A sense of fear

Whilst I.M Beck informs us from the pages of The Times about his weekly culinary adventures, the many are struggling to make ends meet till the end of the month. We are living in a society where the many till the land and the few banquet in the castle. There are those that do not even receive their wages by the end of the month. The uncanny industrial practice of withholding the payment of what should be a hard-earned income has crept in. At times, employees have to toil for months with the hope of receiving what is due to them. You may ask: “But what makes employees remain attached to such an ungrateful employment?” The answer is plain and uncomplicated: fear. Fear of not finding another job. Fear that their former employer would not pay what is due to them by way of retortion. Taking your employer to court to make him cough up the money is a tiresome, discouraging and costly affair, especially if you engage a lawyer. We have long been living hard times in the industrial sector, long before the present international crisis appeared. A crisis, which I must say has lent itself to be a convenient excuse to explain all the social and economic ailings that are presently afflicting us. Along the years the industrial sector has seen the advent of a number of unorthodox practices that have brought to naught social and industrial rights. Until the mid-nineties it was inconceivable to circumvent these rights, but it is no longer so. Government itself has laid down the rules of this unenviable circumvention of industrial rights, with the pretext of encouraging employment mobility or else shedding public expenditure. It created a deep sense of uncertainty and lack of peace of mind in the labour force. Having your employment terminated by insensitive schemes, leaves you with a Hobson’s choice of either taking the offer or else finding yourself hitting the street. If you are in your mid-50s or 40s it would be madness not to accept an early retirement scheme. This instils the fear of losing the bird in hand, if you think of going for the two in the bush. On the other hand trying to find another employment is like a leap in the dark. The labour market offers a myriad of uncertainties. The frequent use of contracts of employment for a definite time have become standard and common practice. The frontrunner in this respect is the government itself. I know a number of people who are employed in the public sector and who have already been informed that their employment contract will not be extended. They will have to seek employment elsewhere. In all probability it would not be easy to find other employment timely enough to meet your bills or else an employment with as favourable terms and conditions. In the private sector short term contracts have become standard and the take it or leave approach has become a normal and acceptable practice. What is worrying about all this is, that the government is tacitly approving with a wink and a nod. Its conspicuous lack of enthusiasm to monitor what is truly happening the industrial sector is a way how to acquiesce to all this. Uncertainty creates fear. The fear of not finding another employment or of earning less. The fear of finding yourself without income when the day before you have just paid the water and electricity bills. This is the case, for example, of those thousands who have a part-time job as their main and only source of income. Part-timers can be sacked at will without the need to motivate the termination. There is no guarantee that the day after they are going back to their employment. Fear depresses the economy. Those who employ and are only in for a quick buck, are not what exactly our economy needs. I personally know quite a good number of employers and entrepreneurs who have always treated their employees with respect and offered them peace of mind. So much so, that when they were constrained to take austerity measures these were accepted with a sense of industrial serenity at all levels of production. Their employees know, that when the going was good they couldn’t complain. They know that when times get better, they will be in a position to reap the fruit of their sacrifices. They trust their employers because of their past performance during better times. On the other hand there is another brand of “employer”. These are those who instil fear in their employees. They little realise, that they are harming themselves and that their shortsightedness is counterproductive. Employees are the bulk of those that consume and consumption is at the heart of production. One leads to the other. If those living in fear hold back from consuming because of fear of what tomorrow holds in stock, then everyone is in trouble. I fear that matters seem to be getting worse.