It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

tru

ceridwen wrote: »

...and there was me thinking the "If all else fails...." solution would be to send some of the more <cough> straight-talking members of the O.S. Board to sort 'em all out....Mardatha, BigMummaF and ...errr...myself:D - at the ready....we'll head for 10 Downing Street if they want a few old-style "home truths".

.....well...it would stop Mardatha sheep-bothering:rotfl:

I try to be nice and polite on here. In real life I could out-straight-talk the lot of you So I will be joining you at no. 10

ceridwen

...of course if you've got room to keep a goat......problem sorted...:p:) - and you'd know the animal producing your milk hadnt been cloned......:cool:. (Theres one of the papers at least out hunting for which farmers it is that have these cloned cows that are apparently here already in Britain.....wonder if they give a little "reward" to any finders?

As good little MSE'ers I'm sure a few of us would be glad of the chance of a bit of extra cash - from the Daily Mail to be precise...

ceridwen

tru wrote: »

I try to be nice and polite on here. In real life I could out-straight-talk the lot of you So I will be joining you at no. 10

That makes it a posse of 4 so far....:D

purpleheather2810

kezlou wrote: »

Well i had to spend money today on underwear yes we know tmi, but i have one bra which works, all the others have snapped and broken. could also be fact that i haven't bought new underwear in over two years :rotfl:. Looked in Primark, none in my size, i'm a DD so really hard to find where i am. So i ended up spending £30:eek::eek:in La Senza on three bras and 2 pants. I swear i was crying inside, when did they become so expensive. Even underwear is a luxury in this house.

Hi all, I am lurking on this thread and trying to read the whole thing before I jump in and post, however I just thought I would mention that I am also a DD and I get my bras from ASDA. Cheap as chips, quite pretty and consdiering the price they last pretty well. They go up to a G cup and a 44 back in some ranges (though not necessarily the same ones, i.e. I don't think you can get a 44G but I could be wrong!)

Anyway, back to reading.... I am on page 12 I think...!

The_Thrilla

gailey wrote: »

I told union rep from usdaw wasent interested when he kept hassling me to join, they do scaremonger under uk and eu employment law employees have protected rights.

Yes, gailey, you have rights under EU law. However, theory and practice are often different. You have meetings and proceedures which the employer or you can call. You are entitled to haves someone with you at these meetings. It can either be a work colleague or it can be a recognised official from any recognised union. (Yes, you can be a shop worker and you can have a rep from the Musicians Union with you.) I can tell you from personal experience that if you go into one of these meetings alone, your management will eat you alive. And you will have no witness. Finding a colleague who has the pluck to accompany you might be problematic. That person might back out at the last minute, because they fear a management backlash. Maybe an unscrupulous manager has nobbled your accompanist. I am not scaremongering here. A couple of years back, I had disciplinary procedures to attend by my part-time employer. Facing me was my immediate superior and what can only be described as a devil from human resources, who is only a couple of steps short of being my mortal enemy. (We go back a long way.) The meeting was a debacle. I won't bother to mention what was wrong with it, but when I received the minutes of that meeting they were utter fantasy. J R R Tolkein could have written them. I won the appeal, when a higher level of management, realising the next stage was court, bottled out. Thank God that on both occasions I had a union rep with me. IMHO any employee who is not a member of a union is, without rod or staff, walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

gailey_2

Ahh I Saw that in daily mail scaring people again.I guess in 20years time we may have to eat more cloned /gm if not enough food.

My freinds a teacher and I know it can be incredibly rewarding but hard work.
I find 1 for year old tough , helped at preschool with 20 other month quite stresful.
Having kids of my own I want good teachers and to encourage the best in the proffesion had some awful ones when I was in school.

I know not all state sctor workers lead cushy lives its different.
But there is so much waste and when cuts have to happen and public sector argue they sould be excempt I think well why.
Up until this year it was unthinkable for my mate(lab assistant in nhs)not to get an annual payrise so shes moaning big time now.

