Over the weekend of October 24-25 1998, claimant groups throughout England, Wales and Scotland launched a concerted campaign against Reed Employment UK Ltd., which is administering the New Deal Gateway in the Hackney and City area of north-east London. The aim of this campaign is to draw public attention to this systematic exploitation of the unemployed for corporate profit; and to deter other, equally greedy,private agencies from sticking their snouts into the trough so cynically prepared for them by the Labour government.
In towns and cities across the country, claimant groups have flyposted the High Street offices of Reed Employment and other companies in the Reed empire. In Edinburgh the offices of Reed Accountancy at 25 Frederick St. were covered with posters. It is estimated that 30 - 50 Reed offices Britain- wide were hit, including around 20 offices in London. Brighton, Reading, Oxford, Manchester, and Sheffield were among other places where Reed was targeted.
These posters are aimed at: Reed management who, over the next few months, will become aware that they cannot exploit the unemployed with impunity; Reed staff, who seem to need reminding that their actions - processing claimants for crap, low-paid jobs - are not without consequences; other employment agencies, who will receive the same treatment if they follow Reed's lead; ordinary members of the public, who pass Reed Employment offices every day, unaware of what is going on.
Further actions are envisaged. In the past, exploiters like Reed's have been able to console themselves with the thought that actions against them were just one-offs. Not this time. Activist claimants are determined to make their point. The flyposting will be followed by a campaign of leafleting and other direct actions are being considered.
Reed Employment is one of the UK's biggest recruitment agencies, with offices on the High Streets of most major towns and cities.
On 16 April 1998, The Daily Telegraph reported that Reed's had posted a 1997 pre-tax profit of £14m, up from £12.3m the previous year, after a 19% rise in turnover to £227m. Chairman Alec Reed described it as "a quietly successful year". According to the 1997 Sunday Times Rich List, the Reed family enjoys a fortune of £50m, making Alec Reed the 360th richest person in the country.
Under the insane logic of capitalism, rich is never rich enough. In March 1998, under a contract with the Employment Service, Reed's launched a pilot scheme to deliver the New Deal for the Young Unemployed in the Hackney and City area of London. His staff - hiding the fact that they are themselves underpaid behind silly T-shirts and fixed smiles - are levering claimants into jobs at rates as low as a criminally inadequate £3.00 per hour for young people.
Reed's is one of almost a dozen private companies that are now contracted to exploit the unemployed in areas throughout the country. Some Employment Service workers regard this as the thin end of the wedge of eventual privatisation. There has been talk of lobbying for strike action.
Within weeks of launching their glossy "New Deal Campus" in Hackney, Reed's were revealed to be indulging in sharp practice:
1. That Reed's agenda is less to assist claimants than to generate a quick profit became clear when the company tried to undercut existing Employment Service rates for staff administering the
New Deal Gateway by £3,000 a year. Reed's even advertised posts at these rates in local Jobcentres, until someone put a stop to this cynical attempt to exploit, not only claimants, but also those processing claimants for exploitation.
2. Reed's do their best to place "job ready" clients through their existing network of employers, who pay them a fee for every successful placement. This means that they are being double-funded: first through their New Deal contract, then by employers!
To some observers, this is merely an indication that monitoring will be advisable. To claimants, it comes as confirmation that the New Deal is rotten root and branch.
Reed's are not the only pigs with their snouts in the New Deal trough, but they give off the foulest stench. We are going to hit them where it hurts - in the wallet!
This Press Release was issued by Haringey Solidarity Group and Hackney Claimants, members of the Groundswell organisation of claimants' groups.
More info 0181 374 5207 or 0385 917201 or Edinburgh Claimants 0131 557 6242
Notes
1)Reed Accountancy, 25 Frederick St., Edinburgh - 0131 226 3686