Angard casuals V Christmas casuals? EVERYONE PLEASE READ!!

[ennabee]

Last Christmas I got £7.84 at a local DO for working nights via Angard, the previous year £8.01 for working nights at a MC via RM. i think they are paying RM casual staff more for nights this year as well, and 35 hours at £8 ish per hour is a damned sight more than I am getting now - ie zero.

Unlike everybody else we were prevented from making the choice to join RM as a short term Xmas casual, that's my issue with RM/Angard There is nothing legal to stop anyone working for RM and staying registered with Angard but they have managed to prevent us doing so.
Surely they should have offered us the opportunity of taking a cut in wages to get full time casual placement?

Also it costs RM X to employ thier own casuals and Y to employ an Angard casual. I doubt if Y is as significantly higher than X as you might think. it's not just a matter of £ph in our wage packet

[hodge2002]

Last Christmas I got £7.84 at a local DO for working nights via Angard, the previous year £8.01 for working nights at a MC via RM. i think they are paying RM casual staff more for nights this year as well, and 35 hours at £8 ish per hour is a damned sight more than I am getting now - ie zero.

Unlike everybody else we were prevented from making the choice to join RM as a short term Xmas casual, that's my issue with RM/Angard There is nothing legal to stop anyone working for RM and staying registered with Angard but they have managed to prevent us doing so.
Surely they should have offered us the opportunity of taking a cut in wages to get full time casual placement?

Also it costs RM X to employ thier own casuals and Y to employ an Angard casual. I doubt if Y is as significantly higher than X as you might think. it's not just a matter of £ph in our wage packet

They've taken on around 18,000 extra people who they will employ for 1 month on around £3 n hour cheaper than other staff working around 35-40 hours per week. At the end of the month, these people have no rights or entitlements and are let go. You do the maths and tell me how it's not cheaper???

[ennabee]

Of course it's cheaper but not percentage wise as much as you'd maybe think is what i said - and no doubt Angard charge a set amount for their workers, some of whom earn only the miniumum wage and Angard workers rarely work every day, full shifts or even every week, and many have not qualified for AWR. I worked with a youngster who recently did a few shifts a week for £6.19 but now hes been laid off as he is a Year round casual

all this is bit of a red herring though

Lets take it as read that between them RM /ANGARD would not want Angardees at XMAS as many get a higher hourly rate.

Why then did they chase us up from September, promising us 4 weeks full shifts at Xmas (few of us ever get these), and pre book them in November, only to cancel them after one day?

Why then did they stop us joining as RM casuals by, letter and website message?.


"Because we are dearer" isn't really an answer to those, is it?


I eaned £8ish pounds per hour doing (all week)Nights in 2011 and 2010 as an RM Xmas Casual 2010 and an Angard Xmas Casual (not a "year round" one)2011. I would rather have earned the highest Angard rate of course, but the lower RM casual night rate X a 35 hour week , means a good weekly salary, more than I've earned recently getting the odd one or two shifts per week.


REPEAT MY MAIN BONE OF CONTENTION as I explained earlier, is I was denied the opportunity of earning the lesser "RM Xmas Casual" amount that everyone else had the oppportunity of earning


And by the way we won't have those "rights" for long after Xmas anyway, they are transitory, six weeks off ( not consecutive) and we lose them

[ennabee]

More Questions

Why if they had more Year round Angard casuals than before would they recruit as many XMAS casulas as usual .if its because "they are cheaper" and intended to lay off Angardees why did they not let us apply blah blah.... ?

Why did they start the RM casuals (and Angadees Xmas full shifts) a week early this year. if it all a cunning plan (because they are cheaper) why didnt they still start us all a week later, couldnt be just miscalculation could it? granted companies usually miscalculate on the "right side"

Is it easier to lay of Angardees as the structure already exists? One phonecall to Angard and they have to phone round cancelling our shifts from a remote office somewhere, not out local MC, where RM casuals would have to all be sent home from. I know some RM casuals have been sent home. but would you fancy telling 20 people at a time to their face, go home no work this year - easier to make one phonecall?

[WildWestie]

We also received a letter from Angard asking us not to apply to Royal Mail for Christmas work as there would be enough work for us over the Christmas period. Yesterday we found out the posts would be going to staff recruited by Royal Mail and there would be no work for Angard, so Royal Mail appear to have shafted Angard and by association us as we'll. I wonder if this is a country wide phenomena or just local to us?

Not sure where you work but this is the case in the South West. I work at an RDC and all year there has been plenty of work for us Angardees. Now the RM casuals have started our work has all but dried up, we have gone from 5/6 shifts a week to 2 or 3 and are having to look at other local RM sites to try and top up or take keave to keep some money coming in. I (we) feel we have been stuffed by RM and by Angard as well. The letter we all received from Angard asking us not to apply for Xmas casual work direct with RM has stitched us up, we were daft enough to go along with it and now we have little work as a result. Pretty sure this is all about money as being AWR we cost more than the casuals BUT here is an interesting thought, why have twice the number of RM Xmas casuals in compared to the normal headcount from Angard? If we Angard (AWR) cost about twice what Xmas casuals do (round figures so please excuse) then the cost to RM is about the same, what RM do get for their money is twice the number of staff in, no experience and mistake after mistake after mistake, and I am sorry to say but a large number of very lazy casual workers in 'work avoidance mode'. This has really ticked a large number of Angardees right off. Funny thing is, after Xmas RM will expect us Angardees all to be back happy smiling faces ready to get stuck in to work again - right........

[ennabee]

We also received a letter from Angard asking us not to apply to Royal Mail for Christmas work as there would be enough work for us over the Christmas period. Yesterday we found out the posts would be going to staff recruited by Royal Mail and there would be no work for Angard, so Royal Mail appear to have shafted Angard and by association us as we'll. I wonder if this is a country wide phenomena or just local to us?

Not sure where you work but this is the case in the South West. I work at an RDC and all year there has been plenty of work for us Angardees. Now the RM casuals have started our work has all but dried up, we have gone from 5/6 shifts a week to 2 or 3 and are having to look at other local RM sites to try and top up or take keave to keep some money coming in. I (we) feel we have been stuffed by RM and by Angard as well. The letter we all received from Angard asking us not to apply for Xmas casual work direct with RM has stitched us up, we were daft enough to go along with it and now we have little work as a result. Pretty sure this is all about money as being AWR we cost more than the casuals BUT here is an interesting thought, why have twice the number of RM Xmas casuals in compared to the normal headcount from Angard? If we Angard (AWR) cost about twice what Xmas casuals do (round figures so please excuse) then the cost to RM is about the same, what RM do get for their money is twice the number of staff in, no experience and mistake after mistake after mistake, and I am sorry to say but a large number of very lazy casual workers in 'work avoidance mode'. This has really ticked a large number of Angardees right off. Funny thing is, after Xmas RM will expect us Angardees all to be back happy smiling faces ready to get stuck in to work again - right........

Yes its a bad situation compounded in our case (Dorset) by Angard booking us all in for 40 hour shifts for the four Xmas weeks (their offer, I normally get 15 or so hours per week) and the cancelling after the first day.

.............................................................................
Id like to re-iterate for certain people on this part of the forum,
However unfair it is for us to be laid off in favour of cheaper workers, its the fact that we were barred by letter (in Sept in my case) and website message, from applying for work as as a RM casual that goes way beyond that,

. If we were offered the choice of getting these same four weeks at the RM rate we may have been annoyed but at least we'd have had a choice.

[Verging]

Do we really know they are expecting the Angard workers back after Christmas.

What is going to stop them keeping some of the RM Christmas casuals on and going back to pre-Angard.

[massdebate121]

Do we really know they are expecting the Angard workers back after Christmas.

What is going to stop them keeping some of the RM Christmas casuals on and going back to pre-Angard.

I reckon they'll let the Xmas casuals work up to 12 weeks then ask Angard casuals back to avoid AWR. I worked on Saturday night and a lot of staff in my MC are not happy with what has happened.

[ennabee]

Do we really know they are expecting the Angard workers back after Christmas.

What is going to stop them keeping some of the RM Christmas casuals on and going back to pre-Angard.

In that case they'd have to lay off Angard office as well, funny that I normally got a "line busy" message from them but now it's a ringing tone. I reckon there's only one person manning all the "work placement" lines. If RM bring back RM casuals after XMas they must be breaking some kind of agreement with Angard. If (and only if, and only if it's not breaking an agreement) this is the case, they should give us the choice of working as RM casuals despite being at the lower rate (some of us are already on it, and more will be soon) in the New Year. Why would they prefer their own, new, casuals to us, even if we rejoin as RM casuals? Do they find as an embarrassment? or a potential bunch of trouble makers?

There can be no justifacation by treating us this way AFTER Xmas especially as many of us will be on the lower rate. I understand when Angard took over RM casuals were transferred to them. Why not the other way around?

If they are reverting to RM but using newly recruited Xmas RM casuals after Xmas, it seems we could be discarded altogether. That's more than just "unfair, but there you are", or "that's the way work is at the moment"

AWR

Isn't it only a six weeks break needed?

[ball]

dose any one know when the chrismas rush will start at medway mail centre not busy as yet

[ennabee]

dose any one know when the chrismas rush will start at medway mail centre not busy as yet

If you are with Angard I suspect never.

[ball]

im royal mail casual

[massdebate121]

Have any Angard casuals had any shifts at all lately? I was amazed that I managed to get a Saturday shift.

[ennabee]

im royal mail casual

Oh .. Ok it seems at bit quiet this year should be busy today as its a Monday

[Verging]

AWR

Isn't it only a six weeks break needed?

For AWR yes but for Angard/RM they appear to lapse your vetting after 28 days and you are then unable to work. You then need to be re-vetted which apparently is taking 3 weeks. Angard can also terminate your employment with them after 28 days of no placement.