Politics

The place to discuss anything that isn't football or LUFC
Sniffer
Arthur Fairclough's milliner
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Joined: 17 Feb 2013, 17:03

Re: Politics

Post by Sniffer »

Viduka Hits The Mark wrote:
Yeah, cheers for that, Vid. Great way to insult a load of your fellow LUFCTalkers.
No offence intended mate. :shock: Just a snapshot of the office where my Mrs works.
If you use broad brush strokes you miss out the fine detail and, to mix a metaphor, you tar everyone with the same brush.

"If I have a day off work they make you feel like you have done something wrong, but if its genuine and not repetitive then they will pay me no problem." That's good of them. :|

" There doesn't seem to be any rules or regulations in terms of sickness/excuses and people literally take the pissssss and can get full pay for 6 months." If that's the case why isn't everyone doing it? In truth there are "malingerers" in every work environment; people who are happy to take advantage of the HARD WON rights and benefits fought for by the unions and the labour movement. It doesn't mean theses people are right to do it but neither does it mean that the mechanisms that they are manipulating : sick pay, maternity leave, grievance procedures etc are wrong either.

Now it might be that you don't want any of these rights and benefits, and that you're so anti-worker that you're willing to hand back the other rights and benefits won by the labour movement. So, before you get back in to bed with your local Capitalists, please hand back paid leave, public holidays, the weekend and all the other fripperies that make life a little easier since the days of the workhouse. Oh, and don't forget to doff your cap and tug your forelock. They like that sort of thing. Submissive deference, so very 'umble. ;)
Deleted User 728

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 728 »

I've known lots of skivers, malingerers and pi55takers during my working life and in both the private and the public sector.

The trouble is, it's actually very difficult to "sack" someone these days unless they commit gross misconduct.
Here's a few examples :

1. 30 years ago I worked under a department manager at Sainsbury's who had a good friend that was a GP. The company paid up to 26 weeks full sick pay before SSP was triggered. Without fail, he'd always take about 20 weeks off with some ailment or other, all fairly long-term and none of which were unusual - bad back, hernia, that kind of thing. He was so dodgy that when part of the wall outside got knocked by a delivery lorry, he was there at the crack of dawn the next morning with a trailer, loading them up to sell !

2. A friend got suspended from his job - again at Sainsbury's, a place where you have to kill someone in front of the customers to actually get the sack - because he became friendly with a work experience girl. She was 15 and he gave her a lift home a few times, her mother didn't like it and stormed in to see the manager. She accused him of you know what, he denied it, he was off for almost a year with full pay.
He was asked to resign, so he still got a reference, but was added to the sex offenders list.
He absolutely swore he did nothing more than kiss her, but either way as a man in his 20s he knew even that was wrong.
I haven't seen him for five years, before any of you ask ..

3. A colleague at one of the student unions where I worked - public sector now - was signed off for stress because she was (actually) being bullied by my boss. I left when he tried it with me and told him to stick it, despite having worked well with him for three years. She was in HR and I went to her for advice before leaving as I'd had a dispute with him over some annual leave that he wished me to cancel despite signing it off a few months before. On principle, I just resigned. He knew why. She offered to escalate it higher up the management chain, but I declined. Now I really regret that because she became his next victim. Basically, he was restructuring the entire organisation so he had lots of submissive people around him. A despicable man (and a Man U fan from Lincoln) who really was a softly, softly bully.
She was off work for the best part of a year with stress from the situation - not good for anyone in HR ! - until they paid her off and she's fine now, working elsewhere in a much gentler role. I only wish I'd done the right thing and shopped the **** rather than just walking off into the sunset ..

4. A bloke I work with now at UPS is bright and funny and I enjoy his company, but he's also quite sly and works slower than he could, deliberately, so that he just does the minimum. He's black and the management are wary of crossing anyone - or even talking to them ! - of colour because a couple of years ago someone successfully sued them for discrimination and the supervisor concerned was summarily dismissed. They're all sh1t-scared of history repeating itself, so they let him get away with it while the rest of us work our tits off !
I laugh about it and tease him, telling him to hurry up and work faster, but he just laughs back and winks at me.
He knows I know but he also knows I like him enough not to ever let on. I actually think it's funnier that he's taking the mick out of the management team and I enjoy a bit of "sticking it to the man" myself, so right on brother.

There's loads more, but that last one alone probably puts me in the malingerer category myself, given I'm implicated !

It's nothing to do with politics, just human nature, so I agree with Sniffer - don't blame the public sector and call them workshy - it happens everywhere, sometimes not down to the individual either.
One woman I worked with at Pompey Uni about twenty years ago, was on £24k pa - this is in 1996 - and her job ?
She was a secretary. She'd just been there a looooooooooooong time and triggered every pay-band going.

It wasn't her fault - it was the system.

