Sunday - December 11, 2011
Can’t Say Better Late Than Never
Peiper mailed me this essay a few weeks back. Lazy me for not posting it then, but things haven’t changed one white in the meantime. The author laments the loss of nearly all labor skills in the UK, and is bothered that while the demand for a good part of that labor still exists, the only people available with the skills to perform it are foreigners. Generations of left wing schooling has taught the nation that it beneath them to get their hands dirty doing work ... with the result that their are now millions who are completely unemployable, and this has caused
A million young Britons are on the dole while motivated foreigners fill job vacancies
The economic news has been relentlessly bleak. But it is not the Eurozone nor the banking crisis that presents Britain with its greatest potential crisis. It is unemployment - or rather the fact that so many Britons today are actually unemployable.
This week, unemployment hit a 17-year high of 2.6million and experts warned of a ‘lost generation’ of young people since more than one in five, or one million, aged between 16 and 24 are now out of work.
But these statistics are far from the only ones we should be worried about. What is really alarming is that while fewer and fewer Britons have work, foreigners seem to be taking all the jobs that are available.
Last year, as the number of Britons with jobs fell by 311,000, the number of overseas-born people taking jobs in Britain rose by 181,000 or by 495 per day.
To politicians, obsessed as they are with equality, the disappearance of the working class is a wonderful endorsement of their policies. They boast how so many more of our young are in higher education than ever before, being trained to do something useful in society when they leave college. And it is true that some of them are.
But huge numbers of the young emerge from their colleges resolutely unemployable in any obvious capacity. They have been gulled by these boastful politicians into learning subjects which are entirely unsuitable for higher education, ranging from media studies to hairdressing - subjects which in the past were learnt on the job through apprenticeships and experience.
There are three unbudgeable historical reasons for the unemployment catastrophe we face. The first is the wrecking of our educational system during the Sixties and Seventies. The second is the dismantling of our entire manufacturing and industrial base during the Eighties in favour of ‘service’ and ‘financial’ industries. And the third is the welfare state - which is largely responsible for the erosion of the work ethic in our society.
Fifty years of bad education, 30 years of placing all our hopes in the City of London, and three generations of welfare dependency have put this country in a position where it is almost impossible to see how it can help itself out of its difficulties.
No politician dares to tell the truth to the million unemployed young people, and the millions more ‘students’ who hope to be employed when their studies are complete.
The truth is that this country has been ruined by a political and establishment class with no vision. A class which has undermined the notions of endeavour and duty and replaced them with a cradle-to-grave sense of entitlement in which the State would always bale you out if you were too lazy or too incompetent to work.
It was this deluded liberal class which instilled the belief that to work in a shipyard or a factory or to learn a craft is humiliating —much better to go to a Mickey Mouse university to study some pointless degree.
The result is that we live in a country which makes hardly anything the rest of the world wants to buy. A country whose future is deeply perilous and which has long since lost belief in the three things which made Britain great in the days of Brunel and Wedgwood: training the young; trade; and honest, hard work.
Surely this is a UK-only kind of situation that could never ever possibly happen here in the USA. Right? I’d ask Pedro, Juan, and Jorge their opinions, but they’re over there up on that ladder, still painting that house since 7 o’clock this morning.
It’s a good essay, well worth the 10 minute read. One thing about it that I do disagree with though, is that the old English class prejudice against being in trade is still in evidence: although the author bemoans the lack of painters, plumbers, electricians, and other manual laborers, he can’t let go of the rotten “this kind of work is suitable for those with low intelligence” attitude. Wrong. Wrong, wrong. “dirty hands, empty head” is a crock; there is no reason on earth that a crown molding specialist can’t have a degree in philosophy, or that an electrician couldn’t possibly understand quantum. Besides ... these days a plumber earns more than a corporate middle manager, sets his own hours, runs his own show, and doesn’t ever have to attend a Monday morning status meeting.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/11/2011 at 07:44 PM
Filed Under: • Education • UK • work and the workplace •
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Permalink • Friday - December 02, 2011
Crunchy Crunchy Numbers
Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.6 Percent, Lowest Since March 2009
WASHINGTON – The unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than two and a half years, as employers stepped up hiring in response to the slowly improving economy.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate dropped sharply to 8.6 percent last month, down from 9 percent in October. The rate hasn’t been that low since March 2009, during the depths of the recession.
