S-A-C-K-E-D...will plunder for pay - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ARTelevision · 05-31-2003, 05:29 AM

Pricewaterhouse pays price for poor play.

Remember that job you had? We don't...

Want to hear a good joke? What do you do for a living? Ha Ha Ha.

..................................

2,500 staff sacked by text message
from telegraph.co.uk
31/05/2003

Dozens of former employees looted offices of the personal injury claims firm The Accident Group after being told by text message that they had lost their jobs.

About 2,500 staff were thrown out of work yesterday when their employers' parent company, the Amulet Group, went into receivership.

Offices in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool were ransacked by staff, who carried off computers and other equipment.

Staff had received three text messages on their mobile phones, warning them that they should not go into work, that their final salaries could not be paid and that a full explanation would be given by e-mail.

At offices, an answer machine message from the administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "All staff who are being retained will be contacted today. If you have not been spoken to you are therefore being made redundant with immediate effect."

It added: "Unfortunately there are no funds available to pay the salaries for May."

The message apologised for the nature of the call, adding: "I would have preferred to do this on a face-to-face basis. On the time scale available, this has not proved possible."

Staff were told to make claims to the Department of Trade and Industry for arrears of pay, outstanding holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice and redundancy.

Andy Potton, a claims assessor with the firm, had gone to his office in Speke, Liverpool, because he assumed colleagues would gather there.

He said: "I could hardly believe what I saw. There were people walking out of the office with computers. One chap quite high up in the company had loaded up his car with laptops and driven off."
..............................................

Gonna load my lorry up with laptops, baby.
Gonna let the lawyers sort it out.
Oh yeah!

Dragonlich · 05-31-2003, 05:42 AM

And rightly so. If the company refuses to treat it's employees right, they don't have to treat the company right.

Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of "someone is gonna sue them", but looting the office seems a nice idea too.

05-31-2003, 07:19 AM

I'm picturing a bunch of old codgers, ties around their foreheads, swords made out of fan-blades, roaming the corridors....

Liquor Dealer · 05-31-2003, 07:25 AM

To me it sounds as if they were just to chicken shit to face their employees - don't know if looting their offices (shades of Iraq) was the way to get compensation or not but at least they didn't take it lying down.

krwlz · 05-31-2003, 08:48 AM

Its funny as hell! But its wrong, if I had been fired like that, I am sure I would be pissed...but looting? Nah...

gov135 · 05-31-2003, 08:57 AM

There is a pecking order for compensation from bankrupt and defunct firms. The last on the list who gets to see anything are employees and common stockholders. Any assets a company has remaining go to big creditors.

I don't think the looting was really for financial gain as much as it was a symbolic gesture. Kinda "take that." Although, in the end, the ones really "taking it" are the employees.

The PriceWaterhouse employees should have seen it coming. But I feel so bad for them. Here's a firm of tens of thousands screwed by one office with a few unethical morons. And everyone loses their jobs cause of it.

phredgreen · 05-31-2003, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Julie
I'm picturing a bunch of old codgers, ties around their foreheads, swords made out of fan-blades, roaming the corridors....

hmm...

yeah... i think that was the scene out there.

Antagony · 05-31-2003, 09:44 AM

Grahahhaggrarah, piracy ahoy! That cracks me up.

Phred's post was quite appropriate too, hehehe.

ARTelevision · 05-31-2003, 10:07 AM

great response phred!
thanks for the visuals...

05-31-2003, 10:42 AM

Thanks phred. Couldn't think of the name offa the top of my head.

Magpie0001 · 05-31-2003, 10:57 AM

Bravo phredgreen, Masterfull retort, I tip my cap to thee.

greytone · 05-31-2003, 05:37 PM

Slightly off the subject, I had a friend who found out he was fired by listening to his answering machine the night he got back from his honeymoon. I thought that was low class, but this is amazing.

Frowning Budah · 06-01-2003, 08:38 AM

I don't think my employeer has anything I want. How sad.

sbscout · 06-02-2003, 05:05 AM

welcome to the new and exciting world of large corporations...

cogs are replaceable... and can become redundant

Daval · 06-02-2003, 05:17 AM

my brotherinlaw did that. he worked at an airline that went bankrupt. Walked out with about $5,000 worth of computer stuff. I totally lost respect for him that day.

Bill O'Rights · 06-02-2003, 05:40 AM

I don't know...it's not in my general make-up and character to do something lke this, but perhaps if mob mentality were to take over...who knows. I like to think not.

OTOH. In a broader picture, I think that this serves to illustrate that people are starting to demonstrate that they are sick and tired of being treated no better than used coffee filter in a coporation whos C.E.O. pulls down some obscene compensation.

Sun Tzu · 06-02-2003, 01:23 PM

I wonder what the department of trade and industry is like in terms of dealing with situations like this. If its rep is bad, and low with aiding in compensation; a person has to do what they have to do. I dont advocate stealing; but I've been f***ed like this a few times in my life, and the thought that karma would take care of evening the score never seemed to quiet my desire for justice effect a level of survival.

