Chapter 4
Wastelands
The unfolding events of 1979 threw many hardworking skilled men on the scrap heap. William became just another statistic. The axe invariably fell on middle management those at the top safely entrenched
whilst the minions took up the slack working twice as hard for a meagre pay rise. New companies appeared and disappeared.
David March - Government University of Strathclyde - in his article "British Industrial Relations Policy Transformed - The Thatcher legacy wrote: it is widely believed by political scientists that the Thatcher Government transformed British Industrial Relations and curbed union power. Indeed, and the pendulum swung violently right, children of the greed culture were spawned.
The tragic human consequences were wrecked marriages, repossessed homes and a demoralized work force. Jobs for life became a thing of the past. Many men were now at the mercy of ruthless employers, it was show time for the hire and fire brigade some downright ruthless in their tactics. Some men finished up in cardboard city as their wives clung to the spoils of their executive posts but that was never an option for me. It was for better or worse. I remembered the encouragement received from my bank manager he said "It could happen to me. Any day now someone from head office could arrive ask me to remove my personal belongings and go straight away" Quite prophetically he became a victim himself.
The financial stress was taking its toll. My siblings remained untouched in successful businesses and
professional careers.
Somehow William staggered through a period of minimum wage jobs with temporary contracts anything was better than the degrading queue at the Job Centre. When all that was left was a vacancy for "night security" on a building site we knew we were bumping along the bottom. Ever cheerful he plodded on "its a job and its better than the dole" Before long he was promoted to Inspector and then Assignment Manager, not that the pay was much better - these were just titles.
One bitterly cold winter night he was visiting a new contract which was virtually a shed placed in the middle of a field of surrounded by building materials. The employee was suffering from hypothermia, no heating had been provided. William reported the incident as he checked in at the end of a long night. The manager who was known as a practicing Christian said "well if he doesn't like his conditions he can join the dole queue there are plenty waiting to take his job." William was disgusted and commented "that's Christians for you" Just another nail in the coffin of his opinion regarding those who certainly didn't practice what they preached. Another take over and once again middle management were the casualties and William was informed "last in - first out".
My new employment as a legal secretary in a city practice had become a nightmare. A new breed of young predator emerged, those who would quite happily stab anyone in the back to acquire their promotion. The office buzzed with gossip as I returned from my annual leave. My boss a salacious junior partner in the practice had succeeded in seducing his temporary secretary and now wanted this youthful barbie as his permanent assistant. The financial director commented "I really don't like this kind of behaviour and you don't have to accept this, but I wonder if you would mind working for the new solicitor in the practice. I will arrange for your salary to remain at the same level.
My previous employer in a small out of town legal practice was a pleasant young Jewish solicitor. He contacted me regarding a mutual case. "Do you think you could get me in there" he enquired. I prayed to God he was joking. I replied "Ian you are too nice to work here" For the next few weeks I worked for a rather quiet young man who had been promised the Barbie and having lost out to his opponent remained sullen and withdrawn. I had had enough. For the first time in my life I walked off the job feeling rather ill. I resigned on genuine sick leave only to find William had just received his third redundancy notice.
And so it continued and sleepless nights followed as we searched for an escape route, sometimes talking until sunrise. We were now fighting agism in the employment market. I felt trapped every door slammed in my face. There was nowhere to run.
We remembered a science fiction series called "The Twilight Zone" A passenger on an airline glancing out of his window observes a small gremlin type creature with a malicious grin on its face slowly dismantling the plane's wing to the horror of its captive victim. We knew the feeling, despite every effort we were going down fast. Our grandchildren remained the only brief ray of sunshine in an otherwise hopeless situation.
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