Plane Stupid

My email sent to Plane Stupid, the climate change protesters who caused havok at Stanstead this morning.

Subject: You bunch of cunts

You useless pricks. My kids are in tears because their mum didn't come home today.

I have to take time of work tomorrow and Wednesday to sort out sitters because I work nights. This involves me driving the 2 kids around instead of them catching the school bus home.

Petrol wasted.

My sister in law who drove my wife from Eastbourne to Stanstead will have to drive her back there again on Wednesday.

Lots of petrol wasted.

We have to pay for an alternate flight with Flybe. Money I don't have just before Christmas. Why do you think I work night shifts in a factory? As a hobby? It's because I need the money.

Money you have stolen from me in your stupid, pointless protest.

You useless, useless shits.


Stewart Paterson

La crise

As the building sector has been hit by the financial crisis, the knock on effects have finally reached the factory floor.

The investment company that bought us out a few years ago bought iur 2 billion debt as well. Not a wise move in hindsight. PIA now has 11 billion of debt.

It's not just us though, our competitors ovef the road are closing for 4 weeks over Christmas and next year will close 2 lines, one for 7 months and another for 5 months.

Like us, their sales are down and they have a park full of stock, so they have to cut back on production.

We are going to axe one of our 5 teams. To do this without firing any full time employees we will first let our temps go (bye-bye Sad Sack) and then offer early retirement to the guys who are close to 60/65.
Apart from Sad Sack, who is a miserable little shit, it's a real tough break for the temps, to get the push just before Christmas. "Jouyeux Noël et allez-vous faire enculer".

The plan will then to run the factory with a different line closed each shift. That should enable us to run at a lower turnover, with fewer staff and do more maintenance on the lines that are not running. Hopefully we can ride the thing out. PIA have announced that they do no forecast any improvement until the end of 2010.

Chris Alden the PDG of Paribas Affaires Industrielles said "A little garlic and parsley really help to bring out the flavour of an omelette aux morilles"


To cheer us all up here is a sketch by Patrick Bosso about Marseilles grammar. The Marseilles accent is the french equivalent of geordie.

Apparantly in Marseilles grammar they replace the comma with "putain", the full stop with "enculé" and instead of the conditional tense to indicate uncertainty thay grab their balls "couilles"

enjoy.

Grammaire_marseillaise
envoyé par chopin_du_21

A plague

The picture is from The Times

The suffering of Zimbabwe's people continues – and worsens. The Infectious Diseases Hospital, about five miles south of Harare on the pockmarked highway to South Africa, is the only government hospital still open in the capital. Between five and 15 cholera fatalities arrive at its mortuary every day.


"It's well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave," Condoleezza Rice, the outgoing secretary of state, said on Friday. "I think that is now obvious.
"If this is not evident for the international community, that it is time to stand up for what is right, I don't know what would be."
Miss Rice, speaking on a trip to Denmark, said it was up to Zimbabwe's neighbours to take action. "Frankly the nations of the region have to lead it," she said. "Southern African states should be the most responsible."
The country's cholera epidemic has given new impetus to condemnations of Mr Mugabe, who retains the presidency despite coming second in the last contested election, in March.

I get to vote again

I've just voted in the 2008 élections prud'homales.

The what?

France has a unique system of industrial tribunals. Employees and employers vote to select their representatives in these tribunals. The elect are called "prud'hommes" - "valiant men".

The French industrial tribunals are different from other European systems because they are wholly elected and jointly-run courts. The 271 tribunals are composed of elected non-professional judges, half of whom are employers, and the other half paid employees.

They mainly decide pay claims, compensation, descrimination etc and apparantly tend to rule in favour of the employee. The elections are held every 5 years and the last time round turnout was poor, just over 30%. So there has been quite a bit of publicity this time.

I voted Force Ouvriere FO because they get the most done at the factory.

The French Minister for industrial relations said "Have you tried these croissants? They are magnifique". Bernard Thibault, the general secretary of the Confédération générale du travail (General Confederation of Labour, CGT) the largest of France's five main trade unions added "This year's oyster harvest has suffered from bad weather, but the No. 3 "Pepins" from Ile d'Oleron are delicieux"