Unions Again

Whew, lets try this again!
I have worked at my present job for over 3 years. I took this job 60 miles away because there aren't a lot of jobs in this area. It is a big employer in this area, though I'm not going to say what is made there, because some who read this blog may know the industry and I am usually in enough trouble with them as it is. And I'm sure they wouldn't look kindly on my bad mouthing the place.
I look at what happens there as one more sign of what is going on in this country and in industry. Money, really that plain and simple! The company I work for is still privately owned, family owned, and has plants in several states. A very rich family I might add.
The town where it is located is small, and like the whole area, not much in the way of jobs. Most people don't have a lot of work experience and have worked logging, fast food places etc.. So to some it is like heaven, even at just above poverty wages.
To digress about 30 years, to a time when most places, even small ones were unionized, and wages were better and working conditions were too. I could see, even 30 years ago unions were on a path of their own destruction, and I said so. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a union man and I support the cause, even more so than ever after this experience.
Unions were formed and sometimes fought for during the hayday of the industrial revolution when the american worker was being paid little, working in extreme conditions (bad conditions), and the industrial giants making huge profits. Hummmm, getting to sound a little familiar here, heh heh. Well, after much adeu, unions began a long fight for better wages and working conditions and were for the most part successful. We were all part of the "great american dream", providing for our families, having a small portion of wealth, being able to do things past generations could only dream about.
Slowly, unions began to price themselves out of business, and President Bonzo with his trickle down economics put unions a a tabu word in our language, and it has been a steady slide down since then. But, that wasn't enough for businesses, they still had to export jobs to even lower paying people in 3rd world countries.
As I have said before, I am an economist, and I am not against someone making a profit from the business, I know how things work in the business world. But I am against being abused, and the abuse of others for financial gain. In the news yesterday, "Apple ipod" made the headlines because of the working conditions of the people making it. Well, I have news for you, that was just one of thousands of industries where this is taking place and the companies don't care unless caught in the act, so-to- speak. I also have news for you, it is taking place right here in america also.
I don't think one needs to be a rocket scientist to see that industry has cut back employees, cut back wages, cut back benefits while still posting record profits. Record profits are also recorded for the ceo's, hundreds of millions of dollars. Does reducing medical benefits or stopping them make sense, to pay a ceo more? To me it is dead wrong! Not only is it morally wrong, it add to the skyrocketing medical costs, because if people can't pay their medical bills, it costs everyone more, so in effect the companies are pushing the cost off to everyone else, not just the employees. Does that make sense?
Now to get back to where I work. The product they make generally runs from 2 thousand to 36 thousand dollars per unit. The average is somewhere in between the top and bottom amounts. The greatest asset they have are people. The place is not highly automated because they would rather have you work harder for increased production than automate. They also push quality while at the same time not providing equipment to have better quality. Part of the reason I say people are the best resource they have, are the efforts we make to have quality against used worn out equipment.
Every few months the company puts on a cook out, and a meeting before hand on the company and what they want and whats coming in the future. The last one a few weeks ago made me laugh as well as the time before that. The production they put on a few weeks ago had a motto,"The American Dream, The future is in our hands". I was asked by a few people what I thought of the presentation, I giggled and said it sounded like it came from the famous Martin Luther King, "I Have A Dream" speach. I also said it was like Gen. Patton, called old blood and guts, the soldiers blood his guts.
They also told us it was a good year for the company, the same the last 3 years, record profits, rising business, all the typical drivel. Then they said they were trying to figure out how to recruit better employees and be able to keep more of the ones they have.
Keep in mind that at the december meeting we had, we were informed that this year our insurance premiums were to increase, co-pays were going to be higher and they were going to cover less. They are self insured and run it themselves. We were in formed also that when we work ten hour days, we would lose one 10 minute break. Starting time on ten hours is 5am. That means we work from 5am til 9:30 am with out a break!
One year ago in very hot weather, I asked, even demanded a fan in my work area. It was over 100 degrees in the plant, and shortly before that the plant safety person mad me start wearing a face shield. The shield forces hot breath over your already hot skin making it even worse. I was determind to get a fan, so I bitched and complained daily. Finally they decided, after a few people began to pass out from the heat to get some fans and put them on the steel uprights in some locations. They also determined, and said exactly this, "we are not concerned with personal comfort, therefore we will circulate the air in the plant and the placement of the fans will accomplish this". In other words, the fans won't blow on you, but instead will blow hot air near the ceiling around to the next area. I found a pedestal fan from an area that was being changed so I took it to my area and protect it with my life! They also handed out sheets containing what heat exhaustion and heat stroke were and how to prevent and treat it. Fans weren't on the list either. It basically said, now that you know this, it is up to you to not over heat! Easier said than done when doing hard physical work. But to their credit they don't stop you from going to a water bubbler to fill a water bottle.
