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Long story short, I'm writing a grievance to my work. I want it to be quite emotive.

In short, they cut my pay to save the company, even though, with less pay, that might put me and my life in trouble.

I was thinking something along the lines of "sink my ship to save your own" but I'm not sure if that fits, or is a 'real' idiom.

Can anyone help with something similar? Googling hasn't helped.

Thank you, Me

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    Although there might be inequity involved, it seems that some companies would just fold if they didn't make nasty pay cuts ... so the final result could actually be worse if the board members didn't take this unwanted course of action (no wage at all). So 'robbing the poor to give to the rich' might not be the relevant expression.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    May 7, 2020 at 15:14
  • You might think it's a bit of a "queen sacrifice" - but from the company's point of view, losing you is probably no more than a pawn sacrifice!.
    – FumbleFingers
    May 7, 2020 at 15:58
  • It is selfish to take and not give. It is self-serving to say "I am doing this for you" when I am feathering my own nest. But I must add that emotive is not the way I'd go - I make it a rule to decide what result I am looking for as a guide to my tone. Get job back (be polite.) Educate (use lofty language for life's lessons.) Take revenge (use emotional language and threats.)
    – Yosef Baskin
    May 7, 2020 at 16:06
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    "To throw someone under a/the bus" is current presently. "You threw me under a/the bus to save your company." See: edition.cnn.com/2020/04/23/politics/… "Donald Trump just threw Georgia's govenor directly under the bus on corona virus."
    – Greybeard
    May 7, 2020 at 16:23
  • To give someone enough rope. You are not asking to be given enough rope to hang yourself with. Related here
    – livresque
    May 8, 2020 at 1:35

1 Answer 1

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Try reframing take one for the team:

[Lexico (Oxford)]
informal US
Willingly undertake an unpleasant task or make a personal sacrifice for the collective benefit of one's friends or colleagues.
‘I took one for the team by naming myself the designated driver’

While this is normally used in the context of you choosing to do something for the benefit of others, in this case it wasn't your choice, you were forced into it.

So:

You forced me into taking one for the team against my will.

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    Ps “against my will” is redundant with “forced me”.
    – Laurel ♦
    May 7, 2020 at 18:50
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    @Laurel It might be technically redundant, but it provides emphasis—and is actually idiomatic. I hear forced against my will used all the time. It's a common expression. It also addresses this part of the question: "I want it to be quite emotive."
    – Jason Bassford
    May 7, 2020 at 18:52

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