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Very little Irish people working at Oxegen!

Peppapig

A lot of english stewards etc working at Oxegen this year, even most of the fast food outlets. I was talking to 2 friendly guys from London working as stewards and they were laughing at how we can't organise anything :mad:

It's sad since its one of the biggest festivals in europe but it employs so much outsiders

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maninasia

It's a dangerous trend alright. I think it was 2006 when I started looking down my nose at them. Then 2007 they were up to me elbows. By 2009 Mini-me and pals were employed. If they get any littler they'll have to wear crash helmets to stop people standing on them!

caseyann

Pittens wrote: »

They should pay tax in England, if that is where they are resident. That is all.

And if Irish people are resident here,and go work over there on something similar they should pay tax here? How does that work exactly?

caseyann

Trashbat wrote: »

The fact is long serving Irish people are too expensive. Some people in medium to large retail and industrial sectors got cushy pay deals at the beginning of boom time nergotiated through the unions which meant they were allowed to basically stay in the same position and keep collecting the pay rises. Economies don't work this way, and the over consumption it led to created alot of the crash.

What you were left with was middle aged people who had been working at entry level at an over inflated wage with no intention of self improvement because there was guaranteed financial growth without the need for increased responsibility. Basically you had people sitting on the tills in a supermarket earning €20-€25 per hour. I even know of one group of pharmaceutical production line workers who have amassed salary increases over the past decade or so that has left them earning close to €80k. Totally unsustainable.

The knock on effect is that employers look for foreign workers who have less sense of entitlement to certain wages and also are not looking to work in the same entry level position for 30 years, so the company won't be subjected to pay rises for long term staff. While Johnny Irish man may stand on his soapbox and say he's never turn down a job, economic trends clearly show there is less profit to be had by employing him.

With regard to the festivals, these are run for the highest profit possible. Cost of living and wages are lower in the UK, so the companies tendering in the UK can come in at a lower cost, thus maximising profit for the organisers.

As for the suggestion that there may be cash in hand work going on, this is nonsense. Festivals are one of the high risk events for security providers, so you need everybody on the books and comprehensively insured.

tl;dr we caused the need for foreign workers through our greed. Foreign workers are cheaper than locals. Companies want to make money.

You mean the construction the government,banks,and big wigs?
Not us;)

twowheelsonly

I had 113 people working there, 3 of whom are foreigners. All three are living here and 2 of them work for us on a regular basis anyway.

The general story with the English Crews is that they are sub-contracted by whoever has the Contract for the given area. AFAIK there are roughly 3-4,000 security staff working there so no Irish company is big enough to handle that. Therefore they just get on to their English/Scottish/Welsh contacts and a number of them will bring over a crew of a hundred or more. They're given an area and they organise it themselves from there. The same happens in reverse and a number of Irish crews will regularly travel to the UK for festivals as well.
One Company trying to organise and roster that many staff, of people that you don't know, would be a nightmare.

Tax is paid as per any other job. They'll be paid later this week or next week as normal through their parent company and tax will be deducted at source. Whether that be in England, Ireland or Scotland is irrelevant.

Stewards don't need a PSA licence whereas Security personnel do. Usually that would be loosely defined as those that may have to be 'Hands On' would have to have a licence.

[Deleted User]

Can't blame them.

Irish staff wages are too high, generally too unionised too. If you can get foreign workers in cheaper to do the same job for less without the hassle, f*ck it, just do it.

Solution to the problem? Abolish the minimum wage and reduce union powers. Let the market adjust.

waxon-waxoff

I agree with Trashbat and mloc above, valid points on the unions. People getting paid for length of service rather than productivity or responsibility pushes up costs for everyone and makes employers reluctant to hire staff.

I was at oxegen and thought there was plenty of Irish workers there. An Irish food van or security company wont have a big range of festivals to visit and make a living from so its natural that some from the UK would be brought over. Many of the bar staff seemed to be from the North, as already said they were probably on the lower minimum rate in sterling.

