The Retirement Plan

Mr Mackilrite had originally been head executive officer of one of the countries biggest retailers . When he announced he would retire early many people welcomed the move as he was not well liked . He took a very large slice of the pie when he left and quickly announced he was going to give something back to the community . Many people questioned this ethical turn around .

He stated that he was going to create Greenscape Industries which would provid work for the disabled in the community .

As general manager Mr Mackilrite began to build a network of other people who would give him immunity from any investigations into huis operation ,.

Mackilrite was indeed a very shrewd man , that's why he had done so well as chief executive officer fro many years .

All his efforts were applauded by many of the organizations who worked with the disabled .

He presented Greenscape Industries in a very nice way .Mackilrite built Greenscape Industries on some spare ground that was donated by a wealthy man who had a disabled child .

Most of the building supplies were either donated from local business or at a reduced rate .

Mackilrite had put his face on the front page of every newspaper in town as the man who cared , as the man who believed in miracles .

The sad thing is people trusted this man with their disabled kids .

There was a long list of disabled people waiting to get into Greenscape .

The parents and carers where desperate to get their loved ones into the workshop . Apart from the respite it gave them it also freed up their conscience in thinking they had done everything they could for their kids .

In fact if they had known what was going on behind the scenes , they would have taken their kids out immediately from Greenscape .

Mackilrite had set up this operation a long time before he had retired .

With his long list of dodgy contacts and dishonest acquaintances various money making deals where drawn up . As part of an agreement he had on-going gifts and grants issued twice a year from some corporations who were receiving negative gearing benefits for their so called charitable gifts .
Greenscape had now a growing list of benefactors whp prided themselves in supporting the disabled .

In fact all the monies that where donated to Greenscape were immediately filtered back through a number of other people who had no connection to Makilrite . He had everything stitched up tight all right .

Daily work orders from the local businesses required simple tasks done .

The jobs were handed on to the disabled employees . Some of the duties including packing pre-picked orders into empty boxes . Tying loop bows at the end of small lengths of rope for tent ties . Filling up small canvas bags with rice , placing bare rooted roses into plastic pots for reselling as established rose plants .

Whenever local politicians or newpaper reporters arrived everything seemed great . Greenscape Industries had earned tremendous respect in the eyes of the innocent in the outer community .

But the truth was in complete opposition to what was generally known .

The disabled employees were in fact being abused every day by those who were in their charge .

There helplessness had become the very chain that imprisoned them within the work place that was supposed to be giving them dignity .

The supervisors who were employed to assist the disabled workers were part of Mackilrites machine . They all had shares in the business and kept secret all the goings on at Greenscape .

The workshop was well kept under the control of supervisors who stood over and often bullied the disabled workers .

Mackilrite sat behind his big desk in the back office .

He called himself the boss . There was no other name allowed .

He made the employees all stand to their feet when he came into the room where they working .

He made himself untouchable with all he did .

There was no one more important or higher up than him .

The control he had over his employees was unfair and intolerable .

Lunch and morning tea was almost non existent .

Mackilrite had placed only one electric kettle in a small area and when it was break time every one had to make their own tea ,which was impossible as some of the employees were too badly disabled to carry that procedure .

When Greenscape asked parents and carers of the employees to provide money for meals to be purchased the outcome was again another greedy businessmans way of manipulating the disabled in his care .

He preyed upon the good nature of society and asked for food to be donated for the disabled .

In fact everything he did to provide something for his business had an underlying skin of greed below to the surface .

He loved to sit in his office play the king in control of his little kingdom .

Or so he thought .

One of the employees had been able to inform a member of the disabled care team about the injustices at Greenscape Industries .

It was decided that an undercover officer would play the role of a disabled employee and he would infiltrate the operation and report back to the government hid findings at Greenscape .

In the first week of his employment an accident occurred with one of the compactors and the undercover mans death had been blamed on his stupid work practices .

Not many were convinced that it was an accident and a tribunal had been secretly set up to look at the possible problems at Greenscape .

Mackilrite was getting worried now and decided to take time out .

His excuse was a manufactured illness that rendered him not able to look after the business for a while .

As it turned out he did find himself a victim of an accident on the way home.

After the truck crashed into his car he was unable to walk or talk .

Mackilrite with one quick strike of fate was now in fact disabled himself .

It was almost frightening at the speed stories spread .

The government had decided to put Mackilrite himself into the very organization that he had set up to provide support and help for the disabled in the community

There was no waiting on a list for Mackilrite , as soon as he was allowed discharge fro hospital he was placed into Greenscape working along with his fellow disabled workmates .

Days at Greenscape had become a little less harsh for most of the employees there .

New concepts of abuse came to light .

There was justice of a strange kind for those who known only fear from their stand over boss .

Each day he sat there helpless in a chair they gave him back full measure of what they had to endure .

New supervisors had been installed and after the government enquiries the name Greenscape was changed to Fairscape .

Now new commitments had been made and the running of the business was now transferred over to the hands of the disability support networks .

Mackilrite was placed in Fairscape until a facility could be provided .

Further assessments on Mackilrites situation had become buried under a mass of paperwork backlog in certain departments of disabled care.

The End
by Paul McCann