Last day of the working week as it is of course Good Friday tomorrow and the start of Easter festivities.
Australia Post are offering us a rare opportunity to enjoy some management goodwill today by providing dinner for staff as a thankyou for our efforts during the recent flood crisis.
It seems a bit of a strange thing to do on their behalf and sometimes it seems that someone in the upper echelons suddenly comes up with a seemingly great idea to lift the morale of staff by putting on a half-hearted soiree such as the one we will have to endure today, not realising that it takes more than a coat of paint to make a house look new again.
Over the last four months the rostered Sunday shifts have been cut back costing staff about $3000 a year. Our regular early release at Christmas was banned as was our usual Christmas luncheon and any form of early mark during the year has been stopped. Apparently leaving before the bell, even if you have worked hard and done all that is required is regarded as fraud! And some people wonder why we join unions!
So, on top of all that some mastermind has decided that the staff will enjoy two pieces of Kentucky Fried chicken and a can of coke and that all will be well with the world and confidence in leadership will be maintained.
Personally I would rather forgo the chicken and be allowed to go home early with a shake of the hand from the manager and a thankyou for a good effort in the first half of the year. But it won’t happen and behind the veneer the same unthinking cadre will be patting themselves on the back believing that they have taken the efficiency of the mail centre to a new level by keeping the proletariat happy.
I’ve never been very ambitious in my life and perhaps that comes from a character flaw because most people seem to want to get ahead and improve their position in the world but I have, since reaching maturity, nearly always been content with my lot. I’ve had plenty of moments of course where things haven’t gone right but the balance in my life has always been such that my equilibrium has always been quickly restored.
Now, for the first time, I feel that I have outlived the usefullness that AP has been to me over the last 25 years. They are going nowhere and I am travelling down that dark road with them, albeit as a passenger.
I’ve been proud to work for the company and it has suited me but the last four years has left me bewildered. I think most of the staff have had enough and would bail out if only they could. It would take a fantastic manager to turn this ship away from the iceberg. I don’t like the odds of survival.
I haven’t ranted about my work for a little while so it was probably time to vent. I have a note on my computer telling me not write anything about AP but I got on a roll and couldn’t help it. It will be my last say on employment for a while. I will concentrate on the positives from here.
I am off to Melbourne tomorrow. A long drive down just to watch a single night session of the World Track Cycling Championships seemed like a good idea when my brain first mooted it but I’m not so sure now. It will be an outing if nothing else and I will be back on Sunday and able to rest up on Monday before the assault on my brain matter begins again on Tuesday.
Not sure if I will be able to blog from my apartment in Fitzroy but I will take my laptop and see what I can do. I can’t imagine going to one of the world’s great cities and not finding something of note to report on.
So I will sign off for now and I sincerely hope all of those taking the time to peek in here have a great Easter. Just remember that these days in the Christian calendar are all about goodwill towards your fellow man. I hope to live up to those lofty ambitions.
Australia Post are offering us a rare opportunity to enjoy some management goodwill today by providing dinner for staff as a thankyou for our efforts during the recent flood crisis.
It seems a bit of a strange thing to do on their behalf and sometimes it seems that someone in the upper echelons suddenly comes up with a seemingly great idea to lift the morale of staff by putting on a half-hearted soiree such as the one we will have to endure today, not realising that it takes more than a coat of paint to make a house look new again.
Over the last four months the rostered Sunday shifts have been cut back costing staff about $3000 a year. Our regular early release at Christmas was banned as was our usual Christmas luncheon and any form of early mark during the year has been stopped. Apparently leaving before the bell, even if you have worked hard and done all that is required is regarded as fraud! And some people wonder why we join unions!
So, on top of all that some mastermind has decided that the staff will enjoy two pieces of Kentucky Fried chicken and a can of coke and that all will be well with the world and confidence in leadership will be maintained.
Personally I would rather forgo the chicken and be allowed to go home early with a shake of the hand from the manager and a thankyou for a good effort in the first half of the year. But it won’t happen and behind the veneer the same unthinking cadre will be patting themselves on the back believing that they have taken the efficiency of the mail centre to a new level by keeping the proletariat happy.
I’ve never been very ambitious in my life and perhaps that comes from a character flaw because most people seem to want to get ahead and improve their position in the world but I have, since reaching maturity, nearly always been content with my lot. I’ve had plenty of moments of course where things haven’t gone right but the balance in my life has always been such that my equilibrium has always been quickly restored.
Now, for the first time, I feel that I have outlived the usefullness that AP has been to me over the last 25 years. They are going nowhere and I am travelling down that dark road with them, albeit as a passenger.
I’ve been proud to work for the company and it has suited me but the last four years has left me bewildered. I think most of the staff have had enough and would bail out if only they could. It would take a fantastic manager to turn this ship away from the iceberg. I don’t like the odds of survival.
I haven’t ranted about my work for a little while so it was probably time to vent. I have a note on my computer telling me not write anything about AP but I got on a roll and couldn’t help it. It will be my last say on employment for a while. I will concentrate on the positives from here.
I am off to Melbourne tomorrow. A long drive down just to watch a single night session of the World Track Cycling Championships seemed like a good idea when my brain first mooted it but I’m not so sure now. It will be an outing if nothing else and I will be back on Sunday and able to rest up on Monday before the assault on my brain matter begins again on Tuesday.
Not sure if I will be able to blog from my apartment in Fitzroy but I will take my laptop and see what I can do. I can’t imagine going to one of the world’s great cities and not finding something of note to report on.
So I will sign off for now and I sincerely hope all of those taking the time to peek in here have a great Easter. Just remember that these days in the Christian calendar are all about goodwill towards your fellow man. I hope to live up to those lofty ambitions.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 