Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
Throughout the past week, civil enforcement officers working within Bromley went on strike, after talks regarding pay broke down.
Members of the GMB Union rejected an offer from the car park operator APCOA for a wage of £13 per hour – a wage significantly lower than what employees of the same role gain in nearby boroughs, as well as below the London Living Wage of £14.80.
Union members say they “just want fair pay and respect for the job we do” as they have to deal with “bad weather, short staffing and constant public pressure”.
As part of the strike, they only performed the tasks that are laid out in their contract, not taking on overtime, voluntary tasks or issue PCNs “beyond what is strictly required”.
The employees voted last month with a turnout of 72%, and only prioritised traffic moving safely and efficiently as per the Road Traffic Act.
Crazy News
An Australian man has the record for the world’s longest name, as he has more than 2,000 middle names!
Laurence Watkins has had his unique full name since March 1990, when he decided to legally change it, and by saying it all it takes him more than an hour.
Reading off a list on paper, he is unable to fully remember the exact order and admits that he may not pronounce it all correctly, as some are either English, Latin or biblical.
On the reasoning for why he changed his name, he says: “I was always fascinated by the quirky unusual records that some people went for and I really wanted to be part of that scene. I read the Guinness World Records book from cover to cover to see if there was a record I could beat and the only one I had a chance at beating was adding more names than the current holder”.
His request was accepted by the District Court but rejected by the Register General, and appealed to the New Zealand High Court – who have now changed laws to stop a repeat of this in the future.
He says his favourite name is AZ2000: “Meaning I have names from A-Z and I have 2000 names”.
Happy News
A message in a bottle from World War 1 was found in Australia and delivered to the ancestors of the soldiers more than 100 years after hitting the water.
The Schweppes bottle was found by Peter Brown and his daughter Felicity as they were cleaning rubbish from the beach but noticed letters inside the bottle.
Taking to the internet, Felicity found a Facebook profile for Malcolm Neville’s great nephew, Herbie using the hometown in the letter (Wilkawatt).
One of the letters asked for it to be delivered to Neville’s mother, saying: “We’re having a real good time, food is real good so far, with the exception of one meal which we buried at sea…The ship is heaving and rolling, but we are as happy as Larry”.
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