Sunday, May 03, 2009

Army Boot Camp Fitness - Paying to be “beasted”

I’m back from a lovely run in the sunshine around Wanstead Park while listening to the radio. By the river Roding I came across the Army Boot Camp Fitness instructor and his “squad” of willing volunteers. He had just stopped the group running and was making them do "press ups" then "star jumps" on the path. It is the same former Paratrooper PTI who is in the Youtube video.

Many moons ago I had a little of this sort of thing – at least I was very young and being paid to do so! I never imagined giving up my Sunday mornings and paying for being "beasted"!

Actually they don’t seem to be as rough on people in practice as they suggest on the video. I quite often see them on Sundays running around the Park and being shouted at but it tends to be encouraging rather than in any way real “beasting”. People seem exhausted but strangely happy. Burning up to 600 calories an hour is I suppose a good way of making up for the beer and curry on the previous Saturday night.

But it’s a strange old world at times.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cameron to cut MOD expenditure

sell that to our boys and girls at the Front

roberto fasciani said...

FESICA-CONFSAL FEDERAZIONE NAZIONALE LAVORATORI INDUSTRIA COMMERCIO ARTIGIANATO
COMMERCIO – TURISMO – METALMECCANICI – CARTAI – EDILI – TESSILI – SERVIZI – CHIMICI – GRAFICI – ALIMENTARISTI – VIGILANZA PRIVATA – AZIENDE PRIVATIZZATE
(www.fesica.it) (www.confsal.it)
Federazione Provinciale di Pavia, Comparto Cooperative, Via Maestri Comacini 9,27100 PAVIA
e-mail: fesica-confsalpvcoop@libero.it , tel. E fax 0382/539707; cellulari 3349091761, 3487245216, 3337011594
UFFICIO DI MILANO: Via Paolo Lomazzo 13, 20154 Milano, tel. 02/92889122

…Milano……………,……2 maggio 2009………………

PRT. …20…….

SENDER: FESICA-CONFSAL Trade Union (Milan, Italy)

TO:

Technicolor - London - Home Entertainment Services
Contact: Lorna Dunn
E-Mail: lorna.dunn@technicolor.com
Phone: + 44 208 987 7800
Address: Chiswick Park, 566 Chiswick High Rd.
City: London
State / Province: England
Zip Code: W4 5BY
Country: England
Fax: + 44 208 987 7897
Web Site: http://www.technicolor.com


Technicolor - London/Perivale
Contact: Meena Rojohn
E-Mail: Meena.Rojohn@technicolor.com
Phone: + 44 0208 799 0500
Address: Perivale Park, Horsenden Lane South
City: Middlesex
State / Province: England
Zip Code: UB6 7RL
Fax: + 44 208 799 0579


Technicolor - UK (MPC) - London
Contact: Sophie Trainor
E-Mail: sophie-t@moving-picture.com
Phone: + 44 (0) 20 8759 5432
Address: 127 Wardour St.
City: London
State / Province: England
Zip Code: W1F 0NL
Web Site: http://www.moving-picture.com


Technicolor - UK - London - Pinewood
Contact: Simon Wilkinson
E-Mail: simon.wilkinson@technicolor.com
Phone: + 44 0208 261 2600
Address: Pinewood Studios
City: Iver Heath
State / Province: Buckinghamshire
Zip Code: SL0 0NH
Country: England


Technicolor - UK - London - Soho
Contact: Kevin O'Meara
E-Mail: kevin.omeara@technicolor.com
Phone: + 44 207 319 4900
Address: 28 - 32 Lexington Street, Soho
City: London
State / Province: London
Zip Code: W1F 0LF
Country: England


Subject: Situation in San Giuliano Milanese (Milano, Italia)

