Thursday 3 September 2009

Council workers set to revolt?

I was listening to the news on the radio this evening (2nd September) and heard that Rochdale Council are scrapping a scheme which meant that people who work on higher floors of their council offices get more time given to them to use the lift. If you worked on the second floor you got two minutes of work time. If you worked on the tenth floor you got five minutes. This may not sound like much but it is 25 minutes per week. Should the workers feel aggrieved?

This made me think of NHS workers who are obliged to change at work. At a similar time to Rochdale Council starting its lift scheme around twenty years ago, Oldham physiotherapists were starting work by getting changed and finishing five minutes early so that they could be changed for home time. I don't think NHS workers get their changing time now but should they have had it in the first place?

When we are at school we need to get changed for P.E. This time is taken out of the class time, not out of lunchtime. Pupils don't go early to get changed. On this basis we should feel aggrieved. Our expectations have been raised by going to school and then lowered by working. According to Marx the proletariat would revolt on this basis, or maybe he was referring to Rochdale Council workers.

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1 comment:

  1. What happens to the workers on the tenth floor when the lift is out of order? Do they get fined. Really if there were less people making silly decisions like this one, perhaps our council tax would be less. Sure we don't need policies like this one made? Sounds like a decision made at Friday afternoon meeting to me

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