I have already told you.

Distribute the 99% of the wealth owned by 1% of the population,  and people on the poverty line will have somewhere to live, will receive a better education and standard of living. will become contributing members of society, and be made to feel of worth.
As opposed to now, where they have no hope, ill educted and bought up in ( at best) sink estates where they're all put together to rot.And then you wonder why these areas are crime ridden.They have no hope, they're on the streets, no hope of a job.Outcasts in society. Many hungry and sick. Made to feel hopeless, useless, worthless.Its a shameful way to allow to people to get to this stage and be allowed to live like this in the 21st century.

To be clear, a shortage of labour overrides everything else in being a good thing.
And again because I am not sure any of our parties realise this it is not just good
for workers  but it is good for every aspect of a countries society
It is so fundamental to the success of a nation.

My uncle had been a labour member since the late 1950s, on 2nd January this year he sent his membership card back. He said Keith Vaz with his one man welcoming commitee to those 2 Romanians was the final p!sstake.

From Team Leader to Dole Queue ~ I have been on both sides:

Here's a bit of reality and what it's like from my own view point.....

As a Team Leader i worked my nuts off for 50-60hrs per week, then was made redundant following the company's decision to sell/re-locate half the business to China with the then Labour Government's backing???

Over 14 years service then on the scrap heap as manufacturing in our once great country slowly ebbed away.

I went to the dole office - A truly awful place and one i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I signed on once! Then chose to swerve the opportunity of benefits of which I was "100% entitled to." I fecked off with my redundancy money for a spot of travelling at home and abroad which lasted some 18 months!

This is where it gets interesting...I was now ready to work again but firstly i started a new claim. As the weeks went by i found the job centre to be a place where the exact happened. Where were all these so called jobs? And furthermore, where was the help and advice?

I kid you not, i would literary be pleading for help and assistance to gain employment.
At every turn on each job centre visit i was repeatedly told - sorry sir, your time is up, i need to see the next person (poor bastard more like).

Off my own back i signed up to all the temping agencies in town. Workworld were the one's who got me on the payroll in next to no time. I'd escaped the dole and was on my way. I did all kinds of temping jobs, (also refreshing to watch and observe other team leaders giving instructions to the many idle and workshy workforce).

Then a temp driving job became available via the agency so i took it. Six happy months of delivering rehab supplies to our not quite fit and healthy country men and women on a daily basis passed when i got called into the office to say they had to let me go. Basically, it was a case in law that they had to take me on full time or reel in the next temporary sucker.

Next job was a storesman which became a rolling temporary contract still via worldword. Hey! I even had a paid week's holiday! Happy days!

After several months i got talking to my neighbour who said he knew someone who was looking for a driver and was I interested? Four years later, thanks to my new gaffer and my neighbour (of course) I was a fully self employed courier driver, on call 24/7, working 60-70+hrs per week and rolling in money.

Then one day things changed, for the worse.
On a delivery in London, i was sat at the traffic lights "on red" with "handbrake on" (as you do) when a van struck into the back of us at speed !  I'll never forget the name of the road as it was the same as Ian Dury's band. No not the fecking Blockheads lol.

Things were never the same from that day forward and eventually i could no longer do the lifting and bending and had to give the driving job up. Gutted being an understatement. This was November 2009.

Guess what! I went to the dole who told me I wasn't entitled to any benefits as i was "self employed" and "hadn't paid a full stamp" for the last four years, but would receive NI Contributions providing i signed on fortnightly.

I refused benefits when i was entitled to them, and when i needed benefits i wasn't entitled to them?

I'd gone from working all hrs to sitting in a room full of utter morons, who i'd best describe as ****g useless to society and incapable of any work. Trust me, you wouldn't employ these people, yet I was sat amongst them being talked down to by your typical BS employment consultant type with a flip chart.

The next week i stayed away and received a letter asking me why i didn't attend the dole and that my NI stamp wouldn't be paid if i couldn't give a valid reason. I NEVER WENT BACK!

I got word that my old place where I was Team Leader (for those of you who have read this far i salute you) as in the opening paragraph, were taking on. It was meant to be around christmas time, so i sat on my hands and waited and waited. The months went by and April 2010 was when i was back in the groove and working for them again. Some what reluctantly i might add.

One year passed and everything was going great. I was now working 7 days a week. Although my back was getting worse by the day i soldiered on. Think of the money? I thought it was just a virus i had as the pain seemed to move from by back and down my leg. A work colleague said it was sciatica.

On my way to work on Sunday 09th May 2011 my world was turned upside down.
I'd been working 7 days a week for weeks when all of a sudden something snapped in my leg. 

Now who's the moron? as i lay on the floor on cardboard in the middle of the factory in sheer agony!

I should have gone straight to hospital from work but insisted my gaffer take me home.

Next day i hobbled into my Drs surgery and asked the receptionist if she could cut my leg off. That's how bad the pain was. Six months later i was under the knife having a back operation. For someone who has a phobia of needles and tubes that soon went out the window.

From bad to worse....The operation was not a success. Though it took two days for someone to come and explain what had happened? The horror on the ward nurses faces when i told them of my symptoms raised more than a red flag.

One of the neurosurgeon's team came to see me, closed the curtain and was practically pleading on his knees. Within the hour I had an emergency transfer to another hospital.

In came the ambulance guys who as one slid me (by the bed sheet) off my bed and onto the trolley and i was whizzed out the hospital as i said my goodbyes to fellow patients and ward staff. WTF is going on? Up the ramp and into the back of the ambulance where i was strapped down. I'm sure the driven was in a rally the speed he was travelling around bends.

When I finally got discharged i became the shadow of my former self. I was told to do feck all but rest for Six weeks. Any excuse to watch the PDC & BDO World Darts Championships!

Following the neurosurgeon's feck up i was left up **** creek and unable to return to full time employment and duly got shoved onto the ESA with no change insight.

I received a letter to attend the much hated ATOS for a medical assessment. It was ruled i was able to return to employment and i received Zero points of the 15 required on their "near to death" to still qualify for ESA assessment?

I appealed and took it to court.....

On the bench were a neurosurgeon and a judge, with a geezer frantickly typing away.
After 20 mins of arguing my case and telling the judge i'd have to be practically dead to pass the ATOS abomination plus having a go at the nuerosurgeon for being unable (or wanting to) to give me an answer or any advise as to why my back continuously seizes up after doing menial light duties after a couple of hrs...I was told my time was up and the result would be sent to me in the post.

We both knew it would be rejected, but it never stopped me going bananas as i sought answers and the head of the bastard who **** my back up up on a stick!

With everything **** up in my life, there was one thing i was still good at, though my practice became limited at the time. Being a seasoned money tournament player i continued to somehow drag my body across the midlands to enter tournaments. Though most journey's home were a nightmare once the adrenaline had worn off.

Two years after my op i qualified for the UK Open Darts @ Reebok Stadium in Bolton, Live on Sky Sports. (I may have mentioned it once or twice on the darts forum)

Having a goal to stay as fit as possible and continue to partake in tournaments was something that kept me going. Week on week i'd push myself through the pain barrier with the aid of top shelf meds and a large intake of booze (which i found to be the best sedative).

Never take Adrenaline for granted either. By far the best free drug of all!

There comes a time in your life when you reach the crossroads and realise something has to change, as moping about blaming others becomes a weight baring negative and won't change the past.

Earlier this year i went to London and qualified for the Darts National Masters Finals at Wolverhampton. Thus proving to myself i could still play to a good level and that my qualification to the uk open wasn't a fluke as some fellow jealous dart players may have suggested?

Positive changes - In the last three months i've put all darts on hold and knocked the booze on the head in an attempt to turn my life around. The intake of junk food replaced booze, mainly chocolate and ice cream. Mmmmmm Haagen Dazs.

In August of this month i went to see my Dr to change my meds as they were not only fecking me up mentally but making me drowsy etc..."You must go swimming" was drilled into me. So along with new meds i set about changing my ways and going all in - **** or bust! Kill or cure!

I joined the local leisure centre and now visit on a daily basis in order to stretch my "excessive scar tissue." There's something i missed out. After complaining to my Dr that i wasn't getting any better he sent me for follow up MRI Scans. The consultant fobbed off that it was excessive scar tissue."

