Ard Scoil Ris - using jobsbridge scheme to fill a variety of posts.

KarmaBaby

I learned today that my former school in Limerick is using the Jobsbridge Scheme to fill a number of posts at the school.

They claim that these are "internships" but in reality these are real jobs as cleaning staff, IT support, Security and Lab technicians. The school will pay the workers nothing while they are expected to work not as "interns" but "under their own initiative". They will receive just €50 more than the dole for a full week's work.

http://www.thejournal.ie/jobbridge-ardscoil-ris-1036427-Aug2013/#comment-1503750

I’m absolutely disgusted with this practice and as a former pupil I think its a disgraceful example the school is setting for its current students. Effectively , what the school is saying to them is that its okay to exploit people and that their future labour is worth nothing.

I’m writing an open letter of opposition to this practice to the school’s PTA and teachers and trying to get as many past pupils as possible to put their name to it.

jbkenn

You got to hand it to Brunee, Legend.:D

KarmaBaby

Never had her myself, but I don't think her predecessor, Mr. Martin (Ducks?) would have approved. Miochael Field probably would have though.

Obviously, she has come out and defended this.

fi314

'Jobsbridge Scam'
Bit harsh!

I acknowledge that there needs to be much better filtration system in relation to some of the positions posted. However, I do know a number of people who managed to gain full time employment through this scheme.

The only only positions I see worthy of an internship is the IT and Lab technicians. If proper supports are in place.

Perhaps you could send a copy of your letter to Jobs Bridge highlighting the issues. I do believe Jobbridge could work if it had proper monitoring and policing...

Insect Overlord

It's a bit sad that this doesn't surprise me at all...

KarmaBaby

fi314 wrote: »

'Jobsbridge Scam'
Bit harsh!

I acknowledge that there needs to be much better filtration system in relation to some of the positions posted. However, I do know a number of people who managed to gain full time employment through this scheme.

The only only positions I see worthy of an internship is the IT and Lab technicians. If proper supports are in place.

Perhaps you could send a copy of your letter to Jobs Bridge highlighting the issues. I do believe Jobbridge could work if it had proper monitoring and policing...

Most people that take up a jobsbridge palcement, drop out of it before it is completed and in total, according to the Times last year only 6% of those who started a jobsbridge post gain actual employment with that company by the end of it.

I was once interviewed for a jobsbridge post as a video editor; a position which advertised that I would be mentored (presumably by someone skilled in that area). In actual fact, the business owner's background, was in accounting and my role would not be mentored; instead I would be teaching her for 9 months and she wouldn't be paying me a penny for it.

The scheme is absolutely a scam. It hasn't helped with our unemployment problem. It's actually hindered it by replacing, not just full time positions, but part time positions young people rely on to pay their way through college.

Many of the positions are not internships at all. The natural assumptio when you are an intern, is that you have a skilled mentor to learn from in order to improve your own skills and future employment prospects. For the positions the school is filling, there are no mentors. In the case of the lab technician and IT Support Person, these positions will be filled by people that are already experienced in those areas and will have have no supervision from anyone skilled in that area. That is NOT an internship. It's exploitation of skilled professionals.

Under the scheme they will work full time hours but be paid €1.47 per hour or just 17% of the legal minimum wage.

And who the hell ever heard of an "intership" in cleaning or security? It is very safe to assume that the school already employed cleaning and security staff so these are ACTUAL JOBS, most likely supplied by private contractors, that the school is now REPLACING with unpaid jobsbridge posts.

Sending a copy of the letter to jobsbridge would be an absolute waste of time, since they are nothing more than an agency of the current government, which is intent on using the scheme as a means to provide legal detour around the country's minimum wage and drive working people deeper and deeper into poverty, while handng out more and more tax breaks to rich elites and big business.

padma

I saw them posts on Fas the other day. It is horrible. There were also positions in cleaning for st munchkins. I'll sign that letter if u like

Layinghen

Anybody here old enough to ask what Br Reynolds would have done?

bucks73

Reynolds doesn't ring a bell but I was there when Br Casey and Mickey Field were in charge.

I'll sign that letter too, hate seeing that kind of crap going on with people making an effort and trying to get on in life.

Layinghen

'Razor' Reynolds was before them. Back in the good old days when the leather strap was in vogue!

bucks73

No leather strap in my time but a good thump was often used lol.

wingnut

Who wouldn't want to learn how "Stock-taking of cleaning materials"

relaxed

€50 more than the dole.

A married person with 2 kids would be getting about €435 a week, or €11 an hour.

An honest grafter would then have a good chance of getting the next job that becomes available, or at least be in a job when applying for a job or have a reference for their CV.

Wheres the problem exactly?

I can't see the difference between €11 and hour on job bridge, or the school hiring somebody directly and paying them €11 an hour.

padma

relaxed wrote: »

€50 more than the dole.

A married person with 2 kids would be getting about €435 a week, or €11 an hour.

An honest grafter would then have a good chance of getting the next job that becomes available, or at least be in a job when applying for a job or have a reference for their CV.

