Monday 23 February 2015

The Beaker Folk Will Not Pay Below the Living Wage

In the light of recent comment in the media I've had people coming up to me today asking whether anybody in the Beaker Community is paid under the so-called "living wage". I've no idea why it's called a "living wage", as it's pretty clear that Iain Duncan Smith, for example, couldn't live on it. It wouldn't even keep him in smarm.

But never mind. The answer to the question is that no, we do not pay anybody in the Beaker Community under the living wage. Hnaef, Daphne, Charlii, Keith and I are paid via an account in the British Virgin Islands. And technically we're not employees, we're charity trustees. So that's all fine.

Burton Dasset does the role of Treasurer for free as he thinks I might one day be overcome by the realization that everything he does, he does it for me. Which only ends up with more money being funneled via the BVI, to pay for my anti-emetics.

And, of the people who perform the more menial roles around the place, I would like to make it clear that Rodrick in the Beaker Bazaar is an intern and Morry is a volunteer. Chezney who works on the till is on work experience.  Bernie, the cook, works for the roadkill and because I know what happened to his uncle. And Dazza and Dreidrie, the handy person and cleaner, are respectively just retired and helping out, and self-supporting.

So no - we at the Beaker Folk don't pay anybody under the living wage. I'm glad I've made that clear.

1 comment :

  1. I knew it. Don't pay, won't pay gets a whole new meaning with the Arch(Tightwad)Druid Eileen.

    If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. If you pay nothing you get sad people who don't know that slavery was abolished in the UK over 170 years ago.

    I know that people owned slaves in bibilical times, but that was on the basis of ancient authorities, which believed that owning a person was a human right (of the owner that it). But you've managed to circumvent legislation by brain washing people to work for nothing on a purely voluntary basis. May your tea lights burn low and gutter and may your doilies founder and curl around the edges.

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