The fact i'd been going for physiotherapy every week for several months, as well as twice daily back stretching exercises on my own convinced me it was a cover up!

So here i am typing away having returned from Aquafit session/jacuzzi/sauna.
Oh yeah, my diet has changed for the better. Out have gone potatoes, pasta and bread. In have come ryvita crispbread, cheese, many fruits and veg. Also taken a liking to tropical mix from my local grocers, (dried fruits & nuts). Previously it was chocolate and more chocolate. I now only drink water!

At the leisure centre, apart from daily exercises in the jacuzzi & sauna, i've also done Pilates, though i ache like feck the next day. Don't mind if it helps strengthen my back muscles etc...

This week i'll also be trying Yoga & circuit training classes. Zumba & Kettlebells will be in the near future (without over doing it)? If i see no progress with my back then at least i've given it my best shot and will be hunting that man down!

If successful, i'll be back on the job market and no more wasting my time at the useless work programme (something else i've yet to mention) on a fortnightly basis as they follow the ridiculous guidelines set out by the abhorrent slimeball that is IDS.

I have seen both sides of this divide and my experiences tell me i'd rather be in employment than on the dole. The choice of career dole sponger will always mystify me? I'm told these types know how to play the system. Like i said earlier, who would employ these sort anyway? More chance of training monkeys.

What i'd like to see is:

People who genuinely want to work to turn up at the dole centre demanding things:

1) Make an effort with their appearance for starters (not dressed like tramps).
2) Bang on the table and demand full time jobs that pay a living wage, with no zero contracts or temporary work.
3) If no joy with 1&2 then knock on your MP'S door demanding paid employment and leave your name, address and email. No point leaving your phone number, you may think it's a scam.
OK, 3 is a bit ott.
4) Go home knowing you've tried your damnedest to gain employment and repeat steps 1&2 the next day and day after...
5) Go from shop to shop enquiring about any vacancies, handing in your CV too. Go back the next day.

How many of the work shy do No'5?

Anyone with no illnesses or bad health not wishing to partake in any of the above to have all benefits withdrawn with immediate effect.

There are many fit and healthy ones amongst us who want to work but loathe to take the piss taking low paid minimum wage jobs. Tell me what you'd do if you were on your uppers?

You have a choice of job (now there's a novel idea!) - Work in retail hardly lifting a finger all day or become a factory/warehouse slave where you work your nuts off for the same crap pay as retail?

Some of us bust our balls to better ourselves. As for training new starters, in some cases i had people who didn't want to work and happily returned to the job centre? One of the best paid jobs in town yet some didn't want it? Madness!

Feel free to reply or even cut my post to shreds - I don't mind.

P.S.
I've read the posts, many good points and many selfish points too. Time to hit the send button...

~ dnb

No offence dartsnbooze, I`m sure it`s very interesting in parts, but I`d be quicker reading War And Peace.

post by Facts (18 Aug 14 13:40)


i agree

re MPs expenses

i'd prefer a system where each party is allocated a set amount per MP and they can then claim whatever the feck expenses they like out of that

and an independent body to have absolute control over their salaries

Too true taxi, we have to make our own way to work at our own expense. They should too. If they disagree, they should be deselected and sent to work in a proper job rather than prop up the House Of Commons bar at the taxpayers expense.

strange that it was removed, thought it was good (if long! ). Nothing really controversial in it

^
Excellent post. Absolutely spot on !

I never saw it either . PM me also ? Thanks

People like Posy can go **** themselves!

Taxi & Facts, pm's on their way.

my post was mainly from my own experiences and what happened to me. It spanned 11 years and contained non self importance but highlighted real life issues that i had to deal with. Going from Team Leader, to working 7 days a week, to having a bodged back operation which left me unable to work. Shoved onto the dole, deemed fit to work following the **** ATOS Assessment etc...

How many of you who have posted on this thread have been unemployed at any given time through no reason of your own?

posy 18 Aug 14 17:48 Joined: 18 Oct 03 | Topic/replies: 3,022 | Blogger: posy's blog
what's that got to do with the price of fish ?

