The Reality of Working for a Supermarket in 2009/Return to Victorian Britain

abaxas

All sounds reasonable to me. Pay people for doing they work, sack those who cant.

Would you pay a builder for a days work when he didnt turn up? I think you already know the answer.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

I thought that I experienced slavery when I was working part-time shelf stacking in a supermarket (a different one BTW) but my experience wasn't a patch on THAT story. I was doing it in addition to my main work so I didn't have to take too much carp before I left. When I gave in my written notice, the manager asked why I was leaving. I told him that America fought a civil war in the 1860s over the issue but no-one had told the Safeway (there it is) management. He looked at me baffled so I spelt it out. "Slavery" said I. He laughed.
Amazingly there are people out there who seem to feel sorry for me because I am a self-employed window cleaner. A job that keeps me active, flexi hours within reason, can earn good money on many jobs, can have an easy day or a day off if I feel like it (within reason of course), don't have to put up with customers who pee me off etc etc.
LOL. I'm unemployable. I had enough of working for control freak abusers by the time I got to 34.
I really think this lot need exposing. However, I think grassing up to Watchdog or some other expos! program would be a better way to go because the TUC is only as strong as the people who work in the warehouse will allow them to be.
I may be self-employed but I do have a trade union background from way back and stories like this get me feeling a bit aggressive.

tesuhoha

abaxas wrote: »

All sounds reasonable to me. Pay people for doing they work, sack those who cant.

Would you pay a builder for a days work when he didnt turn up? I think you already know the answer.

My OH is in the building trade and he doesnt get paid when he doesnt work. However, this is a company paying the minimum wage and expecting 200% from someone who is already working very hard, as hard as they possibly can.

I think you are only justified in what you are saying if you have worked under those conditions yourself and have never received sick pay.

i8change

I have always thought the Tax Credits system is arsse about face. The minimum wage should be high enough to live comfortably on if you do, say, 40 hours.
Then, rather than have millions of workers applying to have their wages boosted to a liveable standard by the taxpayer, the companies that cannot afford to pay properly would show their profits and claim a tax credit. The payments could be advanced if necessary and the scale of the system would be much reduced by the fact that the number of claims and "change of circumstances" are much reduced.
This would ensure companies making large profits (Tesco etc.) pay a fair days pay.

noh

JayScottGreenspan wrote: »

Yeah, I'm not sure either. Who would they sue? Does the agency act as a sort of lawsuit-firewall between them and the real employer? Or is our employment law slightly less crap than that?

Just thinking out loud really... more than happy for someone more in the know to set me straight.

The worker is an employee of the agency.
Almost certainly he has a zero hour contract with the agency. Which means they are not obliged to give him any minimum hours of work and he is not obliged to accept work they offer.
He will be getting holiday pay but this almost certainly will be as part of his hourly pay (about 12% uplift so his hourly wage is probably minimum wage of £5.70 x 1.12 = £6.38

abaxas

tesuhoha wrote: »

My OH is in the building trade and he doesnt get paid when he doesnt work. However, this is a company paying the minimum wage and expecting 200% from someone who is already working very hard, as hard as they possibly can.

I think you are only justified in what you are saying if you have worked under those conditions yourself and have never received sick pay.

Been there, done that and currently self employed.

I have no time for people who dont give their all. Why should I pay for someone not to work. I wont.

tesuhoha

abaxas wrote: »

Been there, done that and currently self employed.

I have no time for people who dont give their all. Why should I pay for someone not to work. I wont.

Been there, done that is very vague. Could you be more specific?

This person is giving their all but 200% on this job is beyond the capabilities of most people. I doubt you could do it.

abaxas

tesuhoha wrote: »

Been there, done that is very vague. Could you be more specific?

This person is giving their all but 200% on this job is beyond the capabilities of most people. I doubt you could do it.

Worked for a major supermarket depot near Reading. All I saw for a month was bottled water! aghaghagha

Seriously, if you work hard you get rewarded. I've never met anyone who wasnt, only those who beleive they are worth more than they are.

tesuhoha

He doesnt want a reward. He just wants to keep the job and earn a living.

Mr_Mumble

If paid labour is treated so badly and remunerated so poorly why don't middle-class families have half-a-dozen servants like they did in Victorian Britain?

Answers on a postcard to the folks who say the gap between "rich" and "poor" is growing.