"Why can't the press leave us alone?

[Ron Avery]

Tag

How many threads do you want about working on the black.  This one was about brits paying their way and not scrounging off the French state.

However, as you claim to have intimate knowledge of this digger bloke's case and it seems are the champion of the workers on the black, perhaps you should explain this comment  "The reporting person will never work again".

Because they have been beaten up and disabled or because they have been blacklisted?. If the latter, you really don't know the French at all do you.

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

I did not hijack this thread Ron, but was curious to know whether posters had double standards: did they apply differtent standards to Brits paying their way and not scrounging than to the French doing the same thing? I suspect they do.

I think if you look back at the first line of the second para of the original thread you will see where I am starting from.

And no Ron, not the champion of people earning money on the side, but I do understand their circumstances sometimes. And I am not talking about those who take benefits and work. People like the young French lad I mentioned above (who did not do work for me by the way) who would like to be able to afford a hol:iday sometimes and who has already changed trades to do better for himself, but is still not allowed to earn enough. I wonder how people would have commented if he had been a Brit.

The reporting person (above) had more than enough business of his own and was just being malicious in this case. He was told (by Frenchman), that he would never obtain work in the immediate area again because he had dropped someone in it, whereas the policy is live and let live. So Ron, blacklisted. Word of mouth is quite sufficient I imagine.

I started neither of these threads my Ron but have tried to counter the 'report em and all costs' school of thought as well as the 'lets be hyper legal' one.

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Ron, just had a call from the young man in question (above) and he is over the moon as he can now work all the overtime he wants, tax free, and it is being paid immediately, so he doesn't need to work on the black. As a result he is working every hour Frith gives, he is happy, wife is happy, and he organises his life so he can see the kids in blocks of free time.

As I said in another thread, free the worker to work.

[Ron Avery]

Had a chat with a builder mate today who has staff, your friend  Tag, could always have worked overtime, the 35 hour week is not a ceiling that cannot be broken, but as overtime over the much defended 35 hour week is usually paid at double time, few if any employers will even contemplate it.  The only time my mate would do overtime and generally he would do it himself in the first instance, was if he had a contract with time penalties, in this case he would have to balance up the cost against penalties likely to be incurred.

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

My darling Sugarbuns Ron (you know you like it when I call you that so dont complain again),

The employees now don't pay tax on their bit, though I think they still have to pay SS charges (Social Security, not the other lot). But lovely Ron you prove my point, employees could not earn because the system was so constipated (mods I hope the word is OK, it is evocative you know). Trust me, my lovely Ron, my friend could not. Since posting I have come across others who are laughing, their wives are laughing, they are getting more, so they are now wildly working more. They love it.

[daisymay]

France a socialist state? Since living here I have come to the conclusion that it is a communist state. Liberté, equalité, fraternité quelle blague

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Babe, read your history, it has never existed.

[Ron Avery]

You really don't get it do you Tag, employers, that is those who employ people and pay them will not give their staff any overtime as it costs too much.  So your so called mate will not be able to do any overtime because there will not be any so he will still be working on the black on Saturday rather than his O/H get a bar job.

 PS If you want to come out on the internet there are other more appropriate sites to do it.[kiss]  Shall I tell Dick or will you?

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Ron, my mate's boss is only too happy to pay him under the new system. And he doesn't need to work on the black anymore, if he ever did.

As to coming out, others tell me you and I should come out together, to avoid confusion. The only Dick I know is not a person.

[letrangere]

Everyone has jumped on the aspect of Brits possibly working on the black, not paying taxes, etc. But look at the bigger picture.  Don't you think articles such as this come about due to the massive influx of Brits to virtually every corner of France?  Perhaps in the past the French saw this migration as manageable as it was limited to possibly a handful or slightly more areas.  But now we're everywhere and in increasing numbers.  And is this really a good thing?  The Creuse is an excellent case in point.  Until relatively recently, a quiet little rural backwater that few foreigners visited yet now are moving to in droves.  I think local people are bound to look at this and quite naturally point out the problems more readily than they would any possible benefits.  The bottom line is we're good copy.

