As our week of action progresses we thought you might all like to think more about the myths of being fit for work and would like to thank Jill from Brighton DPAC for putting some thoughts about this together for us.
I was recently asked if I’d take part in a documentary to say that not
everyone can work due to their impairments? They wanted to talk to
someone who would challenge the notion that “Anyone can work”. To me
this sounded as depressing as filling in the ESA60 questionaire for
the Work Capability Assessment had been. Having to list all the things
that are wrong with me had made me depressed and anxious so much I’d
needed extra tranquillers and other psych meds at the time. But how
else can a person prove they are not fit for work?
It is true I don’t go out anymore because I get out of breath from
lung desease as soon as I do anything and I can’t even sit up in the
wheelchair long enough to go out. Even so I didn’t feel like
discussing on this documentary not being able to work on the grounds
of being too
physically impaired and I’ve also got mental health impairments which
through my life sometimes made it impossible to work (especially when
locked up on secure wards!). But my mental health impairments
sometimes made it easier to work for example not needing much sleep so
I could stay up writing reports and doing research projects in a manic
fashion.
It is the same manic character beneath layers of stabilising
medications that makes me able to write this post. But if I’m not
careful manic can turn to psychotic and noone needs a worker who has
gone mad. The worst time the madness happened I was jointly running a
computer business and I started getting delusions that I must light a
lot of candles to ward off the evil forces which were taking over my
home. It wasn’t long before I was rushing around and knocked a candle
over and the place caught fire. I lost my dog, home, marriage and
business and was homeless when I came out of the locked ward over a
year later. That was the worst time but I’ve had other psychotic
episodes since I was 22 and madness isn’t rational enough to allow for
work. Madness stops me being able to function because I get determined
plans of action in my head and all thoughts and energy are directed
solely towards these goals to the exclusion of everything else
including eating and sleeping. So I have to be careful and not do
anything stressful which can trigger a psychotic episode and work can
be very stressful indeed. Anyone who becomes a danger to themself
and/or others can be sectioned and placed in detention at any time and
anyone cannot work from inside the locked ward anyway even if they
could.
Then we have to look at people who are fit some of the time and not
others. They may be able to work some of the time with the right
support but what happens when the support is denied? As Ellen Clifford
says:
“It’s also an issue that came up at the ILF film event. Penny is
considered severely disabled and she has a complexity of severe
physical impairments and mental health conditions and may well not be
found fit for work if she went through a Work Capability Assessment.
But actually she does work (as a writer/performer) – only if her
support package is cut once the Independent Living Fund closes then
she won’t be able to work”.
So here we have someone who works but may not be found fit for work.
But this does not prove everyone can work either. As Ellen says
“Whether someone can or cannot work is relative to so many factors. I
have periods of every day when I am too unwell to work and my
condition is completely unpredictable. I am unable to work in a
workplace that isn’t entirely flexible around me.”
Personally I feel the whole “can work/can’t work” discussion is being
presented in a black
and white way by the media who are mainly following the governments
agenda of paying less benefits regardless of need. If the same
government hadn’t changed the rules I’d be retiring anyway as I’m 60
in November but they are now making me wait 5 more years for my
pension so I’m stuck on disability benefits instead. Even ATOS didn’t
say
I’m fit for work and I know I couldn’t even get there let alone last 5
minutes in a modern day workplace without having to lie down. But I
don’t want to tell you or anyone how unfit I am. I want to say I’m
retired and just getting by enjoying seeing the summer flowers in the
garden outside at the moment. I don’t want you to feel sorry for me or
pity me because I nearly died from pneumonia last December and still
can hardly breath upon activity and you wouldn’t if I was retired on
my pension but because this government rules mean I’m stuck on
disability benefits you can poke and pry to check I’m not lying about
my impairments and call me names like scrounger in the media. The
truth is I worked hard for many years and paid taxes and now I seem to
work equally as hard just staying alive and claim those taxes back in
the form of disability benefits now I need them. When I needed the
hospital the NHS and the welfare state were also there to help me
through and I’m shocked and alarmed that people are now being let
down, denied essential benefits and support services whether they can
or can’t work.
The myths behind being fit for work mean we are blaming the
individuals who for whatever reason do not work and also making out
work is some kind of exalted activity regardless of how exploitative
and alienating it may be for those who are being bullied into dead
end, zero hours contracts, minimum wage, not worth having, positions.
I remember when we were allowed to look forward to the weekend and the
holidays and time off work. And to look forward to a future when there
would be more leisure time away from work. But instead that future has
brought slave labour workfare and a government who sanctions benefit
claimants to literally starve rather than pay even subsistance rates
of benefits.
When C Wright Mills wrote “Every day men sell little pieces of
themselves in order to buy them back at night with the coin of fun.”
he was making the exploitative nature of work pretty clear. And when
Karl Marx wrote “Increasing divisions of labour will result in the
alienation of the worker” he was clear people can think of better
things than manual labour to do with their time. People who enjoy
their work are said to be more likely employed in task centred
organisations rather than power centred organisations or
bureaucracies. People also like to have some expert power as is the
case with doctors, teachers, scientists, artists and so on. These
kinds of jobs require studying first so why is education now so
expensive? Why is education not seen to be at least as important as
being bullied into these manual jobs probably on the basis of slave
labour workfare? Why is some voluntary work, in areas people really
want to gain experience in, say a museum for example, also not seen as
important as a stint in Poundland? Because the government want to
bully everyone who is not a compliant worker including everyone who is
not fit for work due to our impairments of various kinds.
