I have to say, in the four weeks I worked there, I made some very good friends amongst my fellow casuals, most of whom were just ordinary lads and lasses who needed the money and the chance to work. I also got on very well with nearly every regular member of staff I had any contact with.
As for the supervisors - or "coaches" as they insit on calling them, well, a couple were fine; sensible, down-to-earth workers. But oh... the rest. Talk about "Lance Corporal Syndrome". Give someone a stripe and a bit of authority and they act like total twats!Now, most of the time, I can shrug people like that off, especially when I am working for a measley £6.08 an hour. But when they pull stunts like what happened on Friday, it goes beyond a joke.
Towards the end of the week, we casuals had been told to start at 8.00 am rather than 7.00 am, as we'd worked so efficiently, we'd cleared most of the mail, and there wasn't that much work for us. (Mind you, using lots if regulars AND agency staff to sort the mail seemed counter productive, but then this is Royal Mail, so there you go...). Anyway, my last scheduled day was December 24th, when ironically some of us had been asked to work until 5.00 pm because the regulars had their Christmas celebration to go to... and fair enough. On Friday 23rd, I'd arranged to leave at 11.30 am as I had some pre-Christmas stuff to do in town, having finally been paid.
All well and good, then one of the "supervisors" - let's call her Maggie - pulled me off the mail sorting to load magazines onto a York with a couple of other lads. Fair enough. Anyway, it got to 10.30 and time for our "discretionary" PAID 15 minute teabreak,
... except that Maggie decreed "You can't have a break Chas, as you're leaving at 11.30. You won't have worked the four hours today." To this I responded, "Well gee thanks for making me feel about six inches tall!" She just looked at me with the expression of someone who has "flexed their h'authority" and showed the plebs who's boss. In other words, she'd been a twat. I mean, what the HELL is it to her if I have a break? Is she paying my salary? Does she think I will be in awe of her magnificent supervisory powers? Alternatively, maybe she just likes throwing her weight around.Fact is, I've BEEN a supervisior in other jobs and I've always treated staff like I'd want to be treated, i.e. with respect. Give a little here and there and the staff will respect you. Act like a total c**t and they won't. Which is why staff under my teams did far better than staff under the teams run by Assholes.
Needless to say, I decided to terminate my employment then and there. For the sake of £3.00 and the next day's round of crap, it wasn't worth it, so I left Maggie to sort out the mis-boxed magazines which he'd failed to provide a Yorke for - needless to say she'd tried to blame us for that - and said my goodbyes to my fellow Angard Drones. We all wished each other well for the future and then I left. I have to say, it as rather sad to leave under those circumstances, but there's only so much stupidity and pettiness you can take.
So goodbye Angard, you total bunch of c***s. I can honestly say that in my 35 years of working life I've never worked for such an incompetent bunch of idiots and dullards.
As for the likes of Maggie and her ilk, well, if they think being Scrooge's Little Helper makes them good supervisory material who will earn the respect of their fellow workers, then they are deluded. Get a life, you sad sacks!
Anyway, I know I was one of the lucky ones who eventually got paid because I kicked up a stink. I was also fortunte that my partner got paid in her new job just before Christmas, so we were able to give our kids their presents and have a decent Christmas. But I know this wasn't the same for many other Angard workers and I just wish there was something I could do to put that right. I'm no raging leftie by any means, but working people need to be treated with respect, whatever job they do. Acting like Dickensian employers in the second decade of the 21st Century is morally bankrupt. I mean, Ebeneezer Scrooge saw the light and even though he was a bad employer initially, at least Bob Cratchit got paid!
I think there's a book or an online blog at least in my Angard experiences (I have been known to write - and sometimes even get published)... and I bet other Angard drones have some experiences to relate too, if these threads are anything to go by. I just think that in 2012, Angard shouldn't be let off the hook... let's keep on at them, let's cause THEM some trouble. Let's post about their failings everywhere. Let's write to our MPs about the way this cowboy outfit is allowed to treat people like s**t. Let's put a stop to agencies like Angard being allowed to flourish on other peoples' misery.
I hope that all of you find better employment in 2012, and that things improve for you, because one thing is forsure; Angard's unfortunate workers are some of the best bloody people around these days and we all deserve far, far better.
Here's to a better New year.
Chas.
