FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

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Stanley
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FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

Post by Stanley »

039
FORGOTTEN CORNERS 3

Something seems to have gone wrong in the world of work. I feel sorry for young people today because they don't seem to have as good a deal as we had sixty years ago so today's forgotten corner is how we started our working lives. The bottom line is that when I left school in 1953 the problem wasn't finding a job but deciding which one to take. This isn't to say it was a perfect world with no unemployment, 340,000 people were idle out of a total working population of over 24 million, 1.5%. The figure at the moment is 8.1%, about 2.6 million people. In 1953 unemployment amongst school-leavers was tiny, there was always a place for a cheap worker, often under the guise of apprenticeships. Don't get too bogged down with the details, what this meant was that when I embarked on the world of work I had no problem finding a job.
I wanted to learn to be a farmer so I got a job on a farm in Warwickshire as a learner. Don't get the idea that this was a passport to a high spending life of sex, drugs and rock and roll, I had never even heard of those things and the wage was only £1 a week with full board. Out of that I had to put ten shillings a week into the Post Office Savings Bank so my total spend was a few Woodbines a day and the occasional pint of scrumpy in the Royal Oak, the tiny old pub in the village a mile away. I was as happy as a pig in muck! I got to drive tractors and use heavy machinery, learned to milk cows and look after livestock and Lionel, my boss, passed on wise words which I have never forgotten. I was looking forward to going into agricultural college and had a place booked at Reaseheath near Nantwich but unfortunately Her Majesty grabbed me first, she must have heard about this likely young prospect and spent a lot of money on me over the next two years teaching me how to kill people and blow tanks up. So you see, you youngsters might think that you have troubles but I can assure you you don't know what real trouble is until you have met your first Drill Sergeant!
In 1956 I was set free and for three years was an Arkwright, 'Open All Hours' at Sough but by 1959 had declined shop-keeping and bought Hey Farm near the Dog. I was in full time work then driving for Harrison's at Elslack earning about £9 a week for seven day's work, my first living wage. I can see you scratching your heads, how could this be a living wage? I was buying the farm and seven acres of land on a loan from the bank and paid £15 a month for the privilege. The rest of the wage, about £20 kept us and I got married and raised a family of three daughters. My wife never had to work. I know, this sounds incredible these days but I can assure you it is true and this is why I feel sorry for young people today. Despite the fact that we live in a world that should be so much better than in 1953, nobody leaving school could possibly make this much progress in six years. As I said above, something has gone wrong with the world of work. The question is what happened? Can anything be done about it?
Looking back, even then there was a small cloud on the horizon, experts were discussing the effects of a thing called 'automation' in industry. They predicted that there would be fewer jobs as a consequence. The politicians told us that there was no need to worry, workers would be so productive that they would be able to earn a living wage without working long hours and overtime so there wouldn't be more unemployment, just more leisure. It turned out that they were partially true, the only thing was that some of the workers kept the overtime and the rest got all the leisure, they were out of a job. Let's not get too deep into that, the effect of modernisation and the advent of the computer chip was that manufacturing jobs were lost and the increased profits didn't trickle down to the workers, somehow they managed to flow uphill and the gap between the rich and poor started to widen. Now there's a surprise! It got worse, under Thatcher a new economic concept was adopted, put very simply it was that manufacturing jobs adding value to raw materials was old economics, the new way was to make money in the 'service industries' and allow the 'market' to control the economy. There was much talk in those days of 'invisible exports', the financial services we sold overseas which were of course completely controlled by the new Lords of the Universe, the bankers. This monster 'the Market' forced house prices up and squeezed the businesses that used to be able to offer school-leavers a job at a low wage but which would teach them skills. The consequence was that the advantage I had of finding a job easily vanished and we ended up where we are today when even highly-qualified university graduates can't find work. There has been another effect. The jobs that are available do not provide a living wage, too many people are on part-time and minimum wage. They have difficulty paying for the basics of life, never mind buying a seven acre farm.
It's true that in those days I had to work hard for long hours. 80 hours a week was not uncommon and the state of my back testifies to the weights I had to lift. It sounds terrible doesn't it but I was always secure and happy. I had a regular job and was managing to support my family, they were fed and housed as well as any other kids in Barlick. Even when inflation hit 25% we managed and in about 1974 we paid the last instalment on the farm. This truly is a forgotten corner, an age in which an ordinary worker could support a family, buy a house and feel part of society. I look at young families today and could weep for them, they are under far more stress than I ever had to cope with. Nobody feels secure and the full effects of Thatcher's new economy have crashed in on us. She wasn't the only leader who succumbed to the siren call of the markets of course, the whole world is in the same mess. Somewhere down the line our leaders betrayed us. It's no good using the excuse of 'global economics' we all know that there is more than enough money in the world to support a golden age of happy secure workers, the problem is that it is either locked in bank vaults or being used to finance futile wars. You think I sound angry? You bet I am! I worked hard all my life and I can assure you I never signed up for this lot. As for the solution, I haven't got one, I'm sorry to say that this time I think we really have cocked up. Tin hats on lads, there is no respite in sight!

Image

A group of oppressed but secure workers at West Marton Dairies in 1965.
Stanley Challenger Graham
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Stanley
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

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Thanks Lads, you're faithful readers.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
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"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Old age isn't for cissies!
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

Post by chinatyke »

I truly think people in those days were more careful with their money and had more common sense. They didn't buy things they couldn't afford, bricks and mortar being the exception. Even HP was a relatively new concept. Today, people go out and spend using credit cards and blow a whole year's wages. No wonder the country is in such a mess. The old adage - you can't spend what you haven't got - is still true. And I wish the Government would have the common sense to realise that you can't spend your way out of debt.

Like you, I was easily able to obtain work. It wasn't always the ideal job, but we were brought up to work and not shirk. Your integrity and reputation as a good worker ensured you would be employed. We were taught that any work was more dignified than being "on the dole" and drawing benefits was considered shameful in our family. How things have changed: Spend tomorrows wages today. Mortgage your future. Plan a life in debt. It is now dawning on people that they won't be able to retire because their debts are so huge. Simple economics: there IS a day of reckoning!
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

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Interesting item on World Service this morning about the problems Soweto is facing as the kids get into cheap booze and designer clothes bought on credit. Yesterday there was an item on the recent problems on the mining industry in S Africa, the main source of income. Evidently the companies loaned workers money and reclaimed the payments from their wages every week, a sort of 'bucket shop' system like we had in the early days of industrialisation. Evidently the main problem was that the money borrowed was spent on ephemeral consumption rather than on solid assets like housing.A modern infection where consumerism is damaging an emerging nation.
Stanley Challenger Graham
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scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Old age isn't for cissies!
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Stanley
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

Post by Stanley »

Bumped.
(I am struck as I bump these articles how contemporary they are in outlook.)
Stanley Challenger Graham
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scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Old age isn't for cissies!
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Stanley
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

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Bumped again. This is still a topical article, we are suffering from the same ills and subject to the cruelties of 'The Market'. The gap between rich and poor has never been greater. Workers have never been paid less compared to the cost of living. Here is the reason why we are in this mess, nothing has changed.
(Yes, I'm still angry!)
Stanley Challenger Graham
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scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Old age isn't for cissies!
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Stanley
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Re: FORGOTTEN CORNERS 03

Post by Stanley »

Bumped again and now you can add Artificial Intelligence to automation and robots. The outlook is not good for the workers.....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
Old age isn't for cissies!
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