Employers added 120,000 jobs last month. And the previous two months were revised up to show that 72,000 more jobs added—the fourth straight month the government revised prior months higher.
Still, one reason the unemployment rate fell so much was because roughly 315,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
Sure. Sure, I believe it. Riiight. Let’s ignore how many of those newly added jobs are seasonal retail; extra help hired for the Thanksgiving to Christmas surge. Then let’s merely note in passing that the numbers are so much better perhaps because such a huge crowd of folks have finally used up their super-extended unemployment benefits. But hey, let’s completely ignore the utterly flawed counting system that considers people who no longer get an unemployment check to not be part of the workforce any longer. Nonsense. And don’t go saying that they’ve given up. They may not have; they’re just out of benefits.
You want more realistic numbers? Go to Social Security, and find out how many people between the ages of 15 and 70 have an SSN. Then have the IRS count how many folks reported an earned income. Now hit up the VA and the other side of Social Security and subtract off the folks who are listed as permanently disabled. That’s still not a perfect accounting, but it’s closer to the truth. Then watch those numbers go up and down month after month, year after year.
Posted by Drew458
on 12/02/2011 at 09:51 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - November 29, 2011
Once More
Back at it for another day.
Oh joy, it’s raining. Wonderful. No, actually, I’m not being sarcastic. I got all the outside windows finished on the customer’s house by sundown yesterday, so today it’s inside work. And ... heh heh heh ... it’s hard to tell if I missed a few spots when the windows are getting rained on. Not that I missed any. I think.
Tomorrow’s window jobs are small ones, just doing a couple of the condos here. They take about 2 hours each.
I have to try and go a little faster today so that I can be done and get the car loaded up early enough so that I can get to bowling league tonight.
And away I go!
Posted by Drew458
on 11/29/2011 at 07:54 AM
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Permalink • Thursday - August 11, 2011
A few days off
Not going to be much posting from me for the next couple of days. I’ve got a window job on a good sized house, and then I have a pair of doors to install. And my usual Sunday work of course. Good thing I spent half of today in the kitchen cooking. Chicken curry, meat sauce, several nice quiches. I’m set.
So here you go ... something to keep you occupied ... majorly clicky clicky but still SFW ...
Hey, it can’t be redheads all the time ya know. Sometimes it’s a blonde, sometimes you just have to wing it.
Posted by Drew458
on 08/11/2011 at 09:04 PM
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Eye-Candy • planes, trains, tanks, ships, big machinery, and automobiles • work and the workplace •
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Permalink • Thursday - June 23, 2011
soggy
Yes you can actually clean windows when it’s raining. Or when it’s a typical New Jersey summer day with humidity about 105%. But it isn’t much fun. Rather hard to actually get the glass dry. And you can forget about polishing the panes; everything takes a haze from the very air itself.
But I take work where and when I find it, so that’s what I did this morning. At least there was no ladder work on this job. The moment I got the job done and the car packed up the skies opened and it poured for half an hour. In New Jersey, the humidity actually drops when it rains.
And now the storm is past and it’s 5 or 10 degrees cooler out, and it feels wonderful. I’ll dry out eventually. And I have a new happy customer. Yeah, I did a super job on her place, double and sometimes triple cleaning her dirty glass. That’s to my benefit actually; in 6 months when she calls me back for a fall cleaning the windows won’t be so bad. And she’ll have had half a year of getting used to looking through nearly invisible pristine windows, so her sensitivity to what constitutes “dirty” will be raised, and I’ll have another regular customer.
Posted by Drew458
on 06/23/2011 at 12:07 PM
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Permalink • Friday - May 13, 2011
stuck on really,really stupid the rule of the day
Well apparently the word of one prissy and twisted little grasser of 15, carries enough weight to make fools of an idiot local council who blindly took his warped word with regard to a cross on display.
Heaven forbid the jerks would check for themselves first but no. Being the usual bend over backwards frightened adults, they order a ban first. That’s always safest. Right? Jeesh. What a crowd in an already crowded field of wusses.
Fortunately, all’s well that ends but for gosh sake ..... Have a look at this.
