Travelport's 5% wage cuts are disgraceful, says union
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Independent Minds
The country's biggest travel union has branded pay cuts at the UK-based Gullivers Travel Associates (GTA) "a disgrace".
GTA, a subsidiary of the private equity-owned conglomerate Travelport, says that more than 90 per cent of its 2,400 worldwide workforce have accepted a 5 per cent pay cut, which starts tomorrow and ends on 30 June next year. Travelport, which is owned by Blackstone, asked staff to volunteer for cuts to ward off redundancies.
However, the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), the travel union that has some members in GTA, said that companies were using the recession as "an excuse to cut pay".
Jessica Fenn of the TSSA said: "It's a disgrace. People in the travel trade typically make about £12,000 to £13,000 a year and have to make up the rest of their money through targets, so it's already incredibly stressful."
A GTA spokesman said that "a small minority" of staff in the UK had not volunteered to trim their salaries. He added: "We are going through a consultation process to see if we can work with them over this." The spokesman argued that the pay cuts would "protect the livelihoods of employees at GTA". He also said that the company would review the policy in December.
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Comments
I'm one of the people that is currently under consultation ( or better have a proposal of Dismissal because I did not voluntary to have a 5% pay cut)
In January this year Travelport has made 10% of the all company redundant ( people have left but their jobs stayed on the shoulders of remaining employees that were happy to do it because at least we still had a job)
then comes April and Travelport explain that their are in big depths and they need help so they give us ( via the voice of bully managers) 3 options - 1 Voluntary redundancy + unpaid leave or 2 - 5% pay cut from 1Jul 09 till Jul 10
105 people ( experience people witha verage of 10 years working for the company) have help out and decided to take voluntary redundancy
82% have said yes and the remain ing 18% did not agree
the company has accepted the 82% and now is in consultatuion with the 18% that were brave enought to say no to dismiss people because we did not accept
was this process not voluntary????? so if voluntary means compulsory I've missed out
Travelport is now recruting for the position of people that have left ( they say they paying less) but obvious the service level is lower as well
it is with great shame that after 4 years of dedication to this company they now want to dismiss me because I did not voluntary for 5% pay cut... if this is not bullying then I do not know what to call it anymore
I won't accept the reduction and I will fight for my rights till the very end and will not accept to be bullyed into this situation
in the meantime I still need to come to work and believe me it is not easy to find the motivation to be doing what I do
I only hope I can find another job where I will be respected for what I am and what I can deliver
all for now
take care
Travelport's "trouble maker"
This decision was made to safeguard everyone else and my position within GTA.
We were advised that this was not a permanant change and was up for review in December - During such a difficult time owing to the global economy crisis I felt and so did the other 82%, that we were doing the right thing.
I don't believe Sonia78 is brave - Just troublesome
Why should we make cuts in our salary to safeguard everyones jobs when people like her feel that she can work alongside us all with her salary intact - Keep dreaming girl - It ain't gonna happen
The company is still making plenty of money. On top of the 5% paycut and the additional work that we have to do because of all the redundancies we also didn't get a pay increase this year, which I know is not compulsory, but adding these I am already 7.5% worse off and have to work longer hours.
If I couldn't pay my bills and would ask the company, "Hey, I need 5% more money", what do you think there answer would be? Probably to rude to add to this comment.
I would encourage all employees that have originally agreed to the paycut to change their vote to NO. If you need more information, please also read the following links that have emerged in the last few days.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Artic
http://www.traveltrends.biz/ttn30-fallo
Do not for one minute believe that this "voluntary" proposal of pay cuts will save any jobs. This is merely an exercise to fill the pockets of the people at the top.
Looking forward to your comments.
In response to your post
"The company is still making plenty of money."
This may be the case but the companys vision is probably a little more focused than yours. We are making money but the global ecomomy crisis is not resolving itself anytime soon and who knows what position we would all be in several months down the line...
"On top of the 5% paycut and the additional work that we have to do because of all the redundancies."
