My good friend Will alerted me to an article online just as I was discussing rosters with a friend of mine that works full time here. We were discussing how she has to work Christmas Day and Boxing Day yet does not get the penalties due to her unless she also works the Monday and Tuesday after these days. And.. that if she does not work the Mon and Tue then it is still shit Friday! No penalty rates for her. That sucks eggs I reckon! Seriously. I did not wish to make this blog into a sooky la la blog but it is. Nurses work their arses off, and so do Ambos, Police, Fieries, 7-11 staff, and public transport people.. yeah, mostly.... and they will all miss penalty rates these coming special days. Bugger if it is something to do with religion, what about it being a time of reflection for people. Time to reflect on moments in the past, or moments being made right then and there with family or friends. Yeah, I know not everyone has kids, but why should people without kids miss out on their loved ones on special days, having to work and not get paid for missing out... anyway.. here is the article Will alerted me to. and below are the last paragraphs of that article that ring true to my ears.. or eyes.... Because I read it I didn't hear it, yeah.
"So if you’re catching the train to the beach, stop at a convenience store or are unfortunate enough to require medical treatment this Christmas, spare a thought for those who are at work because there may well be some place that they’d rather be.
Already we’ve seen an erosion of our family life, of our weekends and other public holidays and this has resulted in people being overworked, taking their work home with them spending less time with their husbands, wives, partners, parents and kids.
This alone threatens to fray a national fabric of fair pay, fair hours and workplace rights that has taken more than a century to achieve.
But now that Christmas Day itself has fallen prey to the cold calculations of the bean counters, it is vital that we stop and ask ourselves: Is this the society we want to be?" (Governments Stealing Christmas from Workers: by Ged Kearney "The Punch")
5 comments:
Dipshytes.
It's hard enough to get a full compliment of nursing staff for the hols without tools throwing dirt in their faces.
Isn't the penalty rate supposed to be compensation for working on a public holiday while everyone else frolics with families and friends? Bah. All should refuse to work.
I just read London tube staff are going to strike on Boxing Day as their management has refused to pay them penalties.
I have worked several times on Christmas. I always hated being away from my family, but knew my patients had it much worse than I did. I never received extra pay. Instead I could take a different day off as my holiday. The other day was nice, but not the same as being home for Christmas.
You won't get an arguement from me on this. My sister only gets the day off because its a renal Dialysis Unit and only opened 5/6/ days pw...but can be called in at any time when she is on call- nothing like you with A&E
There is a hardness to Governments these days that is a bit scary
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