[westland]

 

Yes l'etrangere we're good copy and already our neighbours are mentioning the articles and adding a few negative experiences/second and thirdhand stories of their own.  Though they don't seem to be equating us with the Brtis in the articles that they have been reading, well not in our company anyway. 

Unfortunately I feel that what you say is correct, when we first bought our house there were still several areas in France that had seen very little migration.  Our department started to boom when it became one of the "undiscovered" areas for all those TV programmes becoming ever more desperate to find the cheapest property in France.  Articles such as the ones in the Montagne are understandable and possibly fuelled by fears that migration will become unmanageable.  It's such a shame because I know of many Brits who have come here in the past two or three years and have now returned to the UK or gone further afield.  Plus there seems to be a sense of a slowing down in those coming into our area.  I hope that all this attention will eventually die down without having done too much damage to our relationship with our host country.

[Jonzjob]

To get back to the OPs title of the thread. the only time that we have been done by the press was last year when we had our photo in the local paper. We were with the lady who runs our village library for 2 hours or so every other Tuesday. She is improving her English and we our French and we sit with her and chat in both languages. She askes us about England and she is telling us about the history of our adopted area. The last was some of the story of the resistance here in the Aude. the photo was given to the paper by one of the villagers along with the story. We were chuffed to bits with it.

Our village has been very welcoming from the Maire down. No bad feelings from anyone and that's not just in the village, but all around.

A wonderful place to live.

Working on the black. Why the hell should I want to do that, I am retired and enjoying my new life in the country we have visited for the last 25 years!!

[MrCanary]

FACT: 300,000 French people live in London and the immediately surrounding area.........

Mel

[Jonzjob]

Hi Mel, I was born in London and the only thing that I can say to that is that they are welcome to it[+o(]!

[Frenchie]

I'm French, I lived in London for a year, loved it..

[Jonzjob]

The last time I lived in London was about 18 years ago, for a year, after I had injured my back. I had a flat in Ealing and could not see another house from the windows. Fine until I had to go out. It took me 15 minutes to drive to work at Hanger Lane and 10 minutes to walk!! The only reason that I could afford it was because IBM payed for everything, even the TV hire and licence...

The best bit was going home each weekend. Going back to my nice Cotswold stone cottage down our tiny lane near Stroud...

[Danny]

[quote user="Frenchie"]I'm French, I lived in London for a year, loved it..[/quote]

Le gazon est toujours plus vert...(apologies) or even 'a change is as good as a holiday' spring to mind

After nearly 20 years in London, I am now happily settled in France but who knows what might happen in the future.

Danny

[Benjamin]

I don't read the UK press on a regular basis but I don't suppose they ever have disparaging articles  classing all Eastern Europeans as useless scrounging ne'er do wells.  [6]

This type of article sells newspapers to the gullible in any language.

[Clair]

The one positive thing which could result from all the young French workers in the UK is that they'll see another way of setting up in business and employing people, and hopefully demand the same ease and flexibility when they return to France

[Frenchie]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]

[quote user="Frenchie"]I'm French, I lived in London for a year, loved it..[/quote]

Le gazon est toujours plus vert...(apologies) or even 'a change is as good as a holiday' spring to mind

After nearly 20 years in London, I am now happily settled in France but who knows what might happen in the future.

Danny

[/quote]

Yes, you re probably right, but if I was offered the same job as I have in France in the UK, my luggage would be packed tomorrow. .........

[krusty]

Excuse my ignorance I cannot read French so have not been aware of the anti British remarks in the press quoted in the original posting( I am learning French though).

It would seam to me a good idea to reply to such articles quoting the economic benefits to France of us Brits being here .

In my area Limousin they have printed this leaflet and the millions of euros Brits bring to an area is gob smacking  (its pdf so may take a while to download).

http://www.limoges.cci.fr/documents/newletterwelcome.pdf