should do about it.

I’ll start by telling you how I got into this situation but if you want to skip to the real issue scroll down to the heading - CORRUPTION.

The company where I had worked for the last ten years went bust and I found myself unemployed.
I took myself down to the jobcentre and signed on. While I was there I used their terminals to search for a job and discovered just how few vacancies there are.
After a couple of weeks of searching enquiring and applying I realised that many of the vacancies listed are not real jobs, they are posted by employment agencies who are fishing for clients to add to their database. I also soon realised that many of the vacancies are posted multiple times.
I could not find ANY vacancies in my area for my profession (HGV) but did regularly see vacancies for machine drivers. I’d had several tickets in the past for various types of plant vehicles and so I devised a course of action.

CORRUPTION
I asked the advisor in the jobcentre if they could help me to renew my expired plant ticket. They told me that the government had taken this function away from them and handed it to a private company. The adviser booked an appointment for me with the company.

Company #1.
This company received four hundred pounds from the government the moment I walked in their door. They would receive much more when I found employment.
I explained my situation and that I wanted to renew my expired tickets. I also showed them a list of local vacancies for machine drivers. They informed me that I would first need a cscs card and they sent me to another private company.

Company #2.
When I arrived I discovered I was not the only person on this course, there was about thirty of us and another thirty a few days ahead of us. They explained that this was a two week course. I was surprised because I already knew that to get a cscs (health and safety) ticket only required a simple computer based course that takes just a few minutes.

This is where it all gets quite sinister.
They told me I would have to complete a first aid course and a fire marshal course before I could take the cscs test. I objected and said I only wanted to get what was required to get back to work asap but they insisted I had to do both of these first.
The first aid course was two days of talking about accidents. I pressured the guy running this course into telling me what I was qualified to do and he finally said “Your qualified to call an ambulance”.

Here’s the qualification they gave me.
If your injured and need help be cautious of people showing you one of these, you dont even need to unwrap a sticky plaster to get one.



We were then told that for the next two days we were being given a little treat!!! They told us that a man from another company was coming to give us all a nice little talk.

The man arrived. He is private company #3.
When we walked into the room we found he’d set up a projection screen. On the screen were the words
PSYCHOLOGY – CHANGING AUTOMATIC RESPONSES.
This set alarm bells ringing in my head, I watched and listened very carefully.
The first thing he said was “It’s your own fault your unemployed, you need to set your sights lower and be prepared to work for less”
He went on to say “The corporations are doing everything they can to help us”
Before he arrived the mood had been quite good because we all thought we were there to get various qualifications or as in my case my tickets renewed but this guy killed that mood straight away.
I watched in disbelief at what was taking place. He was using psychological techniques to change peoples opinion on why we go to work. According to him we go to work for the good of our country and that is it. When I pulled him up on this and told him I go to work to pay my way through life AND be able to afford such things as a car, a home, a holiday etc I was met with a blank stare from both him and the others in the room.
Realising I was a minority of ONE, I tried to explain that those we work for can afford a car, a home, a holiday etc so why should I not expect the same, I was met with the same blank stare. It was like sitting in a room full of zombies, I was astonished, he’d successfully switched them all off.
Towards the end of the day I poked my nose in again and asked if he had any qualifications to practice psychology and he avoided my question. The next day the first thing he told me was “I don’t need a qualification because I don’t call myself a Psychologist; he’d obviously gotten advice from his masters.

The fire marshal course was as pointless as the first aid course; we didn’t even touch a fire extinguisher. Again I pushed the question of what am I qualified to do and the reply was “You should know how to make your way to the fire assembly point”

Day 11. Company #4
Fifteen minutes on the computer and I passed the test for the cscs ticket.

So, as you can see, four different companies have profited from my unemployment.
I return to company #1 to ask about renewing my plant ticket so that I can get a job. “Sorry, we can’t help you, and we’re closing down so you’ll have to go back to the jobcentre”.

Having done a little poking about I’ve found out that this is happening all across the country. I thought I’d chosen this path but they would have sent me on it anyway.
This is tax payers money and money from EU funds that is meant to provide training, and its being given to private companies who offer nothing in return other than a dose of corporate brainwashing.

On my last visit to the jobcentre I was told that if I don’t find employment soon I’ll be forced to do mandatory full time work for my unemployment benefit. This work will be for... a large corporation.

