Spirit of 1976
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Posts posted by Spirit of 1976
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I never mentioned anything about that kind of situation.
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The two are fairly different considering one example someone hasn't paid anything and the other one someones forked up £200+
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God this is an utter argument about nothing, at the end of the day the stewards have to do the job they are given regardless of what anyone thinks is the moral thing to do. They do a bang up job and I certainty wouldn't want to be working 24 hours of my festival in the boiling heat having it in ear from people who can't accept some times rules are in a place for a reason, whether we agree with them or not!
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Relax, Pogo, our working rights are fine. To be honest, I think you've interpreted rather more than she actually said. I don't think she ever stated there was no warning system for stewards who aren't doing their job properly.
I'm sure there's other, more oppressed populations than Oxfam stewards for whom your revolutionary zeal might be better placed. Maybe there's a panda somewhere you can shout for the rights of?
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So you've worked in this role before, but never once thought of informing that super-girls analysis of life working as an oxfam steward was incorrect?
However, given the image painted by her to, what it seems, point score; do you think union representation wouldn't be needed in a role where you are threatened with loosing £185 for such a minor mistake, with no warning system? Do you see how the image she presented to me may have made me feel that she would need protection against what she painted as an unfair employer?
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Just to emphasis and agree with what other people have said here, refusing entry to Glasto because they're an unaccompanied minor is NOT being a jobsworth. It's simply complying with the licence for the festival. As FestivalDan says, GFL have to justify themselves to Mendip Council and show they're complying with the licence, and believe me the council ARE checking on them to make sure they do, to the extent of sending plain-clothes spotters and mystery shoppers through the gates to monitor that the stewards are checking the tickets correctly.
What I'm saying is, if you think under-18s should be allowed to come to Glasto unaccompanied, go and take it up with Mendip Council, don't call the stewards jobsworths.
Regarding the point about whether Oxfam stewards should get union membership, I think that debate might have spun a little bit out of hand. I've stewarded for Oxfam for the past five years at Glasto, Reading and Bestival - including two stints as a steward supervisor - and always found them to be run by very nice, reasonable people. An Oxfam steward wouldn't get kicked off for failing to check something on a ticket, though they may well get a supervisor come over and show them what they should be doing. Oxfam stewards only get kicked out and their deposit forfeit if they turn up on shift drunk, or repeatedly fail to do their job despite several warnings, or something like that. The Oxfam stewards aren't managed by Stalins, but they are expected to do a professional job.
Just to give a real-life example. At Glasto a steward didn't check the hologram on a ticket, and the ticketholder suddenly said to her, "You know what, I've often wondered what the hologram looks like on these tickets. Can you have a peek at it in the UV box and let me know please?" Well, either this guy had a weird, anally-retentive interest in holograms, or he was a mystery shopper who was dropping a hint to her.
I was supervising at the time. I certainly didn't radio in for her to be ejected, and wouldn't have been expected to. I simply walked over, explained the need to check the holograms and showed her how to use the lightbox. That was the only consequence, nothing more.
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You guys are all wrong!
Easy pass out is for people who live in pilton! I know my Aunt gets them and that's the only one I've ever used. It's pretty much only used for gate B to the village.
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One further point about these eBay touts saying, "They don't check photo IDs". Do they seriously think the festival aren't *reading* that????? So naturally their immediate response is to make damn sure the stewards DO check the photos. The Oxfam stewards are being monitored both overtly and covertly to check they're doing their job properly.
We even had some people come up with tickets where they were a man, and the photo was a woman, and vice versa. Those people spent a lot of money and travelled a long way just to be sent away again.
On the Friday we discovered that forged Easy Pass Out wristbands were being sold. Details of how to spot the forgeries (it wasn't hard if you knew what to look for) were quickly radio'd out to the stewards, and a lot of those forged wristbands were detected and the wearers kicked out.
I've heard mention on this thread of stewards who were offering to let people in for £20 or whatever. I can't guarantee that hasn't happened, but any Oxfam steward doing so would face a huge risk. They're in a busy area with lots of other stewards around, usually working in pods of 2 or 3 stewards, and with plenty of supervisors, gate monitors and security around. It really wouldn't be easy to do this without drawing attention to yourself, and I'm not aware of any Oxfam stewards being caught doing it.
In summary, come into Glasto with a legitimate ticket, or not at all.
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Hi, I was an Oxfam steward supervisor on Pedestrian Gate A at Glasto. I've found this thread interesting reading. I'd just like to add a few comments from the perspective of someone who's job it was to check the tickets and wristbands.
Why are we so strict? For the simple reason that, as various people have pointed out, Glastonbury's licence depends on it. The festival has to demonstrate to Mendip Council that it is keeping the non-ticket holders out. Failure to do so has come close to losing Glasto its licence in the past, and could do so again if the festival isn't seen to get to grips with the gatecrashers.
And the council aren't just taking our word for it that we're doing a thorough job. They send through plain-clothes spotters who are secretly watching us to make sure we're doing what we're supposed to. In addition, the festival sends its own mystery shoppers through the gates. Some of those mystery shoppers will have fake photos on their tickets to see if we spot them.
Oxfam has its own reasons for needing to be seen to do it properly. Oxfam made over £1 million from festival stewarding last year, and this is money that goes straight to the Third World. So Oxfam wants to keep its stewarding contract with the Glastonbury Festival, and therefore needs to show we can provide a professional stewarding service.
So, for anyone on eBay who tells you "they don't check photo ID"...Sorry, but think again. We check the photo, we ask people to take their sunglasses and hats off, we check the ticket holograms, we check the pass out holograms we give the wristband a little tug to check it hasn't been taken off and then put on somebody else's wrist. I can't guarantee we catch every gatecrasher, but we catch a hell of a lot. If you buy off an eBay tout, there's a VERY strong likelihood that all you'll get for your money is a long journey home.
I know it seems harsh, but it's necessary to secure the future of the festival, and if there's one thing us Oxfam stewards have in common, it's that we all love festivals.
Sprinting in ticket free
in Chat
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I was stewarding at Pedestrian Gate A - a couple of people did try to sprint through the gate at various times when I was on shift, but they were all stopped by security.
I'm informed that somebody did actually manage to get in by paragliding into the festival, I kid you not.