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

beaujolais-nouveau

tesuhoha wrote: »

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 that supermarkets have been operating no-contract employment for several years - I seem to remember hearing a "Watchdog" or "You and Yours" item about it - and getting away with it. It really sucks.

PasturesNew

I was working down in Cornwall and the attitude to workers down there was "you're lucky to have a job". They paid rubbish wages to most people because there were few jobs and those with kids could get top ups, so they really did pay peanuts and you had to smile to get them.

Companies were laying people off at short notice, or calling them in immediately then telling them they could go home a couple of hours later. Most of the economy down there is run by employing people who are backpacking, or foreigners. Disposable people ... it's everywhere where they can get away with it.

It was a major reason why I moved, because employers didn't take jobs/people seriously and there was no future anywhere.

mewbie_2

I was discussing more senior roles with someone who had worked there and they said it was the same all the way up the scales. Hard work, little reward, slave labour.

wageslave

PasturesNew wrote: »

I was working down in Cornwall and the attitude to workers down there was "you're lucky to have a job". They paid rubbish wages to most people because there were few jobs and those with kids could get top ups, so they really did pay peanuts and you had to smile to get them.

Companies were laying people off at short notice, or calling them in immediately then telling them they could go home a couple of hours later. Most of the economy down there is run by employing people who are backpacking, or foreigners. Disposable people ... it's everywhere where they can get away with it.

It was a major reason why I moved, because employers didn't take jobs/people seriously and there was no future anywhere.

Christ PN, now you have really depressed me.

I watched the news last night. A soldier, a father of three, died in a pointless, unwinnable war and the mother of his children said "For Queen and country".

We are nothing more than disposable people.

thescouselander

Interesting, I used to work weekends for Tesco many years ago when I was studying to my A-Levels. I have to say they were a very poor employer then too - the management seemed to rely on bullying tactics to get what they wanted, it seems not much has changed. At the time the pay was quite good so I stuck it out for two years. Now I've have many years in other employment I can see how rubbish they actually were.

Entertainer

tesuhoha wrote: »

I am going to be very vague about the identity of the person who gave me this information as I do not want to endanger his job any more than it already is but I am outraged enough on his behalf to post this.

However he is an economic migrant and came to this country to work. He doesnt want much, just enough to pay his way, and to send a little money home to his mother.

He is on his second job. When he lost the first through no fault of his own he did not claim any benefit but lived on the savings he had. He now has another job for lets say the biggest supermarket. Agency work. He works in the supermarket depot as a picker. Every day he faces a long and problematic journey to work, cant tell you anymore as it would give away the location. He works for £6 an hour approximately. He has to turn up every day but some days after a couple of hours he is told there is no work and has to go home. He never gets an 8 hour day.

They work on a points system. They are given a point if they are more than a couple of minutes late back from lunch and a point if they take more than 4 minutes going to the toilet. If they get 3 points then they are sacked. This person recently met someone who got the sack from this place because they were only working at 120% when 200% is expected. There are no English people working at this place because they would not be able to keep up. My friend has not yet reached 100% although he is fit and athletic so he is expecting to lose his job sometime soon. So they expect 200% for just over the minimum wage. Apparently this warehouse has sacked over 1,000 people this year.

At the interview he was told he would receive training and eventually a supermarket contract. There is no training and no contract. They do not get overtime pay even if they start work early. There is no sick pay, no holiday pay, and well, certainly no pension. I think Bob Cratchett was treated better than this.

It makes me feel so angry when I think how the unions struggled to get decent working conditions for blue collar workers and now they are going back to Victorian times and being treated like !!!!!! because there is an excess of labour. The big companies are profiteering from and exploiting people because they can. They dont have to employ people with a contract anymore, they use agencies and this means they can do what they like. If someone refuses to work under these conditions then they will sack them and someone else who will work will be along in the blink of an eye. This is not the only company doing it, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands. There is an excess of labour and much unemployment. People at the top of the ladder might be saying, 'recession, what recession' but for people starting out at the bottom this is the reality of life today, no proper jobs, no full time jobs, minimum wage. Huge amounts of money are still being made but it is going to the companies and not into the pockets of the workers. These people will never be able to afford to buy a house. The poor are indeed getting very much poorer and the rich are getting richer.

My friend recently said that he hates this country because if you are honest and hardworking you get nowhere, you are better off being lazy.

What does that mean? What is the difference between 100, 120 and 200%?

Jonbvn

i8change wrote: »

Just someone to look after their offspring, during the day, and an occasional cleaner is the current norm for the well off.

I always like to get someone in to clean the pipes as they say.;);)

tesuhoha

Entertainer wrote: »

What does that mean? What is the difference between 100, 120 and 200%?

I dont know. I only know they work it out by how much they 'pick'/load per hour.

fc123

Quasar wrote: »

Supermarkets are well known for squeezing their staff, not to mention their suppliers. I wish I could remember the title of a book I read a couple of years ago, documenting the various unethical practices that the largest chains use to maintain their prices.

Could have been one of the following;

Shopped by Joanna Blythman
or
Not on The Label by Felicity Lawrence

and then there is Tescopoly which DS linked to.

I read FL in 04 and it changed how I shopped forever.

If anyone wants to know about how clothes are made at home and abroad....feel free to ask .

If people saw the factory conditions I have seen in my time, they wouldn't shop in 80% of the High St Chains.

bo_drinker

Off topic.. Hey fc have you seen this thread post number 54.... :rotfl:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1957681&page=3