Posted on 11/27/2013 10:58:34 AM PST by MeganC
ELKHART - Many stores and restaurants will be open this year on Thanksgiving Day, and one local man says he lost his job because of it. Tony Rohr worked at Pizza Hut for more than ten years, but says he was fired recently because he refused to open on Thanksgiving. He says he doesn't think people should have to work on a holiday like Thanksgiving. He started at Pizza Hut as a cook and worked his way up to being a general manager of the Jackson Boulevard Pizza Hut in Elkhart.
He was told opening on Thanksgiving this year was mandatory, so at a meeting with his superiors he decided to take a stand.
"I said, 'Why can't we be the company that stands up and says we care about our employees and they can have the day off?'"
Tony says it wasn't about him. It was about his employees. He told his bosses that he would not open the restaurant he managed on Thanksgiving.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsbt.com ...
For many years I also had no place to go, and was thankful for restaurants that were open. Sometimes seeing a friendly face on a day like Thanksgiving is more important than the food.
dam* that sounds good.
If anyone was trying to “force” anyone is was the employee trying to force the manager to pick someone else to work that shift. Obviously the manager had no power to force this guy since in the end he’s not working that shift. (or any others).
That’s true. In the last 70’s, I worked for a department store called Westons. Every year, my mom made sure the serve dinner after I got off work. The store was pretty much dead, and I got paid time and a half. I didn’t complain!
Now that I’m older, I have a job where I don’t have to work holidays. I’m glad to be home on Thanksgiving. I wont shop that day either.
That’s my choice, of course.
Roger That. And, I'd add that one of my former jobs (also in IT) more-or-less required work on T-giving, Christmas, and other holidays. Most of the rank-and-file (the peons?) aren't working at those times. We used the downtime to do maintenance on the major systems so that they'd be back up when "The Peons" came back to work.
It stunk, but it also came with the territory. Quiet, though. Just a double-handful of IT guys, and usually a handful of execs.
Exactly! It’s not like Pizza hut makes “real pizza.”
I do not know all of the details, but what seems to be lacking here is an effort to find that satisfactory solution for everyone. Ask for volunteers to work that day. If that day is that important increase the pay. Whatever...
This guy could have looked for and worked toward making everyone happy. He could have acted like a leader. Instead he "made his stand!" and now no one wins. Pizza hut looks bad, he is out of work, and those employees he fought so hard for will be serving pies and wings on turkey day. They will also probably be angry and resentful of "management" for this situation.
Idiot.
Bonjour!
It is one thing if a line cook or waitress does not want to work. It is another thing entirely if the General Manager says no.
I think firing him was a bit harsh but its up to the franchise owner.
“We were open all the time, and nothing says “happy birthday Jesus” like doubling down on a soft 16.”
And then drawing a five... a Christmas miracle!
welfare breeding cows - that is a GREAT description that I will be adding to my vocab...thanks - and Happy Thanksgiving
...next year at this time - F/R will be taken off line and we should all be face-to-face in a re-education camp...we’ll gather around the 55 gallon drum barrel fire and talk about the good times - and I will chuckle under my breath at reading those words above while holding off the cold breeze - yeap...looking forward to that!
Pizza Hut entered my "No Buy Zone" years ago when I learned that their pizzas use "textured vegetable protein" instead of real cheese and meat.
He’s a General Manager, for heaven’s sake. I think they get decent salaries and benefits at that level. If he doesn’t want the responsibility when they need him, he should stick to washing dishes. JMHO
I think this manager forgot that he is just an employee like everybody else at Pizza Hut. Now whether or not you support him taking the stand that he did, what he did was insubordination, plain and simple, and he lost his job as a result of it.
Personally I think it is stupid for Pizza Hut to be open on Thanksgiving Day but that's not my decision to make and neither was it this franchise store manager's decision to make. He took a stand and he lost his job. Maybe it was calculated move on his part to get his 15 minutes.
That said, if I ran a pizza chain competing with Pizza Hut, I would consider hiring this guy to run one of my stores just to get some good PR and tweak the nose of my competitor.
You made me think of something interesting: perhaps we should refrain from posting on FR Thanksgiving day, seeing that it is a holiday?
Every employee has a contract; it may be verbal and it may be renewed from day to day or moment to moment. But an agreement to forfeit one's leisure time in lieu of a settled amount of remuneration is a contract.
While I do have sympathy for the manager, I don't think he has a "right" to be closed on Thanksgiving unless he was previously guaranteed that he didn't have to open. As others have said, I have worked in industries that required me to work on holidays (even Christmas). However, I really don't agree that Pizza Hut needs to be open on Thanksgiving. I also don't approve of the department stores that are open on Thanksgiving. I am glad I don't work for those companies.
He wasted a good ten year position being stubborn. This was a corporate decision, not his decision. When you get into a power struggle with a large entity or corporation, expect to get bruised, bloodied and maybe discarded too, for insubordination. Now he will learn what others his age know about how hard it is to find work. I suspect he will find another restaurant job, but not at the same pay just yet.
Bad Move Bub, now go eat Crow, or Turkey.
Bull’s Eye!
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