Hi there,

Please don’t turn away from this message. Democracy Now! is a free source of independent news for tens of millions of people around the world, but less than 1% of our global audience donates to support our critical journalism. Let’s pick up the percentage! Today, a generous contributor will DOUBLE your donation to Democracy Now!, which means if you give $10, we’ll get $20. Please don’t miss out on this opportunity to double your impact. Democracy Now! doesn't accept advertising income, corporate underwriting or government funding because nothing is more important to us than our editorial independence. We rely on you for support—and we’re counting on you right now. I hope you’ll give as much as you can today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thanks so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate
Independent Global News

Controversial new “workfare” law creates new class of worker and new forms of corporate welfare

StoryMarch 28, 1997
Listen to Full Show
Listen
Media Options
Listen

Union organizing campaigns begin around the country for welfare recipients forced to work for benefits. 1 to 2 million former welfare recipients must now take low wage jobs displacing other low wage workers and decreasing pay rates. Corporations benefit through tax cuts, grants and cheap labor. Amy interviews organizers and workfare Work Experience Program (WEP) participants.

Segment Subjects (keywords for the segment): welfare, workfare, union, NELP, Emsellem, Schur, ACORN, WEP

Related Story

StoryOct 31, 2023How They Did It: Labor Journalist Jane Slaughter on UAW’s “Life-Changing” Deal with Big 3 Automakers
Topics
Guests
  • Antonia Juhasz
    is an author and activist. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Cambridge University Review of International Relations Journal, and the LA Times. She is the author of “The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time”, now out in paperback.
  • Maurice Emsellem
    Staff attorney for National Employment Legal Project
  • Amy Schur
    Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
  • Juan Gollan
    Workfare recipient
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.
Daily News Digest
Our Daily Digest brings Democracy Now! to your inbox each morning.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top