Off Topic Political Debate

The privatisation demand issues in Greece is for sound financial reasons, to stop the restrictive practices which will make them more efficient and productive. Greece cannot continue with its inefficient way of life when it is competing with the rest of the world. Unfortunately it has lost the ability to devalue its own currency to enable it to compete with other countries. The single currency has been and will continue to be a disastrous political idea. This latest deal will not solve anything just postpone the inevitable.

 

Has the new 'anti austerity' left wing Greek government managed to saddle Greece with a much worse deal than the previous regime had in place?

 

That is what my Greek rels are saying

 

Heard a lady who runs a coffee shop in Greece saying that in 2014 there were signs of a slow, very slow, recovery taking place, confirmed by a number of her business friends. She thought that people were optimistic that the corner had been turned, but it was a long road ahead. The new government has shown that they are a bunch of amateurs when it comes to economics and diplomacy otherwise they would not have talked themselves in having to accept worse, not better conditions to keep the country afloat.

 

Question for all of you - it is sort of political in terms of theory

The situation is this - I work in a public sector organisation where some directors authorise overtime payments for staff and others don't. I have spent pretty much all weekend in the office and been told I can claim. Colleagues working on unrelated issues cannot and, indeed, I have been in that situation myself. And when I agreed to work this weekend I assumed it would be unpaid.

So, do you stand in solidarity with your colleagues and not put in a claim or do you accept it on the basis that under the rules you have every right to do so?

 

Depends on your political and ethical perspective. If you think the group, and solidarity within it, is important you will either forgo your claim and demand equality of pay for the future from the management, or you claim and share the proceeds in some way.

If you believe that individual endeavour is the ultimate value, then you have no responsibility for anyone else. You take the money and leave them to sort out their own lack of payment.

The first scenario comes from the idea that society will only develop if people work together. The second is based on the idea that it is individual initiative that develops society.

 

If the ideal situation is for all to be paid for overtime I cannot see how refusing to accept payment will help the situation. It does seem some clarity is required. Although I am often critical of excessive union power this is surely an area where they could be of assistance.

good luck.

I assume the above work is not of a charitable nature.

 

Claim... ultimately the fact you get what you are entitled to will strengthen the case of colleagues who dont

 

This is an interesting one as I cannot see how the situation developed over time. When I employed people my aim was to seek clarity so everyone knew exactly what would be overtime and what wouldn't. Providing the amount of work that I expected to be completed was finished, then if I asked for more the employees were entitled to overtime payments. Every two weeks I would hold a meeting of about 30 minutes when I could inform my works manager how things were going and listen to any complaints or ideas that came from the shop floor. One or two who had joined us from different companies found this open approach strange. From time to time it became necessary to balance if taking on a job requiring weekend working would be worthwhile to the company. If I decided it would be then I needed to explain to the employees why I needed their help. After a couple of years there was trust between us, with them happy that I wouldn't seek to exploit them, and they trusting I was trying hard to get them a decent Christmas bonus and my other shareholders a fair return on their investment.

 

I have found over the years that if you toast sliced bread from France, you can't have just butter on it as it doesn't taste quite right.

 

Thanks guys - really thought provoking. Couple of clarifications - superhorns - it is not charitable work. OFH - in 2010 the Government said Whitehall should only pay overtime in exceptional circumstances and left it to individual senior managers to decide whether they would authorise it. Some do but some do not. Yorkie - I would love what you say to be true but some directors just won't wesr it.On the plus side some who worked with me are claiming and I hope it does achieve what you say. Me? I have more or less made my mind up after a lot of umming and ahhing and am at peace with it. Just thought it intetresting to get different perspectives

 

any French bread in a packet tends to be dire

 

better to claim or not... because if you don t you will never get it in the future.... whereas if some are getting it must strengthen the argument.. but yes these are difficult times

 

Apologies for this but I found it quite amusing!

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Tonight there is a great open air concert being shown on French TV from the heart of Paris to celebrate the national day. Classical, modern and popular music all in front of the Eiffel Tower. Must admit that in view of the history of the day I had to laugh when I spotted that the great and good were all seated near to the stage and then there was a 2.5 M fence keeping them safe from the paysans. In 1789 the people took over from their rulers, but in 2015 the natural order has been restored. Maybe history shows that some can lead while others are happy to be led.

Despite the politics I am looking forward to the fireworks.

 

The Tories appear to be very keen to strip or even scrap the BBC licence fee altogether and only allow them to produce programmes which cannot be covered on commercials channels.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11742553/BBC-licence-fee-could-be-means-tested-under-Government-charter-renewal-plans.html

What are your views...

Tories right to make the Beeb stand on their own feet or have some sympathy for the national broadcaster?

 

Why is nothing appearing here - this is the third time I have written this ! No, I do not think that the Tories are right here. We need to preserve one channel which is completely free of 'private' interests - also, that channel should have unlimited scope. This is just another step towards 'corporate Britain'.

 

Today, the Jersey Government announced that they were going to scrap free TV licences for the over 75s. Given that the licences are issued by the same TV Licensing Authority as those in the mainland, I wonder if there has been any consultation about this with them.