My voluntary fight for unpaid volunteers at a food pantry to get free food shop will be my last struggle for dignity for the lowest of the low.
There is only one charity that doesn’t give free food shop to their volunteers, and I will die on that hill to call them out.
The last response by one of the charity persons to my request to give free food-shop to their unpaid workers is the following, quote:
“We do maintain that volunteering is a choice and we are careful not to blur lines that if someone is in need of food support they shouldn’t need to work for it.”
There is so much bullshit in this sentence, that only a “charity” administrator can come up with.
Two parts of this sentence:
1. “We do maintain that volunteering is a choice”
In other words, “your fault if you work for free”.
2. “we are careful not to blur lines that if someone is in need of food support they shouldn’t need to work for it”.
If people are in need of food, they are often too embarrassed to ask for a handout.
Shame on “charities” for embarrassing people in need of food and those who work, to be ashamed to work for food.
EVERYONE works for food.
And if they don’t, they are entitled like the “charity” staff on £50,000 a year.
And if you are in a pickle about “charity” aka “non-profit and “payment”, dear charity, read the rules again!
Every worker, volunteer deserves the food they WORK for. If people volunteer for the love of it (love meaning “charity”), they should go home with a “thank you” of free food shop, not an annual party sponsored by an outside organisation.
Having an annual “thank you” party for your unpaid workers, paid for by outside organisations is like asking your neighbours for money to buy Christmas presents for your children.
You give volunteer cooks a free meal, but not volunteers who SELL your food, the food that is donated to you for FREE.
You enjoy a juicy annual pay, free sauna, other perks as PAID staff. On top of that, you have labour rights. And then you turn around and you “do maintain that volunteering is a choice”, refusing to give free food shop to your unpaid volunteers.
Nopes. Exploitation is a choice. And that choice is YOURS.
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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. Schlee has been appointed CEO of itsu in 2024 by Julian Metcalfe who gave him the CEO spot at Pret many years ago.
I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather 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.
An incomplete list on what other Pret staff say about Pret’s bullying environment: Caught in the Act Bullying at Pret and What shop MANAGERS & HQ staff say about Pret incl. CEO Pano Christou.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote two articles in the Scottish Left Review as well as mentioned by the BBC.
Please also see the MEDIA page for more on my work with the press.
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Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 