A place for precarious workers to talk about work. Anyone out there?
They just cut my lunch break in half 
.
hours change week to week, no money is guaranteed, don’t get holiday etc cus i’m freelance, but am happier than I have been in a while, workwise
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Classic. Glad you’re doing ok though. 
how can they cut the lunch break? no contract?
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0 hour contract. I’ve been working about five years at this place.
A twelve hour shift gave an hour lunch break until last week when they decided they’d change it to 30 minutes. Legally, that’s still more than they’re required need to.
This is fucking scandalous
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Wow it really is and they dont even apply to emregency services. Just an other thing for Corbyn to sort out.
@lwt (it doesn’t sound like it) but are you using a computer? If so may be entitled to DSE breaks.
Yeah, unfortunately I don’t think they’re doing anything unlawful, so unless you can rely on persuasion and their better nature (if they have one) to change it back, I think you’re stuffed, sadly.
Thought this would be a thread about people dangling from buildings and stuff…
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Staircase that mate
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I’ve had to take a job while on holiday cos work’s been so scarce lately and I need the money. I don’t think my in-laws really get it and think I’m being a bit rude by taking on work but I’d much rather go for a walk with them than sit in a holiday cottage with my laptop.
It’s only a matter of time before I have something to post in here.
A year or two ago they moved 80% of my floor out to Dublin, and there’s been four rounds of redundancies since I started. Still here though. For now at least.
What’s underneath? Sound very precarious if you’re not on the ground floor
No computer to have breaks from I’m afraid.
I’m going to try to set up a support group for people in similar jobs in the area. Not sure there’s much appetite for it though which is a shame.
Still working casually, but the hours are terrible. Have 60 hours in the next month which is ok, but none this week. all the shifts I have are at bad/weird times (like 2-10pm). its also likely that I’ll get texts this week asking if I can work, so I can’t really make any big plans to do stuff which sucks. Being in so intermittently also means I don’t get to know anyone properly or learn how stuff is meant to be done properly.
If I was to get more work in different places it would require me walking over an hour there and trying to catch a taxi back home. Wish they could just offer me a 10-20 hour contract to fill shifts and take it from there, but apparently not.
This is awful. Sorry to hear this. What sort of work are you doing?
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Working in leisure centres. It’s quite well paid for what it is, and the people do seem quite nice, just uninterested in trying to get to know casual worker #648 who doesn’t know how to do stuff and slows everyone down. It could definitely be worse, I’m just annoyed at the lack of shifts
Sorry long post.
Since starting this thread I quit the job I had. Now I’m part time at a place where I’m an employee not a worker. The trade union reps are law academics lolol.
My last experiences were:
- Another worker had the words LAST CHANCE written above the sink that he washes dishes at. Saw it and didn’t come back in. I was RILED.
- I was threatened with no more shifts because I asked for time off when the chef and sous chef wanted time off at the same time. I gave three weeks notice on a ‘zero hour’ contract. I could have given no notice at all.
Since leaving I’ve heard there’s some sexual harassment stuff going on.
Anyway thats me but I was meeting with another ex employee the other night. She sued the place we worked at because she cut herself on a badly fixed knife rack and now she’s lost feeling in her fingers. She just had to quit another job too. All sorts of rubbish but now the business won’t pay her and another of my friends for their last month. The owner has been taking £2000 a month in wages despite never working.
The business won’t be there much longer. The only staff left don’t have any training, any food hygeine or any safety certificates. Maybe someone will die soon.
Boss’s need purging again. I’m sure we can all agree.
I’m super riled at the moment so I’m emailing festivals/charities all sorts of organisations that hold events at these sorts of places, and asking why they’re ok working with places that treat their staff so badly. I’m trying to get loads of peoples experiences down and then try and write something for one of the local arty culture magazines. Also gonna ask why these magazines are ok with promoting events at these places too.
Something like that anyway.
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Hey also I think if you lot are into ‘’Cultural’’ areas of cities, they aren’t going to exist soon and it’s not just the fault of late stage gentrification brought on by middle class consumption/ big businesses pricing out the small ones. It’ll be the fault independent venues who refuse to pay their staff properly because they hate working class people. At some point when everyone wants to buy a house they’re just gonna go and work for McDonald’s instead and get that sweet double digit hourly rate. Cant wait.
None of that might be true tho I’m not a scientist.
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