They Also Serve

at

Would you like to sell beer to music ‘revellers’ this Summer?

And help the pro-choice campaign?

Read on.

The Abortion Rights Campaign writes:

We’re looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help us this summer. All volunteers must be 18 years old or over. The work involves working at the bars at some of the biggest gigs and festivals this summery.

When your shift finishes up you get to enjoy the music, have a free pint or two and pat yourself on the back for making a genuine contribution to improving the lives of women in Ireland…

2015 ARC Workers Beer Company summer volunteer session (AbortionRightsCampaign)

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58 thoughts on “They Also Serve

    1. ahjayzis

      That’s what I’ve been saying for years.

      If kids got a cut of the Trocaire boxes they’d be incentivised to collect more!
      LIVING WAGE FOR CHUGGERS!

      1. Seriously

        Chuggers are actually paid better than you would think. I remember a friend in a recruitment agency hiring them for €13 an hour, much better than most retail jobs.

        1. John E. Bravo

          The status of the job notwithstanding, it’s a difficult ask with a high turnover, and the cost of training is probably high enough that it’s cheaper to try and get people to stay on than to take in new staff all the time.

          1. Seriously

            I agree that they should be paid (notwithstanding the irony of someone who is paid more per hour than I am by a charity organisation, asking for my charity for said organisation), as should bar staff at a gig.

  1. TG

    Make sure not to serve beer to pregnant women. It could damage their baby. (Satire, Ireland, 2015: R.I.P.)

  2. tony

    what patronising creeps. It’s a cult. Like the Hare Krishnas. I must keep my eyes out for the abortion bars this summer. Could be a thing.

  3. Birneybau2

    How exactly does this work? Instead of asking if you want fries with that, you say, Abortions for all?

    1. SLFCUltra

      I’m thinking the budget set aside for paid barmen (AND WOMAN LEST I FORGET) goes to ARC possibly?

    2. ivan

      How it works is, the promoter allows a number of people in to sell beer, and Workers Beer provide them – in other words WB are given 200 (say) wristbands to get people in. The gig (from gate opening to close) is, say, 8 hours, so each person of the 200 is given a four hour shift to do.

      Instead of getting paid, those wages are given to WB who pass it onto whatever cause they wish.

      I stewarded at Glastonbury the last few years and that’s how it’s done there…

      rightly or wrongly, the general public never know what charities benefit from the work done.

      1. SLFCUltra

        Would they be paid the equivalent of minimum wage per shift or is the promoter pulling a fast-ish one?

        1. ivan

          it’s not the promoter pulling the fast one; nobody is actually…and the thing is that you might have better ‘facilities’ than the general public so it’s not necessarily something you can put down to pounds, shillings and pence. In other words, let’s say ticket for the gig for the day is €50, and there’s 8 hours of pint pulling going on, but you’ve to work 4 of them, then you’re getting paid – in a sense – €25 for 4 hours work. But if you get a few pints and access to toilets that are cleaner than what the general public are getting, maybe it’s worth it.

          My point is that people who do this work go into it with their eyes open; they know they’re not getting paid, but they’re getting to a gig and it’s costing them nothing.

        2. Maebh

          Its organised by the Workers Beer Company which is owned and operated by UK trade unions the point isn’t to be exploitative of workers but to provide a mechanism for using festivals and concerts as a way to raise money for causes or charities (SUAS also uses SBC slots to raise funds).

          For the young volunteer they have financially assisted an organisation they wish to and gained access to a music even that they otherwise would have had to pay full price for.

          The festival organizers get labour not free, including the benefits in kind or the opportunity cost of not having sold the tickets given to volunteers.

          The cooperating organisation gets cash.

          Would you feel better about it if the volunteers were instead employed by the festival didn’t get to attend the concert and made minimum wage which they then donated to the charity? Cos TBH I’d imagine for most volunteers a big draw is being able to trade work for access?

  4. Smellyer

    Link isn’t working at the bottom there.

    The beer stalls at Festivals are the biggest cash cows out of any of the vendors. Of course It’s not surprising that they would try to not pay staff. It is however, morally reprehensible and their connection to any presumably political or charitable outfit should be thoroughly investigated.

    I would love to know how they came to the conclusion that selling high priced/low quality alcohol to people in a field will some how promote Abortion Rights. But Hey, that is what PR people are for.

  5. Spaghetti Hoop

    I take it that the payment for this work is benefit-in-kind; concert entry and a couple of pints. The organisers should detail exactly what hours of contribution are required. Nothing wrong with volunteering…but people’s time should be managed properly.
    Also, how does serving lagerpiss help abortion rights?

        1. newsjustin

          Kinda creeping up on a baby and poisoning it with alcohol rather than a full frontal assault, as it were. Shrewd move by the ARC.

          1. Caroline

            It doesn’t generally kill the baby, just leaves it with developmental problems, intellectual disability and mild disfigurement. You should check your ma’s notes.

          2. Joe the Lion

            I’m sure that we can work in a No Conscience clause for the No Life campaigners once Abortion is legalised

          3. Mani

            So, all abortion is by stealth as your joke is dependant on the foetus being unaware of the general going on. Unless the abortionist first inserts a teeny weeny sorry for your loss card in the uterus prior to the aul aborting, maybe.

          4. Caroline

            Unfortunately it can’t be diagnosed prenatally. Which is a shame. Such a terrible terrible shame. Of course, once abortion comes in it’s a slippery slope to a sneaky hammer to the skull shortly after birth.

    1. ivan

      because Workers Beer get you in so you’re happy to be at the gig, in return for working a few hours.

      Workers Beer get a few quid for your labour but instead of passing it onto you, they pass it onto whatever cause they wish – in this case Abortion rights.

      You’re happy because you got to the gig and got a few beers out of it, and for every Bar Steward there, they can fire off a few bob to the charity.

    1. Maebh

      Not promoting, the volunteers are working for the Workers Beer Company (along with volunteers from other organisations such as amnesty, rabble, suas) the customer gets their drink and the volunteer knows they are aiding a cause they believe in.

    2. Joe the Lion

      No you get to have some fun with the nubile young slaves first eg beer soaked wet t shirt competition etc before sending them off to England

  6. baz

    so tell us Broadsheet, all day on this post the image was of a Heineken branded bar at a concert, the image has been switched now, who requested that? Heineken? their PR reps?

    any chance we may get a response (will be more surprised if my post is passed by the censors!)

  7. Sharrow

    Every volunteer is pro choice knows in advance that the wages will be donated to ARC.
    Each and every donation which needs to be is recorded with SIPO, ARC is registered and compliant with SIPO
    Can’t say the same of the forced birth crowds and their many orgs, companies and charities.

  8. Bleh

    Ah lads. It’s not complicated. WBC pays its people but those individuals give their wages to a not-for-profit as their own donation. Amnesty, concern, suas all do it too.

  9. Garret Fitzpatrick

    What’s the point of this post? The beer stalls pay for their staff, but instead of the individual worker receiving their wages they go to a cause that worker has signed up to support. It can be a really effective way of raising money for causes. It’s not about promoting your cause at the festival, it’s about collectively making sums of money for them that would otherwise be pretty difficult to raise.

    Problem?

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