Trashbat

caseyann wrote: »

You mean the construction the government,banks,and big wigs?
Not us;)

I wish i did! I love nothing more than attacking the money men

Unfortunately the ordinary persons expectations and sense of entitlement was too high.

If I work in an entry level, unskilled job there is no way i can rationally expect to buy a house, upgrade my car every 2 years, have 2 holidays a year or even start a family. If we had a culture of self improvement, rather than a culture of financial improvement, we would not be in half as bad a position as we are now.

Low end workers being overpaid and buying property causes an unnatural surge in demand on the market, meaning booms, which are unsustainable, because the employers have to cut costs when things get tough, meaning these low end workers are some of the first to suffer. This causes mass problems with the unsustainable borrowing, causing the ground level effects of the recession.

If i was overpaid in tesco, why would i leave? Why would I educate myself? why would i bother learning new skills that would help me become more productive and achieve promoitoin. I can afford my luxuries and am not stressed, after all. Of course if i lose that employment, im up to my eyeballs in debt with noone willing to offer me the same wage because i haven't developed the skill and experience to offer them anything.

panda100

mloc wrote: »

Can't blame them.

Irish staff wages are too high, generally too unionised too. If you can get foreign workers in cheaper to do the same job for less without the hassle, f*ck it, just do it.

Solution to the problem? Abolish the minimum wage and reduce union powers. Let the market adjust.

Yeah lets all work as slaves for nothing doing sh*t,meaningless jobs.
The world is pretty f*cked up If this is the only way we can spend our one,short life.

minidazzler

massdebater wrote: »

I wasn't working at Oxegen this year, but I was working as a steward with Sword Security at Oxegen for the last 2 years and almost all of the staff with us were Irish. I doubt it'd be any different this time round

Another thing, we also got the opportunity to work at Glastonbury 2 years ago with the same company so I don't think it's a case of "day tuck owr jawbs" seeing as we seem to be getting the same opportunities over there

Sword weren't working Oxegen this year AFAIK. They usually worked the Green Campsite, but this year it was all eventsec everywhere.

Sword primarily hire Irish and are usually spot on with their guys, I know a few of them, absolute top notch security, but they didn't work Oxegen this year.

caseyann

Trashbat wrote: »

I wish i did! I love nothing more than attacking the money men

Unfortunately the ordinary persons expectations and sense of entitlement was too high.

If I work in an entry level, unskilled job there is no way i can rationally expect to buy a house, upgrade my car every 2 years, have 2 holidays a year or even start a family. If we had a culture of self improvement, rather than a culture of financial improvement, we would not be in half as bad a position as we are now.

Low end workers being overpaid and buying property causes an unnatural surge in demand on the market, meaning booms, which are unsustainable, because the employers have to cut costs when things get tough, meaning these low end workers are some of the first to suffer. This causes mass problems with the unsustainable borrowing, causing the ground level effects of the recession.

If i was overpaid in tesco, why would i leave? Why would I educate myself? why would i bother learning new skills that would help me become more productive and achieve promoitoin. I can afford my luxuries and am not stressed, after all. Of course if i lose that employment, im up to my eyeballs in debt with noone willing to offer me the same wage because i haven't developed the skill and experience to offer them anything.

Low end workers been over paid.What you think a low end worker is,who is not significant to get paid good?

[Deleted User]

panda100 wrote: »

Yeah lets all work as slaves for nothing doing sh*t,meaningless jobs.
The world is pretty f*cked up If this is the only way we can spend our one,short life.

Who said work for nothing?

It's pretty simple. There are not enough jobs in the market. The entry barrier to creating jobs, in many instances, is the high cost of wages. Lower this entry barrier = more jobs. You have a low end job, you get low end pay. That will motivate people to work harder, better themselves, and eventually get a better job.

It's a system that drives a healthy work ethic in many other countries, where people are willing to work for a lower wage to get on the employment ladder. Work, in some respects, is something to be proud of, because it is a sign that someone is willing to actually try and improve themselves. Ireland, on the other hand, has fostered a culture where all work must be paid well above the odds and the drive for self-improvement is lost in a culture of mediocracy and a state that is over supportive.