Cab driver banned from displaying ‘phallic’ crossA taxi driver was banned from displaying a crucifix on his dashboard after a teenage customer complained that it looked “phallic”.
By Nick Britten
Clair Cook, who runs AnD taxis, was asked by her local council to ensure that the object was removed after being told that the 15-year-old boy had been offended by it.
She described the complaint as “ridiculous” and said the driver of the car was a devout Roman Catholic.Miss Cook claimed that if the symbol had been of any faith other than Christianity, the council would have treated the case with far greater sensitivity.
The row follows a series of previous cases in which employees have been censured for displaying Christian symbols.
Three weeks ago, an electrician working for a housing association in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was told he faced the sack for placing a small palm cross on the dashboard of his van.Miss Cook was told that the boy had complained about the taxi driver’s cross after being taken to school in York. He had also complained about the man’s driving, she said.
She pointed out that the driver had never been the subject of a complaint before and had an excellent safety record. “I am personally deeply offended and very sympathetic for the driver,” she said. “Not only is an ornament of this nature a religious one, but the complaint and its implication is a very serious one.
“The safety of the passengers is always my number one priority, and so is my drivers’ reputation and trust.”The driver, who asked not to be named, said he had bought the blue cross on holiday in Greece six years ago. He described himself as “incredulous” when he heard about the complaint, adding: “I couldn’t believe that anyone would think it wasn’t a cross.
“I have taken it off the dashboard as requested because I do not want to lose my licence but I do not think this has been handled properly.”Colin Rumford, the head of environmental health and trading standards at City of York council, accepted that the complaint had been handled badly. “City of York Council takes any complaints raised by members of the public very seriously,” he said.
“In this case a complaint was received from a child regarding what they thought was an inappropriate item in a taxi.
“In this instance, it appears that the taxi operator was wrongly advised to remove the item and our intervention should have been confined to making them aware of the complaint. It would then be a matter for the taxi operator to resolve with the customer.”Father Derek Turnham of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough, which covers York, said: “The subject of the display of religious symbols in public places is currently very topical and the Diocese of Middlesbrough would always want to defend the right of people to display their faith in practical ways through various signs and symbols.
“In regard to this case, it is clear that City of York council had to respond to the complaint of what is probably a rather over-imaginative schoolboy, as safeguarding issues are given priority.
“But the diocese understands the anguish of the taxi driver concerned that what, for him, is a very innocent and appropriate symbol has been so misinterpreted.”
Posted by peiper
on 05/13/2011 at 10:49 AM
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Permalink • Wednesday - April 20, 2011
more news from la belle france
Might really be a good idea to speak the language if you’re in a position of authority in this sort of case.
I don’t think this could happen in any other country but France. Do you?
Take a look.
Entire workforce at French factory go on strike… because the boss only speaks EnglishBy PETER ALLEN
French workers have staged an uprising with cries of ‘Anglo-Saxon imperialism’ - because their British boss can’t speak the native tongue.
The 184 staff at Thermal Ceramics, an English company based in France, are holding walk-outs every day because discussions over their wages were getting lost in translation.Thierry Juvin, who represents the workers in Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez, in the Loire Valley, said: ‘We say “hello” in French but then communication stops. Every meeting is an ordeal.’
He said workers at the factory, which makes ceramic fibre insulation, wanted to discuss increasing their salaries and improving working conditions, but it was proving impossible.
Mr Juvin said: ‘We have to have someone who translates everything into English, and then anything our English boss says has to be translated into French.
‘This makes dialogue extremely slow, if not impossible.’
Mr Juvin said protests have been held most days since bosses who could only speak English began managing them earlier this year.
‘Our former director left in January and his replacement is an acting director abroad,’ said Mr Juvin. ‘He is English and does not speak any French. So we cannot communicate with him.’
The representative said staff, most of whom belong to one of France’s largest trade union’s CGT, had previously not gone on strike for more than two decades.
Mr Juvin said: ‘’We haven’t withdrawn our labour for twenty three years. Maybe this is because we could speak to our bosses.’
Pierrick Dumont, the trade union representative for the factory, said: ‘I don’t think it’s up to us to make the effort to speak English. We’re French workers based in France.’
