Sudden Mandatory Tijuana Work Travel

[Barbisi]

Well, Zombie13 has been ordered to fly to Tijuana Mexico the day after Memorial Day for ONLY 2 days of work supposedly. (At first, they ordered him to report all next week which would have taken away his one extra day of vacation on the Friday before the legal holiday which had already been approved by HR. He told them he needed more notice than 5 days because he had things planned for his chintzy PTO.)
They seem awfully anxious to work him on holidays when others are allowed to take PTO, so I suspect they will try to send him back there the week of the 4th of July and even around Labor Day which are the only other company legal PTO days.
Things are getting very dicey as all my medical issues have not been resolved and I will need another CT scan for my spleen which has granulomas per my PCP. This procedure makes me too nauseous to drive myself home afterwards. So, we will plan for that after he is allowed to return home.
I will meet with the PCP next week and I inform her of Zombie's upcoming absence, the first of many to come, I'm sure.
He can't be in Mexico (or on the road the rest of the year with only a couple of holidays off) and never home with his wife and four fur babies.
When he accepted this job, no travel at all was required. Now it is becoming often it seems with little warning.
Do you all , justbroke , shipo , and Carmella agree he needs to find another job elsewhere ASAP before they relocate him (without paying for it!) to the border so he can cross into Mexico every day, LOL?
Actually, I'm scared! I don't think he should put his life on the line for nothing, just a crappy job.

[justbroke]

I can only say this; a job will never love you back. If you don't like the job and if it's causing you health or family issues, then it's time to search for a new employer. A company cannot relocate you without paying; they can say your job is now in Chula Vista, CA, but they can't force you to move. Of course that means your position moved to a new location and you have a choice. (My company was notorious for saying "your job is now in Podunk, Ohio.") Many people that relocated and worked-from-home (remote) during the pandemic are making similar choices now that there is a big push for "back-to-work."

In the end it's all about the employee and what they will suffer to have that job. There are several jobs I would take and suffer with less pay and a lot of travel, but those are jobs that I love.

[Barbisi]

Thank you justbroke for always replying and giving good common-sense replies!
This job was never what zombie wanted to do; rather it was a lifesaver lifeline after 9 months of unemployment. He needed a jo.b and considering what he was assuming he could get, he thought it was an OK job with a decent salary and better than average insurance for a while
He has noted lately, though, just how repetitious and monotonous the daily work is becoming now that he has learned everything about assembling satellite racks he can. I think the plan may have always been to send him off to the remote work centers once he had the required work knowledge to complete the job. This is for this company the only logical step up since he is essentially a contractor employed by D for AL group and all his duties consists of is putting together satellite racks. This why the pay is not the greatest and the PTO so minimal. The only surprise is how comprehensive the health insurance and the life insurance policy are. Otherwise, the benefits are a gigantic dud.
This "required" travel is very off putting, particularly since the sites are dangerous and undesirable and offer no rewards or perks, just the same salary and PTO as before. (i.e. they are not going to make it worth his while and instead they seem hellbent on scheduling these work excursions around holidays and valid PTO days.) I believe this job was designed for someone in their twenties who is single, has no trepidation about hazardous travel for work, low expectations for financial compensation and no life outside of the job. This is not Zombie13 !

[justbroke]

... I believe this job was designed for someone in their twenties who is single, has no trepidation about hazardous travel for work, low expectations for financial compensation and no life outside of the job...!

Yes, it is designed for a younger person who doesn't have the need to support family directly and with their presence. When we had an opportunity for 2 of my team to travel to London for 1 year, it was the younger guys with no family/spouse that we asked to go. So it was me and a twenty-something man. We had to live in London for 6-months without traveling back to the U.S.

Much more different safety issue in central London, but the IRA was blowing up things back in those days. As a young man, I never thought twice about it. The adventure was being in London "on expenses" in a luxury townhouse. Yup, we lived in the "snooty" section of town and had $96/day for meals and incidentals on a per diem basis (no receipts). (Think of that... $17,280 in M&I for 180 days! Just eat junk food and spend $20/day and pocket $13,000.) So, for the young guys it was a dream come true. All expenses paid, a £4,000 a month townhouse which was prepaid, and living in a Western European capital. I digress.

Bottom line, I agree that this is likely for a younger person who has more flexibility. Sometimes we have to sacrifice and take the job for the sake of income, rather than we love the work.

[Barbisi]

Thanks justbroke ! This company even makes the employee book their own flights and hotel room on their own CC, to be "later reinbursed."
No fun trip and incidental free money. Just rigid work from 8am-4pm with a crummy "catered take -out " lunch at your workstation and after which a "security chauffeur" takes you back across the border where you are in your hotel eating whatever food is available. Of course, there is safety in number so everybody is in the same lodging and all are transported together. Does that sound like an adventurous vacation to you?
London sounds divine like somewhere anybody would want to go anytime, even with the IRA present! You were a lucky lad indeed, not so for poor Zombie.
Tijuana , not so much! More like work travel from hell!!!
Now I know why they objected to my husband helping me get to vital provider visits and test procedures- They wanted him to be able to fly out right after work, so he could work the next day. They also want him to spend his PTO and company holidays in an airport flying back and forth without rest or an actual day off! They will be sure to send him to Tijuana on his next birthday on December 10, 2026.
What a Sch******e company he has to work for at present!!!!!

[justbroke]

When I went to London I was with a smaller outfit. I did not have a corporate credit card. At least they prepaid the rent for the townhouse. Everything else I had to submit bi-weekly expense reports which was essentially the per diem X 14 days. Yes, London is a nice assignment. But Taft Louisiana and Grand Gulf Mississippi weren't the most fun. I might rather have Tijuana over Taft or Grand Gulf, but that's me! If you're staying in Chula Vista, California at night, that may make it more palatable. When we were at Grand Gulf we actually stays 30 miles away at Vicksburg in a casino hotel because that area was desolate.

Zombie should be looking for new work since this isn't ideal. I don't think I'd be doing Taft or Grand Gulf these days at my age (so much travel between the worksite and the hotels). I sympathize with his position. It's hard to find a good-paying job when you get over 50. That may make a person a little more desperate, but if your life is in actual danger always choose your safety.

[Barbisi]

Thanks justbroke !
It is still sketchy, how this works but I think the plan is to fly (hopefully a direct) flight to San Diego, stay in an economy hotel, check in and prepare for an 8am work start time the next day. Which means waking up at 6am and leaving the hotel by 7am., maybe earlier (?) I don't know if any hotel breakfast would be included or if the security guard stops at a drive through to pick up greasy burritos or cheap doughnuts. I believe the entire group has to drive through an international customs gate to get into Tijuana. He has to secure a two-day work visa prior to showing up at the work site. So, everything is done on the cheap at cut rate cost to the company. I would imagine a rundown warehouse with minimal amenities, probably no air conditioning, like a sweat shop. After two days of that, Zombie will be lucky if he doesn't come down with Covid or Hantavirus (the new Pandemic in the making, LOL!)
I am being sarcastic, of course, but I can't imagine the working conditions would be very pleasant or else why send him there?
With tariffs being so stringently enforced, American workers shouldn't need to be sent to Mexican facilities to do work that ought to viable here, right?
As for Taft Louisiana and Grand Gulf Mississippi , those sound pretty unappetizing too.