Work

I still have little voice, but now I'm properly poorly. I slept about 18 hrs yesterday despite no nightshifts, so my body is telling me something. Plus I am getting headfuck at work.

It's a small sluglab with few staff, but our directors took on a major slug study without examining staffing. The staffing is me and another to cover weekends, early mornings, full days and late nights. Pointing this out to the directors results in them shouting. Asking them to enhance our salary or make ex-gratia payments results in shouting. Negotiations so far have resulted in shouting and asking us to work up to 10 days in a row at all hours for no enhancements, and just straight time-in-lieu for the out-of-hours and weekend work. Yes, we can take some time-in-lieu as we go along, but only if the lab continues to be staffed during the 5 day working week. Yes, we might get enhanced time-in-lieu or a payment at the end of the study, but no promise of this- just a maybe. The big stick is that there's no money to pay extra staff, and that the lab may shut if income from the slug study isn't made. So, if we don't do the study we could lose our jobs. The carrot is that if we do the study, we might keep our jobs.

My 20 years of contributions to my former trade union turned out to be a complete waste of money when I left that post last year. But I'm joining Amicus trade union on Monday, and will be studying up on the European working time directive.

That is all.

Addendum:
Joined Amicus online for <£10 pm. Checked European working directives, which define 11 hrs between shifts as the minimum, and 48 hrs pw maximum. Minimum weekly rest period of 35 hrs (e.g. weekend).