11566 OOO errr!!!

I think I recognise the hand gesture being "offered" by the ragazzo on the right of the photo in your link!:laughs:

As ever it's great to see the spirit of the free market being embraced so warmly.:nah:

It looks as if the EU is not very "united" when it comes to competing for jobs..... After all, as Ghianda says, it is supposed to be a free market.

I was listening to this on the news earlier and must say that I do sympathise with the people who must be feeling very angry at the thought of losing their jobs.
If I was in their position I perhaps would be feeling the same, especially with the economy being as it is right now.
The government need to get back on track with their so called pledge of UK jobs for UK citizens.:madd:
Rant over!

Francesca

Can you [I]imagine[/I] what the situation would be if the tables were reversed? The unions in Italy would have [I]'40 fits' [/I]and call a general strike, organise huge public protests and marches, advocate a boycot of UK goods and I wouldn't be surprised if they even tried to take work away from UK citizens working here in Italy too....

Oh yes - who said "all things are equal in the EU?"
WELL THEY'RE NOT! :nah:

True Carole, but it would never get that far though, would it?!

It's the sort of thing I'd argue with people who say that we aren't really part of the EU, or enthusiasts for it, just because we aren't in the Euro.
I also point out our major contribution to CAP and how we, unlike most of the other countries, have opened up our utilities to foreign ownership,
although I personally thing that was a mistake.

Anyway, as long as I get some EU funds for teaching English, I'll be happy!

[quote=Nielo;109562]I could understand it better if the pound still bought €1.50 but with the currencies being virtually at parity, it must mean the Italians are prepared to work for less.
[/quote]

No, that doesn't follow in any way. The Italian and Portugese workers are employed by a non-British contractor, who will be paying them in Euros.

Besides which, the East Lindsey refinery is owned by Total, a French company, so the British workers should be thankful they've got a job, and are not under seige from some French Unionists!

[quote=Nielo;109562]
Incidentally, there are two rude gestures in the photo, one universal and the other quintessentially Italian!:laughs::bigergrin:[/quote]

Here is the quintessentially Italian one - in motion! (those with Pacemakers should not view) :bigergrin:

[ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S55hCuO9BtA&feature=channel_page]YouTube - friggifriggi.it[/ame]

[quote=Francesca;109547]I was listening to this on the news earlier and must say that I do sympathise with the people who must be feeling very angry at the thought of losing their jobs.
If I was in their position I perhaps would be feeling the same, especially with the economy being as it is right now.
The government need to get back on track with their so called pledge of UK jobs for UK citizens.:madd:
Rant over!

Francesca[/quote]

Nobody is actually losing a job.
This, as I understand it, is a contract to build an extension to the existing facilities. The contract was awarded by CFP to a Californian contractor, who has sub-contracted (what the Americans see as) "local" labour to an Italian firm. The Italian firm, naturally, want to use their own workers because they already have them, and need the work. That's what contractors do.

I would think it highly probable that UK companies were invited to tender for the contracts, but they clearly failed to win them. It has to be said that British unionised labour is not seen in the best light around the world, which may be part of the reason why the Italian bid was successful.

The whole problem is caused by Brown shooting his mouth off about UK jobs for UK people in order to score a few cheap political points in the House. As he is now discovering in the real world, political soundbites are no substitute for actual policies.

Terry

Strange double standard. In Siracusa there is a company building the new regassificatore at Priolo, using British workers - they won the contract add yet there arent Italians picketing the site. Im not sure it is Browns fault - I suspect its more likely to be the gungho jingoism of the Daily Mail, which is increasingly worried about our Europeanness. Nice article on the news yesterday that said it looked like GB was to accept the euro in the not too distant future, and become 'European' - Wont hold my breath.

[quote=ram;109876]............ Im not sure it is Browns fault - I suspect its more likely to be the gungho jingoism of the Daily Mail, .............[/quote]

For once I don't think you can blame the newspapers - even the Daily Mail!

The problem was that Brown made his infamous sound bite when the UK economy was going well -

Now that its not, his sound bite has 'come home to roost', and it is being used as a 'rallying call' by both .worried workers and union activists.
The former because they see the risk of unemployment in the not too distant future, and the latter who haven't liked Brown for years, and have leapt at the opportunity to bash him

.

A propos to the story about 'foreign workers' in East Anglia, I heard on the P M programme this evening, Radio 4 between 5 and 6 pm each weekday evening, a rather irate sounding David Petrie (?spelling) calling from Italy, chair of the association for foreign lecturers (or something like that, Eddie Mair speaks so quickly) advising against going to Italy for a job. Go for a pizza or a holiday yes, but not a job. He said 'you may think that you will be treated equally (EEC) but this is not the case'. He alleged that 'in Italy you get a teaching job through your contacts, who you know, and not on merit or because of qualifications'. My Italian teacher of Italian says that in Italy you have no choice as to which school you will teach in. The schools have a list of names of those who are qualified and choose from that, there is no interview. Comments anyone?
Annie.

Well, anniet, it is a given that any public sector employment in Italy - whether it be a humble vigile urbano or a professor - is down to nepotism. On the other hand, if you are bidding for a pipeline contract, you are probably dealing with a multinational; so it comes down to best price. I'm really quite ancient, and I'm not persuaded that best price gets best results! Maybe, in this 'downturn' (ROFL), we will see that nepotism is actually an intelligent choice. By saying this - (shorthand, I could write a long paper on this) - I'm not condoning protectionism: but there are areas when opening up a contract pan-European is simply daft, and if the bean counters get a bit less influence on management choices we'll be in a more sensible position to move forward.

[quote=Anniet2;109926]A My Italian teacher of Italian says that in Italy you have no choice as to which school you will teach in. The schools have a list of names of those who are qualified and choose from that, there is no interview. Comments anyone?
Annie.[/quote]

Most public service appointments - comune, schools, health service etc are awarded on the basis of a 'concorso'. This involves written and oral exams resulting in 'points' - points are also awarded on the basis of previous public employment (in the health service anything out of Italy or in the private sector essentially counts for nothing) and social situation - ie number of dependents especially if elderly/disabled/special needs etc. All the points are added together and the applicant with the highest amount gets the job. There is no 'best fit' type interview. This system is employed as it is supposedly annonomous and less likely to be swayed by personnal likes/dislikes of the employers towards the applicants???????!! Once successful you are employed by the local health or education authority and not by an individual hospital or school etc. so yes, you have no choice in where you are sent within the area covered by that authority! Once in post, you can request a transfer but often this is only granted if you can put forward a good argument as to why you should be 'allowed' to work nearer to home.