Early go's (sic) are one thing, asking people to come in and do extra shifts when they will potentially be breaking SRATCOH is quite another.
Management did not show much goodwill cornering people into taking annual leave when they simply could not get into work on Wednesday - an attitude which was irresponsible at best under the circumstances.
Like you say, goodwill works both ways and management could well find volunteers harder to come by if there is a next time...
LTP