Job Cohen hadn’t thought about it when he accepted this position in 2013. He could well be one of the last presidents of Cedris, the umbrella organization of social work companies, which provide work for people with disabilities. At the time, these companies feared for their survival because of impending cutbacks.
What Cohen did think about in 2013, a year and a half after his departure from politics, were the visits he had made as PvdA leader to sheltered workshops. “There I saw people being completely happy with work that I wouldn’t want to keep up for ten minutes. And I saw how incredibly beautiful and important it is that they are working.”
Now, eight years later, Cohen (74) is stepping down from his position. And he is certainly not the last chairman: the sheltered employment companies still exist. “Despite all the cutbacks, they have survived, which is great.”
Yet the threat has not disappeared, says Cohen at Cedris’ office in Utrecht. Many sheltered employment companies – usually run by municipalities – see their revenues fall year after year as a result of budget cuts. “If this continues, companies will still fail,” he fears. “Or municipalities must always help by finding extra money.”
Financial need
The cutbacks started with the introduction of the Participation Act in 2015, by the Rutte II cabinet. The idea behind that law is that disabled people basically work in regular jobs – unless they really can’t.
Since then, the majority of disabled employees are no longer allowed to be placed in a traditional sheltered workshop job, often within the walls of that sheltered workplace itself. Anyone who already had such a job was allowed to keep it.
As a result, the nearly 100 sheltered employment companies have started to work differently, says Cohen. Even before that law came into effect, they started to guide these people more often to a ‘normal’ job. This is how social work companies have reinvented themselves. Since then, they prefer to call themselves social development companies.
But for disabled people who have entered since the new law, the social development companies receive much less subsidy than for the old group, which is becoming smaller and smaller. “About 65 percent of the original group is left,” says Cohen. The rest have retired or died. And the further that group shrinks, he says, the greater the financial need of social development companies.
The group of people they now supervise is diverse: they are mostly people with a physical or mental disability, but nowadays it also concerns status holders who do not yet master the Dutch language. If more money doesn’t come in, Cohen says, “I’m afraid it will all come crashing down.”
Municipalities and UWV also support these people. Why should social development companies continue to exist?
“That is not necessary, as long as the good guidance is there. You can see that social development companies have built up a lot of knowledge about this. They know how to make people who have been out of the labor market for a long time fit again. And they are very good at job carving: how can you create a job for someone who exactly fits what they can do.”
Have you tried to avoid the cuts? When you took office, the Participation Act was drafted by your party members, Minister Lodewijk Asscher and State Secretary Jetta Klijnsma of Social Affairs.
“I don’t know if we were that excited about that. We also had to think for ourselves here: how are we going to approach things now? So I guess I didn’t say this so loud to them then.”
That surprises me. These were two ministers whom you knew well.
“But yes, there was also a coalition agreement that was relatively intense.”
His spokesperson breaks in: “You have had a lot of contact with Klijnsma during that period.”
“Yes,” says Cohen. “Well, she was also against those cutbacks hiccups. She could look at you very sweetly and then… Yes, then you understand.”
Also read: PvdA thinks its own Participation Act has failed
What do you understand then?
“You can’t do much. It is also bound by the agreements that have been made. They were tough, in every possible area.”
That seems frustrating to me.
“Yes, it is. But yes… what is not possible, that is not possible.”
Cohen did not even think the basic idea of the Participation Act was wrong. A disabled person who used to work in a sheltered workshop often stayed there until his or her retirement. He calls the fact that more effort is now being made to guide them to a regular job as ‘profit’, because this way they can participate more in society.
Work makes sense. It is incredibly important for people that they go home whistling
But the practice is disappointing, Cohen sees. He refers to a report by the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP). It found in 2019 that disabled people who would previously have been eligible for a job at a sheltered workshop have found it much more difficult to find work since the introduction of the Participation Act.
For Cohen it is clear: the social development companies can help. They could guide many more disabled people to a job in the corporate world than they do now. “We could fill ten thousand jobs next year.” This requires extra staff, and therefore more money. Cohen expects around 80 to 100 million euros.
The entire public sector wants more money. How do you convince a new cabinet to grant your wish?
“This money – you can take poison on it – makes money again. More tax revenue, less debt. They will lead a healthier life, no longer sitting behind geraniums or playing mischief in the street. You can save money with this in the sphere of health, justice and taxes.
“But I think the value of work is more important. Work makes sense. It’s incredibly important for people to go home whistling – gosh, I’ve made my contribution, I’ve had a good day. That is so important.”
Do you want more than money?
“Of course. It is especially important that there is a public infrastructure across the country to help people who cannot find work independently. And it would also help if it became easier for employers to hire these people. A bill from the outgoing cabinet is still pending in the House of Representatives that would help with this.”
Why are you retiring as chairman now?
“The first reason is that my two four-year terms have come to an end. And, well… I’m 74 too and my memory isn’t what it used to be. Sometimes I have to search for words. I just need to do a little less.”
Cohen will not last long in the oversight body of the metropolitan public library and as chairman of the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May Committee. This leaves more time for cycling, walking and reading. In which he will remain active is the Dutch Association for a Voluntary End of Life. He smiles: “That also fits nicely with my age.”
Also read this interview with Job Cohen from March: ‘The left must be in one faction’
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