Work Unfair

"These poor people were being forced to work in the worst of conditions for next to no pay, it was absolutely disgraceful," Superintendent Charles Grinder of Middlesex Constabulary, following a series of raids on business premises in the Feltham and Sunbury areas as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged slavery offences.  "I have no doubt that we've broken up a vicious modern slavery ring, where down on their luck individuals have been trapped into hard labour schemes by unscrupulous and vicious organisations."  The premises raided included several branches of Poundland, Tesco and Primark, with at least thirty 'slaves' being taken away from them police and anti-slavery charities.  "These people, predominantly young, but including several in middle age, were being forced to work long hours, carrying out monotonous physical tasks, often allowed the most cursory of breaks, with their every action being closely monitored by overseers, or, as the 'employers' liked to call them, 'supervisors'," Grinder told a press conference.  "Any perceived 'slacking off' would be met with threats of punishment, principally the withdrawal of their pay - which was well below minimum wage.  In fact it was the same level as Jobseeker's Allowance, normally paid only to the unemployed!"   As well as being forced to endure forced labour, the rescued individuals were also found to be living in appalling conditions.  "They were typically living in unheated bedsits running with damp. All of the properties were in poor states of repair," the top cop explained.  "Many were subsisting on cheap past-its-sell-by-date food, others on cat or dog food."

Whilst no arrests have so far been made, Grinder assured the press that his force were hot on the trail of the organisation behind the slavery scheme.  "The companies whose premises we raided all claimed that they had been assured by the organisation supplying these 'workers' that it was all above board and legal," he explained.  "They also said that the organisation was 'heavily connected' and apparently 'protected' at the highest level."  The shadowy organisation in question has been tentatively identified by detectives as being called 'Workfare'.  "As far as we can make out, they recruit these people from the dole queues, when they are at their lowest ebb, with no money or prospects," Grinder claimed.  "They are given all sorts of promises of proper jobs at the end of their indentured service and told that it can be arranged for their benefits to be stopped if they don't comply.  However, our investigations are yet to uncover a single case where a 'Workfare' slave actually gained paid employment through this 'scheme'." Relatives of the rescued 'workers' have expressed their relief at finding that they are safe.   "He just seemed to vanish," Mrs Agnes Janks, whose twenty one year old son was found by police stacking shelves in a Feltham Poundland.  "He'd been claiming benefits since he'd lost his job with the council as a result of spending cuts. He was so depressed by the lack of work that when he disappeared, we feared that he'd topped himself. Then we heard that he was on some kind of 'work placement scheme', which sounded positive, but he never seemed to be home when we called. It now turns out they had him working all hours for no pay!  It's like some kind of cult!"  Grinder believes that his investigation was well on the way to identifying the individuals behind 'Workfare'.  "We've managed to get some names," he says.  "Apparently the 'Mr Bigs' at the top call themselves 'Smith', possible with the first names 'Ian' and 'Duncan'."