It's a bit like Jack Rodwell at Sunderland.
He signed that contract when they were a going concern in the EPL so to try to force him out just because on a high wage is wrong, IMHO.
Sell him if you can and if he agrees, yeah sure, but don't vilify the guy for taking what was offered to him. Every single one of us would've done the same ..
Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

Now it might be that you don't want any of these rights and benefits, and that you're so anti-worker that you're willing to hand back the other rights and benefits won by the labour movement. So, before you get back in to bed with your local Capitalists, please hand back paid leave, public holidays, the weekend and all the other fripperies that make life a little easier since the days of the workhouse. Oh, and don't forget to doff your cap and tug your forelock. They like that sort of thing. Submissive deference, so very 'umble.
Please Sir, may I have some more. :angel:

30 years ago I worked under a department manager at Sainsbury's who had a good friend that was a GP. The company paid up to 26 weeks full sick pay before SSP was triggered. Without fail, he'd always take about 20 weeks off with some ailment or other, all fairly long-term and none of which were unusual - bad back, hernia, that kind of thing. He was so dodgy that when part of the wall outside got knocked by a delivery lorry, he was there at the crack of dawn the next morning with a trailer, loading them up to sell !

I found that funny.

I guess I just miss that cosy environment where you can do what you want and nobody seems to care. At work we have targets on a daily basis and I guess it keeps everyone on there toes, you quickly get to know the wheat from the chaff. We operate a 30 day work trial and generally you know by then if they are going to be upto the job or not. German efficiency at its best.
Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

The Don. Just being honest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42819405

See you soon Mr President for your state visit, i'm sure you will enjoy sipping tea with the Queen.
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Barlow Boy
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Location: Barlow, obviously.

Re: Politics

Post by Barlow Boy »

Viduka Hits The Mark wrote:At work we have targets on a daily basis and I guess it keeps everyone on there toes, you quickly get to know the wheat from the chaff. We operate a 30 day work trial and generally you know by then if they are going to be upto the job or not.
Blimey, sounds a whole barrel of laughs wherever it is you work pal :shock:
When you retire, you switch bosses - from the one that hired you, to the one that married you.
Sniffer
Arthur Fairclough's milliner
Posts: 2997
Joined: 17 Feb 2013, 17:03

Re: Politics

Post by Sniffer »

Viduka Hits The Mark wrote:I guess I just miss that cosy environment where you can do what you want and nobody seems to care.
I have never worked in such an environment and I've worked on the railway for 23 years.

And Rigger's point about the system is right. Come April I will be earning vastly more than the job I'll be doing will be worth. I work in Bristol Panel Signal box. When I moved to this job 3 and a bit years ago the area we covered was split into 4 sections. Last year one of those sections was transferred to a signalling centre 80-odd miles away in Didcot to begin the process of closing the Signal box. On April the first this year (yes, I know :roll: ) another section, Bristol Temple Meads station area, is transferred there. We are Grade 7 signalmen, the section that went last year would be equivalent to that grade. The bit that goes this year is, if anything, higher than a grade 7 but we didn't push for regrading as the other 2 sections we worked would be roughly equivalent to grade 3 or 4. You gain a little, you lose a little.. We have been told we can follow our job to Didcot but we would all have to move houses closer to do so. The reason being that as we work 12 hour shifts it wouldn't be safe to add an extra hour and a half commute on to either end of the day. Only 1 out of 21 signalmen have agreed to do that, 4 have found jobs elsewhere (on the same pay but at a lower grade), 2 are taking redundancy leaving 14 to work the remaining 2 positions. Not only are these 2 positions a lower grade, the workload has been reduced further as part of each section has been included in the bit going in April. So I will still be on the same money doing a job that should pay half that. On the down side I've been living in the shadow of redundancy since I got here. Next year the section that covers Bath Spa is due to go, the section that covers down towards Taunton is due to go sometime in the future at an unspecified date.
The point is the same as Rigger's secretary: it's not my fault. :) :angel:
Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

I'm not sure about the sunglasses Sniff. ;) :D



Better late than never.
Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

Putin. Underestimate us at your peril. Welcome to our secret weapon. The human cannon ball. :D

Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Italy.

http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/ar ... xBIl_ZFyM8
Deleted User 3289

Re: Politics

Post by Deleted User 3289 »

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/e ... t-he-found

What does this report say about Britain in the 21st Century?

Is it a reflection of Thatchers free market economy? Squeeze every last penny out of people to appease the shareholders, in essence putting profits before compassion?

Is it that the Nanny state has created a certain type of underclass who are not willing to work and contribute to society? I know this got particularly bad under New Labours boom economy, when people were better off not working and claiming benefits. Ironically the boom in house prices during that period virtually ruined most young peoples aspirations of ever affording a house, particularly down in some southern areas.

I only really remember growing up in the 80's during the Miners strike and it was pretty bad then, but everyone seemed to rally around and help each other out with a sense of community. Years ago when my dad was growing up he says that he had nothing, but neither did anyone else so everyone made the best of it and it was a happy generation. I suppose where you live plays a big role. Here in Blackpool we have some of the poorest boroughs in England but when i go and visit my cousin in Derbyshire its like a different planet.

Its tough for me to understand how the financial institutions that look after our money effectively put us in this mess. With homelessness at a record high, food & clothing banks now in most towns in Britain and with more government cuts to come. Does anyone think we may have fared better with a proper Socialist Government?

Its fascinating how the future generations will get on especially with the rise of AI replacing the need for lots of manual type labour jobs. We will all eventually be under the control of all the big corporation companies through technology and a cashless society. I suppose it will just mean that inequality will just keep on growing in places like the UK, and the emerging markets in India, China, South America ect will see growth at faster levels due to cheap labour.

I realise i'm just waffling but this is what i get when i'm stuck in the kitchen due to my Gas pipes being replaced. :D
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