remember your first wage packet

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Another one on £25:00 a week, first one was 1983 :RpS_scared:

£10:00 board money handed over to my mum in front of dad on a Friday. By Sunday I'd 'borrowed' £15:00 back, and the lot went on beer, and bikes. I swear pound for pound I had way more disposable income then than now. The wages quadrupled when I went into the second year. Turn up for work on a Saturday three or four hours after falling out of a club, happy days. :RpS_thumbup:
 
essexandy said:
1981 I got £75 gross, £51 take home for labouring on one, two or sometimes three spreads. Happy days.
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and not a whisk in sight,, proper hard graft in those days,, dont think many youngsters could do it theses days
 
I was doing yts with a large training company who found you placements. Was doing painting and decorating as my dad was a trainer there and I'd worked with him in the past anyway a taping company contacted them saying they were looking for someone to train up as a Ames taper. I'd experience in it so went for interview and got the start. Was thinking brilliant that's me getting trained up and will get a job out it. No chance, after four weeks all I'd done was sand down even though I knew how to work a hawk and trowel. They didn't want a taper they just wanted a monkey to pay 25 quid a week to sand down. Pulled the boss up for it and he went for me with the sanding pole, I was out that house in seconds and straight back to training centre. Told them everything that happened and I was then terminated from the training scheme as i refused a placement. Lol
 
used to get 20 a day minus tax minus bus return minus house keep and minus fags and food for the week think at the end of the week i had about a fiver haha
 
Not my first wage packet but I remember 1974 we could have£11 a day but you didn't get paid if it rained or £9 and you did on the hod.
 
£28 a week as a YTS. Still got me plenty of trips for the weekends though
 
essexandy said:
I suppose that sort of shows they worked, or that you were all groomed.
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I reckon it shows that there was no alternative for young lads starting out, and for the firms it meant that instead of training apprentices at their cost they got free slaves for a year. Any good and they could be kept on, no good or work dried up and they could be dropped.

It was around the same time that Maggie introduced that retraining package for miners when they closed the pits. So there was a sudden increase in plumbers and sparkies along with other trades. The first short coursers in other words, and that was 30 years ago!
 
I think it worked though, before I was terminated by the scheme I was put through my city and guilds painting and decorating and when I left I found job no problem as I'd a lot of qualifications and experience in a trade without having a job as such.
 
Started on 100 a week paid 20 house keep the rest I had to give the pub landlord for some magic drinks but hy it was 2.30 for a pint then but all paid off in the end #happydays


using The Plasterers Forum app
 
pinz said:
Started on 100 a week paid 20 house keep the rest I had to give the pub landlord for some magic drinks but hy it was 2.30 for a pint then but all paid off in the end #happydays


using The Plasterers Forum app
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I can only zoom in so far onto your avatar, is that an otter? :RpS_confused:
 
I started as an assistant office junior on £60/week gross, £45.45 take home of which £28.00 went on board and lodging, the rest on funding a rubbish Mini to get me the 10 miles to work each day. That was 1982.
 
1981 started on youth opportunities programme (YOP scheme-later known YTS) as 6 months cheap labour - paid by the government £23.50 a week - some of the gangs I laboured on brassed me up as well :RpS_thumbsup:- some didn't tight bar-stewards :RpS_cursing:- mixing up the 50kg bags by hand no mechanical gismos ---- o happy days :RpS_thumbsup:
 
I was on a yt scheme think it was 40 a week then after about 18 mnths it went up to 95 a week ! Ive still not forgiven my mom for getting her hairdresser to cut my hair and an hr after that i was a spreads lab! Her bro was a spread n needed a lab i was pushed into it i tell ya and i never asked for a perm!!
 
jeanclaudevangyproc said:
I was on a yt scheme think it was 40 a week then after about 18 mnths it went up to 95 a week ! Ive still not forgiven my mom for getting her hairdresser to cut my hair and an hr after that i was a spreads lab! Her bro was a spread n needed a lab i was pushed into it i tell ya and i never asked for a perm!!
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lol :RpS_lol:
 
2004 16 years old £40 for four days apprentice, £40 from college and £18.50 travel allowance, i thought i had millions
 
£10 a day in 1993 for mixing, lugging buckets and barrows, cleaning up etc.. No worries them days, probably the best time of my life.
 
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