Get on a bus and find a job

... so says IDS. But the Unions are all a-flutter over it:

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has come under fire from the unions after saying the unemployed should "get on a bus" to look for jobs.

Union leaders said the comment was similar to Lord Tebbit's 1981 suggestion that workless should "get on their bikes"

...

"The truth is there are jobs. They may not be absolutely in the town you are living in. They may be in a neighbouring town."

He said Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales, was an example of a place where people had become "static" and "didn't know if they got on the bus an hour's journey they'd be in Cardiff and they could look for the job there".

He said: "We need to recognise the jobs often don't come to you. Sometimes you need to go to the jobs."

So, is this a perfectly reasonable suggestion, or are the Unions justified in making responses like:

"Can the ConDem coalition really believe that the unemployment being created by savage government cuts will be fixed by having people wandering across the country with their meagre possessions crammed into the luggage racks of buses." (Len McCluskey, Unite)

?

[haydnwalker]

I think it's fair to say, if you are single, and don't have any other commitments, then travelling an hour for a job (which is average commuting time) is reasonable.

It all IMHO depends on a persons circumstances.

HMGov is generalising the entire population, something that you should not and cannot do! Everyone is individual.

[punky]

This just shows just bitter and twisted the unions are.

My commute is, at best, an hour each way. That is if my partner drops me at the station. If she doesn't then it is an hour and a half away or 3 hours each and ever day. And I have to pay a minimum of £122 or £170 if my partner doesn't drop me off, for the privledge. Not to mention waking up at 6:45am every day.

So in Len McKlusky's eyes I should be sitting on my arse living off JSA because I can't get a job in walking distance?

I think this just shows that unions are more interested in nasty partisan politics than improving tge workforce of this country.

And if there are any people in Methyr that are able take an hour's bus ride to find work but choose not to, then they are bone idle lazy.

[Taf]

I "got on my bike" and commuted to a Home Office job... then HMG sold us to NTL who almost immediately made us redundant.

No hordes of Merthyr bus tourers PLEASE!!!! It's bad enough when they come down here on the train to drink our beer!!

[LondonRoad]

I don't think IDS is telling us anything we don't already know. It's typical soundbites for readers of the Daily Mail.


I can't comment on the good people of Merthyr Tydfil but I'm sure they don't all fit into category described by IDS. Are there jobs in Cardiff? Is there a reasonable public transport system?

[punky]

Originally Posted by haydnwalker

I think it's fair to say, if you are single, and don't have any other commitments, then travelling an hour for a job (which is average commuting time) is reasonable.

It all IMHO depends on a persons circumstances.

HMGov is generalising the entire population, something that you should not and cannot do! Everyone is individual.

Having a family means you should be more incentivised to look for work, not less.

[Derek]

Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Prior to my current job (20 minute drive or 45 minute cycle), I was working the other side of Glasgow which was either 1 and bit hours on public transport or an hour rush hour driving. Before that it was even worse with an hour+ drive and no reasonable public transport.

If it gets some to understand that sometimes not getting everything handed to them on a plate makes for a better life then that gets a from me.

[punky]

Originally Posted by Derek

Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Prior to my current job (20 minute drive or 45 minute cycle), I was working the other side of Glasgow which was either 1 and bit hours on public transport or an hour rush hour driving. Before that it was even worse with an hour+ drive and no reasonable public transport.

If it gets some to understand that sometimes not getting everything handed to them on a plate makes for a better life then that gets a from me.

Can't rep you but well said.

I don't think anyone has said all the people in MT (or anywhere else) are static or idle - just that some are.

Ad hominem arguments or sweeping generalisations (on whatever side of the political spectrum) don't, imho, assist in the discussion.

[haydnwalker]

Originally Posted by punky

Having a family means you should be more incentivised to look for work, not less.

I don't disagree with that one bit, and I agree the previous government made it too easy to claim some benefits and it should be more stringent.

They could start by getting their own house in order though, by stopping Job Seekers if you don't stick a job for a particular time.

A lad who my mate at work knows, was on JSA and was placed in 2 different jobs in the space of 2 weeks, due to his laziness (he stuck one for all of an hour before walking out), but they still put him back on JSA after that, which IMO is wrong! He is AFAIK still on JSA and not actively looking for work!

Commuting a little isn't an issue, but an hour on the bus, at quite a chunk of cash, would put people off.

[punky]

Originally Posted by Hugh

I don't think anyone has said all the people in MT (or anywhere else) are static or idle - just that some are.

Ad hominem arguments or sweeping generalisations (on whatever side of the political spectrum) don't, imho, assist in the discussion.

Is that comment directed at me or IDS?

[LondonRoad]

Originally Posted by Derek

Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Prior to my current job (20 minute drive or 45 minute cycle), I was working the other side of Glasgow which was either 1 and bit hours on public transport or an hour rush hour driving. Before that it was even worse with an hour+ drive and no reasonable public transport.

If it gets some to understand that sometimes not getting everything handed to them on a plate makes for a better life then that gets a from me.

But how many of these people actually exist? How many people who have a reasonable work ethic would have a problem commuting? The evidence of the full buses,trains and motorways going in and out of all major cities suggests that most of us have got the message.

Originally Posted by punky

Is that comment directed at me or IDS?

The Unions, and partially at IDS (he should have, imho, put "some" in front of "people"....)

[LondonRoad]

I'm hoping the change of emphasis from Tebbit's bike to IDS' bus isn't an underhand way of announcing an end to the Cycle to work scheme.

Oh don't get me started on rubbish bus services and rip off bus fares..But yes it is reasonable to expect people to get out and about looking for work.In fact I reckon the travel expenses could get pretty difficult to keep up with on the JSA...