The company I worked for (14 years ) gave good raises,bonuses ,both July and December. We had an in house Christmas party also. When we got to the year 2002, They dropped the raises, July bonuses and cut the Christmas bonus to 25% what it was previous years. They claimed business was tough and they we not doing as good as they felt they should be.
Business owner then bought 1 million dollars of land in Maine w/2 houses, a 69 427 Corvette Convertible, 66 AC Cobra replica and a Kabota Back-Hoe for Maine use. Daughter bought 1/2 million dollar house , ordered pre-built horse barns and feed house and 3 horses too. A few years later, they were still crying poverty and passing out the " You are lucky you have a job line " while blowing money like water. No turkey at Thanksgiving ever and docked late workers 1/2 hour no matter if 1 minute late.
Daughter bought a blower setup for her Ford F150 , Big Tires and Rims, Trips to Mexico, Montana, Aruba, Bermuda and then spent $75 grand on a total restore of the 69 Vette. Then she moved to Florida, built a brand new house ..best of everything. A good $ 750,000 spent but that was not enough. She bought a brand new F150, Horse barn, paddock and a Kabota back-hoe too. Riding lawn mower , Kabota also.
She went and bought a 2007 Mustang Cobra and loaded it to the max. It cost $6,000 over sticker for a total of $46,000. Then in 2009 she bought a 2009 Ford Shelby GT 500. Daddy bought a $75,000 mobile home ( used it twice in 3 years ) a new car for his wife every year and a new F350 for him every two years.
He bought another house in lower Maine and 25 acres surrounding it. New everything to furnish the house and $10,000 to fence in the yard so the dogs could not run away. While still crying that times are tough. He bought a $50,000 gun collection, a $6,000 Rolex for him and a $5,000 Rolex for his wife. Went to Alaska twice on a Cruise at $25,000 a trip and still cried no money.
I never took more than 2 days off a year, took no vacations for ten years, got to take off some paid holidays. I gave up sick pay, vacation pay with promises of better times. Working from 40-68 hours a week, 14 hour days..never late, never out. They took away the medical in 2006 after making us pay 75-25 of the costs. Dropped 401k contributions also. From 2005 to 2009, the bonus was a flat $100.00 and then that was dropped. They continue to spend money like water, write off the loses and enjoy life as the workers get nothing and listen too " Lucky you have a job" weekly.
All I gave up and my devotion to the company got me a permanent lay off with no severance or anything ! Merry friken Christmas......
Kev