I worked for a good number of years with two contract cleaning companies and the last one up until i had to give up work due to health rasons in 2006. When my boss who was more of a suit than a cleaner but nevertheless done some work left and took up another post with a penny halfpenny company. I was made suprvisor when he left in 2004 and it took me over two months to get the supplies we got into an orginised state. Every month we were getting enough stuff to last us for 3 and most of this stuff was either thrown out or taken home by the cleaners. My old boss's company got a contract for the offices down the stairs from us and every other week he would ask me for things like bin liners, bleach, soap amongst almost everything else. He had a gang of cleaners who were all foriegn and would struggle to say a whole sentence in English between them. I had to tell him that i had sorted out the overflow of supplies that had been accumilating during his 4 years with our company and that i was in no position to give him anymore. He asked me if i could just give him a last bundle of refuse collection bags and i gave him about 200. I soon realised why he wanted the bags. It was so that his rubbish would be collected and paid for using our refuse collectors which the company i worked for would be paying for to be uplifted. I know for a fact that the cleaners he used were all illeagal and that there was never the sme six every week and that they were not being paid the minimum wage, I even heard that then when the minimum wage i believe was about £5.50 PH or thereabouts these guys were only getting £2.75 PH

It's sad to see that, in a time when there is ostensively robust regulation on working practises, workers' rights are so easily undermined. Exploitation of transient foreign labour especially seems to be widespread.

I think you were well to get out of that sector, jamcat, although Im sorry to hear it was due to bad health.

Glasgow city council, under Steven Purcell, made a highly commendable pledge to what it called a 'living wage' for workers in Glasgow, however, there are serious doubts about whether that pledge is being honoured with so much work now being sub-contracted by the local authority:

http://www.glasgowsnp.org/Council/SNP_Glas...es_Living_Wage/

The coalition governement appears currently to be working hard to undermine workers' rights even further, according to an article in The Scotsman yesterday:


Full story here:
http://news.scotsman.com/news/Proposed-job...sses.6686006.jp

GG.

I was just commenting on this in 'Cut Backs' topic Martin. They actually tell us this news as though it's a marvellous achievement. They don't bat an eye as they squeeze us dry.

I worked with an American up at Frankfurt airport (AeroLloyd) in Germany. After 7 years with a firm a worker could not be sacked but in his last three months approaching that termin the management, and some of his co-workers, went all out to sack him. They got him on technical inefficiency (he'd put down a couple of flat rivets in an almost inaccessable area). They were out to get him because he didn't kiss botties. (or not the right ones )

two for the price of one there

It would seem with all the cut backs, increased cost of a University Education and now the Government making it easier for Employers to sack people, the Tory Government are living up to their name of being the Government for the rich and well off.

Oh no, the firm i worked for were quite reputable and were far from being some sort of ostentatious company. I had 8 good years with them and never regretted any time i worked with them. It was my ex bosses mob that were the unreputable concern.

Just like the previous government Heather.

JUST LIKE ALL GOVERNMENTS IN THE UK.

Davie.

6 million unemployed (is that an accurate assessment?) and business Secretary Vince Cable is resisting cuts to the number of visas to be issued to migrant workforces from outside the EU who wish to enter UK. Wonder why?



4 out of 5 Britons say immigration too high.