Diane Gaillot, chief executive of Thermal Ceramics in France, said: ‘The problem is that the former director had a unique opportunity to go abroad and we have not had time to recruit a new director.
‘But the situation is temporary and we are currently recruiting phase. And certainly the next director will speak French.’
Miss Gaillot said the company had four sites across France, but the one in Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez, which is not far from Lyon, was the only one suffering industrial action.
She added that a meeting about the problems was due to be held in Paris this week.
France has a notoriously nationalistic workforce, with staff frequently complaining about the growing Anglicisation of working practices within the global economy.
This encompasses everything from English being used as the exclusive language of business to reduced lunch breaks.
Thermal Ceramics is a division of the British Morgan Crucible Company, which was founded in London in 1856 and has since expanded all over the world.
Posted by peiper
on 04/20/2011 at 08:11 AM
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Permalink • Tuesday - April 19, 2011
Business Decisions
How much should I charge for saving my customer lots of money?
I emailed Sylvania and they say that these are both the same product.
http://www.servicelighting.com/Sylvania-64793-MC70T6-DE-830-T6-Metal-Halide-HID-Light-Bulb
http://www.superiorlighting.com/M139_E_M85_E_M98_E_p/64793-syl.htm
This kind of bulb is used in first class commercial track lighting to give good color rendering and nicely illuminate expensive merchandise. It isn’t hard to change the bulbs, but you should wear dustless rubber gloves when doing so, and then give the bulbs a quick wipe with alcohol. They get so hot that even fingerprint oils will burn, or perhaps cause them to shatter.
Oh, and if you think those bulbs are pricey, this one fits the same socket, works on the same ballast, throws the same amount of light, lasts just as long, and is noticeably whiter. You get even better color rendering because the light is closer to white. This is the kind of bulb you illuminate diamonds, platinum, and silver with:
http://www.servicelighting.com/Sylvania-64362-HQI-DE70-NDX-T6-Metal-Halide-HID-Light-Bulb
yet I can find the Osram equivalent of that same bulb for under $30
http://www.alldaylighting.com/Double_Ended_HID_.html
Somebody is ripping somebody off, big time. Not me!
Posted by Drew458
on 04/19/2011 at 01:04 PM
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Permalink • Tuesday - March 29, 2011
We’re All Special Now
Millions of Americans may be disabled and not even know it, according to some legal experts.
That’s because sweeping new regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer new guidelines on the issue of how to define “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Attorney Condon McGlothlen says the new regulations could have a profound impact on that debate.
“Before, perhaps 40 million people were covered by the ADA. That number will increase significantly,” McGlothlen told Fox News. “Some people might even say that a majority of Americans are covered as disabled under the law.”
Although the new regulations cannot classify any condition as a disability per se, there is a list of maladies that will be viewed that way “in virtually all cases.” The list includes: autism, diabetes, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Overall, lawyers for employers say the regulations shift the burden of proof in disability claims.
They say that employers will now have to show why a worker doesn’t require special accommodations, rather than employees proving that the measures are merited.
“It’s going to be very difficult for employers to argue in just about any case that an employee is exaggerating their disability or that the person isn’t genuinely disabled,” McGlothlen said.
...
Barring congressional intervention, the new regulations will take effect May 24.
Isn’t this wonderful? Each of us has their own handicap that employers will have to allow for. Let’s hope that the EEOC quickly writes some new hiring rules as well, so those of us with these newly perceived disabilities can have a level playing field in the job market.
Personally, all I’m asking for is one of those blue tags for my car. Yeah, I want a disabled parking sticker. They hand them out like candy already anyway; it seems to me that just about every retired or nearly retired person in the state has one. As do the overweight, etc. Back in the long ago, when these things first appeared, retail parking lots would have 2 or 3 oversize spaces by the front door set up for them, and most of the time those spaces sat empty. Now the entire front row is all blue tags. I watch those customers and check out their cars when I go to the store. It’s actually very rare that I EVER see a car with hand controls, an actual “handi-van” (not the PC term sorry) or see those drivers using a walker or even a cane. The entire thing is bogus. I knew a kid in college - a big brawny football player - who went off to school with grandma’s car, specifically so he could use her blue tag and get the most convenient parking spots. And he was never called on it, not once.
