Following the last post there is something that is quite common and accepted even while it’s plain discrimination. It can be excused with financial reasons regarding taxes and form of payment but in the end those are only details that could be easily solved. This discrimination occurs daily and is rarely spoken of: canteen selection. All the bigger companies over the world have a canteen. All of those I worked for had one. Usually this little plus allows workers to get a fairly good meal at a fairly good price without leaving the premises of the company. Company wins, employees wins. And everybody knows that a happy employee is a productive employee, don’t we?
But the human being is a hierarchical one, he needs order and levels. When it comes to this matter Portugal is from far the worse. At least for now. When I worked as a contractor for many entities in the Government I was automatically cut off the canteen. Not authorized, members only rule. The pillar of Democracy was, and is, making a difference between his own employees. A privilege that me and so many others were not entitled to held. I didn’t care at the time, even if I must confess I nurtured a bit of jealousy as it was a real good deal quality/price. But I had a job, and it was already a good thing to work. Many jobs followed, still in Government agencies every time with the same policy except while I worked for schools or Universities. There I was allowed to use the canteen but paying a price higher than students and teachers. Even then they were three levels of access: student, teacher and employee. The fairest since I started to work, even if I don’t see a real difference between teachers and employees that justify the price of the canteen ticket. Later on I worked in Germany where food was bad so I was not affected. Too bad, because at first they were no difference of price. Just tasteless, in the best cases. It went on some years like that till they changed the rules, reducing the food given (I remember when they counted the “kroketten” up to 6 instead of a full plate of it), raised the prices and added a tax for contractors of one Euro. Pretty unfair and nothing was done as usual except a big complaining that lead to no action at all. One person acted regarding this and he was sacked. Obviously nobody moved. Truth hurts, always. Again it was time for a change and I moved back to Toulouse in a bigger company than the last one. France is different, country of old repressed royalty and “gentilhomme”, much better food and choices, entrées, dessert, plats chauds ou froids... Much more to pick from than 20 different kinds of sausages for breakfast or four type of Kartoffeln for lunch. And free coffee, even if Frenchies cannot do a good coffee. Free access to all. The downside? Contractors have to pay 4,8 Euros as a tax for not being direct employees. Even for the 2,5 Euros sandwich menu (sandwich, canned drink and dessert). Everybody hate it, on the contractor side of course. The “others” and the Unions never cared about this issue as usual. So far nobody acted, all look aside just like when you cross by an homeless person, you look away and pretend he is not there. Too busy to just maintain the Status Quo. They just live to endure, not to change anything.
And me? Well, maybe it’s time to take the power back.
But the human being is a hierarchical one, he needs order and levels. When it comes to this matter Portugal is from far the worse. At least for now. When I worked as a contractor for many entities in the Government I was automatically cut off the canteen. Not authorized, members only rule. The pillar of Democracy was, and is, making a difference between his own employees. A privilege that me and so many others were not entitled to held. I didn’t care at the time, even if I must confess I nurtured a bit of jealousy as it was a real good deal quality/price. But I had a job, and it was already a good thing to work. Many jobs followed, still in Government agencies every time with the same policy except while I worked for schools or Universities. There I was allowed to use the canteen but paying a price higher than students and teachers. Even then they were three levels of access: student, teacher and employee. The fairest since I started to work, even if I don’t see a real difference between teachers and employees that justify the price of the canteen ticket. Later on I worked in Germany where food was bad so I was not affected. Too bad, because at first they were no difference of price. Just tasteless, in the best cases. It went on some years like that till they changed the rules, reducing the food given (I remember when they counted the “kroketten” up to 6 instead of a full plate of it), raised the prices and added a tax for contractors of one Euro. Pretty unfair and nothing was done as usual except a big complaining that lead to no action at all. One person acted regarding this and he was sacked. Obviously nobody moved. Truth hurts, always. Again it was time for a change and I moved back to Toulouse in a bigger company than the last one. France is different, country of old repressed royalty and “gentilhomme”, much better food and choices, entrées, dessert, plats chauds ou froids... Much more to pick from than 20 different kinds of sausages for breakfast or four type of Kartoffeln for lunch. And free coffee, even if Frenchies cannot do a good coffee. Free access to all. The downside? Contractors have to pay 4,8 Euros as a tax for not being direct employees. Even for the 2,5 Euros sandwich menu (sandwich, canned drink and dessert). Everybody hate it, on the contractor side of course. The “others” and the Unions never cared about this issue as usual. So far nobody acted, all look aside just like when you cross by an homeless person, you look away and pretend he is not there. Too busy to just maintain the Status Quo. They just live to endure, not to change anything.
And me? Well, maybe it’s time to take the power back.
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