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Industrial Relations Corrie Style |
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#1 |
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Industrial Relations Corrie Style
So let me get this straight, the factory employees decided to down tools on a Bank Holiday whilst they were being paid double time after their boss supposedly left for the day in order to watch a film
The boss is filled in on what has been going on and decides to confront them telling them they won't get paid for watching a film instead of working and they walk out on strike as instructed by a member of the local council no less ![]() It felt like we'd traveled back in time to the 70s when according to the right wing press at least the unions were out of control and called strikes willy-nilly and on spurious grounds. Are the factory workers even in a union We all know Corrie is old fashioned, full of stereotypes and cliches and littered with very silly story lines but this one is just so ridiculous it makes me consider if the writers truly are just treating the viewers with utter contempt
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#2 |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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Banal and dated, the two watchwords of the Coronation Street production team.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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This has been a very low point for Corrie.
Putting the realities of strikes, union membership and ballots aside, it's a complete travesty that this story was allowed to make it to the point of being aired. Who seriously thought that any of this was a good idea? It's not funny, it's not dramatic it's just absolutely cringeworthy. Aiden bribing the factory staff with the box of cakes was the absolute low point. Who the hell is coming up with these ideas? More worryingly, who the hell is agreeing to these ideas being put into production? The entire Corrie production team is rotten to the core and needs a major overhaul if the show isn't to continue its embarrassing decline. |
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#4 |
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It's storylines like this which give trade unions, and those who push for better work conditions (feeling they have no alternative but to strike) a bad name.
Like KK says it ain't funny, do the writers actually feel we'd side with Beth and Sean???? They were in the wrong, they dossed about. They do f all in the factory and have the cheek to watch a film when the boss is away. And Aidan is a wimp, Eva is better off without weedy men. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
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Quote:
So let me get this straight, the factory employees decided to down tools on a Bank Holiday whilst they were being paid double time after their boss supposedly left for the day in order to watch a film
The boss is filled in on what has been going on and decides to confront them telling them they won't get paid for watching a film instead of working and they walk out on strike as instructed by a member of the local council no less ![]() It felt like we'd traveled back in time to the 70s when according to the right wing press at least the unions were out of control and called strikes willy-nilly and on spurious grounds. Are the factory workers even in a union We all know Corrie is old fashioned, full of stereotypes and cliches and littered with very silly story lines but this one is just so ridiculous it makes me consider if the writers truly are just treating the viewers with utter contempt ![]() I think they thought this would be a light hearted, funny storyline in the manner of an episode of 'The Rag Trade' and indeed this sort of plot did used to pop up fairly frequently when I first started watching Corrie. But that was in the 1970s when Unions still had power, strikes did get called for little or no reason (at least some of the time) and Mike was a fairly appalling boss at times. It's not the 1970s now, the Unions don't have the power they once did, even if they are in one which I seriously doubt, there are strict laws in place as to what has to happen re balloting members for a strike to be authorised and finally, Jonny is actually the one in the right and they are bloody lucky they weren't all issued with formal warnings rather than just having their pay for the day changed from double to standard. It's a ridiculous storyline from another decade and perhaps worse of all for a. Pinko liberal like me, it feeds into the worst clichés and stereotypes about strike only being called by dishonest, work shy oiks and the poor capitilst employers suffering needlessly. When in fact, usually it iis the last resort of desperate employees who are being forced to accept unreasonable or even dangerous conditions fromm their employer. Something it is increasingly easy to do simply because most people don't have the back up of a union to help them due to the demonization of them in the 70s and 80s (sometimes with good reason, often not) leading to them all but dying out in many professions. Sorry, off my soap box now. I agree it is a ridiculous plotline which i.k sure they included as comic relief but i think they've misjudged. |
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#6 |
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Quote:
It's storylines like this which give trade unions, and those who push for better work conditions (feeling they have no alternative but to strike) a bad name.
