Three arrested at Manchester workfare demo
Article published: Sunday, March 4th 2012
Three people were arrested following a protest against workfare in Manchester city centre yesterday.
Police speak to demonstrators earlier in the day. Photograph: Simon Hickman
The arrests were made outside the HMV store in Market St just before 3 pm, Saturday 3 March. Organisers describe the protest as “peaceful”, and say the arrests came at the end of the demonstration as participants were packing their banners away.
It is understood that two of those arrested were held until the early hours of Sunday morning before being bailed pending interview, with the other released later and cautioned for breach of the peace.
Greater Manchester Police could not be contacted for comment before publication.
Protestors had been demonstrating outside high street retailers including McDonald’s, HMV, Topshop and Tesco for their participation in the government’s workfare schemes, in which jobseekers provide free work for employers or face losing their benefits.
First piloted under Labour, the Coalition government argues workfare schemes help the unemployed “gain the experience they need to secure a job” and overcome “a lack of understanding of the world of work”. Critics say the mandatory schemes exploit unpaid labour as a subsidy to employers at a time of economic depression.
Recent high-profile protests in recent weeks have seen several major firms back out of the schemes, and forced employment minister Chris Grayling to remove sanctions from the government’s “work experience” programme for young people, one of five workfare schemes.
Earlier in the week Department for Work and Pensions minister Iain Duncan Smith labelled opponents of the scheme “a bunch of anarchists and a few unions” and was reported in the Daily Mail as having “asked the police to be more pro-active” in their response to demonstrations which “invaded” shops.
Richard Goulding
More: Manchester, News, Policing, Welfare
Comments
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What were they arrested for?
Comment by Tim on March 4, 2012 at 7:30 pm -
Exact circumstances not yet known but we’ll update as more information comes in
Comment by richard on March 4, 2012 at 8:18 pm -
[…] Manchester: Manchester Mule […]
Pingback by Boycott Workfare » Blog Archive » An amazing day of action against workfare on March 5, 2012 at 9:37 pm -
The corrupt torybastard exploiters and their corrupt big business chums are really going for it , ably assisted by the corrupt, violent , bullying plod thickos . We’ll smash them . NO SURRENDER .
Comment by Maggie Drooling Cabbage on March 14, 2012 at 12:19 am
The comments are closed.
