4 ms·

My very first employer didn't have a consistent quantity of work for me to do and often made me sit in the office with just a chair and not even a desk. I prop

My very first employer didn't have a consistent quantity of work for me to do and often made me sit in the office with just a chair and not even a desk. I proposed to the manager that I would rather be on call (even unpaid) in the library next-door than sit in the office paid with nothing to do. The manager agreed that there was nothing for me to do and agreed that there was nothing wrong with what I was proposing in principle, but it was necessary for me to sit in the office during working hours. There were exactly zero occasions when I was urgently required to be there. This comment, about power being a stronger motivation for money, reminded me of that situation and put it into perspective: thanks.

keithpeter 11y ago
My Dad worked for Marconi in Liverpool fixing radar and radios for ships late fifties and early 60s before they became a large multi-national. Certain kinds of staff were not always needed in the workshop e.g. radio officers signing off on repairs. They hung out in a Dock Road pub. The techies wired up a loudspeaker to the pub (not radio, I suspect they hacked the Reddifusion cable radio) and called the staff when needed. I was quite impressed as a small boy (and, no, we as a country were not big on efficiency in those days).
- junto 11y ago
  There a few classics like this from the 70's when the unions had immense power in the UK and there was lots of over employment in what was then public companies. Examples I remember were a false wall in the back of a British Steel factory which was setup with rows of bunk beds on the quiet so that only 1 in 3 had to do any work. The rest were paid to sleep. Also had employees on the books with the rather blatant names of D. Duck and M. Mouse.
  - keithpeter 11y ago
    The chaps in the pub could be sailing with a ship as relief radio officer at a moment's notice so not quite the bunk bed thing. Iain Sinclair has written about Trueman's Brewery round that time as well. You won't agree with this but: is paying people to sleep in bunks any worse than subsidising low paid jobs using the benefit system as we do now? Typical commercial rents £600 to £750 a month and minimum wage £6.50 per hour.

keithpeter 11y ago

My Dad worked for Marconi in Liverpool fixing radar and radios for ships late fifties and early 60s before they became a large multi-national. Certain kinds of staff were not always needed in the workshop e.g. radio officers signing off on repairs. They hung out in a Dock Road pub. The techies wired up a loudspeaker to the pub (not radio, I suspect they hacked the Reddifusion cable radio) and called the staff when needed. I was quite impressed as a small boy (and, no, we as a country were not big on efficiency in those days).

junto 11y ago
There a few classics like this from the 70's when the unions had immense power in the UK and there was lots of over employment in what was then public companies. Examples I remember were a false wall in the back of a British Steel factory which was setup with rows of bunk beds on the quiet so that only 1 in 3 had to do any work. The rest were paid to sleep. Also had employees on the books with the rather blatant names of D. Duck and M. Mouse.
- keithpeter 11y ago
  The chaps in the pub could be sailing with a ship as relief radio officer at a moment's notice so not quite the bunk bed thing. Iain Sinclair has written about Trueman's Brewery round that time as well. You won't agree with this but: is paying people to sleep in bunks any worse than subsidising low paid jobs using the benefit system as we do now? Typical commercial rents £600 to £750 a month and minimum wage £6.50 per hour.