An unfortunate outcome - There is no freeze on recruitment so if your line manager feels that there is too much work for the number of staff, I'm sure a replacement will be found. Be lucky that you have extra work - Some people have none as they have no job
"we also didn't get a pay increase this year which I know is not compulsory,"
No - Its not compulsory. although you have overlooked the fact that the company did actually pay out the 2nd half bonus for 2008
"If I couldn't pay my bills and would ask the company, "Hey, I need 5% more money", what do you think there answer would be? Probably to rude to add to this comment."
I'd say - Manage your money - just like the 82% of us will be doing
"I would encourage all employees that have originally agreed to the paycut to change their vote to NO. If you need more information, please also read the following links that have emerged in the last few days."
"Your message has done nothing to change my view on this - a small handful of people may be tempted but why ? Our jobs, for the forseeable future have been secured by us accepting the reduction, non complience now may result in compulsory redundancies meaning we lose everything - to big a gamble, sorry"
"Do not for one minute believe that this "voluntary" proposal of pay cuts will save any jobs. This is merely an exercise to fill the pockets of the people at the top."
I disagree
In your response:
"This may be the case but the companys vision is probably a little more focused than yours. We are making money but the global ecomomy crisis is not resolving itself anytime soon and who knows what position we would all be in several months down the line... "
I agree, my eyesight is probably not that good. However, where was the companys vision when things were going well? Why are measures to reduce cost only taken when the s*** hits the fan? What goes up will go down, commen sense. You are asking what position we all would be in several months time? Good question, because I have not heard anything to the extend that our jobs are safe. As you say, the economic crisis is not resolving itself anytime soon, so the review in December is a pointless exercise.
"An unfortunate outcome - There is no freeze on recruitment so if your line manager feels that there is too much work for the number of staff, I'm sure a replacement will be found. Be lucky that you have extra work - Some people have none as they have no job."
Well, freeze the recruitment and let me keep my 5%. You say some people have no job and as this is certainly true and getting worse by the day, I still believe if you want a job you will get one. Admittedly, it will take longer but as you say, even GTA doesn't have a recruitment freeze.
"No - Its not compulsory. although you have overlooked the fact that the company did actually pay out the 2nd half bonus for 2008"
Yes, but not because they wanted to more likely because they had no choice. And why shouldn't they? We worked very hard last year and exceeded our targets.
"I'd say - Manage your money - just like the 82% of us will be doing "
You are missing the point here. Travelport should have managed their finances better so they wouldn't have to come and ask us for a 5% paycut and make compulsary redundancies.
"Your message has done nothing to change my view on this - a small handful of people may be tempted but why ? Our jobs, for the forseeable future have been secured by us accepting the reduction, non complience now may result in compulsory redundancies meaning we lose everything - to big a gamble, sorry"
You say our jobs, for the forseeable future have been secured by accepting the paycut and noncompliance may result in compulsory redundancies. Where do you get this information from? What makes you assume that your job is safe and there aren't compulsoray redundancies on the way? Is it because you believe everything you are told? Let me give you some advice, DON'T.
Do not for one minute believe that this "voluntary" proposal of pay cuts will save any jobs. This is merely an exercise to fill the pockets of the people at the top.
You disagree with my comment above. Do you really believe the guys making all of these decision affecting staff are gonna be worse off? Unlikely.
Looking forward hearing from you.
I'm not going to waste my time cutting and pasting your comments and replying beneath each one - I will just say what needs saying in one go.
You ask me where do I get my information from, well from the same people you have. Our SLT, HR and our line managers.
I have stated that for the FORSEEABLE future, our jobs are safe - I have no guarantee but for the timebeing my position is secure.
You and the other poster have already enlightened us to the fact that you have received a proposal of dismissal meaning your position is not neccesarily safe - through your own doing !
but I am taking every step to ensure that I am not faced with unemployment - One of these steps was accepting the 5% reduction.
I have worked here for over 8 years and have seen a number of ups and downs, 9/11, bird flu, Indonesia Bombings, London Bombings, Swine flu and now the economy crisis...
All of which have had an impact on the travel industry and GTA has managed to pull through in the past and grow stronger and I am confident that we will again - with everyones support !
Are you not aware that the SLT took a pay reduction back in January ?? the "people making these decisions" are in exactly the same position as us.
I don't believe everything I'm told or read - For example, the post above advises that the pay reduction is applicable from tomorrow - er no, 1st july 2009
I do understand that you may have genuine reasons for not being able to take the reduction and I genuinely feel for you if this is the case but I urge to think about the alternative.....
Although you are entitled to an opinion, trying to get everyone to change their "vote to NO" is very wrong - You are in the minority and its a lonely place to be
Best of Luck
I'm not in management moron and I'm on my lunchbreak
No need to get hot and bothered,it seems that when you're not regurgitating all the information that you've been spoon-fed with your puppydog loyalty, you don't really have much else to say...
hmm no backbone & awful punctuation, thankfully you already have a job, now why don't you get back to it?!
LOL - I'm not hot and bothered, quite the contrary.
I'm not entering a punctuation competition either, I was typing fast and couldn't believe you had the nerve to make such a statement so I answered your post quickly without checking for errors, you moron.
Better ?
Theres not really much else to say - I provided constructive feedback to the other posters, for you I really can't be bothered.
I won't even wish you any luck for the future, GTA would be better off without troublemaking employees such as you working here.
everyone know that SLT took a pay cut but you would be very STUPID to think that their cut will make any difference in their lifes
we all have different reason for accepting yes ( many bullied by managers .. maybe even yourself) and other have not agreed for obvious reason ... we are not scared of voicing our opinion and we will walk out without feeling like you have failed because the loser are all inside ...
and the only lonely place to be is here because outside GTA there the UNIVERSE so if you are ny good in maths you now know you is ALONE
good luck for all of you that are staying
What are you rambling on about ?
You are in the minority, a lonely place, which is why you are so desperate to get everyone else on your side by asking everyone to vote NO
We keep our jobs - Winners !
You lose your jobs - Losers !
End of
Oh and by the way, I'm far from being ALONE
Hello everyone,
First of all, may I say that there is no need to get personal and throw insults at each other. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and that includes gtaemployee.
Here are a few more with regards to gtaemployees comment from 01:08 pm (UTC).
I will also not be pasting your comments now as you are right it is getting a bit tedious and hard to read.
In my opinion you are wrong to believe that the company is making these changes in your best interest - they are not. I do, however, believe cost saving measures need and should take place. However, why not consider alternatives that are suitable for us as well? I cannot for one minute believe that a 5% cut was the only workable solution our SLTs could come up with.
You say that you are taking every possible step to ensure your employment. Why are you so worried about your job? Why are you so desperate to work for a company that is treating their staff in such a disgraceful way? Don't be scared, it is only a job and there are so many other opportunities out there. We, as the staff should stick together and come up with a solution that will work for everyone.
As yourself, I have worked for GTA a very long time and you are right there have been many ups and downs affecting the travel industry. But I have never, ever been treated so disgracefully and dishonest.
I have also heard that the SLTs have taken paycuts, but considering the salaries they are earning I do not think they will be as badly affected as many of GTAs staff.
Yes, there were some errors in the first comment, but you still believe every everything your SLT, HR and Linemanagers say.
And lastly, yes I fully agree with you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I am 100% sure that with enough people voting NO we, Gullivers and its staff, will come to a solution that will be suitable for everyone.
Best Regards.
WOW I can smell a chicken is around the building ... shame you live in a dream world!
All of us that have said no are not willing to work along you so we are not dreaming we are only voicing our opinion witch is more than you're coward decison.
and if we do get unfair dismissal I hope the pressure falls on your shoulders and come December no money back/more work/ and redundancies I hope it hits you fast.
there is more to live than being happy because you have a job at gta ... there is actually a live beyond this and I do believe that we will all flight for our rights and if we do lose the war at least we lose with bride ... shame you can say the same
feel free to let us know who you are and we can probably meet you for a coffe break ( if you do coffe break as it might influence your productivity)
see you around narrow vision
Forget the coffee break
Let me know when your leaving and I'll buy you a farewell drink in the shakey
Hello everyone,
First of all, may I say that there is no need to get personal and throw insults at each other. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and that includes gtaemployee.
Here are a few more with regards to gtaemployees comment from 01:08 pm (UTC).
I will also not be pasting your comments now as you are right it is getting a bit tedious and hard to read.
In my opinion you are wrong to believe that the company is making these changes in your best interest - they are not. I do, however, believe cost saving measures need and should take place. However, why not consider alternatives that are suitable for us as well? I cannot for one minute believe that a 5% cut was the only workable solution our SLTs could come up with.
You say that you are taking every possible step to ensure your employment. Why are you so worried about your job? Why are you so desperate to work for a company that is treating their staff in such a disgraceful way? Don't be scared, it is only a job and there are so many other opportunities out there. We, as the staff should stick together and come up with a solution that will work for everyone.
As yourself, I have worked for GTA a very long time and you are right there have been many ups and downs affecting the travel industry. But I have never, ever been treated so disgracefully and dishonest.
I have also heard that the SLTs have taken paycuts, but considering the salaries they are earning I do not think they will be as badly affected as many of GTAs staff.
Yes, there were some errors in the first comment, but you still believe every everything your SLT, HR and Linemanagers say.
And lastly, yes I fully agree with you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I am 100% sure that with enough people voting NO we, Gullivers and its staff, will come to a solution that will be suitable for everyone.
Best Regards.
One of the hardest decisions - considering the current climate - as I left without a plan B.
But self-respect prevailed and I finally said good-bye to a Company that had been home for several years. Had some great flatmates, some not so good, but looking back I can now say the largest crack in the building is its crew of landlords.
See, you get the best of relationships - being these personal or professional - with dialogue, interaction, involvement of all different parties. The SLT chaps didnt give me the impression they knew the meaning of any of that. Decisions were taken, plans were made, and forcefully slammed on our desks.
Its not what they did, but the way they did it that is most despicable.
And frankly speaking, a Company that is ready to lose valuable and experienced workforce - where is the vision here? - and start recruiting immediately after to fill the gaps, is certainly not the place I want to be.
I am glad to say I have a new home now. Too early to say I am a jolly resident, but I feel galvanized and finally look ahead.
Congratulations for giving consent to the 5% pay reductions, albeit temporary, to safeguard and secure GTA's future and GTA staff well being. Hat's off to you - really!
However, has it not occurred to you that "perhaps" there are some staff members who are grossly underpaid and have serious financial constraints which do not allow them to accept the options placed on the table?
Has it not occurred to you that we are all still members of GTA and have all played our parts, given blood, sweat and tears to make GTA the successful company it is today?
This isn't a case of "you" and "me" or "us" and "them" so I urge EVERYONE to stop behaving in this manner and creating barriers!
The SLT announced they "anticipate" a "critical situation" and are in the process of making changes/proposals to overcome this "anticipated downturn" We are all in this together and alternative or multiple solutions are being explored to achieve the target savings.
It is shameful to see yours and everyone else's personal attacks on staff members who were unable to consent.
However, may I bring to your attention that we are still in a "formative" stage whereby pay cuts are subject to consultation? What this means is that those staff members who are being consulted with are in fact exploring different methods to achieve the same target savings. This is not an easy task for those members as they need to find solutions which can be offered to ALL staff members to ensure we remain an ethical and fair working environment.
So, we have staff who were unable to accept the proposals put forward by SLT and are in consultation to find alternative solutions which can be offered to everyone - and then we have staff members (such as yourself) making personal attacks, assuming you have saved the company and what not, when in fact your actions are not set in stone until consultation is over.
With regards to what is being circulated in the media, whether staffs were bullied or not, whether staffs are being treated equally or not - these are all separate matters and should be escalated accordingly.
We are all grown up's and professionals and should portray ourselves as such especially in this open forum where eyes of the world are upon us!
Good to all.
Peace_Out_09
Good Luck to all.
Peace_Out_09
I am working for GTA and I am not happy with my options which is given to me.
The managers says to first that there is the following options:
1. 5% pay cut
2. 1 month unpaid leave
3. voluntary redundancies with enhanced redundancy pay of 10%
Then the managers says to me that option 2 can only be taken if i chose option 1 and at the same time this is voluntary. I am not stupid, so ofcourse i did my maths to see which options i can take and in fact i couldn't take any. I thought to myself and my collegues as well that we will wait to see the results because perhaps the managers will find another solution.
The proposals were made on 31st March with deadline for 9th April but then Ken sent an email on 7th April which i did not see until 8th April that GTA will not accept a "two-tier" system.
What does this mean? What will happen to staff if they do not chose to say YES. So many of my colleagues then had no choice but to either says YES or option for the voluntary redundancy. Before you question how cam they now afford it but before they could not. They still cannot and are stressing about it all the time. Some of my colleagues do not eat at lunch times to save the monies. Tell me why should staffs die of hunger or starv? We are in the West, the developed part of the world - it is a pity we have staffs who are so underpaid but have to take pay cuts to save the company and are sleeping hungry!
Lets put the argument differently, if 82% says NO and 18% says YES would GTA SLT still say that they will not accept two tier system and dismiss 18% who said YES? Stupid question right. So then in that case there is always a two tier system from the begining which is do as the managers want you to or "get lost"
I am lucky to be able to take the pay cut now because i took a loan but paying back nearly 3times i borrowed the money - tell me is this fair?
I want to change my vote to NO because I know the staffs who sayd No is doing a good job to find another solution. But when I ask my manager i was told that it is not possible. Why? If poeple who says No can change there mind to Yes why can I not change my mind to No?
Alot of people are right that there managers did bully staff to sign Yes. I place an open challenge to anyone who thinks bullying was not used and to arrange for somehow staff to put in their votes secretly. Then you will see how many people actually want to take this pay cut.
And GTAEMPLOYEE - a word of advice to you: just because you have said yes and I have said yes does not mean our jobs is safe. We haven't saved anyones jobs because if bookings keep falling to 100 a day, do you not think the company will have to make job cuts? And do not argue that you have saved your job and my job until December 09 at least because you are not mystic meg to know that we will continue to receive a large number of bookings.
Thank you.
So to sum up - YOUR JOB IS NOT SAFE JUST BECAUSE YOU AGREED TO A PAY CUT. Simple as that.
As for others not agreeing to it, they were well within their rights to for whatever reason the deemed necessary. I for one salute those people for having the courage to say no and I condemn GTA now for clear bullying tactics in threatening them with dismissal if they do not accept what was meant to be a voluntary option. So tell us what was voluntary about it.
Does anyone really believe the pay cut is to protect jobs? It absolutely is not. It is to protect profits PURE and SIMPLE. Ken made this absolutely clear in one of his many conference calls. He clearly stated that although GTA is highly profitable still running at 50million profit, Blackstone has debts and GTA is expected to contribute to pay back those debts - even though GTA as a single entity has no debts itself!
So in reality all these redundancies and salary cuts are not to protect jobs - it is to protect the profits so that we can clear Blackstones debts. The fact that some jobs might happen to be temporarily saved as a result then it is purely incidental.
Do you believe this company will put jobs before profit? If you do then you know nothing about business. Profits are King in business and the less jobs to retain the greatest profit the better.
Lets put it another way - whether you said yes or no to the pay cut your job is not protected at all. As far as I know the SLT has not guaranteed anyone their jobs so their is no protection whatsoever. So well done for saying yes, but your job is not safe.
Now I have something interesting for all employees especially those that took voluntary redundancy as I did.
According to my research I have found 3 legal sites that have all stated the law on redundancy situations is that there must be a period of 90 days warning and consultation before the first employee leaves, when over 100 employees are involved as was hte case. This applies to both compulsory or voluntary as in the eyes of the law it is simply classed as dismissal. So in this case, If i'm correct, then GTA broke the law because they gave on 1 months notice between the options and the voluntary redundancies. The penalty fot breaking this law is 90 days salary for every employee!!! You do the math on that one - 90 days pay for all employees - millions in fines.
I will be visiting a lawyer very soon to clarify this and I'll keep you updated.
Finally, like it or not the reality is this organisation does not care about employees, just profits. They have proven this with the way they have treated people during this. I was treated like a total dog after I took redundancy. Many people saw it many heard about it it was that bad.
So do yourself a favour and wake up GTAemployee.
To all you that said No to the 'voluntary' pay cut - good luck.
Good luck to all in GTA.
