benthebuilder
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Posts posted by benthebuilder
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what happens in the few weeks does not matter as these lot do not have history of creating chaos but i know a few unions waiting in the wings that have......let the cuts begin then we will see a battle....and it wont be pretty..
Hark at the armchair anarchist
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Misrepresenting my posts does you no credit.
There's a fundamental difference between having a chance of dying while at work (which could happen to just about anyone) and being expected to put yourself directly in harm's way to improve the chances of others. That may apply to National Express staff -- no idea if their duties include remaining in a dangerous situation in order to make sure others get out first; if so then yes they're in the same position.
The risks a lumberjack or a roofer run are qualitatively different. Yes, the job is intrinsically dangerous but if something goes wrong then they're free to look out for number one (afaiaa).
I am not aware that they are supposed to do much more than open the doors? Are they duty bound to put themselves in harms way?
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I've flown on quite a few flights with various different airlines. I have to say BA cabin crew are the most rude and arrogant.
But painting the job as a glorified waiter/waitress is not doing it justice. It's far more unpleasant than that.
I've seen cabin crew :
Mop up baby sick.
Administer CPR.
Move a dead body and cover it with blankets.
Calm down rows between drunken passengers.
The list goes on....
In addition flying all the time plays havoc with your immune system (catching colds all the time as you are in an enclosed space), jet lag weakens your immunity and you're bombarded by higher levels of cosmic radition.
In addition after an x hour flight/shift you're still supposed to look good and deal with people calmly and with restraint.
Not a job I would do for 30K pa.
You can reduce any job to something simple if you try hard enough. After all building is just about slapping a few bricks together with motar, isn't it ?
Pretty much...don't forget showing off your ar5e crack and trying it on with your wife.
All the other things are done more regularly by barmaids, taxi and bus drivers and supermarket staff I would imagine (except maybe moving dead bodies). Sure it's not a great job but neither are many others paying a lot less. How much would you unblock drains and get covered in other peoples excrement for? How about work in an old folks home and wipe ar5es? Would you do those jobs for £30k?
The fact is that staff at other UK airlines do the same job for half the money. I reckon crew at budget airlines have more aggravation to deal with than BA staff, due to their routes and cheap fares attracting pissed up weekenders. And still BA cabin crew want more money? But as you say, they are the most arrogant.
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Getting back on track.....
Just to make it clear I think Cabin Crew should earn not a penny more than £30k. The crew up at Heathrow on old contracts have had it too good for too long and now the partys over, end of. What we are witnessing this weekend is the final death rattle desperately amplified by UNITE.
My point with plumbers and policemen (that some people failed to get) is that I could easily slag off any profession. For some reason it is seen as socially acceptable to do so with Cabin Crew. I don't get it. I mean I understand people saying that a fair proportion of BA crew up at Heathrow are overpaid but to tar all BA crew with the same brush is not fair. Cabin Crew do a job, many of them work hard. Like all industries some are work shy or rude and therefore not good at their job but this is a minority. To belittle what they do, to suggest they are nothing but waitresses/waiters in the sky is quite frankly insulting and suggests a certain "small co*k complex".
Just had a few texts through today as all my friends at BA Gatwick have gone into work as usual. Almost all were on Airport Standby and not one of them was used today (almost all were being sent home early). The operations desk claims that all but 30 people clocked in. A similar higher than expected turnout at Heathrow. Watch this space but I can see them running a normal schedule at Gatwick and a higher number of planes out of Heathrow, definitely for the next strike if not in this one.
Why is it?
What other chores are they doing up there?
Maintenance?
Flying the plane?
Anyway..time for a pi55...with my tiny c0ck.
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Is he Mexican. Got to be authentic.
I like tacos . . . and burritos.
Not Mexican, no.
But he sure could shake those things.
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I have missed my calling. I always wanted to play maracas in a mariachi band.
Bez from the Happy Mondays lives near here.
He may give you lessons.
It's never too late to realise your dreams.
Go for it!
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I have banana trees.
Paint it starlight silver. Like an Astra van with fancy wheels.
You have great artistic vision Mr P.
I think you missed your calling.
Banana trees (((shudder)))
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Paint it yellow.
Can't do that.
My mother used to beat me with yellow sticks.
Or feed me bananas.
I can't remember which.
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Well, mine's orange. A sort of tangerine. Which I find quite fetching, even on a wheel barrow.
OOOh , get you.
Jealous now.
Might paint mine.
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How much?
I bought a twin wheel, solid tyre, 6 cubic feet tipping body wheel barrow for less than 30 quid. Stick an engine on it and you're not far off a Volvo A30!
Why? Because they don't make in Blighty, probably.
Mine's the 108G and I got a good price.
The question really was why don't we make them in the UK.
Can't see the cost benefits of French manufacturing and materials price is fixed.
Seems like an unusual thing to have to import especially from France.
But I suppose we used to make cars but now we buy those from France too.
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Of course I would. If I knew that I was already paid around twice the industry average and my company was on the brink of collapse. I have a family and could see the writing on the wall.
Lazy, opportunistic, workshy, blackmailing sods.
