What idiots!

[Kapitan]

Yesterday i went down to my local job centre to check out to see if there is any driver jobs going for HGV class 2's (rigid lorries), i spoke to one woman who said ahh yes we have had this one in.

Who was it for?

First bus company ! driving busses, now i hold a HEAVY GOODS VEICHLE licence not a PUBLIC CARRYING VEHICLE licence, after 15 minuets of us bikkering about it i gave in (heck its a woman wise choice to back down) so i filled out the application form and sent it off.

Now if that isnt going to get her some brownie points on the fact of i might be able to fill that vacancy than what is.

clearly the woman shouldnt be working there if she doesnt know the difference between HGV and PCV licences.

[Chock]

My mother worked in the Civil Service for many years (she was an industrial injuries tribunal officer), and she told me something interesting once with regard to people who work in Job Centres:

Like a lot of Government jobs, it is very hard to get sacked, what tends to happen instead, is that all the dipsticks and idiots get shunted into the unpopular jobs just to get rid of them out of the regular offices. And one of the most unpopular Civil Service jobs, is working in a Job Centre.

That's because the staff there have to deal directly with the public, and because Job Centres are so crappy, it tends to make people irate, as a consequence, they take it out on the staff, and that's why it is an unpopular position.

In fact, anyone who works in a position at a Govt office where they have to deal with the public, is offered the opportunity to have a false name badge, since they know people will take it out on the staff in these positions!

So you can, to a large extent, almost guarantee that the staff in Job Centres will not be the sharpest tools in the box.

:D Chock

[STEED]

A nice safe job for life working in those places, I would say more but what is the point as you get more from a brick wall than job centre staff.

[Oberon]

They call it the 'Joke Center' around here.

Kap, you thought of sending a CV to Steady Eddie? They might have some HGV jobs going.

[Kapitan]

Yeah i did send off my CV to eddie stobart and then i wet myself laughing at what they pay class 2 drivers, eddie stobart is one of thee worst paid driving jobs in the UK for both class 2 and class 1 HGV.

An ADR class 1 driver should be on £35k plus thats with the new CPC certification, but eddie stobart only pays £26k a year to them

Class 2 is a joke at £22k a year i can earn £24k driving dust carts with much better hours than he offers.

[Oberon]

Christ, Eddie must be the 'first' of the HGV world, most First bus drivers up here are defecting in droves to Ipswich Buses over pay.

There must be a few haulage firms up near Felixstowe or Harwich, I'm trying to think of firms off the top of my head, the only other one I can think of at the mo is Curries but I'm pretty sure that's more up north.
Hmmm, ah, how about Freightliner, it looks like they also operate road vehicles...trouble is, because they're a big corp, you might have the same problem you did with Eddie.

[Jimbuna]

They call it the 'Joke Center' around here.


We call it 'The Bull Ring' because of all the physical assaults that get reported ;)

[The Munster]

Also bear in mind the cost of living offset to salary; salary will be less up here in Cumbria than Essex .. yeah I know it shouldn't be but it's market forces at work here.
Anyway, not so long ago Kapitan, you were telling us what a great job you had with all it's perks, tempting me off my beach and down to your spot. What's changed ?

[Kapitan]

The fact i got caught lol we had a massive problem wth people doing private jobs and i got caught up in it all, i was seen to been taking a tip, i protested saying it was a gift under £10 which it was and that means its not against the rules of the council, and it was not a private job.

We took it to a tribunal and the top managers installed people to defend us, only real crap thing was they told us to put our hands up and admit it and then it would be all over, so we did.

Thanks to them the unions went mad 2 of our top managers got the sack we got put on report for 2 years and had our pay docked to re pay the council for tip fees, and if we get caught doing anything wrong inside those two years we are down the road.

We are still fighting it but i dont think we are going to get anywhere soon.

They are now also trying to stop our scrap collecting and also anything we find they want to stop us keeping it, so like rats on a sinking ship theres alot of us leaving weve had 4 drivers leave so far and atleast 3 loaders wont be long before i go i dont think.

[Linton]

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.6022

[Kapitan]

Already applied again for the navy got an interview on the 8th of october,

another thing that we all are fighting, in all our contracts it says "job and knock" meaning when we finnish and have helped out we can go home, well management says we cant because we go home too early.

Shouldnt call it job and knock then should they.

[Jimbuna]

If it's been going on for 6 months or more and management didn't object.....it becomes 'custom and practice' and should be quite easy to defend in an Employment Tribunal :yep:

[Kapitan]

All our contracts have been job and knock since day one really, and its been 2 months since my suspension.

[Jimbuna]

Which Council ?

[Kapitan]

Basildon council.

[Jimbuna]

Rgr that mate.....I'm afraid I don't know anyone in that area in TU terms :nope:

[The Munster]

They are now also trying to stop our scrap collecting and also anything we find they want to stop us keeping it, so like rats on a sinking ship theres alot of us leaving weve had 4 drivers leave so far and atleast 3 loaders wont be long before i go i dont think.

They'll never completely stop that, Councils all across the Country have those things going on and the Management usually turn a blind eye especially the bosses that started at the ground floor so know the score.
The reason this goes on is to supplement the meagre wage that the manual workers supposed to be able to live on.

[Kapitan]

Some of the agency guys are on £5.35 an hour we pay our loaders £9.78 an hour huge diffrence and its normally the agency guy that gets the piss taken out of him.

Scrap can reap in a good £45 a week and other goods maybe another £50, two of my managers are ground up workers they do turn the blind eye doesnt matter what you do unless some one else has seen you then they have to give you a bollocking.

but other than that the supervisor bought his job he was a driver origionally but bought the position of supervisor through a bit of black mail, and he likes to do everything by the book.

[Jimbuna]

Some of the agency guys are on £5.35 an hour we pay our loaders £9.78 an hour huge diffrence and its normally the agency guy that gets the piss taken out of him.

Scrap can reap in a good £45 a week and other goods maybe another £50, two of my managers are ground up workers they do turn the blind eye doesnt matter what you do unless some one else has seen you then they have to give you a bollocking.

but other than that the supervisor bought his job he was a driver origionally but bought the position of supervisor through a bit of black mail, and he likes to do everything by the book.

Better known as a 'JW' (jobsworth) :p

[gordonmull]

Might be teaching Granny here but if you're ADR try the major waste companies: Veolia, Biffa, Shanks, Sita. Been looking for a techie job in the waste industry cos I want to move but all I ever seem to see are driver's jobs.

EDIT Might not be in your area but George Webbs Haulage and Hargreaves Site Services also.

EDIT AGAIN I couldn't agree less about the jobcentre.

[The Munster]

Agency workers .. seeing a growing trend of foreign workers coming from this direction on £5.35 [minimum wage] and they regard it as a fortune, go figure :hmm: