Burnt Out Sickies - By Sue Marsh
ESA week will face a short intermission.We have all worked ourselves into the ground. Broken of Britain are temporarily, erm, broken, and I can barely lift a finger to type.
I was just going to post "Bastards" and be done with it.
Instead, I'll post this comment from someone who actually works in the Job Centre and knows from first hand experience that everything us campaingers have been saying is true. The sickness and disability benefit system is failing like a very. very slow car crash.
If you read my blog and think what I do is important, please take over today. Tweet links, write your own blogs, find a juicy bit of research but get the message out. I'm going to bed.
" I'm a DWP worker sticking his head above the parapet and hoping not to get shot... I work in a busy Jobcentre and my customers are those 25+ who've been out of work for 13 weeks or longer. Probably 60-70% of the one hundred or more people I see every week are evidently not fit for work and yet, in theory, it's my job to whip them through the same hoops as everybody else, persecute them, attempt to stop their benefits and generally shame them into applying for all manner of wholly unsuitable jobs that they're never going to be able to do. In reality, what I do is tell them the system sucks and advise them of ways they can stay beneath the radar, or suggest they sign off JSA and move onto ESA and do whatever I can to make the transition as trouble free as possible. On the other side of the office to me are the Pathways team, who deal with customers on ESA. We all know that over the coming months most of them will be forced to migrate over to the JSA bods like myself and we won't be able to cope with either the numbers or the particular problems that this customer group represents. The point of all this waffle is that the policy makers have embarked upon their catastrophic journey without consulting the frontline workers who, without exception in my experience, KNOW that the planned changes CANNOT work. I would advise people worried about a forced transition from ESA to JSA to be brave and try not to lose too much sleep about it...it's just not do-able in the real world, there'll be a horrible mess and people's lives will face some awful but shortlived disruption and then it'll be business as usual. Also, for those who face the indignity of having to venture into a jobcentre from time to time, please be assured - the majority of those who work in them are actually on your side, and have probably less faith in our political masters than you do, and just as much awareness as yourselves that all their vitriolic guff about benefit scroungers and feckless layabouts is simply empty, venomous scapegoating..."
Originally posted here
2 comments:
I've caught up with your posts. Hope the wrist is doing what it ought to do.
All of this stuff is so dismal, and I don't even have to put up with it.
This government certainly sucks. I know there was a deficit, and quite right that it should be attended to. But really they way they are doing it is just bloody silly and totally punitive to the wrong people.
How any banker in this country can hold their head up is beyond me.
My lovely daughter has this Eds Syndrome, she has a very complex case of it and has just seen a London Specialist for a full diagnosis . I am totally shocked how ANY Government can treat Disabled Citizens in this cavalier way .I have O.A. everywhere and my spine is not at all happy with life and I am in constant pain 24/7 . My darling girl and myself hate living like this , on benefits , self-esteem battered beyond recognition as are we. This is a cruelty taking money from people in such pain , I am ashamed of my Government , there are plenty of people who should be sorted out why pick on sick ones...because they are an easy mark ?...well so you think Mr Cameron ...we shall show the world your shame . You go off bombing Gadaffi ..take attention away from us - you think ! .. Hmmm?
Well done for this work , I will spread your links my dear , good luck , I KNOW how brave you are .xxx A Mumsy !
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