Forwarded message.

Hi all,

Please could you pray ...

We have a lot of difficult things going on in our lives right now and are
seeing God's moving ...  However, some things are a little daunting,
saddening etc. and now another situation has escalated and it's not good!

This is likely to be long so please don't read to the end if you don't
wish - but just pray if you can!  If you wish to, however, here's the
situation!

Mike has worked for over 40 years in various jobs and has always had a
reputation of being "good at his job ... nice, kind, pleasant, easy-going".
Anyway, he even got the Employee of the Year award at his present job a few
years ago ... and had a very supportive team with whom he worked.  Well,
that has all changed because the owners of the hotel have decided to run it
themselves instead of letting a large, respectable, well-known franchise do
it for them, largely because they wouldn't shell out for needed repairs etc.
...

The owners took over last April, with a new manager who said there would be
no redundancies.  In a very short time the first of two phases of
redundancies began ...  Mike ended up going in to some pretty awful meetings
with staff who were afraid, upset and very badly treated in order that he
could take notes on their behalf.  (He ended up taking notes for many senior
staff who left because he was the most able of those few left behind!)

Things have moved on and a large area of the housekeeping has been
outsourced, and it's looking like more redundancies!

Meantime, along come lots of new staff who just do not listen at all to any
of the old-stagers.  On one occasion, because of work carried out, Mike's
switchboard was not available in his office.  Instead of letting him work
out front (as he had in the past) they moved his switchboard out of earshot
of other receptionists.  This meant that when he was not there, no calls
were answered!  They have done a whole load of other such rather ridiculous
things too and won't ever ask his advice ... and that's just one example.

Things have moved on and now there are only a handful of folk left who were
there before the change!  None of them like it and some are actively looking
to get out!  Mike came home a few weeks ago and said, "I need to look for
more work ..." and told me that they'd removed the drinks machine.  As he
speaks all day on the phone, the removal of that cold water was just the
last straw for him!  However, he's continued on bravely, because it's
difficult for visually impaired people to find work, and his age will do him
no favors.  If he just ups and leaves then he will lose disability benefit
as a result of his actions.

During the past months, he has had a new manager who made it his business,
on their first meeting together, to tell him that someone had complained
about his manner when asking for assistance to get drinks.  ((Most
colleagues would simply have realized he was coming again for a cup to be
filled ... and, as a regular request, he didn't always need to say "Please,
would someone kindly help me and ...")  Nevertheless, he took the point
onboard.

There is now a lot of building work being carried out and he's had to have a
few words when he hasn't been able to get into the building alone (as he
usually can).  On one occasion he was particularly cold and couldn't get in
because of many cars taking up the space at the front of the hotel.  It was
agreed they'd look out for him (as the staff working under the old
management had naturally done) but it hasn't really happened.  This has
added stress to his life, together with the fact that the building is
currently unsafe for him to go around on his own and that means he can't
even get to the toilet without saying "Please may I be taken ..."  Further
to this, his new boss wouldn't even take him!

Last week, with all the difficulties of the bad weather, a taxi was ordered
for him on Wednesday morning.  The company they have has been used by the
hotel for about four years and so he is well known and there's a good
understanding about the help that he needs to get him to the doors when he
arrives, especially at present as there is major building work being done
for the hotel.  Wednesday's driver was not briefed, nor did he appear to
understand Mike's problem when he was finding it difficult to get out of our
front drive because of the snow and ice and he'd gone straight back to his
car.  When they arrived at his work, the driver just said, "OK, you can get
out now" and expected him to make his own way, not being aware exactly where
the man had managed to park ...  Mike suggested he really needed help to get
to the door.  The driver's English was poor, which didn't help.  Suddenly
Mike found himself being pushed through the revolving doorway, with a dog in
his hands.  (This is not really safe or recommended, especially if there's
an alternative, which there is.)  Mike started by insisting that the door he
needed was not the revolving one ... but the driver didn't understand and
continued to push.  Eventually Mike was both anxious, stressed and tired of
it all and raised his voice somewhat, though he did not swear or anything
like that.  Eventually he got in and the incident was soon forgotten by him.

Well, his line manager came to him again yesterday (the second time he'd
ever come to talk to him about his work) and said, "I have a print letter
for you inviting you to a disciplinary on Friday ..."  I have written
statements from members of staff ... etc, etc.

Well, Mike knows he wasn't as patient as he could have been and will of
course offer apologies, but it seems that the person who has complained is
the one who had lots to say about the water incident before and on this
occasion she didn't offer help very readily either.  Also, I would suggest
that his boss's actions were nothing short of "Bully Tactics", making an
already stressed Mike even more stressed!

Sorry to have written at length, but I felt I wanted to share it all with
you and just to ask for prayers.  He is attending the meeting on Friday
afternoon and is continuing to work, though that's not easy ...

I found myself at first very angry about the situation yesterday and went
immediately into my "Suggest" mode, but I realized this morning that I
really needed God to take complete control here and to trust Him, so prayed
specifically about that.  It's pretty stressing for me also and I don't like
to see Mike treated this way, especially as it's likely to be the final job
of work for him.

We are both taking a holiday break next week and can't wait for it.  My 60th
birthday falls in the middle and we think my brother may come.  That could
also be pretty stressing and I'm getting rather apprehensive (because of so
many family difficulties in the past) but he's only staying two nights so it
should be perfectly OK.

Forgive the long post and thanks in advance for any prayers offered on our
behalf.

--
Carol
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