Wheres the problem exactly?

I can't see the difference between €11 and hour on job bridge, or the school hiring somebody directly and paying them €11 an hour.

Ok, you agree with Jobbridge. A lot of people don't, the points made a few posts above are very solid about the effect jobbridge is having on people. Internships as a cleaner a lot of people feel is a joke and taking the piss exploiting people.

So too, looking for a security guard on a jobbridge programme undermines every security guard working in Irelands, as it sets fear in the industry about others coming on board who will work for these companies for free. Likewise the cleaner position. So you get rid of a security guard and a cleaner and what are you left with two more unemployed people signing on the dole, plus two other people getting an extra 50 quid on top of their dole, thus making it 4 people on the dole.

Raiser

IMO an intern is someone who gratefully pursues and accepts an unpaid position in the hope and reasonable expectation that they learn a trade/skill/profession that they will benefit from at some future point.

IMO Jobbridge could afford and facilitate this in many settings, careers, trades, professions, manufacturing etc. once people were granted decency, respect and the employer managed to resist their very lowest urge to abuse the well-intentioned and earnest in our society who seek to better themselves.

IMO for Ard Scoil Ris to attempt to hire a cleaner for 50 quid a week is absolutely disgusting and I'd worry that whoever stood over that desicion considers themselves fit to mentor and school our future generations.

IMO some people were born absolute cnuts, I saw some reference to diluting the blame by referencing the board of management etc - personally I believe it's likely that one morally vacuous person schemed and implemented this sad plan, I'd love to see them have to stand over it personally and explain their shameful, opportunistic profiteering at others expense.

IMO Jobbridge should have severe financial penalties for anyone or any institution who sets out to financially benefit from people's misery in the heart of a recession.

jbkenn

Raiser wrote: »

IMO some people were born absolute cnuts, I saw some reference to diluting the blame by referencing the board of management etc - personally I believe it's likely that one morally vacuous person schemed and implemented this sad plan, I'd love to see them have to stand over it personally and explain their shameful, opportunistic profiteering at others expense.

Very well put Raiser, my sentiments exactly

KarmaBaby

relaxed wrote: »

€50 more than the dole.

A married person with 2 kids would be getting about €435 a week, or €11 an hour.

An honest grafter would then have a good chance of getting the next job that becomes available, or at least be in a job when applying for a job or have a reference for their CV.

Wheres the problem exactly?

I can't see the difference between €11 and hour on job bridge, or the school hiring somebody directly and paying them €11 an hour.

I don't know where you're getting the €435 figure but it's wrong. Even if it is true in certain circumstances, the spouse would not be working so its a family income, not an income for a lone working person.

A friend of mine is in precisely the same situation; married with two kids and gets €188 on the dole.

If every employer keeps replacing real jobs with "interns" then where exactly is "the next job that comes around" going to come from?

Employers are being disincentive from creating employment, because of this scheme. That's the problem.

KarmaBaby

Raiser wrote: »

IMO an intern is someone who gratefully pursues and accepts an unpaid position in the hope and reasonable expectation that they learn a trade/skill/profession that they will benefit from at some future point.

IMO Jobbridge could afford and facilitate this in many settings, careers, trades, professions, manufacturing etc. once people were granted decency, respect and the employer managed to resist their very lowest urge to abuse the well-intentioned and earnest in our society who seek to better themselves.

IMO for Ard Scoil Ris to attempt to hire a cleaner for 50 quid a week is absolutely disgusting and I'd worry that whoever stood over that desicion considers themselves fit to mentor and school our future generations.

IMO some people were born absolute cnuts, I saw some reference to diluting the blame by referencing the board of management etc - personally I believe it's likely that one morally vacuous person schemed and implemented this sad plan, I'd love to see them have to stand over it personally and explain their shameful, opportunistic profiteering at others expense.

IMO Jobbridge should have severe financial penalties for anyone or any institution who sets out to financially benefit from people's misery in the heart of a recession.

I might be wrong, but I don't think the school actually pays the €50 on top of the dole either. The social welfare calls this the "weekly top-up". Also, if you're 18-24, you're already not getting the full dole, you're on €100-€144 a week.

So as a young adult on this scheme, even with the additional €50, you'd be doing a full weeks work for less than €200 and potentially less than someone older that's on the dole but not working at all.

F**king ridiculous at a time when Limerick has highest unemployment in the country and youth unemployment is at 50%

Miike

There is another Limerick school posting positions for IT Support on the jobs bridge program and 'employers' will continue to be accommodated for on jobs bridge with these type of jobs so long as the unemployment numbers can be distorted in Limerick and else where.

angeleyes

bucks73 wrote: »

Reynolds doesn't ring a bell but I was there when Br Casey and Mickey Field were in charge.

That's a blast from the past. Years ago Br. Casey was my boss when I worked in the office with Mrs. Kiely. I was on a FAS scheme too. I did get good experience.

padma

Tis on today's limerick post as well

Itsdacraic

padma wrote: »

Tis on today's limerick post as well

Of course it is. Where do you think the local "journalists" get most of their stories from?

