[Nerimae]

Kemi we are definetely not on the same page. You are looking at issues from an employee point of view i'm looking at it from an employer point of view. Why in the hell would I become a career woman and work for 40 years knowing full well the chips are stacked against me. Social security is running out, high takes, no insurance!!!! On the other hand if I found a way to be an entrepreneur, it makes all the sense in the world, tax breaks galore. Anyways good luck in Aussie, who is John Howard or OZ?
CB, its not that easy in France, to get free medicare you have to have some kind of visa called carte de sejour from the prefecture and a SS number, no idea how you get SS, just found out I have one.

[Nerimae]

I may be wrong about one having to have an SS# to get free healthcare. There are alot of undocumented West Africans there and I never heard them complain about this but then again there is a new President and I heard he's pretty tough. But as long as you are a student, you should be able to get the carte de sejour and SS # without a problem. I'm sure there are people living there now, maybe they can give more accurate info.

[Nerimae]

By the way CB I'm not in any way implying that you'll be undocumented there, what I meant was the visa you get at the French Embassy is pretty much worthless. Once you get there you have to get another visa called carte de sejour at the Police precinct ( dont ask why) and thats what will be ur ID for your stay, its stamped in your passport.

[crazy boo]

Originally Posted by Nerimae

By the way CB I'm not in any way implying that you'll be undocumented there, what I meant was the visa you get at the French Embassy is pretty much worthless. Once you get there you have to get another visa called carte de sejour at the Police precinct ( dont ask why) and thats what will be ur ID for your stay, its stamped in your passport.

Well I will worry about it then. That documentary also featured a bunch of Americans who moved to France, and are now living there so I don't think its that exra ordinary.I work with a mama who zaad all her kids in 3 different nations and I used to wonder why until she told me the jist.Oh and the husband is jamaican but holds a British and American passport...lol.. Its amazing how they navigate the world.

[Nerimae]

From your thinking, lets say you get paged and decide to visit huko till you give birth, I think that part is feasible. But once you give birth and relax for 3 months then what? I'm assuming you'll want to return here and that your stay there will be around 6 to 9 months right? I doubt if they'll deny you medical care, but when you leave, your passport will clearly show them that you overstayed right? So you'll have a French child to whose homeland you may be disbarred right? Is it really worth it? And remember you'll still have to provide necessities like food and shelter. But can you fafanua about the chick who gave birth in 3 diff countries? I think the best way out is to go home for like 6 months and just give birth there in peace, what do you think?

[patt]

Originally Posted by crazy boo

I'm not really sure if I would like to be unionized. Then there's the union dues and all that crap all in the name of a 20cts raise...eish.

CB
Being unionised isn't a bad idea at all because unions help you in more ways than one. You can also claim your union fees back in tax return.
These are some of the things unions do for their members
1. They fight for pay rises on behalf of employees, normally they secure up to 15% rise spread over let's say 5years.
2. They provide free legal representation if any one ever sues you over negligence and other crap (very common in health care).
3. If you get discriminated against at work, the union is the place to go.
4. If your employer is playing around with your pay per hour, sick leave, holidays, rostered days off, etc and you feel you are being screwed, the union is the place to go. They understand what every pay code stands for more than the employee and will break it down for you for better understanding. If the employer is found to have been shortchanging the employee, the employer will be ordered to back pay the employee with a specified penalty.


There is a case that had been running for a while in the media regarding this mining company that sold building materials made with asbestos. The employees who had worked for the company back in their teenage years and quit soon after realised a number of years later that almost everyone of them had lung cancer or was dying from it due to exposure to asbestos. The company refused to agree that there was a link btn the cancer and asbestos. Remember this is a billion dollar company and the employees could not fight it single handedly. Through the union, the employees eventually won the case.

Give me the union any day whether am an employee or employer.

The reality is, unions can not push for wages that employers cannot afford to pay. They always go through the employer's banks statements and all their financial information to establish that they are not asking for what they cannot get. That's why once the unions take their pay case to court, the court always rules in the union's favour because of the financial information made available by the employer.

Maisha ni usawa. There is no reason why the employer should roll in dough while the hardworking employees lose their homes just because there is no union to fight for fair wages.

[crazy boo]

Originally Posted by patt

CB
Being unionised isn't a bad idea at all because unions help you in more ways than one. You can also claim your union fees back in tax return.
These are some of the things unions do for their members
1. They fight for pay rises on behalf of employees, normally they secure up to 15% rise spread over let's say 5years.
2. They provide free legal representation if any one ever sues you over negligence and other crap (very common in health care).
3. If you get discriminated against at work, the union is the place to go.
4. If your employer is playing around with your pay per hour, sick leave, holidays, rostered days off, etc and you feel you are being screwed, the union is the place to go. They understand what every pay code stands for more than the employee and will break it down for you for better understanding. If the employer is found to have been shortchanging the employee, the employer will be ordered to back pay the employee with a specified penalty.

Wow! union is not bad after all.

[Wantai]

Originally Posted by KEMINOKANA

Nerima,

Dont think we r on the same page. It is not necessarily walmart. In general, US workers get paid less and part of the reason is coz of lack of unions. When I got here, I was told my pay would be $15 an hr higher than US....at least $5 an hr extra minimum. Clearly even $5 an hr is good...that's $200 a week better off. Enough to pay your monthly rent.

You cant blame the workers when govt policies are suppressing worker rights or mexicans jumping the walls to come and happily earn $5/hr. True it helps to be skilled. But Even the educated workers are getting underpaid or else the jobs get shipped to India. Now John howard wanted to lete maneno ya US, he quickly got booted. U know what Aussies did? They went and brought american workers who confessed that OZs would be stupid to change their system.

Did I say in Aussie people get 4 weeks vacation per year minimum? People who work on weekends/holidays such as nurses get paid extra and get extra days for vacation. In US to get 4 weeks vacation u'd have to work for a company 5 or so years at least.

Not to say it is all perfect....but America is abit on the extreme. What am saying is every country has upsides and downs and one shouldnt just look at the name/glory of a country to make a decision. Sometimes the devil is in the details.

Hi Keminokana, Good to see you again! I just wanted to mention that the holiday/vacation thing is the SOLE reason I opted to keep my ass out of America. Here in the UK, I get my 6 weeks of annual leave kila mwaka clean. Not to mention the national (bank) holidays which are added to your annual leave but if you work them you get double pay and you get to take that time off another time. Losing that is losing alot.

Where is Chemical? Yaani last year guy got a whole 4 months OFF just coz he's been working with that co. for sijui how long! How i envied him.

[al-zalzalah]

Originally Posted by Wantai

Hi Keminokana, Good to see you again! Here in the UK, I get my 6 weeks of annual leave kila mwaka clean. Not to mention the national (bank) holidays which are added to your annual leave but if you work them you get double pay and you get to take that time off another time. Losing that is losing alot.

Brito, here I come!

[Wantai]

Originally Posted by al-zalzalah

Brito, here I come!

lol...hola ukifika, treat is on me!