Sucks to be Proven Right

It's at times like this that I really feel like a bit of a doom-sayer. I distinctly remember, on 9/11, standing in the TV lounge of a hotel in Tunisia saying that the twin towers were coming down. I'd seen enough movies and 'Seconds from Disasters' to know that the buildings, already compromised by the force of the impact of the two aircraft, we weakening by the second because of the intensity of the blaze. Aircraft fuel burns very hot and it was inevitable that this would eventually heat the buildings' metal sub-structures to the point that they could no longer support the weight of the floors above the blaze. Sometimes it sucks to be right.

A little over a year ago I left First Choice Holidays in Salford following the merger of the two package holiday giants, First Choice and Thomson. Like most people, I have bills to pay and even though my hubby works full time too, my salary is needed to supplement his income. I didn't want to be left in a position where I was made redundant with no job to go to, so I jumped long before I was pushed. When I chose to leave there were many people that questioned my decision: I'd been there over 5 years so was in line for a decent redundancy payout. In response, I distinctly remember saying that I was certain the call centre would close. Even after the company said that they were going to maintain the presence of a customer service department in this location, I was still sure that, ultimately, the office would close... maybe not in a few days or weeks or months, but in a matter of years, Salford would be robbed of a key employer. I had seen it happen before: In the 5 years that I worked for First Choice I saw the closure of the Kilmarnock call centre; I saw the closure of the closure of the call centre up near Teesside; and finally the closure of the airline customer service centre at Manchester Airport. Each closure brought more pressure and longer hours on my colleagues in Salford, and they continued to work with crappy pay and little complaint.

Many of the people that I worked with have already been made redundant. I know several that are still out of work and, although it's more luck than anything else, I am thankful every day that I didn't agree to hang on for the sake of a bit of cash. Choosing to leave means that I was able to pick and choose my employer and as a result I managed to get a really good job that is essentially 'recession proof'.

This time last year Tui Travel PLC made the decision to operate a customer service centre at the Salford site, making hundreds of local people redundant, but effectively securing the jobs of hundreds more. This week, Tui Travel PLC have announced that they are closing the First Choice Holidays call centre in Salford altogether, effectively pulling the rug from under those people who have stayed loyal to a company that has done them know favours. These people have been through a lot in the last 12 to 14 months and must've thought that they were safe.

I think the words of one First Choice employee on the Manchester Evening News website sums the situation up entirely:
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"They put us through this last year, then announced in October that due to a business reshuffle they were closing down Coventry and creating a dedicated customer service centre in Salford, covering all aspects of holidays, weddings, cruise etc. Thinking our jobs were safe we all pulled together migrating all bookings on the old system onto the Thomson system. Now this has been completed they say that Manchester Ops are closing and everything is being relocated to Coventry. It stinks, they used and abused our loyalty, getting us to do a job nobody wanted to do or was not capable of doing down there. Some of the girls in CS [customer service] received 30 sacks of mail just before Christmas from Coventry, now that its done, we're surplus to requirements."

These are the people who look after you before and after your holiday. The bosses don't give a hoot once they've got your money, but the people who work in this call centre do care - otherwise they wouldn't do the job. TUI's actions are shameful.