Like KK says it ain't funny, do the writers actually feel we'd side with Beth and Sean???? They were in the wrong, they dossed about. They do f all in the factory and have the cheek to watch a film when the boss is away. And Aidan is a wimp, Eva is better off without weedy men. Completely agree, especially with the first paragraph. |
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#7 |
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Such a stupid storyline, even without being paid double, they were there to work and watched a film instead. I am pretty sure if I did that and got caught, my boss would give me a written warning and not just dock my pay.
Have we ever had football etc on in the background, sure but while working and with his permission. The rest of us have to work for our pay, so why would we side with them? Especially Kate, her family leaves her in charge and they do nothing (and maybe if they had counted the extra product done in the week during paid hours, they would not have had to come in on the holiday) |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Nov 2014
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Such a stupid storyline, even without being paid double, they were there to work and watched a film instead. I am pretty sure if I did that and got caught, my boss would give me a written warning and not just dock my pay.
Have we ever had football etc on in the background, sure but while working and with his permission. The rest of us have to work for our pay, so why would we side with them? Especially Kate, her family leaves her in charge and they do nothing (and maybe if they had counted the extra product done in the week during paid hours, they would not have had to come in on the holiday) "Don't care if you are my daughter if you're going to purposely rip me off & sanction others to do so then f*** off down the job centre & take the rest of the idle bloody shower with you when you go!!!!! You've just confirmed the reason I dumped you in 'packing' to start with!!"
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#9 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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The characters in Corrie are 1 dimensional and the storylines are truly abysmal. There are some good actors on the show, but their toes must curl when they read the script.
I sometimes wonder whether the script writers, and other people making the show are secretly having a laugh at the viewer's expense....Or perhaps whoever writes the shows genuinely think that wildcat strikes are commonplace, and that those who take part in them can be bought off with a cream bun. FFS! ![]() I'm only surprised that Sean and Kirk weren't wearing donkey jackets and they were keeping themselves warm by a burning metal bin |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Quote:
The characters in Corrie are 1 dimensional and the storylines are truly abysmal. There are some good actors on the show, but their toes must curl when they read the script.
I sometimes wonder whether the script writers, and other people making the show are secretly having a laugh at the viewer's expense....Or perhaps whoever writes the shows genuinely think that wildcat strikes are commonplace, and that those who take part in them can be bought off with a cream bun. FFS! ![]() ![]()
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#11 |
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Exactly what i was saying on another forum.
I think they thought this would be a light hearted, funny storyline in the manner of an episode of 'The Rag Trade' and indeed this sort of plot did used to pop up fairly frequently when I first started watching Corrie. But that was in the 1970s when Unions still had power, strikes did get called for little or no reason (at least some of the time) and Mike was a fairly appalling boss at times. It's not the 1970s now, the Unions don't have the power they once did, even if they are in one which I seriously doubt, there are strict laws in place as to what has to happen re balloting members for a strike to be authorised and finally, Jonny is actually the one in the right and they are bloody lucky they weren't all issued with formal warnings rather than just having their pay for the day changed from double to standard. It's a ridiculous storyline from another decade and perhaps worse of all for a. Pinko liberal like me, it feeds into the worst clichés and stereotypes about strike only being called by dishonest, work shy oiks and the poor capitilst employers suffering needlessly. When in fact, usually it iis the last resort of desperate employees who are being forced to accept unreasonable or even dangerous conditions fromm their employer. Something it is increasingly easy to do simply because most people don't have the back up of a union to help them due to the demonization of them in the 70s and 80s (sometimes with good reason, often not) leading to them all but dying out in many professions. Sorry, off my soap box now. I agree it is a ridiculous plotline which i.k sure they included as comic relief but i think they've misjudged. I appreciate Corrie doesn't have to be educational but this story line is like laughing in the face of all the desperate and hard working people nowadays who have to put up with really harsh working conditions and no pay rises, remember 'we're all in it together' and the thought of cheating your employer like the factory girls do is simply an anathema let alone being able to go on strike even for highly legitimate reasons. I find it hard to believe they are in a union too but even if they are another myth is being purported here that presumably the union would pay their wages whilst on strike as otherwise how on earth can they afford it Corrie should be renamed Cloud cuckoo land
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#12 |
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Perhaps it is all one big conspiracy and they're laughing at our expense. They probably have a daily meeting based on the SOR thread and congratulate themselves on fooling the retard masses yet again
![]() ![]() They clearly have such contempt for their viewers
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#13 |
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Well said. I think this is why instead of just yet again accepting the cliched and contrived rubbish Corrie throws at us I'm actually quite riled with this out of date and harmful representation of unions and workers and even managers and owners of businesses in this day and age.
