1237a5af033b
tech



Hello Wayne - 

CA>> I wish nothing but health and happiness to all
CA>> technicians. I think working with your hands and using
CA>> your imagination is very creative. It's an "art form" IMO.
CA>> Some have, others do not. I love to watch people who work
CA>> with their hands and are good at what they do. It can be
CA>> an amazing thing to witness. 

WC> I was incredible with my hands both working on my own
WC> motorcycles and electronics. One temp job I had _was_
WC> putting together minicomputers in a nice air conditioned
WC> building. Supervisor came back in a bit and asked me why
WC> I'd not hooked up more of the power supplies, my answer in
WC> two parts. "How much do these units cost" ANS: something
WC> like 180,000 dollars. I replied I was tightening the screws
WC> once, backing off than once again so they'd be extra secure
WC> and double checking my work, this seemed to satisfy him and
WC> he wandered off. Always liked working with my hands, if I
WC> couldn't find it or it was too expensive I'd build it. 

Working with your hands is creative and productive. Working
with the mind 'managing' things tends to be half creative but
also half destructive. I never cared for the destructive part
of the job. 

CA>> Temp agencies are not founded on this philosophy. The
CA>> people who own them and work in them are sales oriented
CA>> people. They do not care what you can do they care about
CA>> how they can sell you. You are a commodity. That's why
CA>> they wanted Roy to 'dress up' for them. A prettier
CA>> package. They are unable to sell skill, they have no
CA>> appreciation for skills. 

WC> Just so. 

CA>> Many people have _lost_ opportunities for employment once
CA>> signing the temp contract you are barred from accepting
CA>> employment from any company they have contacted in your
CA>> behalf for at least six months. By that time the job is no
CA>> longer available. 

WC> There's a buyout clause in the agency I worked for and I
WC> was good enough they sprung for it, heck after they moved
WC> to Bartow in 87 and they fired all their higher paid
WC> production people with locally available cheap labor they'd
WC> trained they approached me to come back to work as a
WC> printer at twice what I was making at the time but as they
WC> were assholes I declined. I believe I said something like
WC> as long as you f???'s were a ten minute walk from my door
WC> and you paid well it was fine but Bartow is known for 4
WC> things, phosphate mines, radon gas in homes, migrant farm
WC> workers and a big Ford dealership, other than that it's a
WC> rural moonscape. 

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

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. 

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

CA>> In the long run temp agencies have had the effect of
CA>> reducing overall hourly wages of employees and even
CA>> salaried employees. The temp agencies often get a 'lock'
CA>> on companies that once accepted applications themselves
CA>> which reduces the number of companies you can apply to
CA>> when out of work (making the temp agencie _appear_ to be a
CA>> saviour by saving you from the lousy situation they
CA>> created for you). 

WC> For the most part true, Roy and myself seem to have been
WC> exceptions. Heck I used to get 5 minute catnaps while
WC> running 2,500 foot rolls of light cardboard stock through
WC> the printer! How I slept with all the people, punch presses
ect I'll never know but I would wake up when a run finished 

CA>> Temp agencies are a cancer for technicians. Given enough
CA>> time they will reduce Americans to laborers with all
CA>> skilled employment going to immigrants recruited from
CA>> countries where they do not exist. 

WC> A good point I'd not previously considered. 

In the former auto-capital of the world, Detroit,
apprenticeships for the skilled trades required to build
automobiles are almost nonexistent. The journeyman working now
won't live forever. 

>
>        ,                                        ,
>      o/      Charles_Angelich  - DOS Ghost       \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >  www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/faf/  < \   __\__
 

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