There’s a clown whose job it is to keep everyone happy and buying stuff.
Usually clowns are there to make people laugh, but some clowns are having a laugh on the account of those who make these clowns great wealth under poverty wages.
Best example of patronizing hard-working people:
“I’m very conscious about how hard our staff work – how cheerful they are and how motivated they are when buttering the bread – all that is very important and you simply can’t afford to alienate your staff. Under no circumstances will we risk that – we haven’t cut any of our bonuses.” Link
“I’m very conscious about how hard our staff work”
Or
I am very aware that “our” staff work their butt off for nothing while being bullied, exploited and my job is to sound like I appreciate them.
“how cheerful they are and how motivated they are when buttering the bread”
Anyone seeing the cynicism, disrespect and patronizing approach here?
“how cheerful and motivated when buttering the bread”.
Uhm, hello? Mr. Schlee, are you ok?
These are just three of the many Pret staff reviews and complaints collected, but to keep this post short I only add the above three. A longer list via above link.
Here is an outcome, a quick reaction leading to a PRETENSE that I am particularly proud of having been part of:
I sent a link to my blog here in the late evening of 28th May 2018 to an Operations Manager (OPs) via Facebook. This OPs I know cannot keep a secret. I’ve sent a link before to some Pret employees, but these employees have integrity, are empathetic, and probably thought to protect me they won’t send my website on to Pret’s leadership. I never asked anyone to send on, as I want people to decide themselves what to do with all the info I write.
But on 28th of May I was fed up to be writing without Pret being aware of it. So, I sent a link to this OPs who cannot keep a secret! 😀
And when I woke up on 29th May 2018 and checked my website’s statistics, the number of visitors and clicks were already through the roof even before 8am! My stats went from a few visitors and clicks on most days to a three digit number over night! I could even see LIVE as the numbers increased click by click!
I logged out and logged off, went back to sleep and thought to let my website with all its writings do the work.
I now have lots of visitors every day, even when “shadow banned” on Twitter and Facebook, but the 29th of May is still the most visited and clicked day so far, even to this day (17.02.2019)!
Now, hands up if you believe in coincidence? I don’t! I know how fast Pret reacts to quickly counter any bad press and the fear of being exposed. The shiny PR[et] facade needs a quick polish!
Check the date (and time!) of this Tweet by Pret’s CEO Clive Schlee:
And team members went to Twitter even still in October asking where the money is! Mr. Schlee did a premature announcement. I’m sure the £1000 (£12 Million altogether after 3 months trial period for new staff is successful) was NOT because of my blog, but knowing the CEO I would bet that the timing was due to him and the leadership having become aware of my blog the night into 29th May.
Staff now have been told that if they go on social media with critical Tweets, they will receive a disciplinary and are threatened with their job security.
My tweet here is hidden as Pret let’s Twitter shadow ban my account where I expose Pret. But via a direct link from my Tweets & Replies, it’s still there. And JamieeTheGreat must have deleted his tweet above my post, as staff got warned to not speak out publicly with critique, but he left his tweet to another of mine where I repeat about Pret having become aware of my blog, as I play with words: “Pre(t)mature”. I renamed my Twitter and this screenshot is new, hence it looks different, but it’s me. 😉
I do have to say that this is a rare occasion of “Schadenfreude” I enjoyed. I normally don’t get so cheeky, but I enjoyed the Team Member who on pins and needles gave the CEO a little bit of a head ache! 😀
This is just one of many examples of the pretense of Pret A Manger. But I’m delighted to be rattling the cage enough for Pret to be a little more generous, even if just for pretense.
Thinking about my ordeal in Pret A Manger and the pretense of this company that has almost cost me my life, a poem by Charles Bukowski comes to mind, on how the majority of “average” people really don’t care, and in fact dangerously are harmful. Indifference and selfishness is the biggest problem I believe. One of my favourite musicians, Whitey put Bukowski’s poem into a simple, but brilliant piece of music. If I’m not mistaken, Bukowski himself is reading his poem here:
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather starve and speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote an article in the Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 