Polish plumbers

[jdey]

The European parliament rubberstamped the directive allowing freedom of movement of services jobs within EU member states yesterday. Details as to how the directive will affect you are here:-

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7cc08500-98c8-11da-aa99-0000779e2340.html

Each EU member state will now have to enact the Directive in to their national law. This typically takes about 1 year.

Different EU member states have different atitudes to globalisation. France is protectionist in it's atitude and will be certain to word their law and enforce it in such a manner so as to protect French plumber's jobs. The UK government is at the other extreme believing that if a UK worker loses his job to a Pole, then the British public will benefit from cheaper services, and the UK worker will be re-employed in an industry in which the UK is more efficient e.g. financial services.

 

[Nige F]

Fair enough, but the problem isn`t with the workers, it`s with the diferential between cost of living...A pole earns the equivalent of a months wages.in a week working here, Employed. If they live frugally they can send back the equivalent of 2 months wages per month. If I were in their position I would do exactly the same....Let`s speculate what the brits answer will be.. Lets put up the price of all our houses and increase our personal debt @ the moment it`s more than the national output year to year figures.. WE are the joke of Europe, I wish I`d been born French

 

[compheat]

A very interesting article As i've already mentioned on another forum, in the last 3 months i've last 4 bathroom refits and 2 heating jobs to eastern european workers. My argument is not with them but with a system that creates stupid rules that cost plumbers a fortune to adhere to and then does absolutely nothing to stop people from working without the relevant paper work. i've just retaken CCN1 and was going to do the unvented hot water but why should i bother.

 

[Agile]

I have been to see a boiler which was installed for only £250 last week.

The flue was up against the eaves, wrong filling loop, not a condensing boiler, did not flush the system, was not CORGI registered.

Because of system dirt, the plate heat exchanger has become blocked up and there is no DHW any more.

The tenants have not paid him yet but he did act responsibily and has agreed for the tenants to pay for the power flushing and deduct it from his bill. Installing that boiler will have cost him £100 !

And this was an Englishman in his 50s !

Tony

 

[Paul Barker]

Wheras he shouldn't have fitted it at all, having done it for 250 why should he pay for the powerflush. The consumer should have payed the full price in the first place, why should they now get a free powerflush?

The customer who goes for the cheap quote shoulkd take responsibility for their actions.

 

[corgiman]

If only that was the case Paul

The customer always walks away from responsibilty

 

[Agile]

The tenants are well educated Iranian, the husband is a dentist and the wife speaks better English than most English people. They told me that the question of power flushing was never discussed.

He had originally said he was CORGI registered. When asked for his CORGI number, he replied "I will have to get it from my friend"!

The installer told me that he had done a cold and a hot flush as recommended in the MI. I pointed out that a power flush was often necessary if a system was dirty.

I think that he was just out of his depth. But at least he did not become abusive and agreed that they should get it dealt with and deduct the cost from his bill.

Tony

 

[ollski]

Great, does this mean we can now go and freely ply our trade in a decent country with fresh air, affordable housing, decent weather and no stupid rules and regulations?

 

[corgiman]

already packed me bags and off to poland, i here the beer is great and the ladies are gorgeous

 

[loafer]

polish beer????? women are gorgeous????? surely german beer and swedish women..... i was labouring under the misapprehension that polish women were moustachiod, tattooed shot putters. thank god for the fall off communism and free trade etc etc.... I think fred dibnah was right. We're all becoming a nation of people going round selling double glazing to each other.

 

[Agile]

There are a lot of Polish tenants in NW London and I do have to say unlike many of the migrant workers there are almost as many females as males.

Many of the polish females are very nice looking indeed!

The only problem is that a large number of them smoke!

Tony

 

[jdey]

Seems like we should have all become mechanics instead:-

http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,1711811,00.html

 

[sidecar_jon]

where was the boss for the Millennium Eye made?..Poland.. why was Poland let in the EEC? to get cheep plumbers and brickies. People want you to fix their pipes and build their walls but they don't want to pay you enough to live. Give up and become glorified insurance sales men like everyone else...you know it makes sense.

 

[ChrisR]

Really don't see the issue here. Nobody has to be qualified to be a plumber, wherever he's from, so Polish "standards" are irrelevant. Everyone on gas has to be Corgi.

 

[allenvb]

I with many other, I don't think the problem is with there being Eastern European workers, is the red tape. I have been trying to get into the Gas industry for a number of years, at 28 I can't become someones 'boy' as I have a mortgage to pay, but on the other hand because I am a self employed plumber, I can't enter onto an ACS course because the I don't already work in the industry. All this means is there are people out there doing dodgy installs and not just because they can't be botherd to do there ACS, CCN, etc.

I asked a CORGI guy the other day if he would be prepared to commision work that I had done he said 'no' fair enough, when I asked him if he knew away around it he said 'get your CORGI'....If only it were that easy!!

I have seen a few people on the forum that say 'Is it worth me renewing my CORGI, CORGI are money grabbing B*stards, etc, etc' Let me tell you as someone who is not CORGI and not looking likley to get it, it's a lot easier to moan about them when you have the CHOICE of renewing.