Fire them all and get some better ones in. There's enough out there trained and who would love the job.
Yeah...If I were Willy Walsh I'd rename it British Empire Airways and have loads of Indian cabin crew/charwallahs/punkawallahs.
The aspirant upper class would love that and come flocking.
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Both jobs include the possibility of dying/risking your life on behalf of others, as part of the required duties. Same with some other occupations like firemen, and even (I admit grudgingly
) policemen.Soldiers are not generally in a position where they could "die at any moment", there are long periods of peace and not all countries go to war at the drop of a hat like we do.
The difference between a normal job and a job where you might be expected to die in the line of duty is massive IMO, and worth pointing out to the "trolley dolly" brigade.
Can you please provide a statistic showing that airline trolley dollies are at a greater chance of death at work than say lumberjacks or roofers How about train trolley dollies? Or the ones on National Express coaches? Do they not also stand a chance of being killed?
Your attempts to turn these waitresses into "brave angels in the sky" are wearing a bit thin.
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Make you right.
I reckon the real engine of growth in the UK will be infrastructure renewal and a return to national self-sufficiency in basic commodities, like grub and garden trowels with comfy handles.
Who knows?
I bought a new wheelbarrow the other day. A good one...£55 with the VAT....galvanised body... 4 cubic feet...pneumatic tyre...narrow, to go through doorways easy...an absolute belter of a barrow.
Made in France.
Why do we have to import quality wheelbarrows from France?
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No. They'll say that most of the time soldiers sit on their arses and play football at the "taxpayers' expense".
Unless they're sent to the front line they shouldn't be paid etc etc etc. Load of old shite. Like most of what they spout.
I think this countries treatment of its armed forces is deplorable.
Any comparison between a soldiers duties and an air hostess is laughable.
The only similarity is in what they are offered at the recruitment stage i.e. " a great opportunity to see the world".
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The point is that it's inaccurate to stereotype them purely as waitresses when discussing their worth/value (unless the duties of a waitress include, in extremis, surrendering her own life in favour of her customers). Sure, with many audiences you will win debating points with this technique, but that doesn't make it true. It depends on what you're after, I suppose.
It's easy to call them trolley dollies until the fuel hits the fuselage and you need one to help/allow you to escape the fire first.
None of the above is to say that their pay doesn't need to be adjusted, but you probably wouldn't categorise a soldier as someone whose worth comes from being highly trained and being a deterrent, while ignoring the fact that, when push comes to shove, he's expected to put his life on the line.
The point is that these heroines/heroes of the sky are paid alot higher at BA than anywhere else. BA is already in trouble and all this negative publicity will only serve to put people off flying with them in future. As someone else said, the turkeys are voting for christmas. Branson, O'Leary and Stelios will happily take on well spoken redundant ex BA cabin crew. At half their previous salaries.
I do not deny their right to strike but this decision does seem a little myopic.
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And you know this based on what?
My sister (a teacher) and her mates (3 of them teachers) loving the fact that they get so many holidays to go travelling.
Why do you do it?
To put something back into society.
To shape future generations?
For the kids?
Or for the money, 13 weeks of holidays and cast iron pension?
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It would drive you mental and you most likely don't have all the skills needed.
In the same way as running a business would drive me mental and I probably wouldn't be much good at is because I don't have all the skills needed.
But then again I'm not the misguided one saying running a business is a doddle.
I know how hard some teachers work but most are in it for the holidays.
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Feel free to be a teacher if you think it's so easy.
I doubt you'd last too long.
Because?
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Pity you didn't have me down to a T.
Maybe not your dress sense or choice of reading material.
But as a whining receiver of tax payers money in return for minimal effort I think I've got you nailed.
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Says the man with his **** hanging out of his jeans who will try it on with your wife when your back is turned.
You going to tell me stereotyping is right?
1. I do not own anything with leather elbow patches.
2. I've never read Das Kapital.
Wow...you've got me down to a T there.
Well done.
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Fixed that for you.
Oh good. Mr "Leather elbow patches and well thumbed copy of Das Kapital" is back.
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Cowboy builder?
Exactly....the proliferation of adverts in the back of newspapers offering five day courses in plastering or part time courses in plumbing have meant that the industry is now awash with barely skilled people and chancers who've done some DIY sticking "handyman" leaflets through doors hoovering up the small jobs. This has had a massive knock on in pay rates.
I'd look for riper opportunities if I were the OP.
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Clearly not, but in fairness they're expected, when necessary, to give more than the typical waitress too.
Surely they know the "risks".
Nobody makes them become trolley pushers.
Like nobody made me become an employer/vicious capitalist overlord.
If they don't like their industry leading wage, maybe they should give up being mile high waitresses.
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They ain't getting paid 45k either, not even close.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article6466748.ece
As the average is £30k I don't have a hard time believing that some are on £45k.
Which is what I said.
Minimum Wage Rise Will Cause The Moon To Fall From The Sky
in House prices and the economy
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Yeah they pay £200 a month in taxes.
Then they get £400 in tax credits.
Thank god.
Hate to have to give em proper wages.