We would like to inform you about the critical situation in which your factory in San Giuliano Milanese (Milano, Italia), whose director is Mr. Giuliano Robert, is.
In November 2008, some brave workers of Milano Euroservice, the company that provides for watchfulness at your factory, fed up about continuous vexations, asked our trade-union to intervene.
With great astonishment we found out that since years they allow this company (Milano Euroservice) to act outside the law and that for fear anyone has never denounced anything to avoid to clash into the local boss who is on the top (Mr. Rampulla) and the rough who is in charge of the executive service (Mr. Marchesoni). An absurd situation, just round the corner of the economic capital of Italy.
We tried in every way to contact the company management and its lawyers, but in vain. Actually this company can count on several protections and local connivances, but we are breaking day by day most of them and in a very short time they will be reported to the public opinion through the main press. Not a coincidence at all if the president, after all the denunciations we confidentially made to the authorities, is leaving his office as he realized that a big stroke is going to burst.
Unfortunately the whole thing has been at the moment committed to the vice-president Mr. Marchesoni, who is trying by threats and illegal notices to scare the workers and kill the difference.
We regret to notice that your responsible, Mr. Robert, has been unable to lead back Mr. Marchesoni to the respect of the law, not being clear whether for psychological subjection or common and economic and private interest with Mr. Marchesoni itself.
Seeing the seriousness of the situation, we consider as right keeping you informed about it as well we informed in the past all the other authorities. Although our denunciation has been made months ago, we have notice that inspections and checks will be made just in a few weeks, and this because of the long terms italian authorities usually need before to act.

We would especially point out:

- Not observance of italian law which imposes to co-coperative societies to pay the workers with due respect of minimum payments according to national collective contracts.
- Illegal and unauthorized use of unarmed watchfulness service (uniforms, searchs, document check etc.)
- Against european laws, all the workers have never seen specified on the paper their levels, qualifications, duties, working hours etc.
- The overtimes aren’t completely payed to the workers as they have to stand a compensation system.
- Not observance of italian law about weekly rest.
- Not observance of italian law about maximum daily limit of working hour. The workers stay at work from 8 hours (minimum) to 15-16 hours (maximum) per day without any break (lunch or other kind of break). To obviate this situation, Mr. Marchesoni since last January and against european laws imposed part-time just to the workers unwelcomed to him.
- Non refund of petrol charges.
- Workers are kept under control through cameras, against italian law of labour (“Statuto dei Lavoratori”).
- Holidays, if not worked, aren’t payed
- Workers must be available to work for free even on saturdays, sundays and on holidays.
- Payments of workers are not given according their real duties: Admittance control, vehicles control, pc using, facts addition in the pc, connecting/disconnecting alarms, control through cameras and monitors, search through metal-detectors (always under camera’s eye), mark administration and recording, loading and unloading registration (vehicles) on a specific form, reception service, guests reception service, switchboard control, documents request and control for drivers and dockers, company keys administration, company reports administration.
- Hours on the pay-packet don’t correspond to the hours marked on attendance sheet.
- Workers [are obliged to] receive job instructions by e-mail just 1h before their shift, with hard sacrifices for their families.
- Workers have never received clear informations about limits of watchfulness service.
- Without any authorization they actually have to attend internal police duties.
- National insurance fees payed were lower than due, because the unarmed watchfulness service was disguised as simple porterage.
- Job rhytmes and terms used by the company (which are basically close to exploitation) are overloading physical and psychological health state of associate workers.
- Milano Euroservice as well Technicolor act against italian privacy and job safety laws.
- Associate workers declared to have noticed several times workers pertaining to another co-operative society (Premium) acting without any regard to the basic safety laws.
- Recently there were unfair and unjustified dismissals, which have been contested and will end up to punishment sentences for Milano Euroservice and will obviously involve negative consequences for Technicolor as well, which is using since years its services pretending to ignore the continuous and unbearables law infringements.


Before it’s getting too late, we ask you to intervene on Milano Euroservice management, in order to cancel the unjustified dismissals and make observe again the law.





FESICA-CONFSAL
COMPARTO COOPERATIVE
IL REGGENTE DELLA PROVINCIA DI PAVIA
ROBERTO FASCIANI

John Gray said...

Hi Anon

Well Said!

Hi Roberto

I have googled this as best I can and I think "good luck" is therefore in order. If anyone from Italy thinks otherwise please let me know.

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Unknown said...

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