In one of your reply that you mentioned that you were replying (13:20, 3 June) messages during your "lunch break". I just wonder what GTA is like to have people like you to have such long lunch break? Because you have replied comments since 10:20 am - 14:28 on 3 June........no wonder you don't mind to have salary cut since you find a method to compensate the loss.
I have gone for the voluntary redundancy, and of course said no to the 5%. I am extremely happy that I took this decision, as I cannot work for a company which treat people in this way.
I have always worked extremely hard, and always exceeded in my job, therefore I do not think that I should give them 5% of my salary, but instead they should give it to me, for the job I do, the money they make due to my hard work and continuously contribution. I have never worried to stay longer when it was needed, to cancel my holidays when there was a crises, and I have always overachieved my targets. They want 5% of my salary as well?? Forget about it. I prefer not to earn anything then give it to them.
What I think they should do, is to really evaluate their staff, and they will find that there are many they could send home, I have seen many people doing less then nothing and earning a nice salary.
Anyway, this is something unachievable...
It is a shame that we GTA/OCTOPUS employees didn't stick together in saying NO or went for Voluntary Redundancy....probably a more reasonable solution would have been found...shame that we have forgotten that the power lies with the majority...
Another thing before I go...gtaemployee: or you are one of the SLT's pretending to be an devoted employee, or you really live in a dream...I hope for you that they never disappoint you because you are really sweet!
Good luck to us all....the ones leaving, staying and fighting!! Don't give up!
CHANGE YOUR VOTE AND SAY NO
With all this Voluntary options many people left thier jobs, many are going on unpaid leaves and the others that stay in the office are doing their jobs as well, and covering all this shortfall, and plus still happy that our salary is going to be reduced and I work extra and extra for less and less...
I believe that the numbers of NO are growing and I believe that we can stop GTA top take advantage of us, actually they shall see that in time of crisis we are there always supporting them and they can't even afford to give us nothing on exchange, this is capitalism taking to the extreme, and of course the ones on the bottom line are the ones that either suffer or go away as they disturbe to much...either way it seems that they can always find a solution for us even you been giving your best to a company...and worst believing on the company!!
Another thought:
Will GTA stop here, for now they say it Musty be a 5% reduction on salary as there is plenty of work, but on low season when there is not plenty of work and we don not need to push ourselves to the limit, then they might fire some more people and keep pushing to the limits as then we will ned to increase productivity!
Do CHANGE YOUR VOTE
Why isn't there a forum where GTA/Octopus staff can have these discussions and keep this an internal affair?
Apparently it was requested but rejected - why? Are our managers trying to hide something?
Why are so many people under the impression that the pay cut will go ahead in July?
Why are staff not informed that they can change their votes?
Why did the company lie to us that they need the savings because of a decline in the business profit margins when actually it is to re-purchase their loans as Ken confirmed in his announcement recently:
Travelport group has taken the opportunity to opportunistically repurchase some of their debts - this means paying back 25 to 30 cents on the dollar V 100 cents.
I HAVE CHANGED MY VOTE AND HAVE REPORTED THE BULLYING THAT HAPPENED AND WILL INFLUENCE EVERYONE ELSE TO DO THE SAME.
I wanna be heard too!
Last year a lot of my friends and colleagues were laid off from Octopus because their duties were off loaded to Manila. Then this year more colleagues were laid off because their roles had ceased to exist. Again this year more colleagues were laid off because again their roles no longer had significance.
NOW - staff have been "requested" to take pay cut or unpaid leave or voluntry reduncies SO EVEN MORE COLLEAGUES LEFT!!
I am getting poor from all the leavers cards and drinks! What is the company doing? Do they just want us all to go??
By the way I read everyone's comments above - believe me GTAEMPLOYEE is someone from HR. Otherwise HDH (that's how DA hell darlings!!) can they state so many FACTS and not feel the pain others are feeling?
The whole process is terrible and whats worse is staff are terrified to speak up. What are our managers using to terrify staff?
I was not happy to take a pay cut but I felt I had to so that they dont make any more redundancies otherwise I will have to lunch by self... :(
Here's an idea - why doesn't the company just PROMISE to repay back everyone their 5% when business picks up with interest??
