1237a5bd3f1a
tech



Hello Wayne - 

WC>> to Bartow in 87 and they fired all their higher paid
WC>> production people with locally available cheap labor
WC>> they'd trained ... 

--8<--cut 

WC>> Bartow is known for 4 things, phosphate mines, radon gas
WC>> in homes, migrant farm workers and a big Ford dealership,
WC>> other than that it's a rural moonscape. 

A company so insensitive to the welfare of their employees
sounds like something from an old 'B' movie. Way back when I
was young something like that would've been intended to get a
chuckle from the audience. Now it's our reality. 

I'm in the North. I have been told that conditions in textile
plants was horrific with no regard for worker safety. I've not
experienced any of that but I do know other parts of the US
have always been irresponsible about the welfare of their labor
force. 

CA>> More than likely they would've eventually told you they
CA>> had to reduce your wages to bring you 'inline' with others
CA>> on the payroll. Typical cr*p to lure people into
CA>> relocation. 

WC> They did that _before_ the move, said you coulld keep your
WC> job if you took a pay cut. My own boss took a 5 dollar/Hr
WC> hit and still was fired after the move. Don't weep for him
WC> though he was a creep. 

This has been going on for two decades now. Feels like we're
going back to the feudal system to me. :-\ 

WC> All this occured mind you mere weeks after the geniuse's in
WC> production voted down a union which would have likely
WC> stopped plans for the move due to costs for job retraining
WC> for employees. I voted for the union and was sadly in the
WC> minority. 

I do believe that unions are a working man's (hourly) last hope
but I also know that they promise more than they deliver and
eventually just become another clique that you have to deal
with to keep your job. After being jumped by two elected union
officials in the parking lot one night (I won) it became
obvious they thought they were a mini-mafia and could enforce
anything they wanted to by whatever means they felt were
appropriate. 

WC> Having run into a number of people from that place since
WC> most all recount they got far better jobs anyway and good
WC> riddence. 

Yes, a friend told me that what makes a bad job worse is that
you have limited time to find a good job while working the bad
job. Problem is you can't get back the years spent that are
lost when you must find another job. Pensions being a sort of
lottery and if you keep moving you lose. 

CA>>> To keep you the company must 'buy out your contract'
CA>>> usually this figure is in the thousands of dollars and
CA>>> reduces the amount of pay the company can then offer to
CA>>> you to stay with them. 

WC>> They bought me out, and very soon were paying me rather
WC>> well. Every time they pissed me off I'd threaten to quit
WC>> and bang I got a raise. 

I've never used that method. I've warned employers that when I
have to threaten to quit, I'm not threatening I'm gone. 

CA>> Some companies hate interviewing enough to pay the fee but
CA>> consider what they _could_ have paid you if the money went
CA>> to you instead of the agency. ;-) 

WC> Oh they paid Charles, I had them by the short hairs as I
WC> could do what three printers at the other plants throughout
WC> the U.S. couldn't. 

--8<--cut 

WC> AFAIK I'm the _only_ one in production they offered a pay
WC> raise to go with them to Bartow. 

It feels good to be really good at what you are doing and when
you can organize it and become efficient it is a pleasure. 

Problem is no one pays for that. I had a manager admit to me
that I did the work of three people and had slowed to two
people. It was messing up his scheduling you see and he
wondered if I could go back to three. Seriously. I eventually
left because of that conversation. I wasn't being paid three
times what the other people were paid and I began to resent
their expectations. 

>
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>      o/      Charles_Angelich  - DOS Ghost       \o       ,
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