March 5, 2012 10.47 am This story is over 144 months old

A dozen people protest for Lincoln youth jobs

“From the Humber to the Wash, we won’t work for no dosh!” Youths protest over unemployment in Lincoln at the weekend.

An organised protest against government work schemes took place on Lincoln’s High Street on Saturday, March 3.

Around a dozen people from the Lincoln Youth Fight for Jobs group protested against the government’s Get Britain Working initiative.

Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants from 18-24-year-olds were originally meant to partake in an unpaid four-week placement at a store to keep claiming their benefits.

But in the run up to the protest, the government backed down on the initiative, announcing it would scrap the threat of financial penalties for people who do not take the placements.

The demonstrators accused the scheme of exploiting young people as under 24s get their usual £53.54 JSA per week with employers not obliged to cover expenses.

Dave Tompkins from Youth Fight for Jobs said: “Private companies are benefiting from essentially taxpayer-funded workers but the public can fight all the cuts by getting involved with groups like ours and their trade unions.”

With around fifty people signed up to the protest there was underwhelming participation on the day. Alex Moore from Youth Fight for Jobs commented on the local support for the protest:

“I think the turn-out is a bit disappointing as we had a lot more people sign up to the event on Facebook and it could be the weather or the day but we still have plenty of people who are passionate about it,” he said.