British Work Ethic Condemned

Pennywise

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

He is totally correct.

Go to work in Asia for 6 years, as I did, and you understand this completely. Now we are fully a global economy, this explains why the wealth has shifted enormously eastwards - and will continue to do so. It's as inevitable as night follows day.

We sit back as a 'nation of shopkeepers' - as Napolean accurately observed - watching Asian nations create wealth, improve their balance of payments, and get rich at our expense. I call it a 'sandwich shop economy' in which our Governments tend to applaud the opening of a new sandwich shop in the High Street as another indicator of 'wealth'. They do not understand that such an economy simply spoons around our declining wealth and adds not a single penny to the wealth of this nation.

Export or die.

Have to agree with your sentiments, especially about the self-congratulatory approach re sandwich shops - though same applies to hairdressers, etc. Blair/Brown's approach to financial growth was nothing more than making the same pound change hands faster and faster rather than actually creating more pounds.

Where I do disagree is your "nation of shopkeepers" comment which wasn't a criticism at the time but a compliment. In those days, the "shop" was a very different creature than it is today. Nowadays, a shop doesn't add any value - it just buys things and sells them on at a profit. In the old days, the shopkeeper actually created the goods he sold - eg. the butcher literally did "butcher" the animals in his shop whereas now he just buys the meat from the wholesaler. The furniture shop was run by a carpenter who made it. The baker baked his own bread and didn't just wait for the bread van to deliver. The milkman had his own cows and milked them himself. That's as far away as you can get from today's "shops".

OK, service industries have their place, but their role is to "service". We still need a strong productive industry to create the wealth that will be circulated by the service industries. To get that, we need the best workers which includes having the right attitude. No that doesn't mean working in dangerous conditions or stupidly long hours, but it does mean flexibility, common sense, willingness, enthusiasm, etc., not clock watching and whingeing.

quantic

diable wrote: »

What was the reason for allowing them to screw you for 3 years?

Not being one of the 1 in 4 that are unemployed coming out of uni? I was quite happy to do a bit of !!!!!!!! as it was my first job out of uni and has lead to much better things since, but never again.

bendix

ninky wrote: »

i presume some of the people at your esteemed firm are members of the law society and manage to do something resembling work?

They are, of course, but I think even they would baulk at considering themselves members of a union.

They're professionals, my dear, professionals. Union people drive tube trains and scratch their !!!!!! all day. Totally different.

ninky_2

bendix wrote: »

They are, of course, but I think even they would baulk at considering themselves members of a union.

They're professionals, my dear, professionals. Union people drive tube trains and scratch their !!!!!! all day. Totally different.

yeah yeah and if the government proposed a cut to GP salaries those professionals at the bma wouldn't have a thing to say about it.

semantics and snobbery.

ninky_2

more info on the bma....

http://www.bma.org.uk/about_bma/what_the_BMA_does/TUroleoftheBMANHS.jsp

the Association has always represented its members' interests in developing and maintaining their terms and conditions of employment. In 1971, the Association was registered as an independent Trade Union and is currently included on the list of trade unions maintained by the Certification Officer in accordance with the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Since the inception of the NHS, the Association has been formally recognised for collective bargaining purposes within national negotiating machinery and by individual employers at local level. This status enables the Association and its representatives to benefit from rights under the legislation including those relating to:

• the provision of information
• the right to be consulted on proposed changes
• involvement in collective bargaining
• representation of members individually and collectively
• facilities and time off work for its representatives.

National negotiations
National pay scales for medical staff employed within the NHS are determined by Ministers in the light of recommendations of the Doctors and Dentists Review Body. Each year the Association submits evidence to the Review Body.

and the law society is more of a union than ever...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578638/Some-rather-odd-conduct-from-the-Law-Society.html

In the past, the Law Society has been both trade union and regulator - British Medical Association and General Medical Council - with both roles funded by a single annual fee paid by all practising solicitors.
Now, we are told, the regulatory side has been hived off.

chewmylegoff

ninky wrote: »

yeah yeah and if the government proposed a cut to GP salaries those professionals at the bma wouldn't have a thing to say about it.

semantics and snobbery.

i don't remember the ICAEW ever assisting with my salary negotiations, or lobbying my employer to improve its working conditions. maybe it's because i always pay my subs three months late.

ninky_2

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i don't remember the ICAEW ever assisting with my salary negotiations, or lobbying my employer to improve its working conditions. maybe it's because i always pay my subs three months late.

not all unions do the same thing. it's horses for courses. what do they do and why do you pay the subs?

ninky_2

i wonder if they are helping christopher lunn help the hmrc with their enquiries.....often union subs seem like a small price to pay in a crisis.

chewmylegoff

ninky wrote: »

not all unions do the same thing. it's horses for courses. what do they do and why do you pay the subs?

they allow me to tell people that i am accountant, in exchange for money.

ninky_2

chewmylegoff wrote: »

they allow me to tell people that i am accountant, in exchange for money.

i find it hard to believe that a crafty bunch of folk like accountants would really pay money for such a worthless service.