Attack of the Green Bins
Recently local public service workers went on strike in order to protest against the threat to some of their pension rights. Because of this my bins weren't emptied last Tuesday. I have absolutely no problem with this as I agree with the strike. Local Government workers tend to be paid less than in the private sector, do shit jobs and only get their rewards when they are to old to enjoy them.
Now before I go off on one, because I'm going to, I know some people who work in local government and they're great. If they worked in the private sector they'd double their wage overnight. One in particular has greater ability and commitment to work than almost anyone else I've ever met. In other words there are some very good people there.
Lets be honest though your average local Government worker is never going to win a Nobel prize for.....well anything. As a collective they would have made Darwin think twice. I could be wrong though and they could be working on a level of intelligence that I just don't get.
My evidence? I mean how hard is it for an averagely intelligent person to make sure that someone has the right number of bins for their rubbish collection? I am supposed to have two, at the moment I have five. That's five bins for a terraced house with only two people in it. That's a bin for each working day. The reason I have five is that one went missing so I rang the council and asked them for a replacement BLACK bin (the one for the normal rubbish).
The council delivered a Green one (for recycling). I rang the council up and explained they had delivered the wrong one. The girl on the phone was obviously a temp because she displayed intelligence when she remarked that that was typical. So they delivered another Green one, and didn't take the original one.
By this time the original one that went missing turned up (it had obviously gone on holiday or something). Rang the council up and patiently explained.......came home from work to discover another Green one (nothing removed). Rang the council up and patiently explained again.......came home from work today to discover YET another Green one (and STILL nothing removed).
So either my council tax increase is going on some inspired weird guerilla campaign to encourage recycling or to pay for the pensions of colour blind idiots. Either way I surrender. I'm going to recycle more and thank god that the government is finding useful work for the intellectually challenged.
Now before I go off on one, because I'm going to, I know some people who work in local government and they're great. If they worked in the private sector they'd double their wage overnight. One in particular has greater ability and commitment to work than almost anyone else I've ever met. In other words there are some very good people there.
Lets be honest though your average local Government worker is never going to win a Nobel prize for.....well anything. As a collective they would have made Darwin think twice. I could be wrong though and they could be working on a level of intelligence that I just don't get.
My evidence? I mean how hard is it for an averagely intelligent person to make sure that someone has the right number of bins for their rubbish collection? I am supposed to have two, at the moment I have five. That's five bins for a terraced house with only two people in it. That's a bin for each working day. The reason I have five is that one went missing so I rang the council and asked them for a replacement BLACK bin (the one for the normal rubbish).
The council delivered a Green one (for recycling). I rang the council up and explained they had delivered the wrong one. The girl on the phone was obviously a temp because she displayed intelligence when she remarked that that was typical. So they delivered another Green one, and didn't take the original one.
By this time the original one that went missing turned up (it had obviously gone on holiday or something). Rang the council up and patiently explained.......came home from work to discover another Green one (nothing removed). Rang the council up and patiently explained again.......came home from work today to discover YET another Green one (and STILL nothing removed).
So either my council tax increase is going on some inspired weird guerilla campaign to encourage recycling or to pay for the pensions of colour blind idiots. Either way I surrender. I'm going to recycle more and thank god that the government is finding useful work for the intellectually challenged.
posted by gerbil at 7:03 pm
3 Comments:
Being a retired public servant myself, I know as a general rule (with exceptions) a public service job is a thankless low paying job.... and most of the people I know are doing it feeling they are doing a public service, maybe not putting their lives on the line like policemen, but serving the public anyway.
Often they, local govt., play on the workers vocation or the fact that were are only local govt and its coming out of tax payers wallets hence the low wages. Inplace of this there is the promises of better work place protection. But i now think one of the big problems has been the declining social standing of public sector work with a decrease of vocational desire. End result is in some areas it now attracts, and can in many cases only attract, not those who want to do the job but those who cant do anything else. This has the effect of lowering the social standing of the work even lower. So for me i fully support the strike i just wish i didn't have five bins;)
For what it is worth, I support it to - but being on the other side of the Atlantic I can easily support it without no great sacrifice.
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