I can’t wait until that same kind of widespread abuse that we all turn a blind eye to starts in the workplace. Because the real truth in most jobs is that these people, just like blacks, are held to a much lower performance standard. They are not criticized anywhere near as often, and are the last to be let go when layoff time comes around. For those of us not blessed with membership in the corporate insider’s club and a do-nothing upper middle management 6 figure income job, it’s the only kind of job security out there anymore.
Posted by Drew458
on 03/29/2011 at 07:28 AM
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Government • work and the workplace •
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Permalink • Thursday - March 03, 2011
the united states of europe … all will be equal … all have “rights.”
Just another example of the results encountered when a country allows foreigners to call the shots. As members of the EU ... I don’t guess the Brits have a large say in the matter. Yet. But I do know public opinion more and more are voicing anger and frustration.
As I understand things, much that the former govt. signed up to is still in force and for reasons I won’t pretend to understand, can’t be undone.
So the bottom line I guess is, Welcome to the United States of Europe. Somewhat united.
Pretty far out for a country we’re told is near broke. AND ... as reported yesterday they are increasing aid to turd world countries. Like Somalia. Well at least I understand that last one as pirates are hard pressed to upgrade their fleet and so the money is welcome no doubt.
100,000 Eastern European migrants now free to claim full benefits in Britain worth tens of millions of pounds after EU rulingBy DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:24 PM on 3rd March 2011As many as 100,000 migrants from Eastern Europe will be allowed to claim £250-a-week as Europe forces Britain to abolish its restrictions on benefits.
In a move that could cost the British taxpayer tens of millions of pounds, migrants from the former Soviet bloc will be allowed jobseeker’s allowance, council tax benefit and housing benefit.
The law changes will come into effect within weeks as the European Union scraps restrictions imposed when eight states joined the EU in 2004, and it leaves Britain powerless to counter the move.
By my rough estimate that £250 works out to something like $400.00.
Only Britain, Ireland and Sweden permitted free access to workers from A8 countries in 2004. It is thought that many will now be attracted to Germany and Austria, which are geographically nearer.
‘We are in the process of delivering major reform to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands with the introduction of a new limit on economic migrants from outside the EU, alongside new proposals to reform other routes of entry, including students, families and marriage.’
The DWP said it had no choice but to remain in line with national and international obligations.
But the department insisted that protecting the benefit system from abuse was its ‘number one priority’.
A spokesman said: ‘No-one can just come into the UK and start claiming our benefits.
‘We have strict rules in place to protect the system from any abuse.
Let’s hope so, but. There’s always that darned ‘but’ included in things like this. Meanwhile, there’s a host of “amnesty” types that can not be deported cos it might violate their rights. And most (it’s reported) are not working. Many believe none are.
This is a funny place. Squatters can take over a million dollar property and can’t be removed easily cos they have ‘rights.’ AND ... they get legal aid paid for by guess who? Right. Meanwhile, the person who actually owns said property must shoulder the entire legal cost of removing the trash in human form. He hasn’t many rights at all.
Stay Tuned
Posted by peiper
on 03/03/2011 at 12:45 PM
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Permalink • Saturday - February 26, 2011
Government quota threat to firms that fail to appoint 25% female boards.
How appropriate in this case, the default color here is ‘red.’ Jeesh.
Is anyone here against women achieving success in business? Against being treated fairly? I guess I’m really asking if this kind of quota is really justified.
It seems arbitrary. Why not 30% or 25.7% Where does the commissar get his figures from? And I think the lady with the reply to this has it right. There will be ill feelings with regard to merit or gender. I recall losing out on a job right after a serious push in affirmative action. It was more a trainees kind of thing although I had some slight training already. It was at KFI in LA, many,many years ago. Thing was, the guy they hired never showed up on time, had no real interest and ... the station couldn’t sack him at the time. Once or 2wice he didn’t even show up for work at all. I didn’t really mind too much at the time because I wasn’t planning a career as a studio engineer anyway. Not that I’d have turned it down.
Is it okay to to use quotas to make up for or try and balance past acts that denied jobs to ppl?
This guy thinks so and holds the club to batter business.
