MORE than 350 charities united yesterday in opposition to the government’s community work placements scheme, which has been branded slave labour by critics.

Community work placements are six-month forced unpaid work placements for unemployed people which require local council and charity participation.

But 352 voluntary-sector organisations have so far signed up to the Keep Volunteering Voluntary agreement.

The list includes household names Shelter, Oxfam, Crisis, Scope and many others. These organisations point to the impact of benefit sanctions on food poverty and homelessness and argue that mandatory work undermines the value of freely given volunteering.

Opponents of the scheme also claim that a number of deadlines have elapsed for its introduction, the latest of which was this week. This was strongly denied by the Department of Work and Pensions when contacted by the Star.

But Andy Benson of National Coalition for Independent Action said the allegedly lapsed deadlines were: “More evidence that this punitive, botched and poor thought-out scheme is heading for the rubbish bin of history. Hundreds of voluntary groups have now said they will have nothing to do with it and the number is rising by the day. The government should immediately call a halt to this programme and save wasting £237M of the tax payer’s money.”

Steve Turner, assistant general secretary of the Unite union which has also signed the pledge said: “The mounting opposition from the not for profit sector has holed one of Iain Duncan Smith’s flagship projects below the waterline. 

“More waves of opposition will sink this scheme once-and-for all.

“This obscene programme is nothing more than forced unpaid labour.

“Unite welcomes the fact that so many charities have given this scheme the thumbs down as they can see that it is grossly unfair and a perversion of the true ethos of volunteering.”

The government has refused to name the organisations which have signed up to the scheme however it is known that scandal dogged private-sector firm G4S has secured one of the contracts to implement the programme. 

Mr Turner said: “Questions have to be asked about the government’s slavish reliance on the controversial private-sector contractors, such as G4S, to implement the CWP programme.

“It was G4S and its security shambles that was the only blot on the London Olympics two years ago.”