Polish Social Club

[Lofty]

On the way home noticed that the 'local' Polish community have bought an old building and will be renovating it as a social centre. Wonder if they'll employ English sparks and plumbers !!

Cheers,
Lofty.

 

[RogertheBodger]

Hi Lofty

It may interest you to know that, although there are a lot of Polish workers here at the moment, there was a huge influx of Polish refugees who came to the UK. during and after the Second World War fleeing persecution and the occupation of their homeland, a Polish social club has been a feature of most UK. Towns and City's since then. I have spent many happy hours in their clubs and have lots of friends who are of polish descent, despite their unpronounceable names, they are now as British as anyone else and probably already are Sparks and Plumbers. (hope they're not plumbers cos' they're nice people)

 

[dingledong]

yes i agree rodger i had a couple of good polish friends about 20 years ago but now its a bit to far where english people are threatened of of polish building sites when the olympics is over 64 percent foriegn. what happens in2012 when the work stops will they go back no stay hee claim there benifits ar just undercut the english worker. apprenticeships are on the down cos firms are taking on cheaper labour .they are still pouring into the country even with unemployment rising its all wrong
when the eu breaks up will we send them home
rant over

 

[telectrix]

rog., my lady's parents were amongst the poles who came here during and just after ww2. they built the church and social club. i, too have had a few happy hours in the club.

 

[Octopus]

According to a mate when the Polish builders arrived in Guildford, it shocked all the UK guys as the Polish lads turned up on time and kept to commitments!!

 

[alarm man]

to be fair all the poles ive met are grafters,have pride and are very respectful,i doubt you would find many sitting in front of jeremy kyle in their pj's while the kids run wild..

 

[dingledong]

alarm man i agree with you most are but its the amount thats here thats wrong they do not need to mix in with us so it will be like the young asian kids in there little gangs not integrating to many to quickly and who agrees with me poles do they all say now i'm here no more in the country . ok not all but a lot that i talk to say it

 

[alarm man]

the problem with the uk is, the work shy and benefit cheats,surprisingly there mostly british and white and havent got a days graft in them..

 

[Des 56]

In this ex coal mining area,there were poles in far greater percentage numbers in the 50s and 60s than any of the areas who make issue with them presently

Many,many locals are either of polish decent,married into their families or at the minimum have friends who have done so
They integrated so well into the community that it would be impossible to know other than the surnames

Even the few who have come here this time around.they are treated as very welcome in our clubs and pubs and treated mostly, with what we would hope for if ever British people once again invaded the industrial areas of Germany, doing exactly what the Poles are doing.looking for work and a way to make a living
We did it they are doing it,

 

[robsparky1975]

My dentist is polish,and he done a good job,as alarm man said look at the unemployed in this country white and uk born,i wouldnt mind a polish social club near me as long as i could have a beer with them,if it was not for there help we might have all been speaking with a funny accent.

 

[Lofty]

Hi to all who have responded to my posting.

I agree with the comments about the Poles etc. post WW2, back in the late '60's I grew up with some Polish kids and then later on in life I also came across those who are grafters, in fact I had 9 East European guys working for me when I was in the I.T. business and to be fair they put the Brits to shame work ethic wise. The agency who supplied them reckoned that this was due to the fact that they were over here on their own and with no families and ,at the time, being a small community would just work.
It's just that in my local area and maybe it's the exception , we've have a lot of trouble with these guys trading as sparks,plumbers and builders sometimes as a 'onestop' shop option.
I posted an example some time back of their work and a quick recap....

(1) RFC' s cut and the ends left live in the loft.
(2) A complete RFC (kitchen) done in 1mm with no CPC at all.
(3) Several outlets were also L-N reversed.
(4) The kitchen lights, and I mean ALL the lights spured diagonally from a 13A socket again in 1mm.
(4) A bathroom extractor fan ducted into the loft.
(5) Lots of both tape joints and twisted joints in the loft.
(6) The hob also wired in 1mm.
(7) No CPC used at all basically.
(8) Power shower pump just sitting on the plasterboard in the loft between the rafters, it was moving everytime it was switched on.

This particular company as far as I know are still working around my area and probably still doing the same quality of work

The 'foreman' or as our customer descibed him the 'gang boss' was also intimidating when challenged by the customer who would not report them, however my boss did to trading standards and the NICEIC, left that company a short time later so never found out the results of that.

Agree before anyone posts it that the customer should never have employed them but hindsight is a wonderful thing and he admits he went for the cheaper option not thinking that it would be dangerous. He, and I have to assume, llike a lot of others up and down the country make this decision day in and day out.

So I do apologise unreservedly if my post has caused and upset it was not my intention.

Only last week there was someone hanging around the car park of one of the wholesalers asking the guys as they went in for information on what type of cable to buy to wire up a house.

I have no objection to them looking for work but they must work to our regs surely not ? No doubt they do on the big sites where they are supervised but what about these smaller operations.

Anyway, sorry again for any offence made as it was not intentional.

Best regards,
Lofty.

 

[dingledong]

lofty your not offending any one even the proper polish sparks over here would agree with what your saying .

 

[peanutty]

you get the good and bad characters. for many years we've had the good ones here. unfortunatly the bad ones can easily get here and see easy ways of ripping people off. luckly they are a minority. don't forget you generally only ever hear about the bad ones.

 

[mogga]

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHILE IN AN AGENCYS OFFICE AT A LARGE WAREHOUSE THE RECRUITING LASSY WAS ASKING SOMEONE "wILL YOU PASS A DRUG TEST?" a couple of times then said "Yes YOU DO need to do a drug test!" if you dont pass no job !" this was to a scottish guy
I Asked her about pass/fail rate scottish fail rate was WAY WAY More than polish and she also said that the poles arranged things around shift n didnt expect shifts arranged around them Also they tended to work Overtime at short notice without moaning about it for weeks and weeks where as scots "have things to do!" or " I can do next week!" needless to say the FULL time work force was majority of scots Agency was majority Poles but of the agency workers its the Poles who fill full time vacancys or temp uplift vacancys as they DO turn up ect ect
I remember giving my old granddad a run to the glasgow polish club n him n gran having a ball by time I picked them up the polish club also had donations to charity like the masonic lodge knights of Saint Rotary ect

 

[Lofty]

Hiya Mogga,
Seems to be the same down here. When I had the east europeans ( they were a mixed bunch Poles and Lithuanians) they too turned up on time, did the overtime etc and as for the Brits they seemed to do as you said book 'other things' during shift times.
My guys worked hard and well but they had a process and procedures to follow every step of the way, any deviation and the work was knocked back.

I too have received Polish hospitality, I vaguely remember a family wedding ahere a cousin married a Polish girl, boy what a reception that was. apparently the vodka was the same as they used in WW2 when the petrol ran out in Warsaw. Can't prove it but it sure had a kick in it.

Cheers ,
Lofty.