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Year 2008 No. 11, January 29, 2008 ARCHIVE HOME JBBOOKS SUBSCRIBE

Youth slave labour:

Oppose Monopolies’ Plan to Take Control of Education

Workers' Daily Internet Edition: Article Index :

Youth slave labour:
Oppose Monopolies’ Plan to Take Control of Education

What's It Like to Work at McDonalds?

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Youth slave labour:

Oppose Monopolies’ Plan to Take Control of Education

Gordon Brown plans to give the go ahead for big monopolies such as McDonalds to take part in A-level-style qualifications. The corporations McDonalds, FlyBe and Network Rail have been given “awarding body status” to level 3 by the curriculum authority, equivalent to A-Level or advanced diploma. What is the aim of these proposals?

            Brown’s vision of education is closely linked to the upholding of “British values” in which everyone should be a good citizen and negate their own interests in favour of subordinating to the monopolies. In general, as the political representatives of the ruling class, the government is attempting to tie education ever more closely with the needs of the monopolies. The monopolies call the tune, and Brown kow-tows to them. The programme to invite the monopolies to participate directly in setting the direction for “education” reflects the dictate of the needs of neo-liberal globalisation. It is geared to the programme for Britain to compete in the global market in a bid to outdo China and India, and steal a march on European rivals. His emphasis on skills is deceptive. The niche the Prime Minister is carving out for Britain is particularly to compete in the high-skill, high-tech sphere. There is also Britain’s place as a leader in the financial markets of the world. For the vast majority, Brown’s programme is actually to de-skill the workforce. It is literally to attempt to reduce the youth to anti-conscious wage slaves. It is a role the youth do not accept and are organising against. In return, the government accuses these youth of behaviour problems or attitude issues, criminalises them and makes them the target of law and order clampdowns. The “McQualifications” proposed by Brown dovetail into this picture. They highlight his attitude as the present champion of the monopoly class to provide the monopolies with cheap labour to exploit, presenting youth with only this as the option in life. Much the same as methods are also used to recruit for the armed forces.

            This move is leading to widescale opposition, including from the teachers’ unions. It should not be overlooked that the proposals are also aimed to undermine the unity of the workers through trying to inculcate young workers in accepting to have their rights as workers and as human beings ignored. They are aimed to coerce the youth into accepting that the only way to get on in life is to compete remorselessly with fellow workers, to identify their personal interests only with the success of their employers and to jettison sentiments of humanity and social consciousness. It is both an anti-union agenda, and one aimed at driving down wages and conditions. Unions such as the University and College Union, and The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers have condemned this move and are outraged that education will be at the mercy of corporations whose interests are to make profit. Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, said: "It is a huge mistake to allow McDonald's, with its poor track record of employment practice and anti-trade union attitude, to pioneer private sector provision of training."

            What it the response of the youth to the fact that the monopolies want to take over “education”? The youth are discussing this issue and are outraged. One young woman aged 19 says of this type of “education”, “It is disgusting that a business or company has control over education. The syllabus should be decided by staff and students who understand what their true education needs are. Not by these businesses who will control the syllabus so that they can teach children how good burgers are!” She goes on to say, “This happened at a school in Gateshead which had loads of money pumped into it by Reg Vardy and had a lot more government funding because they wanted to make an example of it. Because Reg Vardy wanted the school to be religious it was, and the rules on uniform were stupidly strict and the kids were under huge pressure. This shows that this kind of brain washing of this so-called education, pressuring the students to be exceptional whilst telling them all about their ‘moral codes’, cannot be sustained or does not nurture the young person in the slightest. It teaches young people that to succeed in life they must become as rich and ‘successful’ as their school sponsor.”

            So what is the youth’s concept of education? The youth understand that education is a right, not something to be granted at the whim of big corporation. But what is this education and how must it be guaranteed? “History as such” teaches us that “education” is the attainment of knowledge so that we may “succeed” in “making it”. It teaches us that we are indebted to the society for this “education” and that we should go on and grab a career and that despite low wages and bad conditions we are lucky, and this is the way to “success”. In an act of finding out, the youth see that actually education is something completely different from this, that education should be arming the youth to take up social responsibility for the future of society. The partnership of big business and the government is geared against an enlightened workforce, and stands in the way of progress for the youth and the working class.

            This action by the government on behalf of the monopolies is part of their whole attempt to convince the youth and working people that there can be no alternative to the system dictated by monopolies like McDonalds. Young people, because of poverty or tuition fees, are forced to work in low paid jobs becoming wage slaves, and without unions are at the beck and call of these giant corporations. These multinational companies do not have the enlightenment of working people on their agenda. Instead they will attempt to forge a workforce that is answerable to them.

            But in the face of this youth must take a stand. Youth have a right do a decent livelihood and also a right to education to the highest standard. The youth must seek answers through engaging in discussion. This conscious participation is the only way forward to gaining the understanding needed to end the exploitation of young people and the working class as a whole. Through discussion on the way forward, the youth can open up paths to progress, by putting forward a programme and taking actions that constitute them as decision makers. The future of the youth must not be dictated by these monopolies, the youth must have their own future in their own hands, by taking control of it.

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What's It Like to Work at McDonalds?

From McDonalds Workers Resistance website

It is totally degrading and dehumanising, there is a “procedure” for every tiny action to make our role almost completely robotic. The pay is infamously poor, bad enough, according to the high court, to depress wages throughout the catering sector. Management is frequently very autocratic; the company likes to employ ex-military personnel because they bring “a sense of discipline”. There are no overtime payments or any rights beyond those legally constituted. Hours are often unsociable. The work is sometimes relentless and employees are expected to “hustle” – basically run about for 8 hours (or 10, or 12...). Because of the pace of the work cuts and burns are very common, most people who have worked there for a few years will have at least one permanent scar. We are bombarded with inane company propaganda and are expected to comply with company stipulated “appearance requirements”. Theft of wages (clock card entries being altered by managers to save on labour expenses) is rife and is tolerated by the company- widespread theft of employees’ wages to save the company money is NOT an offence that leads to dismissal, taking a drink without permission potentially is. Hours can be cut (completely) with just 10 days notice (often, in practice, much less). Even when your shift finishes, incredibly, you are not free to go and are obliged to stay on should management demand it, which they almost inevitably will. The UK crew handbook states “due to the nature of our business, on occasions you may be asked to continue working past your normal finishing time; you will be released (sic!) as soon as the need for your services has past”. You can't even go to the toilet with out first obtaining permission. If a shift is unexpectedly quiet and staff are not totally rushed then some staff will be told to go home, if they insist on working their full shift they will often be assigned the most unpleasant cleaning tasks to encourage them to rethink. At other times every day off will be disrupted by a phone call from a stressed, sometimes even tearful, manager begging you to come in and work. The obsessive cost cutting and incessant prioritisation of profit has enormous human costs.

Don't take our word for it, here are another few dozen testimonies...

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