Before people jump in and ask why I should expect them to pay for my qualifications let me tell you it’s because I PAID FOR IT when I paid tax and national insurance for all those years AND because the government have taken billions from EU funds for this precise purpose. Also I was on a four day week for a year, a three day week for the last three months, and did not get paid for the last three weeks of my previous job, this ate away my savings, I am penniless. I got a small amount of redundancy which got me out of debt but there was nothing left once the debts were paid. I suppose I'm fortunate that I dont have any real debts like so many others do.

So, to repeat what I wrote at the top. What do you think I should do about it. Where/whome should I write to cause as much fuss as possible?

I nearly forgot. The cost of renewing my plant license would have been £280 and enabled me to find employment. Company #1 recieved £400 when I arrived at their door. There is the other three companies who were also paid and there is the continued cost of my benefits.
It's not rocket science is it.

If you got this far thanks for taking the time.
Apologies for grammar/spelling etc.

How very dare you complain, dont you understand your country needs you. Now 2 sugars and look sharp

Nah seriously matey nail - head. S&F for you, unfortunately i can offer no advice or help, other than to wish you good luck in gaining future employment.

Now do you understand why the government needs to stay out of the market?

I went though the same thing in Leeds i wanted to do a converted forklift course from a bendi truck to a counter balance.They said i had to sit a maths and English test! for 2 weeks to pay for it. I asked how does that pay for my license they could not answer my question so the women said so right lets get started i just laughed and went home. This country is a JOKE : it makes me wants to move to a cave house in Spain and live of the land

i hope you found work

reply to post by funnybones


Is there any place left on earth where you can live off the land without TPTB bothering you?

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
reply to post by funnybones

 

Is there any place left on earth where you can live off the land without TPTB bothering you?

Only your grave. Mind you they'll probably want you to pay rent for that too.

reply to post by VoidHawk

I used to work for a supermarket before it was closed down and all the staff was made
redundend but the shop used to have people on benefits come in on back to work training.

At first they where there with reguler staff working but as time went on the the staff numbers droped
and the people on dole numbers went up.
A few months later the grocery department had as many staff as it did people from the job center.
And the best bit was when the manager told them if they worked hard they get a job which
was just one big lie.

Most of them really wanted and needed a job but after a year which was the maximum time
they could stay they just got replaced with some one else

There was no training except how to put a tin of beans on the shelf.

Dont know if i can name the supermarket not that matters as it was bought out
by co-op about two years ago so if you want to know a quick google will tell you.

reply to post by skuly


My Scottish gf works for the job centre. She says that supermarket giant Tesco are paying off their own staff to take on unpaid unemployed workers instead through the Work Experience scheme. She and her colleagues are horrified by what is happening but there's nothing they can do about it, it's a national government policy.

Sorry to read your experiences OP.

It would appear that the country is being deliberately 'run into the ground' by TPTB and our young people are being trained to actually believe that they should be slaves.

Is there anywhere left to run? Perhaps, but I doubt it.

Do they know 'something' that we don't? Possibly, but we won't get to find out till 'too late'.

What to do? Keep awake! Stay Sharp! Keep a bug out bag handy and hope for the best!!

Surviving 'tough times' is about a) good luck, b) good knowledge, c) having a cool head!

Good luck, my Friend! And remember, We ARE all our brothers' keepers! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

reply to post by LeBombDiggity
Perhaps if certain stores are found to be using 'slave labour' in this fashion we might choose to never shop there again until they change their ways. We are our brothers' keepers!

Originally posted by LeBombDiggityMy Scottish gf works for the job centre. She says that supermarket giant Tesco are paying off their own staff to take on unpaid unemployed workers instead through the Work Experience scheme. She and her colleagues are horrified by what is happening but there's nothing they can do about it, it's a national government policy.

It happens here too.
They are called 'unpaid internships' and people jump at them because of the hope that they will be hired at the end of it all, There was quite a scandal a while back regarding it.

The Job centre is a pile of rubbish. They treat you like crap, speak down to you and make you feel bad for trying to get a job.

I feel the OP's pain - and as for the 'job training / first aid' courses - they're an absolute joke and an insult.

reply to post by LeBombDiggity

It seems to be the in thing for companys to cut staff and get unemployed to do
work on the cheap.The manager of the Somerfeild now works for poundland
as a area manager and that company doing the same thing.

If you end up geting tranning you will earn less than £2 a hour like the poor girl
in the link below.

