At long last, AIG issues travel guidelines to it’s staff. But, alas, these guidelines have nothing to do with nixing spa retreats at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, nor do they specify that employees should check-in at cheap Phoenix motels instead of the posh Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. 

Apparently, public anger at the $165 million bonuses that AIG execs pocketed has gone out of control, and as a result, AIG has warned its staff to travel in pairs after dark, not to wear company logos and to avoid discussing their work outside the office.

Gawker (via The Guardian UK) reports in a leaked company-wide memo that AIG’s corporate security team this week warned staff to take special precautions “due to a growing sense of public attention fuelled by increased media scrutiny”. The memo, posted on the New York website Gawker, urges staff to “avoid wearing any AIG apparel (bags, shirts, umbrellas etc) with the company insignia”. It advises workers to take off identity badges when they go outside, to report the presence of any strangers, and to call the emergency services if they think they are being followed. “At night, when possible, travel in pairs and always park in well-lit areas,” it reads.

This New York Times article says that private security guards have been stationed outside the houses of AIG execs, and sometimes the local police drive by. A.I.G. employees at the company’s office tower in Lower Manhattan were told to avoid leaving the building while a demonstration was going on outside. The Connecticut Working Families party, which has support from organized labor, is planning a bus tour of A.I.G. executives’ homes on Saturday, with a stop at the company’s Wilton office.

Not to condone what AIG did, collectively speaking, but witch-hunting individual AIG employees with mobs roaming around outside their homes is not my idea of a democracy. Please back the fuck off and leave these people alone now. They’ve got the message, they’re not doing anything wrong now, and if you continue further, there’s a serious risk of bodily harm to someone. I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared to have that on my conscience.

Posted on March 21st, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: News, san diego