Government quota threat to firms that fail to appoint 25% female boards
By GERRI PEEVBritish companies are facing the threat of compulsory female quotas if they fail to ensure a quarter of their board members are women by 2015.
The threat will be made by Lord Davies – the former trade minister appointed by Business Secretary Vince Cable to examine why many top firms have no female directors.
His conclusions will be unveiled today and are likely to infuriate many business leaders at a time when firms are struggling to survive.
Lord Davies is expected to tell companies that they are in the ‘last chance saloon’ when he demands that 20 per cent of board members of the top 350 FTSE companies should be women by 2013.
The target will move up to 25 per cent by 2015. His research found huge resistance to the idea of compulsory quotas, with just 11 per cent of firms backing them.
One idea is that the targets will initially be voluntary but companies will be expected to have to explain to ministers why they haven’t hit them.
City ‘superwoman’ Nicola Horlick yesterday heaped pressure on the Government by coming out in favour of quotas.
Miss Horlick, who has started her own fund management firm and has brought up six children, said there was ‘no choice’ but to push companies to that position.
She said: ‘Generally, I do not favour positive discrimination as I believe very strongly that people should be chosen on merit for any job.
‘However, our public companies show no desire to be more inclusive of women and so I see no choice other than to push them in that direction.‘Having had four daughters, it really saddens me that there are still underlying prejudices against women.
‘I am not a feminist and, as I say, I believe in meritocracy, but sometimes you have to create rules initially in order to give certain sections of society a chance.’
Lord Davies, a former boss at Standard Chartered, said recently: ‘If companies don’t take a radical change in attitude, and hire more women at the top, then we will have to introduce quotas.’
He is expected to announce that shareholders and headhunters will be expected to abide by a new code of conduct to look for more women on their boards.
Chairmen will also be urged to be more ‘adventurous’ when appointing non-executive directors.
ANOTHER VIEW
Take women on their merits, or not at all
By Cristina OdoneAs I walked into the headquarters, I couldn’t resist a little smile: I’d made it. I was a member of the board. The Catholic Herald was hardly a global media empire, and I was not being paid six-figure sums to attend, and contribute to, the quarterly meetings. But I felt my status as a media professional had been confirmed: eight men and one woman felt I had something to offer their shareholders.
Imagine, though, if I were walking into those high-ceilinged rooms in the knowledge that I was filling a quota. Imagine if I knew I had been selected not because I had been a successful editor, knew a thing or two about advertising promotions, or even because I boasted a great contacts book; but because the company had to have a certain proportion of women on its board. I’d feel a token woman, not a successful one.
This is precisely what will happen to women if Lord Davies, the Government’s business adviser, has his way. The former trade minister wants to make it compulsory for boards to consist of 25 per cent women by 2015. Lord Davies’s proposal is bad for business and worse for women.
Instead of feeling that they have a contribution to make, women on the board will feel their accomplishment has merely been to tick a box. Instead of bursting with ideas, they will be terrified of being caught out: given that they have been chosen for their gender, not their ability, they’ll feel insecure about their professional qualifications. How can they prize their achievements when they are not sure that they were appointed on merit?
Posted by peiper
on 02/26/2011 at 05:20 AM
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Permalink • Friday - February 04, 2011
been a few months since I had a man under me. whoops. ur fired.
Don’t know how much I’ll get in tonight postwise, but couldn’t let this one get away.
On the one hand it is quite funny and the lady exhibited a quick sense of humor.
The downside is ... some humorless pc idiot had her fired.
Upside .. an appeal court found in her favor so someone has a partial functioning brain.
Downside ... Well, it isn’t all over and this all started in 2006.
The really sad part of it all is, some years ago people would have realized that humor of this sort in very stressful situations is usually automatic and beneficial.
Who could possibly find fault with her comment, except for some uptight, pc self hating inadequate fool? “Gross misconduct?” Jeesh. Some ppl.
Take a look.
Health worker sacked for making cheeky joke as she straddled naked patient was unfairly dismissedBy DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:14 PM on 4th February 2011A nurse who cracked a saucy joke as she helped to restrain a patient having an epileptic fit was unfairly fired, the Appeal Court has ruled.
Laura Bowater, 34, quipped: ‘It’s been a few months since I have been in this position with a man underneath me’ as she straddled his naked body while doctors tried to give him an injection.
