Another one of those days


I used to start work at 08.00 and I would leave home between 07.00 and 07.10 and still get to work with plenty of time to spare and very rarely be late. Two years ago the management decided to change my starting and finishing times as part of a “shorter working week” (note the inverted commas) agreement with the union. I now start at 08.30 and of course finish later as a consequence. Because the roads are now clogged up as I am now travelling much nearer peak times this has added about 20/30 minutes a day to my travelling time.
Now I leave the house about 07.20 to drive to Manchester to get to work for 08.30. Normally I just manage to get there on time, but now and then the roads can be very busy.
Normally they are just busy because it is raining, or it’s a bit colder, or for no apparent reason. Today the back of the queue started about fifteen miles from Manchester !! It did and it didn’t. There was a three-mile queue to an old banger of a transit van broken down on a very busy roundabout with traffic lights. (Maybe the government/police should revue policy on badly maintained vehicles braking down and blocking the road – it definitely adds to the chaos. It is a regular thing on my route to work)
After getting through the three mile queue another five miles up the road I hit the main queue into Manchester which is now twice as long as normal because I am now so behind. Etc. etc.
Of course this sort of thing happens on the way home as well.
So the result of years of negotiation between the management and the unions is that I now leave home 20 minutes later and get home 30 minutes later this is due to a “reduction” in hours with a change in my start/finish times so twisted by the management that I actually lose 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours a week !!

Use public transport I hear you say. I used to. Then I got fed up, and I now save myself time and money commuting in car. It’s the lesser of two evils.

When I arrive at work I spend all day sat at a PC in an office. I had a brilliant idea, as I work for a communications/IT company I asked the management if I could work from home. I would always be on time whatever the weather, I could work extra hours as required with no hardship, it would be better for the environment, I would get an extra 8 hours a week at home. I would have much lower stress levels. Unfortunately it is not convenient for the manager. It looks a lot tidier with us all sat in an office.

Of course this is something that has not developed overnight. When I first started working for the company I worked in my local town and I lived just ten minutes walk from where I worked. Then after a few years I changed my job within the company to work about fifteen minuses drive up the road. No problem. The department I worked for closed and I had to work at Stockport about 30 minutes drive. That closed and the job moved to Macclesfield, about 35 minutes away. That job closed and I moved to Manchester about an hour away. They changed my start/finsh times and now my travel time is even longer.

Yes I am looking for another job, but I am in my 50’s, looking to draw a company pension and retire from the rat race as soon as possible.

Yes I am pissed off, but I can’t find a job that pays better without working in another city, i.e. London. Out of the frying pan etc……..