Friday, 30 October 2009

• Who Do We Blame?: Thoughts From A Branch Cashier

  

  I switched on the news today, and was delighted to discover that the average banker will be taking home on average, a bonus payment this year of around £40k for performances in the last economic year. Great I thought, for my average performance this year I will have earned 2 years salary. Except its not true, and this figure of course relates entirely to the 'city bankers', investment bankers who are due to receive large financial bonuses. Of course this doesn't make a blind bit of difference to the customer who, having gone over drawn 'through no fault of their own' will come in to complain and subsequently accuse us, the 'bank' of not caring about his/her situation because we are all living the life of riley on our excessive bonuses which brought this country to its knee's. And at this point a general state of apathy will occur from us to them because as always, at this point in time we are viewed with nothing more than contempt by the people of this country for a service we provide. Working in your high street bank we are all well aware of the feelings from the general public in relation to bonus payments, the bonus in relation to performance is a part of our financial payment for services rendered.   

  But this feeling of anger seems to overwhelm the view point that your 'average' entry level cashier will come in on a salary grade well below the national average, generally speaking anywhere between 13 - 17k. Now this may sound, to some, like a comfortable level to live off but the fact stands that in employment right now, I am probably only bringing in about £100 more than someone with 2 kids with child benefit and unemployment payments. If I were to suddenly become unemployed tomorrow my standard of living would not be drastically altered from what it is now. I dream of one day owning an Aston Martin DB9 through hard work and determination but the fact remains, I am content with my 1994 Nissan Micra, its what I can afford to run within my monthly budget. My bonus payment last month was entirely taken up by the 20% tax rate imposed by this labour government for anyone earning about £6k. Every single penny, I wasn't in a position to go out and buy the latest sports car or drink Crystal Champagne, I had to pay my tax then face the next working day with another complaint in relation to charges and once more be accused of living this luxurious lifestyle at the tax payers expense. Not every single customer I see on a daily basis accuses me of this practice, to which I would say not every single banker will pass you on the road in a quarter of a million pound sports car. But as long as the general consensus is that all bankers are living in this fictional world of high bonus payments at the expense of the tax payer, so this level of resentment will continue to simmer.
  
  And what about the sheer hypocrisy of this anger? Do we complain about nurses scraping by when doctors on 6 figure salaries make mistakes with the inevitable phrase 'lessons will be learned' while their children go on to private school? do we blame nurses for the mistakes of this higher up on substantially greater incomes? No, we don't, we praise those doing the 'real work' on the ground level. Did we blame the cashier staff in Woolworths for the management faults of the company before they went into administration? no, we felt sorrow for the loss of jobs that resulted from the down turn in the economy. In the United Kingdom, we have a proud tradition of effectively routing for the under dog in the face of adversity, championing those who for little or no reward do the jobs others are loathe to do.

   I'm not supporting the practice of Investment Bankers, through their actions we have arrived at this point our economical cycle all I would say is, the next time you have defaulted on your charges or loan payments, spare a thought at the branch member of staff who was probably earning less than you before tarring us with this brush of 'bonus payment culture'. I'll happily sit back, raise my hands when my monthly income is the same as these characters in the city of London. But for now I'm earning a very basic salary, this mythical 'bonus payment' is beyond my means and on a day to day basis being accused of ruining this country.

   As a branch cashier, its amazing the perceived levels of power we weld over the economies of the world. To a degree it's about responsibility but then to an equal extent its also the blame culture. The media could have, from the start, been clear it was the investment banking side of the operations that caused this down turn when the story came out. But that's not headline worthy. So instead it was entire banking institutions, RBS, HBOS, Lloyds, high street names the general public could point to and assign blame for the current financial situation. I, as a member of a named high street bank are therefore liable for a certain amount of criticism and anger when unemployment or redundancies come to pass as a result of banking practice. When HRSA, the hospital Superbug came to pass the media presented this viewpoint that all hospitals were no more hygienic than a petting farm however through experience that was not the case, but hospital's were to blame, and by default the entire health profession had to accept the blame and anger of patients for the actions of a few bad departments.
  
  If there is a solution to this situation it's beyond my pay grade. And the uncomfortable truth is, when the next talking point news story occurs, the spot light will shift to that sector. The next hospital scandal, police brutality story, transport strike. But I don't blame the lady from church who works in the local hospital, I don't blame my sister for the 'institutionalized racism' within the police force even though she works for them. And I don't blame my local post man who does a damn fine job despite the actions of the union leaders whipping up this anger in their ranks. It comes down to people refusing to accept responsibility for their actions, and when this occurs the so called 'blame game' of fault takes place. The 'banking sector' got the economy into this mess is the general consensus felt by the general public, therefore as an employee within the banking sector I must take a measure of blame for this. Despite in no way shape or form having anything to do with investment banking. Then when the next sensational news event strikes the banking industry will be left tarred with this image of malpractice and incompetence, and carry on providing a financial service to this country.

  Do you find yourself blaming industries as a whole, or do you ever think it's just the "higher-ups" that are to blame?

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