Unemployed bussed in to steward river pageant

[royd]

I've just come across this in the news paper today

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/0 ... unemployed

They had to camp under London Bridge the night before, just shocking and no warm room to sleep in before going to the job.

[poppett]

I suspect this is the thin end of the wedge, unless Tesco`s work(un)fair scheme is the thinnest bit.

An abominable way to treat people.

Where did the homeless who usually sleep under the bridge go?

Years ago a group of us hitched to London to go to a concert and slept under the bridge, but it was the height of summer, the 1970`s and our choice to be there and do that.

Take care
Meg

[Scally]

I read it too. Reminds me of the kind of experience I also had in the Army Cadet force and Territorial Army, up at all hours of day or night, long shifts, sleeping rough if you can sleep at all, snatching food when you can, no (or very poor) pay. Later on I found the same thing as a fruit picker and again as a festival organiser, you need to get up very early and work till you drop. Looking back, these were some of the most interesting experiences of my life - raw, tough, but very useful.

The person who complained has learned a valuable lesson: some jobs require more than a 9-5 mentality. They have lost nothing except a few hours sleep. "Ah diddums"

[cotula]

It seems from reports today that their bus arrived 2 hours earlier than planned/expected. Who here has not had to wait an hour or two when things do not go exactly as planned? Or when it is more convenient for some 'service' we want to use to make us wait?

[NanaNana]

A good lesson in life's realities. It's not all plain sailing is it? They weren't all complaining and the media and John Prescott have just made things worse for those who were happy just to have the opportunity. Grown adults should not have to be mollycoddled all the time, unemployed or not. Take a few knocks in life, that's normal, Mr P.

[charles47]

Mollycoddling is one thing, basics are another.

I wonder if anyone knew, or checked, whether any of these people had diabetes, for example?

[Lazydaisy]

Charles,I have read this several times and thought that when I was 17 or so, I would have enjoyed the day out and the atmosphere. Hadn't even considered that my husband at the same age(or my boys),would not have been able to, because of the worry of their Diabetes.It just goes to show the power of the media, because for many years,Diabetes has had to be put first in everything in our family.Reading it was as though my mind just jumped back a generation, leaving all my cares and worries in the future!

[g.herschel]

more fool them ..they should have refused to do it and raised the issue from the get go .....


why stop at that lets make the unemployed look after all, disabled children and adults and get those lazy carer scroungers back to work ..these lazy scrounging carers have been mollycodled for far to long time they lived in the real world .. carers shoul get off their rses and got a job let someone else look after their children and elderly parents...

[NanaNana]

I just meant it was a lesson that life's not easy.
During basic training, service personnel, we had excercises in basic living. Running to the middle of a vast field, in the driving rain and mud. Putting up tents in the driving rain and wind. Then waiting hours for the order to start cooking a meal. Took a darn sight more than a couple of hours. Had no idea this was going to happen, one minute we were marching at a walk, the next a whistle blew and we were told to run. Out of camp, down the lane, into the muddy field - no explanations whatsoever. All 96 of us, no matter what.
It happens.
Sorry to be so mean.

[charles47]

Fran, I think we all know fine well you don't have a mean bone in your body.

I was thinking of the health and safety aspects of what happened bearing in mind the situation I'm in: if I were out of work and deemed fit (because I am fit to work), 14 hours without a break would probably put me in hospital...

Part of me says that it's ok to expect people to do more for their benefits than turn up to a Jobcentre from time to time, and that things often go wrong, especially at events, etc. But two sides had a responsibility to make sure of the safety of the workers - paid or otherwise. The security firm and the people they were "giving" an opportunity to gain experience.

And they did gain experience. Whether it was the experience they wanted or needed is another matter entirely.