Friday, February 16, 2024

That menopause gift bag and the strange disappearance of Avanti West Coast management

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A gift bag designed for menopausal women working for Avanti West Coast has been denounced, fairly as far as I can see. as "'demeaning" and an "insulting gimmick" by the rail unions.

According to the Guardian:

The pack included a fan for hot sweats, a jelly baby sweet "in case you feel like biting someone’s head off", a tissue "if you’re feeling a bit emotional" and a paperclip "to help you keep it all together".

The cards and accompanying small items, including chocolate and teabags and a pencil "to write down things you might forget", were handed out to staff at drop-ins for menopause support conversations.

Which manager was responsible for this? After all, at a company like Avanti senior managers will earn many times more than rank and file staff because of all the responsibility they take.

Well, if you read Avanti's response to the Guardian, you will find that no managers were involved at all:

Avanti said that the packs ... were designed by the firm’s support group, made up of women who were themselves going through the menopause. 

Things go wrong and suddenly Avanti West Coast is an anarcho-syndicalist collective

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