General Chat

Agreed....and again though the same argument works.....don't get paid enough can't buy enough....it's a vicious circle and it keeps many a good person down.

Again though in the meantime feed the hungry........

No ..if people are paid more the cost is passed on to the end user. Wages go up ..manufacturing costs go up , distribution costs go up ..everything increases. So those that have a pay rise end up as the end users paying more and often more out of pocket.

Or to look at it from the other way.....if people had higher wages they could buy more and pay more.......chicken and egg come to mind

No ..I said minimum wage people are paid what the job description classes as the correct wage for their skill sector. Customers supplied by other companies covering this particular skill sector are only prepared pay accordingly .
I would love to pay my staff the living wage spouted by many but if I don't make a profit and my customers refuse to pay the price I am asking ...what do I do?
Answer ..stop employing and give up ...close down
Again I have to ask you ..how and why should employers be held responsible for the needs of their workers having a lifestyle that they attain to when they are being squeezed by the clients they supply a service to? Something has to go and sadly it will be the wage we can pay or it will be jobs
As for paying taxes? That does not apply to my company ..be assured of that

Newby you said min wage people are worth min wage and need to sort themselves out to improve........as noted here even if not on min wage many are only just off min wage.....none of which will get you a good home AND good food on the table.
Yes all Governments are to blame but so too are people who don't pay their taxes.....or send money abroad.....or buy off the back of the lorry.

As said before there is no quick fix but this suggestion will help in the meantime.

The influx of immigrants and UK's need to support them in so many ways prompted
a speech from the late Enoch Powell.
In the last few years the demands on the Social Services have increased ten fold.

Rollo , I remember Cathy come home , although I watched it in the 70's blimey that touched a nerve for us teens ,. Maggie I understand what you are saying and I hope I have not demeaned anyones right to a decent days pay for a decent days work , especially where responsibility for others welfare is attached .
David ..you have a valid point and it is shared rightly or wrongly, by many more people in the UK so don't apologise .
Caroline ..?I hope you don't imagine I think I understand the whole problem surrounding homelessness? Any anger felt would be best directed at those responsible and elected. That is the main reason people still have to live on the streets in this day and supposedly enlightened age.

Walk a mile in someone else shoes

Until you've done that you don't always fully understand the situation, even if you think you do.

Newby, you seem to 'forget' Public Sector workers are receiving their first pay rise in over 6 years.
I remember saying to a colleague 4 years ago 'We'll soon be earning the minimum wage'. She didn't understand me then - she does now :-(

Highly skilled/experienced/responsible public sector workers who were on £8 an hour (not the lowest grade pay) 6 years ago, are, until their 1 or 2% rise in April still on that rate.
Minimum wage is £7.50 from April.
1% of £8 is 8p, so a 'massive' pay rise then? No 1 or even 2% of p*** all is still p*** all

These are Public Sector workers who do the admin for chid protection cases, school attendances/inspections. They are ward administrators in hospitals, they hold responsible jobs, where confidentiality is paramount.

Is the work these people do really so 'simple' they're 'worth' paying only 51p more than the minimum wage?

The 'living' wage is currently £8.25, rising to £8.45 in April, so they're apparently not even worth that!

28 Mar 1969 "The Wednesday Play" was Ken Loach's "Cathy Come Home". Anyone 15+ at the time will remember it. homelessness at the hands of the state is nothing new.

Ken Loach latest movie is "I, Daniel"

I may have been off topic or retrospective in my previous post.
Was giving a different perspective on homelessness....that may be outdated.

I am of an age where I can recall little in the way of homelessness.
People lived with their family or rented or had a mortgage and were buying their homes. People worked in high or low positions to pay their rent or mortgage and to pay all their other bills including food.
Fast forward fifty years and my the changes. Circumstances change. Now it seems an entire generation wants a family, wants a house....on benefits There are unemployment benefits, seems a contradiction :-S
The Social Services are taking more out of the UK economy than is coming in.
To some it's a blessing, some exploit it.

No problem Sharron ..but I fail to see why you thought it was becoming heated? Sorry if you got the wong impression x

I am only back because somebody told me I was being accused of rudeness. Not quite sure how it is rude to withdraw from a discussion when you decide it is becoming too deep and heated for comfort but if it does make me rude then I an very glad I have withdrawn.

Hi Ann..that is a great balance and I bet it has helped with the running of the business x

Oh dear my husband owns his own company in the city of London. I am the opposite to him. He is all for money and I am for people xx

:-D Well if they were .....they succeeded !

LOL maybe they were trying to drink away their sorrows !!

I am fully aware of those that slip through the net ...there are amazing people out there that are doing mundane jobs and being held back due to circumstances beyond their control. There is a whole skilled workforce just waiting for the jobs they had to be made avaliable again..PS Re the Xmas party...Not the only person in the company , I have a business partner but our employees cost us a fortune when they were let loose with the wine list at previous Xmas parties. .xxxx

I'm not saying you don't know what works for you so to speak, but I'm not sure you are really aware what can happen to those not in the same position as you.
We will have to agree to disagree on this, as I know there are many who would love to work in a full time job with a half decent wage, save up and "better themselves" in both qualifications and lifestyle but through no fault of their own for want of a better phrase "they're being kept down by the man"
That isn't unique to the UK it's happening worldwide, and yes some of it is down to the Government and their policies including giving money abroad to questionable causes.
Granted there will be some who for many reasons will never "better themselves", but many have issues that need help.

Side point....if the Xmas party is boring is that because you're the only person employed in your company ?