Friday, June 8, 2012

The Queen's Jubilee - Reminding You That You're Still Serfs

The Queen's Jubilee - Reminding You That You're Still Serfs

So with the circle jerking of the Queen's Jubilee happening, it seems like while times change, they still remain the same somehow;
Prescott urges inquiry into Jubilee work experience claims

Ministers are being urged to look into reports that unemployed people hired as unpaid stewards for the Diamond Jubilee pageant ended up having to sleep outside and change in the rain.

Some volunteers from the government's work programme scheme had to spend the night under London Bridge and had no access to toilets, the Guardian said.
Ex-deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said the reports were "unbelievable".
The firm in charge of stewarding has apologised to those involved.
Close Protection UK said staff arriving from outside London on Sunday morning - ahead of the pageant on the Thames - should not have been dropped in the capital at 0300 BST with nowhere to stay.

The company, one of those awarded a stewarding contract for the Diamond Jubilee events, said this was a misunderstanding on the part of the coach driver who was two hours ahead of schedule.

The Guardian reported that volunteers bussed in from Bristol, Plymouth and Bath had to spend part of the night under London Bridge, one telling the newspaper that conditions were "freezing" and another saying it was impossible to pitch a tent due to the concrete surface.
'Appalling'

They also told the newspaper that they had to change into their clothing - which included a plastic poncho for protection against the rain and high-visibility jacket - in public and had no access to toilets during the 14-hour shift.

Lord Prescott has urged the home secretary Theresa May to launch an urgent inquiry into the allegations.

He tweeted: "This is unbelievable. If true, it is appalling."

The firm said it took on 80 people to act as stewards over the three-day event through the government's apprentice and work programme schemes - which aim to help the long-term jobless back into work.

Of these, 50 people under the age of 25 were paid the government's standard rate for apprentices of £2.60 per hour and the other 30 either accepted the same rate or refused payment because it would adversely affect their benefits.
Work experience is a compulsory part of the NVQ2 qualification in stewarding - which is essential for work at major events such as the Olympics.
'Trial'

Close Protection said the unpaid roles were a trial for paid positions at the 2012 Games, which it also has a contract to supervise.

The company, which is based in Wigan, said it paid for meals for all the Jubilee volunteers, accommodation on the night after the event as well as supplying their clothing, equipment and licences to undertake the work.

The charity Tomorrow's People, which set up some of the placements at Close Protection UK under the work programme, said it did not approve of unpaid work but in this case believed that it was valid work experience.

However, it is seeking further clarification from the stewarding company.
The Department for Work and Pensions said the work programme used organisations such as charities to help get the long-term unemployed back into work and while on such schemes individuals continued to receive their Jobseeker's Allowance.

For those who don't have the time to read all that shit, the unemployed people were bussed in to work at the Queen's Jubilee and then they were left to sleep under a bridge, changed clothing outdoors in the rain, and then worked 14 hour shifts without access to facilities. After all this, they were told they'd be paid -- a pittance-- but then they weren't.

I guess seeing that they based all this on a Canaletto painting from the eighteenth century, I guess they just felt they had to make it really authentic. And hey, at least they got some work experienc..... kljflksdjljfdslkjsl fs FUCK!

FUCK THE ROYALS! I really hope they at least got plenty of opportunity to steal from tourist. When you think about it, the peasants living under feudalism probably got a better deal overall than these people. You could at least be punished for treating your serfs badly back then. Nothing will come of any of this.

I just have to wonder at what extent "refusal wouldn't have affected your JSA" is an outright fucking lie? Even if it wasn't just sidestepping the point that refusal would hurt their chances of getting future shitty work -- you know, since the jobs are farmed out via companies like this.

So again, I ask -- why even have Royalty still anyway?

I guess since royalty are fairly annoying pests that you can keep under control through various means, but to get flat out rid of them for good, you have to call the exterminator. The remaining Western monarchs are in an elaborate display box for now, but suppose a freak earthquake knocks it off the shelf and no one notices in the confusion until they're infested the whole place again? That's why we shouldn't keep them around.

And I seem to bring this up every time someone mentions Kim Jong Il and personality cult I like to troll by comparing it to Princess Diana and Steve Jobs. Because, really, they're all the same in the end.

But hey, why should I get mad at any of this. This is just an event for an increasingly irrelevant institution that is held in an increasingly irrelevant country. Nothing to see here, moving right along.

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