Yesilgöz attacks welfare recipients to hide that ‘social security’ is an empty shell – Joop – BNNVARA

Last week a very bad piece by the leader of the VVD faction was published in Algemeen Dagblad. That was about (I say) ‘people who work should always improve more than people on benefits. Benefits have been given too much attention in income policy, that has to change,” said Ms. Yesilgöz. She then counters with half-truths and says that the fundamentals of the market have been to damage work because the beneficiaries have had income support.And then it lies, for example, that the energy allowance only went to the beneficiaries The reason for this attack on welfare recipients is anyone’s guess, but I have a theory about it. I’ll get back to that.

In addition, Yesilgöz says that since welfare recipients are always compensated, their base under the labor market has been removed. There are indeed big, fundamental problems in the labor market. However, these are not caused by the illusion of too high benefits, but by too much flexibility. Encouraged by neoliberal VVD policy. Jobs that are too small, uncertain jobs, false self-employment, all these things add to the fact that it is increasingly difficult for working people to meet. Additionally, flex is the driving force behind inflow into the WW and WIA.

The adage Work must pay or the idea that work doesn’t pay anymore are expressions that we as a trade union do not use. Of course, you should pay for the work you do. And if you work more you should pay more. That’s not rocket science. In fact, that’s what it should be about. We will bring it back in the way of the union.

Wages in the Netherlands are too low. The AIQ exchange rate has risen against the West for several years. For more shares for shareholders. There is nothing complicated about it, but it is a trend that needs to be reversed and that we as FNV are currently returning. The minimum wage in the Netherlands is too low. The EU Directive on Minimum Wages is sufficient to dictate that the minimum wage in a country should be 60% of the median wage. In the Netherlands that works out to around 16 euros an hour. We have to go there.

Employers are not required to pay full wages to employees under the age of 21. Unbelievable, but true. And inappropriate. It is obvious that the social minimum, social support, is far too low. There are additional rules for this at the municipal level, but these differ from municipality to municipality. Sometimes you are entitled to something, sometimes nothing. Discrimination postcode lottery.

If you receive social assistance benefits, you must work without pay, sometimes for long periods of time. This is called the quid pro quo, and it is intended to make people feel what they owe to society. We call that working without pay​​​​​​​and that is prohibited, but it says everything about how the VVD says that social support is a hammock. If you become ill and partially incapacitated for work and still want work but employers don’t like you, you will be heavily penalized as a sick worker, in your wallet. The same hard-working Dutchman that this government is talking about.

Last week, poverty in the Netherlands was significantly reduced because the definition was changed. Well. Debt is not included in that definition and entire population groups are also left out of the picture. At the same time, the debt industry is booming. 46% profit is being made at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society.

Yes, the work should pay. That means a salary increase. And increase the minimum wage. And abolish the youth wages. Allowances should not be required, as that is in fact a subsidy for wages that are too low. In the meantime, the welfare state must pay. Money must be added to this, and everyone must do their part in solidarity. High incomes much more than low ones, and also self-employed people. Profit tax must return to 35%.

The welfare state is subject to wear and tear. Benefits in the Netherlands are unbearably low. I have been hearing this from my members for years, but the Lower State Social Committee has confirmed this. Health care is also on the verge of collapse. Even the Institute of Health Care is now advising the cabinet – strangely – that the right to long-term care should depend on whether you have loved ones. We already know this here at the WMO. Women who are punished by the government if they don’t work more hours. Because of that they miss out on the full time bonus that the VVD is proposing. In the meantime, they suffer a serious loss of income.

The government is abusing the idea that work must pay, and that work won’t pay more, to portray welfare recipients as ‘lab-bes’ who are too lazy to get out of bed. That attack is aimed at keeping benefits low so that the minimum wage remains the same. It is not without reason that employers are also lobbying hard to keep social assistance stable. And working more hours is, of course, what many people would want if they weren’t kept in small contracts by counting employers. Just like all the informal carers who fill the gaps in our health care system.

It must be nice and cozy in the world of the VVD, where society is viewed by like-minded people with a sour in one hand and a glass of prosecco in the other. However, that world is not real life. That is not the reality of hardworking people in our country, of cleaners, carers or pharmacy workers. It is not the world of the sick, the incompetent, the young disabled and the discarded.

It is also not the world of modern people; the migrant workers in our country. The migration aspect that this government wants to ignore, because it does not fit the agenda of their employers. What’s relevant there: shameful asylum measures that are thrown up like smokescreens. And harsh language about welfare recipients to hide that the promises regarding social security are an empty shell.

Just join us. A trade union is for everyone.