A group of long-term unemployed jobseekers were bussed into London to work as unpaid stewards for the diamond jubilee and told to sleep under London Bridge, before working at the event.
Up to 30 jobseekers and another 50 people on apprentice wages were taken to London by coach from Bristol, Bath and Plymouth as part of the British government’s Work Programme.
Two jobseekers, who did not want to be identified in case they lost their benefits, said they had to camp under London Bridge the night before the pageant. They told the Guardian they had to change into security gear in public, had no access to toilets for 24 hours and were taken to a campsite outside London after working a 14-hour shift in the rain on the banks of the river Thames.
One young worker said she was on duty between London Bridge and Tower Bridge during the ￡12 million (US$18.5 million) river spectacle. She said that the security firm Close Protection UK, which won a stewarding contract for the jubilee events, gave her a plastic see-through poncho and a hi-visibility jacket for protection against the rain.
Close Protection UK (CPUK) confirmed that it was using up to 30 unpaid staff over the three-day event in London and 50 apprentices who were paid ￡2.80 an hour. A spokesman said the unpaid work was a trial for paid roles at the Olympics, which it had also won a contract to staff. Unpaid staff were expected to work two days out of the three-day holiday.
The firm said it had spent considerable resources on training and equipment that stewards could keep, and that the experience was voluntary and did not affect jobseekers keeping their benefits.
The woman said that people were picked up in Bristol at 11pm on Saturday and that they arrived in London at 3am on Sunday.
“We all got off the coach and we were stranded on the side of the road for 20 minutes until they came back and told us all to follow them,” she said. “We followed them under London Bridge and that’s where they told us to camp out for the night ... It was raining and freezing.”
A 30-year-old steward told the Guardian that the conditions under the bridge were “cold and wet, and we were told to get our head down [to sleep].”
He said that it was impossible to pitch a tent on a concrete floor.
The woman said they were woken at 5:30am and given boots and clothing.
“They had told the ladies we were getting ready in a minibus around the corner, and I went to the minibus and they had failed to open it, so it was locked, and I waited around to find someone to unlock it, and all of the other girls were coming down trying to get ready and no one was bothering to come down to unlock [it]. So some of us, including me, were getting undressed in public in the freezing cold and rain,” she said.
The men are understood to have changed under the bridge.
The female steward said after the royal pageant, the group traveled by tube to a campsite in Theydon Bois, Essex, where some had to pitch their tents in the dark.
“London was supposed to be a nice experience, but they left us in the rain. They couldn’t give a crap ... No one is supposed to be treated like that, [working] for free. I don’t want to be treated where I have to sleep under a bridge and wait for food,” the woman said.
“It was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I’ve had many a job, and many a bad job, but this one was the worst,” the male steward said.
Both stewards said they were originally told they would be paid, but when they got to the bus on Saturday night, they said, they were told the work would be unpaid and that if they did not accept it, they would not be considered for well-paid work at the Olympics.
Molly Prince, managing director of Close Protection UK, said in a statement: “The staff traveling to the jubilee are completing their training and being assessed on the job for a basic qualification in spectator safety after having completed all the knowledge requirements in the classroom and some previous work experience. It is essential that they are assessed in a live work environment in order to complete their chosen qualifications.”
“The nature of festival and event work is such that we often travel sleeping on coaches through the night with an early morning pre-event start — it is the nature of the business ... It’s hard work and not for the faint-hearted,” Prince added.
“We had staff travel from several locations and some arrived earlier than others at the meeting point, which I believe was London Bridge, which was why some had to hang around. This is an unfortunate set of circumstances, but not lack of care on the part of CPUK,” she said.
The company said it spent up to ￡220 on security training licences for each participant and more than ￡100 for their clothing.
The charity Tomorrow’s People, which set up the placements at Close Protection under the work program, said it would review the situation, but stressed that unpaid work was valuable and made people more employable. Tomorrow’s People is one of eight youth charities supported in the Guardian and the Observer’s Christmas appeal last year.
Abi Levitt, director of development services at the charity, said: “We have been unable to verify the accuracy of the situation with either the people on work experience or the business concerned.”
“We will undertake a review of the situation as matter of urgency. Tomorrow’s People believes strongly in the value of work experience in helping people to build the skills, confidence and [the] CV they need to get and keep a job, and we have an exemplary record going back nearly 30 years for our work with the long-term unemployed,” Levitt said.
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