It's nonsense to suggest that every job must be well paid.

caseyann

mloc wrote: »

Who said work for nothing?

It's pretty simple. There are not enough jobs in the market. The entry barrier to creating jobs, in many instances, is the high cost of wages. Lower this entry barrier = more jobs. You have a low end job, you get low end pay. That will motivate people to work harder, better themselves, and eventually get a better job.

It's a system that drives a healthy work ethic in many other countries, where people are willing to work for a lower wage to get on the employment ladder. Work, in some respects, is something to be proud of, because it is a sign that someone is willing to actually try and improve themselves. Ireland, on the other hand, has fostered a culture where all work must be paid well above the odds and the drive for self-improvement is lost in a culture of mediocracy and a state that is over supportive.

It's nonsense to suggest that every job must be well paid.

And then the Irish get accused of not wanting them jobs so when no jobs not entitled to them back.

recylingbin

Very little Irish people working at Oxegen!

Leprechauns?

gu10

Oxegen is ****e and MCD are bastards.

DubMedic

gu10 wrote: »

Oxegen is ****e and MCD are bastards.

Thank you for your well thought-out criticism and post.

Trashbat

caseyann wrote: »

Low end workers been over paid.What you think a low end worker is,who is not significant to get paid good?

Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. A low end worker would be in an unskilled job. Generally one with a smaller level of responsibility, a lower profit capability and the like.

You cant pay someone the best part of €40k to sit on the tills in a supermarkey, or fold clothes in Roches Stores, becasue the service they provide doesn't generate enough revenue to justify that and the job isn't hard enough that they can't be replaced easily.

Its not that the worker is not significant, its that the job isn't. If you knwo what i mean.

eightyfish

recylingbin wrote: »

Leprechauns?

RTFT. It's only 10 posts in.

[Deleted User]

Trashbat wrote: »

Its not that the worker is not significant, its that the job isn't. If you knwo what i mean.

This is an important point. While the pay should be low, it doesn't mean the worker should be treated like, or viewed as, a slave or as worthless. Any decent company should treat their staff well to improve productivity, even if they are low paid staff.

Charisma

A friend of mine works (Irish lad) Oxygen every year and he is only hired for big events such as Oxygen and the Marlay concerts where they require casual workers due to the large numbers of people attending one off events. To do this 3 day event he has to sign off and sign back on loosing 3 days jobseekers allowance. He has to drive there and feed himself for three days at the mental prices they are charging for any kind of food or liquid. He gets soaked wet every year with no facilities for them to wash etc.. he was spat at last year and had things thrown at him this year and always gets dogs abuse from kids out of their heads. The shifts are long and they are only paid for 8 hours as a day. They cant even drive home after each day because of the traffic there in and out so unless they live locally they have to stay the 3 days. They are provided with no where to stay either so 3 days in the rain, sleeping in a tent or car is what most do with nowhere to dry off. They pay emergency tax on their 3 days pay at min wage which takes ages to claim back. It costs him most of what he earns in expenses to get there and feed water himself for the three days. Thats why most Irish dont want to do it. Would you?

Healium

Practically every steward I met was English. I've no problem with it, the event went extremely smooth, just an observation

Killer Pigeon

Day durk ur jabs!!

[Deleted User]

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Day durk ur jabs!!

Wiyld you have taken it if offered?

up for anything

The title of this thread should have been 'Very few Irish people working at Oxegen!', otherwise I assume that somebody decided Leprechauns were being unfairly discriminated against and that instead of sitting at home nursing their pots of gold (social welfare cards) that they should be put to work.

Killer Pigeon

Deleted User wrote: »

Wiyld you have taken it if offered?

That's not the point, the point is - DAY DURK OR JABS!!

Wolfe Tone

Healium wrote: »

Practically every steward I met was English. I've no problem with it, the event went extremely smooth, just an observation

You mean they werent just foreigners, they were BRITS? :eek: