To the last employee leaving Pizza Hut Please turn out the lights. The shit just keeps on coming!!!
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The following was recently published in the June 29, 1999 issue of Woman's
World magazine, page 7.
I would normally produce a commentary on this issue, but I think this
article says it all.
All that - over pizza?
Valerie Harris only took a new job because her old one at a popular pizza
restaurant didn't make ends meet. But leaving, they argued, just wasn't
allowed and they took her to court!The first thing Valerie Harris did when her 41-year-old husband Steve was told he couldn't work anymore due to congestive heart failure was give him a hug - and have a good cry.
Then the Salem, Ohio, morn panicked. Steve had been the breadwinner, with her own wages as an assistant manager at Pizza Hut going toward extras like toys for their daughters Amanda, seven, and Rachel, five.
"Ill see us through," she told Steve.
But how, on $7.35 an hour? The raise she'd been promised hadn't happened yet, and after five months, bills were piling up.
But when Valerie reminded her boss of the raise, she says he replied, "If you can't make do, find another job."
So she did, at Papa John's, a different pizza restaurant, which offered her $10,000 more a year than Pizza Hut.
But when Valerie started the job, she got a letter in the mail ordering her to quit. It claimed she was violating a clause in her contract with Pizza Hut that didn't allow her to work for its competitors in 28 countries!
Valerie's mind raced back to her first day when she'd filled out documents. She didn't remember that clause - it had been so long ago. There must be a mistake, she thought.
"It isn't fair anyway," Steve protested.
No, Valerie raged. It isn't. They know Steve is sick so why would they prevent me from earning a living?
Valerie's new boss agreed and suggested she see a lawyer.
A lawyer? Valerie hadn't wanted it to come to this. But if I don't fight, she thought, what will that teach Amanda and Rachel?
So Valerie countered the Pizza Hut suit with a suit of her own.
On their day in court, Pizza Hut claimed Valerie caused harm by taking her training and possibly customers to the competition. But when Valerie's lawyers argued that she had to seek a better-paying job because she was the breadwinner of her family, the judge ruled in her favor, calling the non-competition cause "unconscionable."
"I'm so proud!" cheered Steve.
And so is Valerie, who got to keep her new job. But money, she maintains, wasn't the only issue.
"I taught my girls it's important to fight for their rights," she says. "As long as you do the right thing, you can't go wrong."
- Shari Cohen
The Local Lowdown
Ever since NPC International bought out Oklahoma's Pizza Huts from PHI, the concern. for safety and morale have declined at an ungodly pace. How can any company survive by ridding itself of all of its senior staff? If I were an advertiser, I don't think that I would want my product associated with this type of company.
I knew that it was going to be a bad omen when I heard that the name of the company purchasing Pizza Hut was NPC. To all of those who are not aware of the irony, NPC means "Non-Player Character" to everyone into role-playing games. All I know is, we won't be fooled again.
Whatever happened to the days when your boss cared about you? Daryl and Brad, you were the BEST!!!
I (like so many others) have been employed by Pizza Hut for years. Whatever our reason for working there, be it college or something else, the restaurant was OURS, it was different, humor was appreciated, and it was an all around good place to work. When NPC came to town, they promised a better brand than what we were used to. BOY WERE WE DUPED!!! Sure, we had complaints about the way that PHI (Pizza Hut Incorporated) ran things, but that is with anything. Throughout all these years, we were able to build this store up to a $1 million/year establishment that had worked most of the bugs out. In LESS THAN A YEAR, NPC has single-handedly ruined what we worked so hard to attain.
The first thing that NPC managed to do is scare off a lot of the Unit Managers in the state with lower pay. This store was no exception. Daryl Nichols relinquished control of the store to Brad Elledge when the takeover was official. Brad was also a PHI original. Consequently, he was more than a friend to the common worker. Over time, as something came down NPC's Hershey Highway, Brad would do his best to soften the blow of the shit flung at us by the higher-ups. He would finally have his buckets filled to overflowing before the end of the Summer of '97. Since then, the shit really hit the fan. With Brad's departure, the store seems to have been run by the AGM (Area General Manager), considering that the word on the street is that only an AGM can fire anyone (further taking power away from Unit Managers). The store has truly become a "Pizza Slut" due to the "we will do anything for money" (cut labor, short the toppings, etc.) and the either-do-what-I-say-instead-of-what-you-know-is-right,-or-else mentality that has prevailed.
If there is anyone viewing this page that knows someone in PHI, or if you are in a management position with corporate Pizza Hut or Pepsico, please consider this an open plea for help from all Oklahoma Pizza Hut employees.Down with NPC!!! PHI RULES!!!
I, for one, think this sucks and have bitched at the store management several times stating this. It may not do any good but it makes me feel a little better. Let your voice be heard, call, fax or e-mail these morons and let them know how you feel.E-mail contact can be obtained by going to www.npcinternational.com
If you are a resident of Oklahoma, or anywhere else that has a Pizza Hut owned by NPC, please take your money elsewhere. This is the single greatest way to get the attention of corporate America.......hit them where it hurts . . . in the pocketbook!!!