KarmaBaby

This is the letter that we're going to try and push through the local press, radio and social media from early next week.

If the letter has a lot of signatures from past pupils it could help to gain some traction on this issue and pressure the school to replace the advertised posts with real jobs.

If you're a past pupil of Ardscoil and you'd like your name to appear on the letter you can PM me with your name and the year you left the school.

Thanks.

---

From:
Past Pupils of Ardscoil Rís, North Circular Road, Limerick City.

An Open Letter to:
Principal Brid de Brún & the Ardscoil Rís Board of Management.

Dear Ms. de Brún,

We wish to express our disappointment with our former school’s recent decision to advertise no less than five posts through the JobBridge National Internship scheme. As past pupils with many fond memories of our education at Ardscoil Rís, we are unfortunately very ashamed that our school has taken the decision to make use of a scheme which is hindering the creation of real employment at a time when Limerick City has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

JobBridge is an exploitative scheme which is bad for the school’s students, as it is bad for their parents; many of whom are struggling to find real employment. Part of the reason for the current high unemployment rate is that employers are being encouraged, not to create real jobs for fair pay, but to instead make use of this so called “internship” scheme whereby staff still work full time hours, but are grossly underpaid for the labour they provide; just €50 more than their social welfare payment. If the worker is aged 18-24, they would be earning less than €200 a week for a full week’s work. This is not an acceptable rate of pay and sets a poor example in fairness for your current pupils.

It is disingenuous to describe these positions as internships, when in the school’s own description of all five posts, it is stated that candidates must work under their “own initiative”. These are not internships in any genuine understanding of the word. These are full time positions being filled by professionals in their respective fields who have an absolute entitlement to be paid accordingly.

This is the beginning of a slippery slope towards filling, not just cleaning, security and technical positions with low paid “interns”, but also teaching positions. This has already happened in other Irish schools over the summer. By endorsing the JobBridge scheme, Ardscoil Ris is encouraging the creation of more such posts at the expense of real jobs. These are not just jobs for teachers but future jobs in all sectors which will be sought for by the school’s own pupils and their parents.

What we propose is for the school’s principal and Board of Management to join those that have already opposed the use of JobBridge, to stand by its staff and to work with teachers unions and the families of its pupils to demand proper funding for education and the creation of real jobs.

We ask that you cease plans to fill these rolls with JobBridge internships and to abolish any future plans to make use of the scheme or any other scheme which involves work for pay less than a decent wage.
We also call on the school’s Parent/Teacher Association, other parents, the Teachers’ Unions and students themselves to organise a campaign of opposition to these measures in order to uphold the school’s integrity and its reputation as one of the best in the country.

We kindly ask for everyone in Limerick with connections to the school—and any other school that may be taking a similar course of action—to voice their support for our letter and to share it with others.

Sincerely Yours,

Past Pupils of Ardscoil Rís

billy the squid

I am banned from JobBridge by virtue of being registered blind. had I a different disability I would have been fair game. my children will never go to ardscoil ris as I never went there and you get priority over the plebs applying through the common application system if Daddy is a past pupil.

JobBridge has wiped out the entry-level jobs market. it has normalised a six to nine month interview period, working your ass off for the entire school year, the school can use the summer holidays as it's "cooling off" period.

what annoys me most is the claim that "we are compliant" with the law of the land, well, so were the industrial schools back in the day, that doesn't make it morally right.

the_syco

The teachers will probably wonder when they'll get replaced...!

Kess73

billy the squid wrote: »

I am banned from JobBridge by virtue of being registered blind. had I a different disability I would have been fair game. my children will never go to ardscoil ris as I never went there and you get priority over the plebs applying through the common application system if Daddy is a past pupil.

JobBridge has wiped out the entry-level jobs market. it has normalised a six to nine month interview period, working your ass off for the entire school year, the school can use the summer holidays as it's "cooling off" period.

what annoys me most is the claim that "we are compliant" with the law of the land, well, so were the industrial schools back in the day, that doesn't make it morally right.

Now there is a username I have not noticed in a while until today.


Completely agree with your points on Jobsbridge though.

KarmaBaby

I didn't hear it being broadcast, but I believe Live95 FM covered the story this week.

http://www.live95fm.ie/news/former-pupils-ashamed-of-schools-use-of-jobbridge-scheme/16045

KarmaBaby

Excellent coverage on this in The Leader. And also on Page 12 of the post.

KarmaBaby

The letter was posted on the scambridge website today here: http://www.scambridge.ie/former-students-write-to-principal-of-jobbridge-school/

If it continues to be pushed through social media and the local press, teachers and parents at the school might be encouraged to organise and start putting pressure on Ardscoil to change its recruitment policy.

bigpink

Heard that she had members of her family working there but getting paid

GoOnYouDirt

I am so sick of seeing these JobBridge "internships". It is exploitation of the highest order.