05-31-2003, 05:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	S-A-C-K-E-D...will plunder for pay Pricewaterhouse pays price for poor play. Remember that job you had? We don't... Want to hear a good joke? What do you do for a living? Ha Ha Ha. .................................. 2,500 staff sacked by text message from telegraph.co.uk 31/05/2003 Dozens of former employees looted offices of the personal injury claims firm The Accident Group after being told by text message that they had lost their jobs. About 2,500 staff were thrown out of work yesterday when their employers' parent company, the Amulet Group, went into receivership. Offices in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool were ransacked by staff, who carried off computers and other equipment. Staff had received three text messages on their mobile phones, warning them that they should not go into work, that their final salaries could not be paid and that a full explanation would be given by e-mail. At offices, an answer machine message from the administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "All staff who are being retained will be contacted today. If you have not been spoken to you are therefore being made redundant with immediate effect." It added: "Unfortunately there are no funds available to pay the salaries for May." The message apologised for the nature of the call, adding: "I would have preferred to do this on a face-to-face basis. On the time scale available, this has not proved possible." Staff were told to make claims to the Department of Trade and Industry for arrears of pay, outstanding holiday pay, pay in lieu of notice and redundancy. Andy Potton, a claims assessor with the firm, had gone to his office in Speke, Liverpool, because he assumed colleagues would gather there. He said: "I could hardly believe what I saw. There were people walking out of the office with computers. One chap quite high up in the company had loaded up his car with laptops and driven off." .............................................. Gonna load my lorry up with laptops, baby. Gonna let the lawyers sort it out. Oh yeah! __________________ create evolution

05-31-2003, 07:25 AM	#4 (permalink)
Liquor Dealer Super Agitator Location: Just SW of Nowhere!!! In the good old US of A	To me it sounds as if they were just to chicken shit to face their employees - don't know if looting their offices (shades of Iraq) was the way to get compensation or not but at least they didn't take it lying down. __________________ Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it's more like a jar of Jalapenos --- what you say or do today might burn your ass tomorrow!!!

05-31-2003, 09:44 AM	#8 (permalink)
Antagony Psychopathic Akimbo Action Pirate Location: ...between Christ and Belial.	Grahahhaggrarah, piracy ahoy! That cracks me up. Phred's post was quite appropriate too, hehehe. __________________ On the outside I'm jazz, but my soul is rock and roll. Sleep is a waste of time. Join the Insomniac Club. "GYOH GWAH-DAH GREH BLAAA! SROH WIH DIH FLIH RYOHH!!" - The Locust

05-31-2003, 10:07 AM	#9 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	great response phred! thanks for the visuals... __________________ create evolution

05-31-2003, 10:57 AM	#11 (permalink)
Magpie0001 Nobody Loves Me Location: Irish In Madrid	Bravo phredgreen, Masterfull retort, I tip my cap to thee. __________________ Music is my first love & It will be my last.

05-31-2003, 05:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dragonlich 42, baby! Location: The Netherlands	And rightly so. If the company refuses to treat it's employees right, they don't have to treat the company right. Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of "someone is gonna sue them", but looting the office seems a nice idea too.

05-31-2003, 07:19 AM	#3 (permalink)
Big Julie Guest	I'm picturing a bunch of old codgers, ties around their foreheads, swords made out of fan-blades, roaming the corridors....

05-31-2003, 08:48 AM	#5 (permalink)
krwlz Fledgling Dead Head Location: Clarkson U.	Its funny as hell! But its wrong, if I had been fired like that, I am sure I would be pissed...but looting? Nah...

05-31-2003, 08:57 AM	#6 (permalink)
gov135 Junkie Location: Midwest	There is a pecking order for compensation from bankrupt and defunct firms. The last on the list who gets to see anything are employees and common stockholders. Any assets a company has remaining go to big creditors. I don't think the looting was really for financial gain as much as it was a symbolic gesture. Kinda "take that." Although, in the end, the ones really "taking it" are the employees. The PriceWaterhouse employees should have seen it coming. But I feel so bad for them. Here's a firm of tens of thousands screwed by one office with a few unethical morons. And everyone loses their jobs cause of it.

05-31-2003, 10:42 AM	#10 (permalink)
Big Julie Guest	Thanks phred. Couldn't think of the name offa the top of my head.

05-31-2003, 05:37 PM	#12 (permalink)
greytone Junkie	Slightly off the subject, I had a friend who found out he was fired by listening to his answering machine the night he got back from his honeymoon. I thought that was low class, but this is amazing. __________________ I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing. Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"

06-01-2003, 08:38 AM	#13 (permalink)
Frowning Budah Slave of Fear	I don't think my employeer has anything I want. How sad.

06-02-2003, 05:05 AM	#14 (permalink)
sbscout Disorganized Location: back home again...	welcome to the new and exciting world of large corporations... cogs are replaceable... and can become redundant __________________ Always question authority... it'll keep the bastards on their toes!

06-02-2003, 05:17 AM	#15 (permalink)
Daval Junkie Location: The True North Strong and Free!	my brotherinlaw did that. he worked at an airline that went bankrupt. Walked out with about $5,000 worth of computer stuff. I totally lost respect for him that day. __________________ "It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it." Winston Churchill

06-02-2003, 05:40 AM	#16 (permalink)
Bill O'Rights will always be an Alyson Hanniganite Location: In the dust of the archives	I don't know...it's not in my general make-up and character to do something lke this, but perhaps if mob mentality were to take over...who knows. I like to think not. OTOH. In a broader picture, I think that this serves to illustrate that people are starting to demonstrate that they are sick and tired of being treated no better than used coffee filter in a coporation whos C.E.O. pulls down some obscene compensation. __________________ "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony "Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

06-02-2003, 01:23 PM	#17 (permalink)
Sun Tzu Conspiracy Realist Location: The Event Horizon	I wonder what the department of trade and industry is like in terms of dealing with situations like this. If its rep is bad, and low with aiding in compensation; a person has to do what they have to do. I dont advocate stealing; but I've been f*ed like this a few times in my life, and the thought that karma would take care of evening the score never seemed to quiet my desire for justice effect a level of survival. __________________ To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking**