People’s Agenda profile 31: Precarious Workers Brigade
The PWB are taking on precarious work in the education and culture sector, they tell us in this thirty-first People's Agenda profile
‘We call out in solidarity with all those struggling to make a living in this climate of instability and enforced austerity. We call for an end to precarity and a rethinking of the wage/work relationship for example through universal income. ‘
Precarious Workers Brigade are a UK-based group of precarious workers in culture and education.
We believe that precarity is a social issue rather than an individual one shared across different sectors of the economy. It’s effects can feel like personal failure within neoliberal frameworks of individualisation, entrepreneurship, zero hours contracts, voluntary entry level positions and unpaid internships.
We call out in solidarity with all those struggling to make a living in this climate of instability and enforced austerity. We call for an end to precarity and a rethinking of the wage/work relationship for example through universal income.
Our praxis springs from a shared commitment to developing research and actions that are practical, relevant and easily shared and applied. If putting an end to precarity is the social justice we seek, our political project involves developing tactics, strategies, formats, practices, dispositions, knowledges and tools for making this happen.
Some tools that have come out of our working process include a Counter-Guide to Free Labour in the Arts’, open letters to institutions and an ‘Alternative Curriculum’ for teaching ‘professional development’ or work placement modules. We also run workshops with art/design students and recent graduates. All our tools are for sharing, using and developing.
To find out more: @PWB_Carrots
Red Pepper are running the People’s Agenda series in the run up to the General Election, demonstrating the breadth of exciting grassroots political activity in the UK.
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