The trousers of the ‘extremely strong’ 31-year-old patient had been removed so doctors could inject his buttock and Ms Bowater sat on his ankles to control his flailing legs.
But the patient spun on to his back, exposing himself and kicking her forward so that she ended up astride him.
The senior staff nurse’s remark would have been considered ‘merely humorous’ by many people and did not warrant losing her job, the judges found.
Ms Bowater was on her way home from a 12-hour shift in the accident and emergency department at London’s Central Middlesex Hospital in July 2006 when she stopped to help staff.
A complaint was made six weeks later even though no-one suggested the unconscious patient could have heard what Ms Bowater said.
She was fired from her £25,000-a-year post for gross misconduct over the quip despite four years’ unblemished service.
A panel at Watford Employment Tribunal upheld her unfair dismissal claim but North West London Hospitals NHS Trust successfully challenged it at the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Appeal Court judge Lord Justice Burnton has now overturned that decision but ruled that the nurse ‘contributed’ 25 per cent to her own dismissal.
The case will return to the original employment tribunal for Ms Bowater’s unfair dismissal payment to be decided.
Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries, a former nurse, had slammed the sacking, saying: ‘This is insane. Why has she lost her job?
‘She made a joke as her way of having to deal with a stressful situation.
‘She perhaps could have been given some kind of warning. There are ways of dealing with it and sacking her was not the correct way.
‘It’s difficult enough trying to recruit and retain nurses at the moment.’
Ms Bowater refused to comment on the case.
How did the judge arrive at 25% her own fault? Why not 50? Or 5?
Or none!
Lesson learned? Keep your mouths shut, say nothing to anyone about anything. Voice no opinions, tell no jokes and utter no quips.
The goal?
A nice silent society.
Posted by peiper
on 02/04/2011 at 11:11 AM
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Permalink • Friday - December 03, 2010
KEYSTONE KOPS LOSE KOP IN LOO. REALLY.
On the one hand I can see some dark humor here. Sort of. I’m hesitant tho.
On the other hand, what? Why didn’t they think of checking the john?
Isn’t that one of the first places to look? Maybe not.
Crack police lose dead officer in toiletWhen a senior drugs officer with Britain’s ‘FBI’ went missing, his colleagues were baffled.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency, admired for its investigative skills and hi-tech crime-fighting abilities, marshalled its resources in the hunt. If only they had checked the toilets.
Two ‘extensive searches’ of the offices failed to turn up anything and, 16 hours after he was last seen, the officer’s colleagues called his wife and told her she should report him missing to local police.
He was eventually found at 4am the next day by a security guard on his regular rounds, who noticed the toilet cubicle door had been shut for a ‘considerable time’.
The guard then called Soca officers who kicked down the door and found their colleague dead on the toilet, just a few metres from his desk in the London offices of the agency.
The agency, which employs 4,200 staff and has 40 offices in Britain, refused to confirm when the officer was found dead earlier this year, but a source said he ‘vanished’ after going to the toilet at 12pm.
The source said his colleague, a team leader in charge of Soca’s Interpol drugs desk, was not found until the early hours the next day.
He added that Soca was ‘staffed by brand new, inexperienced staff who are keen to assist but who have little, if any, background experience in law enforcement work’.
A police source, who has worked in the Met for 15 years, told the magazine: ‘How these guys can be called Britain’s FBI when they can’t even find their own officer 50ft from his desk is an embarrassment.’
Posted by peiper
on 12/03/2010 at 09:36 AM
Filed Under: • UK • work and the workplace •
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Permalink • Thursday - November 18, 2010
Good night
4 hours prep work last night, moving furniture and spackling, followed by 12 hours painting today. Very tired now.
Ok, more like 9 hours of cleaning, sanding, priming, and painting, then the rest of the time pulling off tape and putting the rooms back together and assorted cleaning up. Hell, I even fixed their vacuum cleaner for them. Then used it.
Damn people, save yourself some money. If you hire a painter, at least move the furniture first yourself. And then clean the damn walls. At least dust them. Because I work by the hour and you pay me the same no matter what I’m doing.
Posted by Drew458
on 11/18/2010 at 09:35 PM
Filed Under: • work and the workplace •
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