I appreciate Corrie doesn't have to be educational but this story line is like laughing in the face of all the desperate and hard working people nowadays who have to put up with really harsh working conditions and no pay rises, remember 'we're all in it together' and the thought of cheating your employer like the factory girls do is simply an anathema let alone being able to go on strike even for highly legitimate reasons. I find it hard to believe they are in a union too but even if they are another myth is being purported here that presumably the union would pay their wages whilst on strike as otherwise how on earth can they afford it Corrie should be renamed Cloud cuckoo land ![]() I think this sums up Corrie's approach to most things, though I agree that this instance is a damaging two fingers to the struggles that a lot of people have to face on a daily basis in the UK and across the world. From a production perspective, Corrie now seems to hold all of its characters in utter contempt. There are no winners in this disgraceful factory debacle. It's trivialised the role of the workers and the bosses and its damaged the relationship between the two. At least when Corrie did cover industrial disputes in the 70s (and there were many) there was some semblance of realism. They never went down the hard and gritty line of things like pay or working conditions, but they did try to keep it believable. As others have said both here and in other threads, there was something of a unionised structure with Ivy Tilsley (and later Ida Clough) as shop steward and the rest of the workers clucking around underneath. You had Mike as the bad boss and then various layers of middle management (Ernie Bishop, Elsie Tanner, Steve Fisher) trying to arbitrate between the two. The storylines might sound cheesy by today's standards but they at least had some grounding in reality. Hilda - the factory cleaner - had substandard cleaning equipment which Baldwin refused to replace. There was also another story with the women wanting a shopping hour during the working day so that they could go to the shops before they closed (long before 24 hour supermarkets and late-opening convenience stores). There was also another story about a cat joining the union but let's just quietly leave that to one side ![]() What was more important was that character behaviours and traits were much richer. Mike Baldwin was a complex character with many layers. Yes he was a greedy capitalist, but he also had a human side which revealed itself from time to time. He was also a pragmatist and quietly knew when he was beaten (he would never admit it!). He let the factory girls win but only when he could see it was going to impact on his ability to make money. Similarly, the people he appointed to middle management (Ernie, Elsie) had the human touch that Mike so frequently lacked. They were trying to go down this route with Aiden and the cakes but its stupidity made it fall completely flat. Similarly, the factory girls back then were fewer in number but far richer in character. You had Ivy who would staunchly defend her views so long as she could justify it, Vera who was fickle and would frequently change her mind, Ida who was often more forceful in her views than Ivy but didn't always think them through and others like Shirley Armitage who was often a diplomatic force between the factory girls. Of course, all of this is without even going into the complete suspension of reality that a mediocre clothing factory is still surviving (or is that thriving) in the north west. If the factory produced high end, hand-stitched underwear then it may be more believable but there's nothing to suggest that what Underworld produces is anything but mid-range. |
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#14 |
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The thing is there are plenty of ugly aspects to 21st century employment that have dramatic potential - Zero hours contracts and the insecurity of agency work, employees getting caught using company PCs to download porn or slagging off their job on Facebook, lip service being paid to diversity while the old biases covertly continue, exploitation of foreign workers and apprentices, women going on maternity leave only to return and to be made redundant (this did happen to friend of mine), the monotony and occasional strangeness of working in a call centre, etc.
