YOP, Super YOP and Sor

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THE YOUTH Opportunities Programme, initiated in 1977-8, was the Labour Party's initiative on the increasing growth of youth unemployment, which was even then proportionately higher than adult unemployment.

It was seen by the Labour Party as a 'temporary' measure to ease the situation until the arrival of revenue from the • Nortn Sea.

The Programme covered I MAX 8I a varięty of schemes, of which the best known is WEEP - Work Experience on Employers' Premises.

The original idea was that young people would receive training for six months from an employer. YOP trainees cost the employer nothing, but the government paid them an allowance of £19 a week, which has now increased to £23.50.

Training schemes had be approved by both the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) and the Careers Service, and in this way the schemes did offer some protection to trainees, and in most cases some real training.

Initially 70 per cent of trainees got a job after being on YOP schemes: the schemes were particularly useful for proving to employers that anyone with a disability could cope in that particular job.

In 1981, YOP presents a very different face. Whereas one in eight schoolleavers went on YOP schemes in 1978, now the figure is one in two.

There are a staggering 2,000 new schemes set up each week, partly to cope with the rapidly rising numbers of young unemployed and partly so that the MSC can meet Thatcher's naderaking thai there will be a place or à scheme for all scrolleaver by ibe Christmas in the rear iber leave school.

Unchallenged The riots of this summer forced Thatcher to take youth unemployment more seriously.

She has therefore attempted to reduce the " length of time each school leaver has to wait to do one of these much-vaunted 'training schemes' However, the result of increasing YOP provision has been a decrease in training and supervision, with exploitation going unchallenged.

We saw this in the recent case of a YOP worker in Northampton who was left to clean a machine unsupervised and subsequently needed both feet amputated.

Reinforced

'Super-YOP' is a devel. opment of previous ideas of the Youth Opportunities Programme, and is the government's answer to training as it exists in France and Germany.

In May, the Government issued a new 'training initiative document' which proposed that all school leavers should do a short period of 'unified vocational preparation. followed by a few months in college to learn some skills, followed by lyou guessed it!) up to six months WEEP.

It does not mean the 'end of YOPs' , as stated in the Guardian's headlines on December 2.

It is actually a reinforcement of it- and, worse still, the Cabinet are thinking of making it com -pulsory.

There are proposals to withdraw supplementary benefit from any unemployed young person who refuses to do a 'government training scheme': careers offices have already been requesting and keeping notes on YOP refusals.

Although 1983 is the proposed date for the implementation of Super-YOP, there are pilot schemes being set up already.

The MSC bulletin 'Special Programme News' quotes the example of British Leyland in Coventry, where the scheme is being run at the Jaguar Training School.

As described in the MSC paper, the scheme designed to use the 'surplus training capacity' of the school created by cutbacks in apprenticeship training.

Elitism Forty young people will do six months in the training school, and three months WEEP at the Jaguar plant itself - at the end of which they should be suitable recruits for British Leyland.

'Super-YOP' also contains an elitism not seen on YOP before. It will 'cater for the needs of the better qualified entrant - that with O levels or good CSEs' who would 'normally have got an apprenticeship'.

The average qualification of school leavers is CSE grade 4 - are they eligible for Super-YOP or just YOP?

"Fair price"

The YOP allowance of £23.50 is regarded as inadequate: but there is still the possibility of employment. Isn't there?

Well no, not really. We can get an insight into the chances from the figures: in August of this year, there were 4,900 vacancies in careers offices in 1979 there were 31,000), as against 268,000 young people who were known to be unemployed. (Most youth don't register until September, when they make their first claim for supplementary benefit' 'Son of YOP' now comes into the picture under the title of the 'Young Workers' Scheme". It is designed to "create more employment opportunities for young people" by introducing a youth employment subsidy.

Again this was originally a Labour Government init¡ative but as usual the Tories have turned own purposes.

The f15. subsidy is now only available to employers who pay less than $40 a week: its intention is to "help"" youth employment by fixing a "fair price" on their toil.

Only those employers tied by union negotiated wage rates will not take advantage of these schemes.

As I quoted in my previous review of the scheme in Socialist Organiser, a first year hairdressing operative receiving £26 week will now in real terms only cost the employer £11 a week.

Insensitive

The subsidy last for only a year: the Department of Employment admits there are no safeguards against dismissal at the end of that year, but they claim there are more honest than dishonest employers around.

The exploitation of young people is now complete. They are faced with choice between jobs with no pay, or with little pay, or no jobs at all.

Just how far the Tory also seen in the timing of the advertisements for the

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government is willing to. exploit young people is!