I own a small business where most of my staff are on £9.50 per hour. They deserve £15 an hour because of the hard work and commitment that they put in, but the only problem is I can't afford to pay them that. Even less so now after a huge increase in all of the supplies that I buy in. If the minimum wage goes up at the rate it is, rather than staff earning more I will have to let some go, which in affect will cost the government more money, using more tax payers money to pay benefits and having less tax payers. The likes of post office workers can demand more money because they have the unions behind them, but if one of my staff refused to work until they were paid more I would replace them. Not because they aren't worth a pay rise but because I just couldn't afford to. This government or the next need to look at how many people work in the public sector that are being paid too much, or put them on performance wages like the council road workers where one digs and 6 watch. They should be prepared to subsidise small businesses that can prove to be making a small or no profit so they can pay their staff a better wage. I know from 2 family members who work for the local council how well paid they are for an extremely easy job. Don't get me wrong, I wish that was me, but their well paid job is being financed by many hard working tax payers on minimum wage. There also has to be some incentive for the unemployed to try to find a job, that has to be beneficial rather than easier to sit at home and collect benefits. It showed through lockdown how many jobs could be done from home, so surely there can be some scheme that helps people with physical and mental needs to find these jobs that may help them in to work when otherwise they wouldn't be able. This government needs to look after every hard working person and business owner in this country, not just the ones who can go on strike when the don't get what they want.
Everyone else has got an easy job and is being overpaid, seems a reoccurring theme. Maybe they would say the same about your business. Interestingly, the major companies, like Amazon also say they can’t afford to pay their staff more, but they would if they could. There needs to be less greed and pilfering at the very top of society. Those who deserve more need to come together and not resort to division and arguments, otherwise the status quo will never change.
I think if you look at amazon's profit compared to my losses you could see quite easily who can afford to pay their staff more money, I could make a half decent profit if I closed the wholesale section of my business but unfortunately that would make 5 lads, 3 of which have young family's unemployed. So keeping them in a job and making less money for myself is more important to me. It's a shame that's not the case for the bigger companies making millions
It’s obviously a hard balance. I can tell you care about your staff which is how it should be but it’s no good a business going under for anyone. The issue is with costs up 40% we’re getting to the point where people are struggling to eat and travel two weeks into the month. I’m a universal basic income man myself. I think poverty is destructive, costly and immobilising and if people have enough to be well we have better results. I don’t get into the ‘poverty is motivating’ narrative - it is towards criminality and ill health and they’re our biggest costs. To me we have to legislate on the reinvestment of profits ie into industry not personal wealth and dividends. Despite believing in redistributing wealth I don’t think we should renationalise everything- a mixed offer is right BUT I’ll tell you now it’s not public sector staff costs that are the issue it’s the subcontractors. The road me you mentioned are working for private civil engineering firms who boast about the council tax ie adding on percentages for council work. The bigger costs are in health and social care and SEND education where they take high fee and pay high earning managers dividends for a place for a vulnerable child. It’s greed in private business that is costing the public sector but ideologically these half wits we have in power think it’ll level itself out. If we don’t legislate against greed the money wasted on executives and shareholders will **** up our economy not save it.
If the "workers" can't afford to spend money other than for food and fuel, then all other businesses supplying goods or services will go bust. It is that simple.
Any Labour (opposition) leader should be able to rip into Truss... if they can't they should step aside.
pretty much a 'double like' for this, especially the last line. have seen a few posts over time from lads trying to run a business and they themselves are rarely sat on their backsides while everyone else does the work, they have no option but to get stuck in to keep things ticking over and i really hope such lads get the help they need, it would be nice if that help was taken from those who do nowt.
He can’t and he won’t, if he can’t rip Boris a new arsehole he certainly won’t rip Truss a new one, the blokes a useless light weight. The thought of him being prime minister should send shudders through the nation.
Obviously the vague possibility of being sent to Rwanda is scaring people into living the rest of their lives in a squalid makeshift squatters camp in Calais "The Ministry of Defence says 460 people crossed the English Channel in 12 small boats on Saturday - one of the highest number in a single day so far this year."
And the idea of sending in the Navy to 'push them back' ffs When I took my motor yacht licence I had to perform a rescue for a man overboard and then a small craft in peril. Really difficult to pull up alongside with a ten metre boat without drowning them. And that was on a flat calm sea near Cannes. The idea of pushing back boats, in the world's busiest shipping lane, is absolutely mental.
Fair point... Not many disagree that illegal immigration should be stopped.... Nobody thinks crossing the Channel in little rubbers boats should happen... especially as some real evil scumbags profit from it. However very few on the right side of commonsense reckon paying a fortune to an impoverished African nation is a place to dump them.
What skills does a postie have eh, and being paid £12 an hour.... with the current economic climate these guys are taking pay cuts... seems same as the situation where no one (English) will pick the fruit and it will all go to waste. If we don't pay the posties enough you are going to have to collect your own post marra
If they deserve £15 an hour your business model is wrong. I'm not qualified to comment on what you should do for the best in business but where you have ended up isn't nice.
If you don't like the unions, there's nothing stopping you from moving to a different country that doesn't have them instead of moaning!