This is why it all seems a bit evasive that Underworld persists in 'Carry On At Your Convenience' mode (Sean even wears Charles Hawtrey shirts, sometimes) and this outdated simulacra where people still call their boss 'Mr Connor'. |
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#15 |
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Excellent posts all.
Yes, the 'Industrial Relations' plots I remember, whilst never iin the 'serious' league of Brookside where they were a major focusfor the first few years around Bobby, Paul and Billy - did at least make sense and often you could see both sides of the argument though generally, it was more on the 'workers' side as Mike could be unreasonable. Not being funny, but if this plot had been done back then, Mike would only not have paid them double bubble, he would have told them they HAD to work on the Bank Holiday (no matter what plans they had) for normal pay as it was their fault the order hadn't been complete as they gossip too much and if they didn't, they needn't bother coming in on Tuesday. That Jonny is not only a fair man (and boss) but has actually gone out of his way to help them in the past just makes this so horrible. If i was a conspiracy theorist, i'd suspect it of being a right wing agenda to turn the public against Unions and those who support them at this time of Southern Rail and Doctors strikes, not to mention the Union backed Corbyn having to defend his leadership. But it's not that, it's just lazy writing. Alex is right, there are so many storylines they could do about employment rights and law in this day and age. I said on another forum that the 'spy on their midst' thing is ridiculous as nearly everybody i've worked has cctv all around the building, including offices, for security reasons. It is not there specifically to spy on workers re how hard they're working, it is there for Security to be able to check for suspicious packages etc and theft, especially overnight when the building is empty but the point is, it is there so i always assume that everything I do could be being watched. Same thing with phone recording and email monitoring. I've had to explain this to staff who got affronted when they were pulled up on slagging other members of staff off on their email to colleagues - you ca,'t look at my email "hmm! It's not your email, it is the businesses so yes we can" - for the record the girl had been signed off sick for a week with no notice so we had to access it to get work correspondence, wasn't actually snooping but the top email had something incriminating in the title! Anyway, why couldn't they have had a reveal that Jonny had installed cctv in the factory for overnight security (logical after that girl that hid out there and was stealing things) and then a storyline about whether the workers had a right to know they were being monitored/recorded at all times? Or, as Alex says, somebody slags them off on FB and Jonny or Aidan get upset about it and start treating them unfairly? Or, they discover that a new employee is a Union member whilst the existing staff aren't and they don't want them there as they assume they'll 'be trouble', radicalising the others but can't sack them easily when they look into it? |
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#16 |
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The thing is there are plenty of ugly aspects to 21st century employment that have dramatic potential - Zero hours contracts and the insecurity of agency work, employees getting caught using company PCs to download porn or slagging off their job on Facebook, lip service being paid to diversity while the old biases covertly continue, exploitation of foreign workers and apprentices, women going on maternity leave only to return and to be made redundant (this did happen to friend of mine), the monotony and occasional strangeness of working in a call centre, etc.
This is why it all seems a bit evasive that Underworld persists in 'Carry On At Your Convenience' mode (Sean even wears Charles Hawtrey shirts, sometimes) and this outdated simulacra where people still call their boss 'Mr Connor'. I'd love to see this kind of thing but, alas, I doubt it'd ever happen. I am convinced that the production team have a fixed view of what 'Corrie' is meant to be like and anything that's close to a real-world scenario 'isn't Corrie' in their eyes. They're probably all patting themselves on the back for the 'Classic Corrie' they've produced this week. |
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#17 |
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Quote:
The thing is there are plenty of ugly aspects to 21st century employment that have dramatic potential - Zero hours contracts and the insecurity of agency work, employees getting caught using company PCs to download porn or slagging off their job on Facebook, lip service being paid to diversity while the old biases covertly continue, exploitation of foreign workers and apprentices, women going on maternity leave only to return and to be made redundant (this did happen to friend of mine), the monotony and occasional strangeness of working in a call centre, etc.
