Another win for our on-the-ball Reverend Mayor. His new force of outsourced Environmental Enforcement Officers recruited to fine locals for littering and anti-social behaviour – and launched in a blaze of publicity – are being paid BELOW his own living wage!
Adverts all over the internet from dodgy outsource specialist security firm Kingdom are offering the jobs for £8.00 AN HOUR when the Reverend’s formal living wage rate for all council workers and their contractors is £8.45 AN HOUR!
Adding to the sense gross incompetence emanating from the Reverend’s witless LABOUR ADMINISTRATION, the living wage rate was introduced by them just last year with much song-and-dance. Not least when Labour councillors claimed they had to raise senior bosses’ salaries by up to 20 per cent to get their FLAGSHIP living wage policy through.
A year later and their policy for the low paid is in TATTERS while the huge pay increase for bosses not only remains firmly in place but has been INCREASED by another 10 per cent by Labour councillors this year!
Meanwhile, reviews from Kingdom’s former Environmental Enforcement Officers from around the country do not bode well and suggest workers’ rights may be a low priority in the Reverend’s new LITTER FREE PARADISE.
“Worst company ever,” says a former Kingdom officer in Canterbury. “Diabolical company. Work long hours with hardly any break and get pushed to issue a certain amount of tickets when targets are illegal … Managers and colleagues disrespectful and ignorant. Did not even speak to me properly if at all.”
“Run by Neanderthals!” claims another former employee from St Helens. “Worked here only because I was desperate. You must record when you have had conversations with “management” as they deny you ever contacted them. No one can take responsibility or make a decision. No support. Do not bother, you deserve better.”
“Make sure you read your contract,” advises another former employee from Hampshire. “Told it wasn’t targeted and is to extent. But they try to performance manage you out. Was not allowed to take breaks in an 8 hour shift. Have to pay for second hand uniform.”
Yet another emerging shambles from the Reverend’s useless council. Will anyone be taking responsibility for this?
There’s a few aspects to the media fanfare about these “litter police” that occurs to me.
The basis of which are to what extent is the seconded KPMG auditor/accountant in Marvins City Office having a role in coming up with suggestions for revenue generation like this?
I see the deployment of these “litter police” as being just one part of the privatisation and commercialisation of Broadmead specifically, but the city overall. Bear in mind the Merchant Venturers proposed developement plans to privatise Broadmead, this is one concerning strand of a greater privatising revenue generating thread.
So we learned that the “litter police” generated over £70,000 in the first month of operation, some £17,000 odd a week during November, a time when many people were coming into town for Xmas shopping.
It probably hasn’t occured to the KPMG accountant, or whoever thought of this revenue generating idea, that the “fines” paid by people are monies that these people may have been intending to spend in the shops.
Now i’m not assuming that every person fined was intending to spend that amount of money on consumables, as the people fined were no doubt, office workers, shop workers on breaks but i imagine also a fair amount of shoppers.
My point here is that this revenue generating litter tax is taking money out of the local economy. With the proposed privatised developement of Broadmead i see this trend increasing and broadening in scope.
The delusional neoliberal class seem to think they can keep pressing for more blood from people and expect their economic models to work, i expect to see more empty shops in Broadmead.
The Broadmead redevelopment is being done by owners of Cabot Circus, Hammersons, not the Merchants. They’ve recently bought Cribbs Causeway outright: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/business/cabot-circus-cribbs-causeway-owners-884552
This is international high finance at work.