Back to work

[rab1]

I`ve got a works fuel card plus an allowance for the car I use (knocked back the van for tax reasons) but dont take the piss. As LLL stated you always pick up on a corner or bus stop never at their door as you will all be late for work.

[local patios and driveway]

I got him the van for work, it means i can send him out on other jobs and he can move my other guy around who cant drive. But the perk is that he can take it home and use it, giving him a weekly fuel allowance as i already know it does 90 miles to a tenner. See how it goes, if its agg i will flog it

[seanandruby]

van drivers perks, if he has to drive, pick up men and have a firms van outside his drum then he deservs extra and to use the vehicle out of hours. Some guys i work with are paid from door to door and can clock up 18 /19 hours a day, pick up £1500 a week. It's always ''tradesmen'' who call the lads labourers. Van driver, hod carriers, ground workers, plumbers mate, improvers, operatives is a lot better. Scum springs to mind when called labourer

[lutonlagerlout]

on my birth certificate my dad's occupation is listed as " builder's labourer"
thats what he listed himself as and both of us are happy with it

when i think of operatives i think of lads in hi-viz and hard hats working under floodlights in the dark at 4.55pm on wates jobs for £7.50 an hour on xmas eve ,pouring concrete.
it takes all sorts i suppose
LLL

[Injured]

I thought an operative operated machinery and a labourer labours for a more skilled worker ie does all the hard graft. :rock:

[Carberry]

Shovel operating soil removal engineer works for me :laugh:

[seanandruby]

yes lll but that was 50 years ago, most of the lower classes where classed as labourers, my dad was down asa plasteres labourer but could spread as good as the time served bods'. It seems the time served guys are the ones most likely to adopt the mightier than though attitude, i e '' i'll get my labourer to do so and so'', or '' your only a labourer, you can do it''. Just my opinion.

[lutonlagerlout]

43 1/2 years ago!! :laugh:
thing is you can speak to anyone who has ever worked with me and they will all tell you that I am hard but fair,and they always get paid on the nail,same with my auld fella
I never talk in the you and me sense
we are all in it together ,its a team
we dug and concreted the footings this week as detailed elsewhere and it was very muddy, wet, and windy
but we had a great craic,and the time flew
LLL :;):

[bobbi o]

The term "Opo" instead of labourer reflects the fact that most opos are now qualified at least to the degree of cscs,normally more,posessing a whole range of certificates relevant to their trade.

only ten years ago, in most cases, a lot less,most people in the construction trade had zero qualifications relevant to their trade.

we're regularly now asked for cscs and streetworks certs along with risk/method asessments.

nowadays the only palce you can get away without all this is private work.

[local patios and driveway]

Sean, nahhh. I was a labourer for years before i started my businesses. They do the labouring for me but im right there wheeling barrows and swinging a sledgehammer as much as them, the only diffrence is that i make the final decisions, take the risks and fund the work. I have some of the best labourers locally and they are pround when im bragging about them down the pub. If you stay a labourer all your life then thats a choice, theres no one stopping any man learning more and going it alone.

One of my guys could go it alone but he would rather take a wage every fortnight, go to the pub, pay his bills and dont have to think about anything.

[seanandruby]

bobbi sums it up well. Lapd, so your lad ''goes to the pub and doesn't have to think about anything?'' not much hope for him then :O i've helped get plenty of lads up to n v q level and they would be insulted to be called ''a labourer'' now. They are now classed as semi skilled in drainlaying, kerb laying, groundworks etc: we all labour in our tasks whatever our job, or qualifications. We no longer sign on at the labour exchange :;):

[local patios and driveway]

Sean you can put any name on it that you want it makes no odds to me, my guys are labourers, they dont mind what i call 'em and it can get far worse when it hits the fan. I think maybe you have the issue with it? Im sure they would probably chuckle reading this.

[seanandruby]

''your the one who has the issue with it.'' how did you know that ??? :;):
I just said i don't like it, so yes i have an issue with it. You me and everyone here can have an opinion, i'm just expressing mine, as you are yours, no big deal, chillax m8.

[local patios and driveway]

Thats cool, im making my point too. not getting stressed about it just saying my peice like you are. Forums are very boring if we dont discuss.

I would expect 90% of uk tradesmen in the phsical side would use the word labourer.

[London Stone Paving]

I'm kicking in at 5am tomorrow morning. Got a tiny little job to do.........move the whole depot. Were moving the whole show about 10 minutes down the road. We have set ourselves a deadline of 6 weeks to move all the stock, machines and set up the office. Its a big ask and will mean there are going to be some long days over the next few weeks but cant wait for the challenge.