This is why it all seems a bit evasive that Underworld persists in 'Carry On At Your Convenience' mode (Sean even wears Charles Hawtrey shirts, sometimes) and this outdated simulacra where people still call their boss 'Mr Connor'. Quote:
Excellent posts all.
[...] Or, as Alex says, somebody slags them off on FB and Jonny or Aidan get upset about it and start treating them unfairly? Or, they discover that a new employee is a Union member whilst the existing staff aren't and they don't want them there as they assume they'll 'be trouble', radicalising the others but can't sack them easily when they look into it? Corrie did tiptoe around a storyline with foreign staff way back in 2007 with Polish workers Kasia and Wiki. Kasia fell down the stairs and died with the Connors covering it up and then Wiki left suddenly some time later. Wiki had the potential to be a great Corrie character but, as happens so often, the opportunity was wasted. Factory scenes have been in the same cycle for at least 15 years with the same tired dialogue being repeated again and again and again. 'Yes Mr Connor' ... 'Just going on the cake run' Yawn, yawn, yawn. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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Some great ideas for story lines on here that are realistic, interesting and would actually be engaging for a change. The Corrie team should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves sticking to an agenda that basically ridicules it's core audience in more ways than one, laughing in the face of the hard economic realities that they live in and treating them like morons that can only be entertained by one dimensional story lines and characters and that are basically cliched, cringe worthy and don't tax the audience of fools too much
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#19 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
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I'm sure KK is right, that they were patting themselves on the back for "taking Corrie back to basics" rather than the sensationalism of murders, fires etc which have dominated the last few years.
But, they've misunderstood what the 'basics' of Corrie actually are. Which is character driven drama arising from the realities of living in current society - whatever decade that is. |
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#20 |
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CCTV? Have they even got a keypad on the front door yet? Anyone can walk in off the street.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Jun 2014
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Do these writers /produces have any idea of what factory work is like,it's the same on emmerdale the factory workers just FO ax they want and speak to the owners in a way that would not be tolerated.In the real world factory workers go to work and earn money not to do whatever the fancy takes them,there is discipline in the workplace and has to be adhered to otherwise if you don't do you're quotas for the day you get a warning and after that you're sacked if you Do it again.Get out into the real world and see how the workers really have to work.
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#22 |
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Quote:
Do these writers /produces have any idea of what factory work is like,it's the same on emmerdale the factory workers just FO ax they want and speak to the owners in a way that would not be tolerated.In the real world factory workers go to work and earn money not to do whatever the fancy takes them,there is discipline in the workplace and has to be adhered to otherwise if you don't do you're quotas for the day you get a warning and after that you're sacked if you Do it again.Get out into the real world and see how the workers really have to work.
A few years ago i decided i wanted a break from commuting into London and got a local job i could drive to which was making bespoke kitchen furniture which was privately owned, having grown from a one man band to about 50 employees over 25 years ot so. Part of my role was doing their payroll and it was incredibly strict. Old fashioned time cards, if more than 2 minutes lates for any shirt, a full hour was docked, quotas had to be met on an individual and group basis or pay docked. No sick pay except SSP and that was only after 3 days with a Doctors Note. People fired for all sorts of ridiculous reasons, generally settled out of court with a compromise agreement if the ex employee sought legal advice but generally they didn't because they didn't know they'd have a case and legal advice is expensive. They wouldn't hire somebody that belonged to a Union if they knew about it beforehand. I don't know if all factories are like that as generally i've worked in Advertising or PR but if they are, it is still a very hard life and a world away from what is portrayed in Corrie and Emmerdale. If employees had tried the film trick there, they'd probably have been sacked on the spot. |
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The boss is filled in on what has been going on and decides to confront them telling them they won't get paid for watching a film instead of working and they walk out on strike as instructed by a member of the local council no less 