Theres so many more managers these days than frontline
I dont think my council gives me value for money so think everyone would welcome a council tax freeze.
When I had my 2nd child last year the midwives were so shortstaffed as boom baby year and really struggling.

What I would like to see is cuts in public sector and maybe money put back in to fund more police, nurses and teachers ect.

Also when people who fail leave like head of hackeny social services gets huge payouts when they leave and civil servants in mod getting bonuses despite our troops at time not having equipment they needed.

Why should some civil servants get bonuses but not teachers, doctors or nurses.
Why they getting bonuses I understand it if you selling a service or products but just essentially doing your job dont get it.

I think government has set up website for ideas.
Then we have spending reveiw in october labour were putting it off as dident want to make cuts before the election.

Right wondering how to hide a goat at next landlord inspection:cool:

RAS

gailey wrote: »

What I would like to see is cuts in public sector and maybe money put back in to fund more police, nurses and teachers ect.

gailey,

police, nurses and teachers are all public sector and the government has every intention of cutting recruitment of all of them, not just civil servants.

And there will be big cuts in defence. Local councils have to cut 25% of their budgets for this year, and expect to cut more next year.

mardatha

Trying to catch up here -Thrilla, I agree 100%. Many people are in employment where people aren't so "nice" and god help you if you're not in the union. Unscrupulous bosses can run rings round you. You think public sector is bad - you want to try contract cleaning !! And the EU "protection" can be worked around very easily.
Ok say you are unemployed now and the jobcentre is hassling you and the rent needs paying and the kids need shoes..
The only job available is an office cleaner. So you take it. You work your socks off & treated like muck - from the client and your own firm. Then they threaten "cuts" and start hassling you like hell. They cut breaks and cut half an hour off the shift but you still have to get the same work done or you're for it. Then the company loses the contract, and you get TUPE-ed over to the new company "at the same rate of pay & condtions"...
Do you realise this can go on for YEARS? It sounds fair and EU etc- but the reality is that contracts change hands every year sometimes. You stay "at the same rate of pay and conditions".It can be for 5-6-7 years. Always the hassle and the threats and never a payrise. And if you get too far out of line then they've got you for "improper conduct", which means no redundancy no notice, just escorted off the premises by security. I spent a few years as a supervisor in office cleaning and it physically made me ILL.

narabanekeater

Im having a great week so far. Yesterday and today ive for the 1st time stretched my dinners far enough to have the little ones lunches in hand for tommorow and only used 2 chicken breats for us all. Yesterday I cooked just the right amount for all of us with just a bit of mash left. I have never managed to do this ever. I usually cook enough for a small army.
Tonight I collected a lot of Thomas The Tank bits from a local lady selling from Ebay. She also gave me a load of bits that she hadnt sold. I certainly got a bargain (seems a lot of us like a bargain on Ebay at the moment) The clothes are all in the wash right now as they smelt a little of smoke but DS will get lots of use from them
I have another appointment with my careers advisor tommorow. There is no funding at all towards the course I want to take so theres no way I can take it. Im hoping shes going to be understanding

jediteacher

As mentioned I work as a teacher. Ten years ago I was made redundant after falling numbers at the school I was in. I would not have got through all that without my union. My redundancy pay was a whopping £250!!! I was lucky that I had with the help of my union rep got another job. Also in my old school there was an incident with one one of the children accusing a staff member of touching him inappropriately. The allegations were false and the young lad made a habit of saying these things even about his own mum! However, my poor collegue was not a member of a union and the trouble that she went through to clear her name was appalling. I am now a fully signed on member of a union and although I may not agree with all their ideas and threats I sleep better at night knowing that should the worst happen I have professional help.

After reading all the posts about stocking up for winter today I went to poundland and bought a collapseable shovel, two foil blankets, a torch, batteries and de-icer. Also in poundstretcher bought some tinned tomato soup for 19p. Getting ready to start my stash for winter.