The question is what would YOU do about the tens of thousand of scrounger/scum families ?


Minimum wage needs to increase significantly to make it worthwhile slogging out 40 hours a week and then taking home about a fiver more than you would get claiming dole money,

posy 18 Aug 14 18:03 Joined: 18 Oct 03 | Topic/replies: 3,022 | Blogger: posy's blog
Louise Casey, the head of the Government’s troubled families unit, says the state should “interfere” and tell women it is irresponsible to keep having children when they are already struggling to cope.
The Government must not be a “soft touch” but instead be prepared to “get stuck in”, challenge taboos and change lives.
Britain’s 120,000 problem families cost taxpayers an estimated £9 billion in benefits, crime, anti-social behaviour and health care. A fifth of them have more than five children.


9 billion is a drop in the ocean compared to what tax evaders / tax avoiders cost the country - how about you make as much noise bout them as you people do about those on benefits, there are lots of programs on the benefit culture and seldom any on the tax dodgers but yet they are the ones really draining the money, but going after them doesn't create the same sound bite that benefits cheats do, and it's easier to attack the poor too.

the last post I made on another thread the tories and voting on general was also very long winded and it was also deleted.

DartsnBooze - Please private message your post to me too if you don`t mind, it must have been controversial. Otherwise, Why would they remove it?

Agreed

Stevie Strikes,

my post won't help your wife, but if ever you go to court to appeal, give them hell!

Good on your wife for having ATOS appeals overturned - I wish her well.
The thing is, winning or losing an appeal changes nothing in terms of your wife's health.

The manager at the dole who i used to see when i started on ESA was the opposite to what i'd expected. He couldn't do enough for me. I had to draw the line when he suggested i should also claim for disability allowances (something i didn't want to admit, or claim for).

profanities

Viz's Roger Mellie (the man on the telly) was the king of profanities and a particular fav of mine

Not sure on which thread i posted about having an interview with Coral?

At the interview i talked shop for an hour with mine host cluster manager and shop manager and i went home with a somewhat feeling of trepidation that i may actually get the gig.

When asked if i had any other questions i had to hold back as my mindset to this is "I will excel in the role, you will not be disappointed employing me." Followed by "Why should i work for you?"

I mentioned neither and when told my starting salary would be £6.35 ph. I can honestly say I laughed. My worth is double that, or at least used to be.

I may have sealed my fate even more when upon producing my original birth certificate i said it's 48 years old.

Anyway, the cluster manager guaranteed me i'd receive a phone call whatever the outcome...


...I received an email...and here it is:

Dear DnB,

Re: Customer Service Assistant, Ref: NA

Many thanks for recently attending an interview for the post of Customer Service Assistant.

Unfortunately we are sorry to advise you that we will not be progressing your application further. After careful consideration, we decided that there were other candidates whose key skills and experience better suited the position.

Please feel free to also monitor our website to view our latest vacancies and remember to keep your details up to date so that we can contact you as soon as a suitable role becomes available.

Thank you again for your interest in Coral and we wish you the best of luck with your job search.

Kind regards

Resourcing Team

Coral


Better Key skills & experience - a woman who worked on the til in a 99p shop with zero knowledge of the betting industry! It's the reality of the retail world.

Did i mention the position was in the evening, 3hrs per shift with a total of 15 hrs pw.
I.E. There would have been no benefit changes whatsoever for me, infact i'd be doing them a favour.

Structured routine? - I already have one:

Monday
6:00 - Awake. Porridge oats and a crackerbread.
6:20 - Cycle 10 mins to leisure centre for opening time:
6:30 - Sauna/jacuzzi/exercises.
8:30 - Cycle home and check the latest job vacancies online, apply for suitable jobs.
11:00 - Return to leisure centre - go in the sauna.
11:30 - Attend my Yoga class (90 mins).
13:00 - Cycle home and return to job hunting/looking for any updated jobs since my last visit.
16:00 - Feed stroppy teenager and sit through "Countdown" and "who's washing the dishes?" WTF!!!
18:00 - Feet up.

Tuesday...