Anne makes $12 an hour as a personal care aide in a local hospital. She always thought people on welfare should work for their government cheque.
"I get up at 5:30 a.m., fight traffic and work all day. Why shouldn't welfare recipients work for their cheque?"
One day as she was driving to work, she heard a social activist and union leader on the radio speak out against workfare. At first she wasn't impressed, but then she thought about it...
"I belong to a union and besides a decent wage I get benefits such as a pension plan and parental leave through collective bargaining. I also have other benefits such as health and safety rights and protection from harassment. People forced into workfare programs get none of these things."
When cutbacks loomed, Ann and 100 other hospital workers were laid off.
"Now, I'm on Unemployment Insurance and am sending out resumes. Unfortunately, jobs are hard to find..."
David lives in Anne's community. Because of funding cuts he was laid off from his job at a community centre. Even though he has computer skills and a wide range of work experience he couldn't find a job and is now on welfare after his UI ran out.
"I sent resumes to every place I could think of, but when the unemployment rate is 15% in your community, it means that someone somewhere won't find a job."
David took part in an "employability program" introduced by the provincial government. To get his welfare cheque he is forced to do a work placement of 20 hours a week for six months at $6 an hour.
"When I went to the welfare office to fill in the appropriate form there were two placements available as personal care aides. I got a couple of hours of training and I'm now working in the hospital doing Anne's job - at $6 an hour. I'm now doing workfare."
When governments say that welfare recipients are too "dependant" and should be forced to work to get government support, what does it say about David?
"It says I'm the problem. It says its my fault I don't have a job."
"They say I need incentives to get back into the workforce so that I can be a productive member of society. It says that if I'm forced to take welfare I'm just a lazy bum."
But David has sent out 200 resumes, lined up for job applications and dreams of getting a real job. In the meantime he's been active with the Big Brothers program. In all respects he is an active member of the community.
"On welfare, I'm still poor. I need a real job with decent wages and benefits."
Years ago, workers fought to get a six day, 60-hour workweek. After a long struggle they won better conditions.
"When I first heard about those battles, they seemed far away from my reality. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that we're still fighting for rights."
Workfare is about undermining jobs and exploiting people on welfare. Workfare is about forcing people to work for meagre benefits, not for decent wages and benefits that unions have fought for.
"I now understand what the government is up to. Workfare means having people work for employers in both the public and private sector while getting a cheque from the government. It means labour at no cost to employers."
Written in colaboration with the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Copyright © 1997 The National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO)