A few years ago I was made redundant from my job and decided to take some time out chilling and playing Scrabble. After a few months I got a bit bored and decided to get a job, any job. So I signed on with an employment agency and found myself working at Christian Salvesson.

I shall now reveal what they actually do.

Do you know those trays of fruit and vegetables you see in supermarkets? The big plastic ones that come in different colours and sizes? Well they need to be cleaned in between usages and it is CS who do that.

Not much money in that, I hear you say. Well I suppose not, but CS are experts at squeazing work out of minimum wage employees. Basically, they employ the almost unemployable and terrorise them into working their bolox, or female equivalent, off.

I was told that my shift started at 6am and finished at 2. When I turned up at 5:50 I was told off for being late. The reason for that is that at the begining of each shift they held a safety breifing. Everyone was expected to be there but no one got paid for it. The safety briefing was of course mind numbingly trite.

Not being used to hard physical work, I did my best to work as hard as I could during my shift. All around me were doing likewise. There was no stopping for chats and I don't think I even found out where the toilets were. I'm proud to say that halfway through my shift, the supervisor took the trouble to come over to me and say how well I was doing for a first day and he pointed out that at the rate the shift was going, we'd get our quota out by 1pm and we could take it easy after that.

That seemed to invigorate everyone and true enough, with the quota achieved, the cleaning machine was shut down. However, the easy last hour was not what it seemed. I was told that whatever I do make sure I look busy. Now I don't know how to look busy without actually being busy so I spent the hour helping unload lorries and sweeping a pile of dust from one end of the warehouse to the other.

I didn't go back the next day but even now, when I see those CS lorries out and about I think about my colleagues for one day, who didn't have a degree and an alternative career, grafting away for a pittance.