Look at this way - the company can either ASK, TAKE or BEG for the money.. They're not TAKING because we agreed to it. They are not BEGGING for it because...OK it's a mixture of BEG and ASK. So every normal person BEG'S or ASKS their bank for a loan, which we pay back with interest. Why doesnt our bosses do the same? PAY IT BACK WITH INTEREST??
At least this way everyone will get their money back with a little something.. :)
GOOD IDEA RIGHT? Where do I need to sign?? Im jumping boats... UR NOT TAKING MY MONEY FOR NOTHING!
I agree with you. I did work for GTA for more than 7 years. I have seen many people leaving because they could not progress within the dept were I used to work. Others were forced to leave in January when they were made redundant.
In my old dept managers and directors used us for their own profit. We were good to them until the projects we were involved were no longer interesting to them, and even if people tried to give them ideas to be more productive, they did not care and got rid of people in Jan and Feb without any regret
Then the 3 options were given, you can imagine I was the only survivor, alongside another colleague, and I had to take VR because when you see how the treated my old colleagues, I had only one option. Otherwise I would have been next, and even when I left they gave my position to another employee to be added to his current job with no choice, so they were happy ( the director) to save my salary while the job will be done partially. I think people tha tvoted Yes are paying the consequences with more job load and less pay.
It is sad to see a company that takes money from he employees to reach some figures to make the company look like as profitable as it can be, so when they will refloat the company, it will look they are making excellent results in this current climate. This is only a tactic to review the books in DIC and show how much money they have achieved.
When we were given the options we were not given the right picture and put people under pressure to vote yes, I asked a friend working in law and employment tribunals and he told me never heard something like that, to vote for options with your name printed and then if you voted no they will "force" you to change the vote or face a new contract with -5% or facing dismissal.
All those facts show only one thing, managers and directors are there to follow the guidelines from the SLT and then take their rewards when the time comes. In the meantime they will do anything to comply with the SLT plans and they would not care at all to "force" people to vote yes again in another funny votation, or to make more redundancies.
At the end of the day they are on big salaries and whatever it takes to rip off employees in order to continue with their positions and keep their salaries.
Someone said the bankers have been greedy and we are paying the consequences globally, but you can see not only bankers were the ones to be blamed. Companies like GTA are a shame and are using this recession as an excuse to go ahead with their plans to achieve bigger margins of profit, maximize the turn over and place the compnay on the stock market and then sell it.
And who pays the price?? Workers, as simple as that. I canot believe people did not see that when time arrived. But of course the way they do things is just hiding info, plans and manipulating everyhing in order to leave the workers out and tell them just at the end the news as if nobody knew anything. And nobody can be blamed. I have sen this working for a few months, specially since they dismantled my old dept.
So not much left to say here.
SLT were greedy and used the economic situation for their own profit to put in place their plan to reduce staff, move some depts offshore and then show bigger margins on gainnings and sell the company, while they have been in top salaries and big bonuses these years and they will walk out with a decent lump sum I guess, when the company will be sold.
I HEARD IT DOESNT STOP HERE.
AS SOON AS THIS PHASE IS OVER THERE ARE MORE PLANS OF JOBS LOSSES.
THE NEXT PHASE WILL ATTACK GROUP AND FIT RES. THESE WILL BE OFFSHORED TO OTHER COUNTRIES. YOUR MANAGERS ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THIS. YOU DONT HAVE TO BELIEVE ME, JUST WAIT AND WATCH. SEE FOR YOURSELF.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO BREAK DOWN LONDON OFFICE OFFSHORE WORK TO COUNTRIES WHERE COSTS ARE LITTLE TO NONE AND SELL UP.
"the private equity firms Blackstone Group (BX ) and Technology Crossover Ventures, are even more demanding than he is. They've bet $4.3 billion that Travelport will be worth an enormous sum after it's split into pieces, and they've tapped Clarke to be the architect of the breakup. "
TAKEN FROM BUSINESS WEEK. THIS ARTICLE IS FROM 2007 BUT THIS IS THE DIRECTION THE CHAIRMAN OF TRAVELPORT IS HEADING.