Safety is always an issue at the plant, many people are hurt each month, we have a safety person, but still there are lots of injuries. They spend time, lots of it documenting it, posting the findings, but do little to change things, mainly because it would cost money to do so. If they do spend any money making a change, you can bet it is in their interest to do it. An example of this is when someone tripped on a floor mat in his area and got bruised. Instead of removing the offendin mat, which was in bad shape and replacing it, they removed all mats from all areas. Anyone that has worked on cemnt floors knows what effects standing and working on them can do to your back and legs.
Well, as I predicted, in time over-use injuries became common place. The answer? They hire an outside consultant on ergonomics. Within the last few months we go new mats that wear and lay better on the floor. We also have an ergonomic team, made up of management and regular employees. In a few areas it was determined that a mat may cause more of a problem that it would solve, but the employee could buy cushion soles for their work boots or shoes for 15 bucks.
There have been many more instances I won't go into, but to say I was asked by the ergo team what I thought. I said in theory it was a good idea, but that if it canme to costing the company money, it was up to us to change, rather than make it safer by changing the job or equipment. I was quickly labeled a radical, against the company efforts.
To go back to their quality efforts, I use hand routers, you know to make routs for door hinges, and other removal of wood to create shapes, but I also rout aluminum with the same routers, using different bits, the tools that remove material from said object. Well, The jigs and equipment is worn out, so often I get complaints from the assembly line of poor quality or not being up to specifications. This takes place about every 2-3 months, the complaint comes in, supervisor tells me, I point out the problem, quality department comes over, maintenence comes over, measurements taken problem assessed, it is determined that it can't be solved as is so I am told to keep running as I was to begin with. It could be solved, but it would mean new quipment. Now keep in mind that for a time I was told it was me making bad parts, but I began to dig in, I say it the way it is. I can't change the plant but I can make noise about my own little world. So I fight back, I prove it isn't me and they don't like it. I have even tried for 3 years to get a different job there by signing up for other job postings, I am told I am staying where I am at, that simple. The reason and only reason for that is this, I am good at what I do, I have developed ways of doping things that minimize problems, while still getting maximum production. I have found ways to adjust things that isn't in a book, and I am mechanically inclined so I have come up with all kinds of little tricks. When I have been off for sickness or accident, quality and production drops, and I get calls at home to find out about this and that, so I know I am not just blowing my own horn.
I have a saying in my life.......if you don't want to hear the truth, don't ask me for my opinion. I was called to an office and asked how the paperless system they were putting in place was working. They put computers in most of the areas, so documentation was on there rather than on paper. It works well to track the product as it goes down the line. I said it worked well and was a good idea, it saved me time, but that there was a flaw, because it still caused me to use some paper, need to get certain info by paper, and the person got mad at me. I told him, look, you asked me to come up here, asked my opinion, I didn't come in here because it is fun, so take the info or leave it and left the office.
I have a lot of experience an many fields, including factories, business, healthcare and others. I have to say that the management at work has to be the worst I have seen in a long time. Most are inexperienced in their areas, but with the opinion that I am higher than you, so I must know more. You know, everyone is stupid but me attitude. This goes from the plant manager down. It is like our leaders are afraid to give anyone credit for anything, and if you let them they will take the fact that their incompetence causes problems, and turn it back so you look bad. This happens so often I can even predict it. And I let others know, then when it comes to pass I say, see just as I said.
I shouldn't have to tell management the obvious, like how a certain number of people can only produce so much. Then expectation exceeds production ability. But, I have to point out at times that one cutter can do this much, one router, or 5 assemblers. If all things were automated, a machine can only produce so much also. If you want more you need another machine, or in this case more people. You can only trim processes so much to make it efficient.
This is 2006, we have technology up the ying yang, it amazes me that we are still working in the dark ages, millions of working poor, millions without health insurance, working conditions similar to 100 years ago. But the robber barons still there! I almost spit a mouth of coffee out when at the last premeal meeting the owner was on the propaganda clip we viewed, saying money was never the object, it was his love of what he was doing. Sure, and his 3 or 4 multi-million dollar family cabins around the state can more around the country certainly show he shares his wealth!
This company is certainly not the only one getting rich on our backs, so I can only hope that the future will see the american worker say enough is enough and fight for themselves.