system in which local social security offices become in effect labour exchanges, each managing the compulsory work effort of thousands of reluctant draftees on behalf of local cheapskate employers.
Although some claimants would no doubt be stripped of benefits, far more money could be recouped far more easily for the Treasury if a concerted drive was made against highly-paid tax evaders, who fleece the Inland Revenue of billions each year.
Workfare's main economic appeal for the Tories and their big business backers is that it further undercuts rates of pay and job security for those still in work, and reduces the expectations of the unemployed as they hunt for work. This would reinforce the efforts of Gillian Shephard to cut the pay of the lowest-paid by scrapping the system of Wages Councils. Yet figures show that after 14 years of Tory rule AFTER months of evading the issue, the NUM has at last decided to ballot its members on March 5, with a recommendation for 24-hour strike action.
The ballot will take place alongside those being held by the rail unions. Other public sector unions could yet decide to join the alliance.
NUM President Arthur Scargill specifically linked the miners fight with that to defend hospitals, coun cils services and the rest of the public sector when he spoke at the Women Against Pit Closures rally on February 6.
Now the NUM has finally declared itself in favour of strike action, the fight for a yes vote is vital. Ward No. 37 February 13, 1993 Page 3
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