Finally, and I hope this hasn’t become too much of a manic rant, the
notion that ‘anyone can work’ doesn’t make sense. It depends on the
person in question whether they can work or not and on the level of
support they are offered and on the sort of ‘work’ they are expected
to do. Or as Einstein once wrote “The answer is yes or no depending on
the interpretation”.
—
It’s a disgrace!
I have a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis that has fused the discs in my spine together. It is both painful and immobilizing. 1 in 400 men get it usually aged between 20 – 30, and about 1 in 800 women. It’s incurable and gets steadily worse. Some days I am in so much pain I cant leave the house. ATOS found me fit for work, I have recieved no benefit whatsoever since november 2012. If it wasn’t for the good fortune that I have a loving family I would be homeless,starving and suicidal.
In my tribunal appeal the “independent” doctor and judge admit I am ill but not enough to claim ESA. How am I supposed to prove how much pain I’m in? This means I cant claim JSA either as I am not A1 fit.
As far as im concerned Ian Duncan Smith, his SS henchmen and ATOS should be put on trial for crimes against humanity.
To label disabled people as scroungers and liars is slanderous, immoral and disgusting! The persecution of those unfortunate enough to be unemployed or disabled is as evil as the persecution of the Jews in nazi Europe during the 30’s and 40’s. What’s next? Workhouses? Enforced ‘on benefits’ identification on clothing? Gas chambers?
The lack of coverage in the mainstream media – particularly from the BBC, and the indifference of those who are moronic enough to think they are immune from redundancy or ill-health astonishes me.
In the future, when this social crime has been documented in the history books those who stood by and did nothing to oppose this fascist government will look back on these evil times with a sense of shame.
This is a post from one of my friends who is struggling to keep his job because of lack of support for mental health https://autismisanotherworld.com/?p=279
Thanks for the comments. I think the point that ability to work depends on our individual impairments and on the support available and on the sort of work on offer is being upheld. I feel noone should be bullied into working but should be offered a lot of support if they feel they can manage to work. The trouble is at the moment the bullying is increasing and the support decreasing.
Anyone in the Brighton/Sussex area is welcome to join our Brighton DPAC Facebook group at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BrightonDisabledPeopleAgainstCuts/
I have M.E, which is a very hard illness to convey to someone because I don’t look ill, when I have a good spell, you couldn’t tell there is anything wrong with me. So I have resorted to writing a diary, which I can’t do every day but when I went to see someone at a CFS clinic, I was asked “do you think this is normal behaviour?” [writing the diary she meant]. I felt really down after that. Of course it isn’t ‘normal’ but it is all I have to show others what is really going on day to day. However the most important thing to me is reliability [I studied and worked in a professional job for over 20 years], what people don’t understand is that I am now completely unreliable and actually ‘useless’ to any employer because whilst I may be able to ‘turn up’ sometimes [can’t tell when though], I couldn’t tell how long I’d last [usually around 30min] before I would need a rest or go home [which would be impossible as driving is very dangerous when fatigued, I had several near misses in the past due to it]. However in the public’s eye the simple equation seems to be: Can walk = fit for work. The whole thing is a farce and should be more based on the individual.
BROKEN BRITISH POLITICS – THE MYTH OF GOVERNMENT
No Governments do the general Public any Favours,we are Taxed whether Employed or not ,through Vat ,set commodity pricing or Draconian Measures introduced such as the Bedroom Tax , Benefit Sanctions, and not fit for purpose ATOS Assessments .Imagine the Social Senario of an audience of the Public watching a Pantomime ,some of the ‘informed’ audience are watching actors on stage either ill-informed or misinformed portraying ‘Life as it is’ .We all shout “behind you” do they take any notice .Eventually but the new Laws introduced have crept up on them without them knowing.Where is the Media then.We all strive to make our way in life but are totally thwarted by people who supposedly represent us.Some MP’s are totally genuine others are threatened by whips “toe the party line or your career is over”.Recently 15 MP’s wrote to the House of Lords stating this Fact over the Gay Rights Bill.It got passed.
https://brokenbritishpolitcs.simplesite.com
There seems to be a constant silence about the #pensionsnatch.
While 60 year-olds (lucky enough to have had jobs) remain chained to the workplace, at the other end of the spectrum is a generation of 16 year-olds conscripted to return to education this month because the vacancies at the bottom of the career ladder have all been clogged up by their grandparents blocked from retiring.
Most disgusting of all is that MOST of these teenagers will not be spending their time working for A-levels: the govenment has yet another “work experience” scheme lined up for most of them – yet more forced labour to be stacking shelves and picking up litter for no pay.
am sorry ur not alone
Great article not a rant but a reasoned argument.
This is a great article and is an issue that is never discussed. What does it mean to be fit? Why is the assessment of one’s health based on a puerile set of standards that is entirely binary? ESA was intended to be not just for people that can’t work, but for people who, even if they are in work, need help. It says this on the government’s own website.
Thank you for sharing that Linda. I agree with it all and you have been able to express it a lot more clearly than I could have done. I am in a similar situation to you, but luckily for me, I get my state pension next September and can then tell everyone I am retired, and not just hiding.
I have a fluctuating kind of chronic condition which means, that yes, maybe I could do a couple of hours one week, but maybe not the next week on the same day. I did struggle to do this for some years, but feel it was instrumental in making my condition even worse due to the strain. I think a lot of modern work situations will make people more sick – since many of them have cut back on staffing then this alone will bring extra stress on those who are already suffering.
G’ment comin for me. Sad scared n crying.