I ACCEPTED THE PAY CUT AND TOOK 1MONTH UNPAID LEAVE THINKING THE COMPANY WOULD SAVE FROM ME NEARLY 15% INSTEAD OF 5% THINKING I AM DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE COMPANY AND MY COLLEAGUES BUT I QUESTION THAT NOW. I KNOW VOTES CAN BE CHANGED BACK BUT I DONT THINK THIS WILL MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE.
THEYVE MADE UP THEIR MINDS WE ARE ALL GOING DOWN.
GTA_RIP
Where did you get this informtion? Is this public somehwere and if so can you add the link to this comments blog so that everyone can see for once and for all.
I cannnot believe this company anymore.
- Why on earth do they make us complete the CODE OF CONDUCT questions every year that some dim twit was PAID to sit on his BIG BUM and come up with! A brainless and very time consuming procedure. WASTE OF MONEY.
- Why did they have x-mas party in 2008 and dish out bonuses when they knew they would announce redundancies in 1st week of January 2009?
DOESNT THIS COMPANY THINK AHEAD AND HOW INCONSIDERATE TO OUR COLLEAGUES WHO MADE TO LEAVE!
- Why do we get fresh flowers in reception EVERY DAY/ WEEK? WASTE OF MONEY
- Why are there 6 massive screens in reception and canteen? WASTE OF MONEY
- Why did they employ a staff SPECIFICALLY to get rid of staff in Jan and who is still here? Does that mean our very "capable" HR team (made of millions of Emma's) are not capable? WASTE OF MONEY
- Why does the company need to reduce staff salaries WHEN WE ARE STILL MAKING PROFITS???
- It's interesting to know which Hotel Ken books himself in when he's "in town y'all! to touch base! reach out and group hugs"
Group hugs dont pay my bills, mate!
TRAVELPORT SIGNS DEAL WITH PAL (PHILIPPINE AITLINES) HOW MUCH DID THAT COST THEN, EH?
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/c
TRAVELPORT, ITL SIGN REGIONAL DEAL - and how much did this one cost?
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdet
Oh! Dont tell me; this was already in the "budget"
TRAVELPORT GDS INTRODUCES MERCHANDISING FIRST FOR AIR CANADA:
Keep reading:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewsw
VIRGIN ATLANTIC EXTENDS FULL CONTENT DEALS WITH TRAVELPORT GDS
http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news09/12
SOMEONE MUST HAVE DEMANDED A BIG BONUS WHICH WE ARE FELLING THE BURDEN OF...KEEP READING.
http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/200
Wots all your problems? Wot u trying to do exactly? You really think u can change peoples votes by posting all this negative messages and pulling these silly stunts? Were not fools and we can see right through you.!!!! U all need a reality check and iv got for u!
FACT. number of bookings has dropped
FACT. LESS bookings = LESS money (it dont take no genius to work that out)
FACT. MAJORITY voted YES in WW offices not just UK
FACT. company is asking for TEMPORARY pay cuts
So now theres a group of you sniffing around and finding information about the company and their plans and posting them on this site so that people read thm - wot are you hoping for exactly for staff to feel angry that travelport are making new deals? On the contrary in fact! I was happy to read the news about all the new deals because this means that the company is trying to secure future business = MORE MONEY = REACH TARGETS = STAFF JOBS + BONUSES
WAKE UP SMELL THE COFFEE - look at the FACTS only forget the dirty details. You guys WONT make a difference to peoples votes who votes YES, you WONT be able to take on the company and the board of managers/ directors, you WONT be able to prove anything with all the negative comments and sniffing around posting links to other sites, your wasting your time and will prob end up leaving or kicked out. There aint many jobs out there you know a recent study showed that in the first quarter of this year one job was lost every 30 secdons per day. Do you wanna be jobless? Do you think we staff who signed YES didnt think of what your thinking now, didnt feel as angry as you are, ddint feel like rebeling and fighting for are right?
FACT. its a no win situation. you eaikther take the pay cut or lose your job
FACT. 95% salary is better thn 0%
Do yourself a favour either find another job or accept defeat with the FACTS in mind.
So what do we need to do and who shall we contact if we want to change our decision and refuse to accept 5% cut?