FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS - THE POVERTY OF ASPIRATION

The Unemployed Peoples Embassy is declaring war on rapacious credit card companies, that are trapping the jobless (including casual, low waged, financially sruggling students and pensioners) in debt with high interest rates. This move has been partly inspired by Channel 7's Today Tonight's story of 14 May - where it is claimed that someone in credit card can negotiate a low "transfer" rate on their existing credit card (see their website for the story).

The Gillard government failed to legislate to ease the financial pressure on low income people who have been trapped in unmanageable credit card debt for years. They may have used credit thrown at them by the greedy banks etc to try and keep their car going so they can get to colleges for education and for casual/part time work. Both majot parties have only been interested in lowering the interest rates of middle class mortgage holding swinging voters.

Most new jobs in the major cities, like in Sydney, are casual and un-unionised - which young people and the over 55 males, are being forced to accept. Such underemployed and unemployed people cannot get lower interest loans from banks, so they have to resort to getting high interest credit from xredit card providers. If they can't get much or any work, they can end up being trapped into struggling to just pay the "minimum" monthly repayment - which includes a large proportion of full interest repayment. Their "hardship" provisions only mean paying part of the monthly interest rate alone.

The Embassy has in the past fought the very low income limit on the dole, the fake offer of  jobs in the government run Commonwealth Employment Services's "work test" (see our expose book of the same name) and expose of corruption in privatised Job Network (www.oocities.com/unemployedembassy). We are demanfing that not only that credit card interest rates are lowered, but that "hardship" provisions on credit cards (involving cancelling of credit cards) include substantial lowering of repatment interest rates - at least while the "customer" has only Centrelink income or very low wages - to repay with.

Our aim will be to embarrass the credit card companies and inform their victims of their rights. It will of course be not physically confrontational - from our side at least. We will not use the generalist perspective or strategies of the so-called Occupy campain in Australia. We are fighting to force a future Labor/Greens "Labor" government to save our most vulnerable citizens from financial ruin. If the ALP refuses to ensure we can all have full time work  - at least they can get the big financial rapists off out backs. Our contacts are in the Sydney White and Yellow directories - or you could email us through our Odd Job Centre website - www.unemployedembassy.magix.net before it lost its formating. Try ODD_JOB_CENTRE@HOTMAIL>COM until we sort it out.

Now in May 2014, we are getting close to getting some justice for a jobless person who has been trapped for years in credit cards debt - only being able to pay "minimum" monthly amounts on them. He is getting assistance in getting the interest charges waivered through "maladministration" provisions in the law. We will gibe some details whenm this is achaived. The State and Federal governments should make such fightback actions against rapacious credit card companies - easier to obtain. In this case - it all came from a jobless man trying to keep an old car going (with costly repairs) - i norder to do staties and try and get a job (a car often a prerequisite to getting one).