The Day Alex Salmond Came to Town
So the pro-unionist will tell you that Alex Salmond does not care about Scottish Jobs, that he would rather give them to foreign companies with foreign workers. What I do is I tell them about the day Alex Salmond came to my town.
It was February 2008, and I was working for a large international bank, at their credit card division. I was on the bus to work, when someone on the bus, suddenly announced that it was on the front page of the newspaper that we were being bought over by a rival bank, a very large rival bank at that.
This was something of a shock, as there had been no mention of this at work, and no indication that anything of this sort was about to happen.
When we arrived at work, again there was no mention of what had been reported, however there was something of a mini frenzy going on, with managers being called into meetings left right and centre, so we knew something was kicking off, but still, we were advised to get on with our day.
At around 2pm, the phone lines in the building were cut, and we were summoned to the canteen, the only place big enough to hold everyone at the same time. The head of customer services stood up and announced that, what had been reported in the papers that morning, was indeed true, that we would be sold to a rival bank, and that our jobs were safe, we would be transferred over to the new employer with no loss of service.
A slightly awkward sigh of relief went round the room, but still confusion as to what had just happened.
There was no more work done that day, not that they were about to force us after the news we had just been given. Life at work slowly returned to just about normal, with our new employers making frequent visits and lost of meetings prior to the changeover date, which was fast approaching.
Once this date arrived, which took about 6 months in total, this big bank then made an earth shattering announcement. Despite us blowing all of the targets they set us out of the water, and our collections team collecting 4 or 5 times the amount of money their own collections teams could manage, they decided we were to be closed, with the loss of about 900 jobs.
Well that was that and after spending almost 8 years at that point of my life, I would have to look for another job.
But wait! Not all was lost. In steps Alex Salmond, advising that he had heard of our plight and was very concerned about the job losses, we were advised that he had been in talks with a Scottish energy supplier, and they had agreed to take over the building and all the staff, as they were wanting to expand into this part of Scotland, so a ready made call centre full to the brim with experienced staff was not something they were about to turn down.
So in the September of 2008, I was made redundant, and was given 2 months paid leave, until such times as the new company was ready to take us on.
Alex Salmond came to town soon after and visited the call centre to see how it was going. I am today convinced that if it had not been for Alex Salmond, I would have found it necessary to look for another job and with the climate that was around at the time. this could have taken some time, so I was very grateful for not having to go through that.
So I say to anyone who tells you, that Alex Salmond does not care about jobs in Scotland, you will be able to tell them about the day Alex Salmond saved 900 jobs.
(I have deliberately not mentioned any of the companies involved, however if you remember the news around this time, you will know which companies I am talking about)
Alistair Whyte
From The Hip
Follow me on Twitter @whyteali
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