SKIERS IN NEED

Seven chalet hosts have barricaded themselves into their luxury chalet after being dismissed with immediate effect and told that they will not receive any wages.

The company involved, Skithe3V, owned by Mark Ridgers (a former bankrupt and second hand car salesman), pulled the same stunt after the busy Christmas and New Year period when they employed a large group of youngsters before dismissing them without any wages as soon as the busy period was over.

Last week saw the company running 10 chalets and, in an attempt to keep up with demand, they rapidly flew in a large number of youngsters from Britain aged between 18 and 25 to help clean rooms, run the chalets and care for guests, one of whom was Red Dwarf actor Danny John Jules. As soon as clients left to return home to Britain, an email was despatched to all seven chalet hosts informing them of the termination of their contracts with immediate effect and telling them that they were to vacate their accommodation straight away, return all company belongings and ski passes. They were also informed that they would not receive any wages for the three week period worked or travel expenses, leaving the youngsters stranded with no money to either pay for new accommodation or make their way home.

However, unhappy with the situation and after taking advice from the local gendarmerie and Saisonnaires Office, the youngsters decided to move themselves into one of the Skithe3V luxury chalets and barricade themselves in until the company pay them what they are due. The chalet was being run by elder couple David and Hayley Haines who were also sacked without reason but were offered reduced pay. They decided to take up the cause of their younger team members, allowing them to take up residence and informling Mr Ridgers of their intentions to remain at Chalet Georgina until all of them had been paid.

Chalet Georgina is located just outside Les Menuires and has 10 luxury bedrooms, all with en-suite facilities and views of the mountains. Guests are due to arrive at the chalet this weekend for a week long ski break.

Mark Ridgers – who has served a prison sentence for fraud – has threatened the squatters with violence, a visit from the local police and legal action but they are adamant that they will not vacate the property until they have received their wages in full and travel expenses, a figure of 500 euros in total. They are currently setting up a Facebook page called the 'Les Menuires 7' and are already receiving a lot of support from local firms in the ski resort who are owed money by Skithe3V and other saisonnaires.
 
This is dreadful, people need to take note, corruption and greed in the ski industry taking advantage iof the vulnerable who support the sport!
 
Ahhhaaa that is brilliant.

I'm sure the other side to this story is that those 7 are lazy and not acceptable chalet hosts but to try and fire them without pay is ridiculous.

Will follow this closely!
 
The reason we were fired was because our boss did not have any clients this week and so got rid of us. He has done this twice before this season, once after the Christmas and one at the end of january. He has been doing this so that he gets out of paying anyone a wage.
 
shit bud didn't realise you were one of them!

So did none of the previous employees try and file for unfair dismissal?
 
No, the guys is so sleazy he tried to threaten people with police involvement. But this time we went to police first and found out what we were entitled to do.

Hes not getting away with it this time!
 
fuck yeah, live there forever! that guy's a tool, i don't see how he has got away with this at all..

A similar thing happened to us in Wyoming, at Bear Lodge Resort. we worked for a month, got hired on salary, and once they saw our work rate, they put us on wages instead. we agreed to free room and board.

When payday rolled around after a month of hard labor, 7 days a week cutting trees into firewood, cleaning up garbage dumps, etc, we got our checks. it came out to about $3/hr.

We stormed into the office and calmly told him we weren't accepting the wages, and he denied offering us room and board, (charged us $2000/month each for 5 guys in a small trailer house) so we walked.

Last I heard, they were being shut down for illegal dumping of garbage, or facing a huge fine. good luck to you though!
 
That's a really big stink over 500 Euros. I know a lot of people, and had myself been fucked over by a boss for much more than that. I have a former boss that still owes me around $1800 Canadian.

The way I see it, they have two options:

1) suck it up and move on with their lives.

2) get a lawyer and sue him in court for the money owed - which would probably cost more than the 500 owed.

How much does it cost to stay in the condo they have locked themselves in per night? They can pretty much kiss that money goodbye.
 
The whole group combined are owed the equivalent of around $4500 CAD, no small amount. It is also the principle that it has happened to 2 groups of people previously, he cant get away with this for a third time!!!!!
 
this could do it though, if they stay in there for a few weeks, that means the guy would lose a LOT more than if he just paid them. Plus there's gotta be plenty of reservations being interrupted.
 
Ok, I'll be the first to say what we're all thinking. Go beat the shit out of this dude and jack the money that is owed. Stop being a bunch of pussies locking yourselves in a suite and hoping that this dude will give what is owed. He probably wont. After all this is the third incident with relatively the same circumstances.

The authorities obviously don't give a fuck, but just for good measure don't hang around too long. Just don't hang around too long.

 
Tell that to the owner whose hasn't been paying his employees. It's pretty obvious the authorities do not give two fucks, then why should the employees? I'd get my money from that scumbag.
 
Tell that to the owner whose hasn't been paying his employees. It's pretty obvious the authorities do not give two fucks, then why should the employees? I'd get my money from that scumbag.
 
Not paying employees is a civil offence, violence is a criminal offence therefore the gravity and severity with which the police will treat it varies greatly.. violence is most certainly NOT the way to deal with this
 
I'll agree to disagree on this topic. Considering the circumstances though, I'd just get a group of people to get the money from this guy and fly our asses back to Britain instead of wasting time barricading ourselves in a room.
 
OK then Al Capone, we can safely assume this guy doesn't have $4500 in his back pocket so what exactly is your plan?March him at knife-point down to the bank? Steal his house keys and take his possessions until you've recouped your money?
 
The guy who held out $1800 on me probably had more than $25000 owed to the whole group. When someone doesn't pay you, it's a legal issue. The legal system is a bitch, and when you're dealing with a person who is known for fucking people over time and time again - staying illegally in one of his condo's is not a way to get money from him.

 
He didn't.. that's the point.

To the blue mountain skier, you're looking really hard man. Maybe you should start selling cocaine and carrying around a nine too. Oh wait, you're from Ontario Canada! Get a life.
 
Liked and shared! Good luck guys, maybe it's not the best course of action, but I like your style anyway!
 
That's bullshit, whether your means of protesting are appropriate or not you can't just not pay employees. Fight the power man!
 
Haha, you can't go out throwing insults without at least the capacity to read. Ontario Canada? Please kid sit the fuck back down in your second grade reading level class.
 
Come on man, if you're such an e-hardman then do help out these skiers in need by sharing your techniques for recovering money owed to you
 
any ideas mate? at the moment we are holding the cards and are staying in the chalet for the immediate future, we even have a recording of the boss saying we could stay till the end of the month!
 
I'll answer that because bluemtnskier is a tard.

You guys think you have been unfairly dismissed. They are an English company so you have to read up on the UK employment laws.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/Dismissal/DG_175828

Ideally you want to 'resolve the problem with your employer'. So id say you're are going about it the right way, tell him you'll stay there until he offers you the money owed, or a compromise that you're all willing to accept.

If that doesn't work I guess eventually the gendarme will order you out and you'll have to go back to England and make a claim to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal. You could potentially win a big compensation payout.

Get your parents involved if you havent already, unfortunately if he won't make a settlement just to get you out of his chalet then it'll have to go to the courts back in England.
 
Thanks simmo really useful advice, the gendarme have already been told about his treatment of us therefore unlikely they will kick us out.. Besides that we are essentially doing exactly as you suggest.. also keep updated on twitter and try and inform as many key names in the ski industry as posiblehttps://twitter.com/LesMenuires7
 
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