Daily Mail

The Government programme aims to help around 250,000 young people over the next two years through training and unpaid work experience in the public, private and charity sectors. Placement providers include chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Argos and Asda.

reply to post by Elliot

I think if we tryed that we might go a little hungry all the big four supermarkets seem
to be up to it.

It's hard to believe how ridiculous the benefit system is in the uk

A good place to contact about this, and what tescos are up to, might be
The Jeremy Vine show on BBC radio 2

Good luck with finding a job

First of all I feel your pain. That was a well written post!

I have also heard bad things abou A4E that the jobcentre sends people to. Goolge A4E Scam.

Here's the woman who owns the company, making LOTS of money off unemployed people.
www.youtube.com...

The place is pretty depressing too(the girl at the end is beautiful thou lol)
www.youtube.com...

Originally posted by skuly
reply to post by VoidHawk

 

I used to work for a supermarket before it was closed down and all the staff was made
redundend but the shop used to have people on benefits come in on back to work training.

At first they where there with reguler staff working but as time went on the the staff numbers droped
and the people on dole numbers went up.
A few months later the grocery department had as many staff as it did people from the job center.
And the best bit was when the manager told them if they worked hard they get a job which
was just one big lie.

Most of them really wanted and needed a job but after a year which was the maximum time
they could stay they just got replaced with some one else

There was no training except how to put a tin of beans on the shelf.

Exact same thing happened to me, I was working at a clothes store for three months hoping to get a job. I was standing all day working hard doing all kinds of work in the storage room and dealing with customers restocking etc One thing I noticed is how the "work experience" people were made to work harder than the paid workers. In fact they often stood around having a chat while we worked hard trying to impress. In the end I had the overwhelming feeling that I was being used.

Right now I'm looking for a job without jobseekers allowance, yes I'm barely surviving right now but I swear all I got from the jobcentre was the feeling of being looked down upon and treated like a lower class human, you can go from confident to depressed dealing with it all. I hated that feeling, the money they give me is not enough to make me to want them to babysit me and send me on slave labor.

Of course when I'm really desperate I may have to go back, but right now the feeling of desperation for a job is helping me be more focused on getting a job rather than relying on JSA which "personally" made me feel a bit lazy and low on confidence.

By the way I do know the JC "CAN" help a lot of people, and there are some real nice helpful people in some of them. This is just my personal experience.

What the OP has put here is happening all over the world. People are getting fired to make room for younger and cheaper workers. After a while it will become more difficult to get a job because you were out of work to long according to the employers. Companies don't give a sh*t how people try to get an income. Their only goal is getting richer and when you think you are in, then you will be fired again. I personally experienced this for several times.

Originally posted by VoidHawk

Originally posted by Dartelheden
reply to post by funnybones

 

Is there any place left on earth where you can live off the land without TPTB bothering you?

Only your grave. Mind you they'll probably want you to pay rent for that too.

In the Netherlands it is common to buy a grave for 30 years after that the contract is broken and the grave will be used for someone else. Also it is possible to lent a grave. most of the time these are 5 year contracts.

i agree that the country is been run down to the ground ..huge supermarket chains paying min wage while they make huge profits ...it comes down to greed.. I've never seen the point in the min wage, as you can't survive on it..why should the gov hand out tax relief on a min wage?..it just doesn't make sense..the working person deserves a decent wage based off a 39 hour week..until governments start going after big companies to pay their employees a decent wage nothing will change....


2.7 mil unemployed /1mil on the sick..20 mil on min wage ..welcome to the UK ..have a nice day

Your story really scares me. It sounds like a herding program for the unemployment numbers that will continue swell, a scam for corporations and a chance to brainwash our minds. But what I don't understand is, you still need the population to have some money so they can be consumers - jobseekers allowance effectively stops you being a consumer as the money is barely enough to pay basic bills!

Quick question though, how do you know company #1 made £400 when you walked through the door?

Star and flag for bringing this to light.
Favouring this one will give me a chance to put some research into this corrupt system.

I've started a thread about this a long time back you might find it of interest

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The apprenticeship schemes they give under 25's are bad as well, you make a fraction more than the dole a qualification worth nothing and back on the dole once it ends. I was previously employed as an apprentice working 60+ hours a week for a fixed rate of £90 per week, there was no chance of a job at the end either. that much was clear, instead of training us more than they had to in the job we were there to learn they used us as unskilled labour as much as possible to do the jobs no one else wanted.

The whole job centre system is a scam but not many people want to listen because they tend think its just the whining of some lazy dole bums.

also similar story came up recently

www.abovetopsecret.com...