Protesters tell Minister, ‘No to JobBridge 2.0’

A protest was held outside the Department of Social Protection today by ScamBridge, the campaign which successfully opposed JobBridge and pushed for its abolition in 2016.

This comes after recent announcements by the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphrey’s that she is looking to launch a new ‘Work Experience Scheme’ similar to the previous JobBridge scheme.

The ScamBridge campaign was founded by Paul Murphy in 2012 and campaigned for four years against the JobBridge scheme which it called an “exploitation scam” until it’s abolition in 2016.

The campaign highlighted numerous examples of exploitation of the scheme over the years. Now with talk of a new JobBridge 2.0 scheme, the campaign is relaunching.

Speaking at the protest founder of ScamBridge, Paul Murphy who is now a TD and People Before Profit Employment Rights and Social Protection said:

“The previous JobBridge scheme saw thousands of workers massively exploited, forced to work for €1.25 an hour or risk being completely cut off social welfare. It was not a job scheme, it was an exploitation scam.The government’s own report on JobBridge found that only 21% of people got jobs with their host organisation after their placement..

“Rather than repeating these failed schemes from the past, surely we would be better off investing in a Green Jobs programme, creating real jobs with decent rates of pay, and genuine, properly paid apprenticeships. More nurses, teachers, and workers building the renewable energy infrastructure and zero carbon public housing we need.

“Today’s protest is a warning to the Minister, if she pushes ahead with a JobBridge 2.0 scheme, it will be met with a renewed campaign of opposition.

“Last time we built a broad coalition of trade unions, youth groups and public representatives, and I am confident that an even wider array of groups and campaigners will support such a campaign this time around. ScamBridge is committed to building such a campaign, to not just expose whatever scheme the government try, but to once again force it’s abolition.”