Vote Labour at your peril at the next election

[Northerner]

Regarding the minimum wage.. When I was 18 I worked for £80 a week

My employer at the time was a mean little who no doubt would have cried poverty when the minimum wage came into being. The minimum wage by a vast scale has made a positive impact on this country.

[walesrob]

Regarding the minimum wage.. When I was 18 I worked for £80 a week

My employer at the time was a mean little who no doubt would have cried poverty when the minimum wage came into being. The minimum wage by a vast scale has made a positive impact on this country.

The only problem with minimum wage is that a lot of employers ONLY pay the minimum wage and nothing more. A lot of supermarkets are an example of this, although the one I work for (Where mums go to, and where Kerry got fired from ) we are very lucky in that we get 30p above minimum, plus we've had a 5% payrise this week, but I know the other big supermarket chains only pay minimum wage for checkout staff and shelf fillers. I was shocked to learn that the average wage in the UK is supposed to be £400 a week, so on £6.50 an hour I get, I would have to work 61+ (more if you take into account tax and NI) hours a week. Labour talk about an equal society for all, but nah, they've got a long way to go.

[Northerner]

The only problem with minimum wage is that a lot of employers ONLY pay the minimum wage and nothing more. A lot of supermarkets are an example of this, although the one I work for (Where mums go to, and where Kerry got fired from ) we are very lucky in that we get 30p above minimum, plus we've had a 5% payrise this week, but I know the other big supermarket chains only pay minimum wage for checkout staff and shelf fillers. I was shocked to learn that the average wage in the UK is supposed to be £400 a week, so on £6.50 an hour I get, I would have to work 61+ (more if you take into account tax and NI) hours a week. Labour talk about an equal society for all, but nah, they've got a long way to go.

I always doubt the offical average salary since the days of Thatcher. All governments like to make their figures look better. This little graph I drew up shows what used to be done years ago to create the so called average.. It would not suprise me if it is still done today.

[whiteraven]

i myself was recently out of work for two years and when it came to look for a job i was shocked at the wages offered for factory,shop or warehouse work in my area. one packing company is asking people to work 7 days a week on shift and all they are paying is basic wage. they are always advertising so they must have a very big turn over of staff, i didnt even get an interview when i applied even though i had 25 yrs experience in that kind of work. the big problem we have here is there are thousands of eastern europeans looking for jobs in my area so what chance do we have of getting a competitive rate?

[somebody]

Regarding the minimum wage.. When I was 18 I worked for £80 a week

My employer at the time was a mean little who no doubt would have cried poverty when the minimum wage came into being. The minimum wage by a vast scale has made a positive impact on this country.

Maybe up north but they didn't take regional differences into place which im sure they were thinking in their ivory towers would mean the whole job market would adapt but as we dont it takes more than that. It also has meant many jobs are now minimum wage and hourly rates etc when before they were permant salaried jobs

One very well known security firm used at work who many of the guards i have known for years. Has im told its older staff on salaried wages and the newer staff are hourly on rolling contracts and yes you guessed it minimum wage They gave the newer staff more holidays well actually they gave them the chance to take their bank holidays when they like and still have less holidays than the older staff

Many supermarket staff were salaried or had guaranteed hours when friends and I were students working in the evenings and weekends. Now you would be very lucky it seems to have this luxury.

Now many retail staff are zero hour contract so the minimum wage makes no difference. Sickness is now an offence and many companies big and small being far less genrous with sickness pay.



Well intentioned policy which as usual it seems backfired.

[Northerner]

Maybe up north but they didn't take regional differences into place which im sure they were thinking in their ivory towers would mean the whole job market would adapt but as we dont it takes more than that. It also has meant many jobs are now minimum wage and hourly rates etc when before they were permant salaried jobs

One very well known security firm used at work who many of the guards i have known for years. Has im told its older staff on salaried wages and the newer staff are hourly on rolling contracts and yes you guessed it minimum wage They gave the newer staff more holidays well actually they gave them the chance to take their bank holidays when they like and still have less holidays than the older staff

Many supermarket staff were salaried or had guaranteed hours when friends and I were students working in the evenings and weekends. Now you would be very lucky it seems to have this luxury.

Now many retail staff are zero hour contract so the minimum wage makes no difference. Sickness is now an offence and many companies big and small being far less genrous with sickness pay.



Well intentioned policy which as usual it seems backfired.

These problems came into effect before the minimum wage was even law. And it was the erosion of the unions which started it all. As these days most unions are toothless tigers.

The company I work for has treated it's staff like you would treat the dog poop on your shoe!

At one point my office had a 99% attrition rate (the rate people join the company and then leave within a year) and they blamed the local people for being too lazy to work. Although shipping jobs offshore and trying to manage people out of the company instead of paying them redundancy might have been a more obvious problem.

Companies have power, unions do not. When the unions had too much power they abused it. Now that the companies have too much power, they too are abusing it. We have lost the balance to keep things equal and good for all parties

[walesrob]

Sickness is now an offence and many companies big and small being far less genrous with sickness pay.


Well intentioned policy which as usual it seems backfired.

I worked for another supermarket company for 15 months a few years ago (I call it Shine, but I'm sure you know who I'm talking about), but was off sick for the best part of 2 months (got no sick pay or SSP), on my return I got a written warning. It was a genuine sickness, but no, the company wouldn't have it, they claimed I was letting down the team and the company. As soon as I got this written warning, they had my resignation letter the next day, and they wonder why there is such a huge turnover of staff. In contrast, the company I work for now treat all their staff as human beings, loads of incentives and pay above national minimum wage.

[somebody]

I worked for another supermarket company for 15 months a few years ago (I call it Shine, but I'm sure you know who I'm talking about), but was off sick for the best part of 2 months (got no sick pay or SSP), on my return I got a written warning. It was a genuine sickness, but no, the company wouldn't have it, they claimed I was letting down the team and the company. As soon as I got this written warning, they had my resignation letter the next day, and they wonder why there is such a huge turnover of staff. In contrast, the company I work for now treat all their staff as human beings, loads of incentives and pay above national minimum wage.

Indeed Labour with im sure there will intentioned acts have overseen a job market where now people find it like you say a total nightmare if they are Sick.
From what I have seen and heard the lower end of the job market in particular seems to be even more dickensian than ten years ago.

Your story Rob is not uncommon and I know one of my wifes friends at work whose mother works as HR for A Blue Chip company could not belive how they treated her daughter where Lies were told by supervisors and regulatrions and laws not abided by. She had one day off and similar action was being talked about to what happened to you Rob.

People like her and people like myself who will research what the rules and regs are will stand up for our loved ones in these postions but sadly many dont have someone who will do