Sometimes I feel like those 90 minutes at the weekend are just a distraction from the real business of speculating about the daily goings on at the club
My mate has 100% lost his job as a programme seller along with his father! Got told yesterday and there is a game Sunday. Very quickly this happened and not even a thanks.
Isit fact he wasn't told?, could just be he was told and is annoyed about losing his job. So 'forgets' to say the whole truth.
Should have been done between seasons and definitely in a pleasant manner. Would have still been upsetting but they would know where they stood before the season started. A small ex-gratia payment wouldn't have come amiss either.
From what he says is he and all of the other programme sellers just got a letter saying the were no longer required. Im all for them selling in a different way and by the sounds of it they have actually put more people in employment this way but manners go a long way.
Actually Fran maybe they have received one but are not saying......there is a few tax people on this Forum....
Anyone losing a job is sad. Employees at any level have the right to be treated with dignity, and the manner in which the club appears to have dealt with playing staff who were past their best before date is exemplary. I would hope that anyone who has been "let go" has been well treated, and if there are to be "new" jobs that they have the chance to apply. With all due respect to the source, it is my experience that people rarely report a dismissal very well.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/06/article-2126130-127DFE6D000005DC-30_634x743.jpg Looks similar to my wife .
Echo quote - In a letter to the sellers the club wrote: “Following the club’s promotion to the Premier League we are looking at improving every element of the business to ensure we can compete with the best and break new ground in delivering a customer experience which is unique to Southampton Football Club. "With this in mind, a review of the match day operation has been undertaken and the decision has been made to change the way we sell match day programmes to enable us to increase revenue and deliver this service in a different and unique way. “However, unfortunately this does mean we no longer require the services of our current programme sellers. This change will come into immediate effect and therefore you will not be required for the Fulham game. “We appreciate your loyalty and contribution over the course of your time with the club and we would like to highlight this change was not an easy decision but a necessary change for the development of the operation going forward.” Programmes will now be sold from ten fixed positions around the outside of St Mary’s, in the megastore and at stadium catering outlets, as well as roaming sellers. ~ It does say some sellers were dismissed not all, I don't know how they chose which ones were no longer needed or why. ~
From most of the reactions on various sites, nobody is disputing the change, most just criticising the way it has been carried out, you have to have a little sympathy with some of the sellers, had they not thought their position was safe they would probably have bought Season Tickets at the start of the Season, but now of course they cannot and have to join the scramble to get individual match day tickets.
Will this really help with distribution ? This wont exactly improve anything and will save little , hardly business acumen of the highest order , Gecko will sleep soundly tonight . I would rather we kept them even if it was for tradition and a pr exercise .
Aren't the programme sellers seen as self employed?. If so the club has no need to give them notice, even if it is seen as harsh.
