27 February 2009
12:5516326So in these straightened times the TUC is asking people to strictly abide by working hours.
Is this a Joke - have I missed april fools day???
If people want to work longer then they should - if we all did a few minutes more the country might just recover quicker.
This nonsense sits alongside Sir Greedypants of RBS - grab it and go devil take the hindmost!
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
27 February 2009
13:1216327It shows what a dream world the TUC exists in, along with some others on the left.
When you are in recession you need to work harder to survive it and businesses need to run more profitably and efficiently. To work less hard can only be damaging. Unless you work in the public sector of course, they have no profitability restraints.
Another example of warped thinking is Harriet Harman wanting to place more red tape and restrictions on businesses in respect of employment.
Some people just dont know what the real world is like and they are running the country.
Guest 684- Registered: 26 Feb 2009
- Posts: 635
27 February 2009
13:3416329....."Another example of warped thinking is Harriet Harman wanting to place more red tape and restrictions on businesses in respect of employment.
Some people just dont know what the real world is like and they are running the country...."
They're such a shower, our so-called leaders, aren't they Barry? One despairs.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
13:5716330It was reported last week that workers in this country are already doing unpaid overtime to the tune of about 13 billion sov's a year.Just how much blood can you get from a stone,
Right pass me that brush Andrew its my turn to shuffle up me' masters chimney...cough splutter
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
27 February 2009
14:5716334We arent talking blood and stones marek - we are talking giving something to help everyone - I would be the first to defend anyone who was truely put upon but the TUC made it a blanket statement.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
27 February 2009
15:0416335And what may I ask about small business owners Marek?
Universally those of us who run small businesses are having to work longer and harder with less income, paying everyone who works for them even before the can even consider whether they are able to take a wage from the business that month for themselves.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
15:4716337Davidh & Barryw
Most workers are working longer hours for no pay in order that they can see the bosses take massive bonus's.The rewards,if any,are not being shared out evenly.
the TUC is no longer the power it was ever since maggie hit the unions for 6 so the effect will be neglible.
I know someone who works long days for a small business ,sometimes 13 14 hour shifts.that person has been owed 116 hours pay since may 08.The promises of don't worry "I'll sort it out" or "we are running a tight ship were understandable in the beginning but wore thin after he took his extended family for a months holiday on an island in the Indian ocean followed by 2 new Merc sports cars(him & hers) and countless other rewards and bonuses. This sort of abuse goes on all the time..its now in the hands of the union as any reasoned pleas fall on stoney ground.
I am all for give and take but I hope employers don't use the current crisis to exploit their workers.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
27 February 2009
15:5616338Small business oweners are not taking massive bonusses, far from it. Like I say the owners are the last in the pecking order for taking income from the business and will sometimes not be able to take any.
Dont go tarring all business owners with the same brush as a small number of overpaid bankers.
27 February 2009
20:2216348For once I disagree with Mrek...pause,gulp, sit down for a while. The big bankers (how I struggle with the spelling...) are big bankers because they are greedy, manipulative, clever, lacking an altruistic bone in their bodies!! Many - not all!! - small and smallish businesses are in it together with the workers, inter-dependent and inter-reliant. Some will exploit the situation, but most won't. They can't afford to, for one thing, and for another thing they really don't want to! A Not For Profit organisation i work for has had to tell the workers there is no pay rise this year. They didn't want to, but the alternative is a reduction in services and therefore a reduction in jobs, simple as. The decision was agonised over, all options were explored at length, and the workers have been supported to understand. Not the act of a Baron Hardup!!!!!
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
20:2516350BarryW
I have just stated that in the case I referred to above the 'boss' has enjoyed the aforementioned perks.So please do not tell me that small business owners are not taking massive bonuses because I have just highlighted that at least one in Dover is!
The business to which I referred is as far removed from banking as one could get.Secondly I never mentioned or referred to bankers (an appropriate name if ever there was one) in post 7.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
20:4016353Bern
Our postings overlapped so I apologise for not addressing the points you raised. Again I reiterate that I was not referring to the greedy speculative low lifes who lose billions on the market and are then rewarded with a golden handshake which in most instances equals some other persons total lifetime earnings.No forget about them.I am referring to the continous and systemic abuse that occurs in this country day in and day out.Care homes are being fined on a daily basis for either hiring illegal workers on low pay or for just not paying the minimum wage.Agricultural workers are being shipped in to undertake back breaking work on the fields so that we can enjoy fresh home produced products.DavidH a man I admire and like has rightly been beating the drum for Fair Trade but it must also apply at home as well as a abroad.The common denominator between the illegal care worker and the farm worker is that they are both trapped in poverty.The employer realises this and exploits it by keeping their salaries low.Where else are they going to run.Who will listen to them but it all boils down to who really cares.Well the TUC care and are merely firing a warning shot across the bows of the few unscrupulous employers who may wish to take advantage of the current crisis.They would be negligent if they didn't.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
27 February 2009
20:4316355i am with marek here,if my contract says i work from 9 to 5 monday to friday then thats the hours that i will do and not aminute more or a minute less.
27 February 2009
20:4316356Marek - you have eloquently convinced me. I am aware of the dodgy "care" industry nabobs and the dodgy farmers. I suppose I would just say that they are not all the same, and that there are also many decent small businesses that really do, actually, genuinely, care about the workforce. They do have to run businesses as well, but continue to factor in the wellbeing of the workforce. the businesses I deal with are all in this category - or I wouldn't deal with them!!!!!!
27 February 2009
20:4616357Brian - if I thought like that I would not be recruited!!! And many of the organisations I work in partnership with would be unable to offer the valuable services they do without a serious amount of goodwill - not exploitation, but flexibility and committment. they are different!!!!
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
27 February 2009
20:5216359bern,the hours i put down in my post were an example,i have worked many a shit system covering a 24 hours.if i was needed i was ased to do overtime at the apropet rates of pay,i had a choise of yes or no and it wasent compolsery.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
20:5916361Bern
Its refreshing to learn that there are still some jolly decent employers.Having worked for various branches of the service I was cotton woolled from the effects of a tyrant or slave driver.If I didn't like a persons methods or management skills I told them upfront so there was no misunderstanding.My annual reports always referred to "my brusque northern manner and humour which some members of management do not always appreciate.Yeah well I spent many a long sleepless night worrying about those comments...I don't thnk!
In the past having employed 42 people in my own company I found that the best way to maximise their individual skills was to treat them fairly.Praise when deserved and bollockings when necessary. We had a great time.But I do fear for those in the workplace today.Hence my comments above.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
27 February 2009
21:0516363Your approach is refreshingly attractive! And it works!! Clarity of purpose and an honest and supportive approach are the best way to get the best out of people. Coupled with a fearless use of disciplinary procedures, of course...!!!
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
27 February 2009
21:0916364Brian
I loved your freudian typing error describing the system you operated to cover a 24 hour period.Priceless
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
27 February 2009
21:1216365a plesure marek.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
27 February 2009
23:3316368bad employers make a rod for their own back.
most employees will go the extra mile of the employers do too.