deepthought
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- Sep 22, 2013
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I want to share with you all how (at least in one way, there are others) the recession effected me.
Not to long ago I was a factory worker.
In 2008: We had three shifts Monday-Friday. Factory was usually closed weekends. Pretty much everybody worked about 40 hours per week. Hours worked per week rarely exceeded 50 even during the busiest times. The amount of work everyone was expected to do per day was reasonable, in my opinion.
We had about one accident per year (2002-2008). Most of which weren't very serious. (the injured worker usually didn't miss more than one day of work)
2009-2012:
The recession hit.
1. Demand didn't decrease for the company I worked for. It increased. We got more and more business as time went on (don't ask me how).
2. While the unemployment rate was especially high in this area.
3. And insurance costs continued to increase.
Our hours immediately went up (and at first a lot of us liked this, we didn't shy from a little overtime and liked the extra money). First we had to work some Saturdays. Then we were working overtime every day, plus coming in Saturdays.
All the while the work load also increased, despite working more hours, we were expected to get more done every hour. Management began to put more and more pressure on people. Workers started skipping their breaks sometimes because the amount of work demanded of them was more than they could complete in a day even with the overtime. Some would get caught, be told not to do that, and then the next day told to increase production/their numbers.
People began to ask management to hire more people. Management said they were working on it.
Months went by. Accidents increased. Severity of accidents increased. Hours were increased. But only a few new workers were hired.
Why were so few new workers hired when demand had sky-rocketed and the amount of work with it? Simple: paying overtime to the workers they already had was more profitable than hiring new ones because of insurance costs. On top of that, they knew most guys wouldn't quit despite the treatment because the job market was so horrible. It was take it, or be unemployed and unable to provide for your family (or yourself)...and the company exploited that to the fullest.
Eventually, most people were working 80+ hours a week. That's 12 hours a day EVERY DAY. We got TWO DAYS A MONTH OFF. (Not sit-on-your-ass in an air conditioned office type work. This was labor in excess of 110 F on the hottest days of summer and cold in the winter.) Everyone was exhausted. We had a minimum of one accident every month. Many of those accidents were serious. I personally worked through some injuries (multiple pulled muscles) because every time anyone reported an injury they were sequestered and grilled by at least three members of management. And honestly I was so tired and beaten down.......I just didn't have the will to deal with it.
There was a guy, we called him Sasquatch cause he was so big and hairy, great guy.......he was a single Dad and never got to see his son. Not even sure you could call him a Dad. He said that even on the two days the company gave him off every month he was so tired that he could barely play with his kid. He effectively was no longer a parent to his child, basically only a provider. It was really hard for him. He went into the bathroom sometimes, stay in there for a while, and come out with his eyes red rimmed and blood shot. Nobody said a word to him about it....You could see this guy, this big-powerhouse-worker of a guy, just slowly breaking. It was awful.
All the while the company was making record profits. Despite this our bonus never increased. Few people got raises (not even most of the factory floor management). A lot of our little perks we had before were taken away. (we used to have a BBQ every month we didn't have an accident...that obviously was gone), Christmas party that used to be fully catered at the company's expense turned into a potluck. The management would buy sodas and a bowl of salad and then sit amongst us eating our food that we brought. (by this I mean upper/office management, not factor floor guys)...among other things.
When I first started to work there I couldn't believe my luck. The pay was good, perks were good, benefits were great....good people, even the management seemed friendly and there was an "we are a family" kinda attitude. By the time I left almost all of that was gone. Gone because of one thing......greed.
I swear...the things the upper management did, had they been told they would be doing that three or four years prior they probably wouldn't have believed themselves capable of it. But once that money started rolling in the culture changed. Owner started pressuring the upper management "More production, more....faster....more, cut costs.....cut it more......more, faster, more profit!" And so, step by step...that pressure got put onto us. I could see it happening every day right before my eyes. The transformation of, not only the circumstances, but the people....was....something I'll never forget.
Not to long ago I was a factory worker.
In 2008: We had three shifts Monday-Friday. Factory was usually closed weekends. Pretty much everybody worked about 40 hours per week. Hours worked per week rarely exceeded 50 even during the busiest times. The amount of work everyone was expected to do per day was reasonable, in my opinion.
We had about one accident per year (2002-2008). Most of which weren't very serious. (the injured worker usually didn't miss more than one day of work)
2009-2012:
The recession hit.
1. Demand didn't decrease for the company I worked for. It increased. We got more and more business as time went on (don't ask me how).
2. While the unemployment rate was especially high in this area.
3. And insurance costs continued to increase.
Our hours immediately went up (and at first a lot of us liked this, we didn't shy from a little overtime and liked the extra money). First we had to work some Saturdays. Then we were working overtime every day, plus coming in Saturdays.
All the while the work load also increased, despite working more hours, we were expected to get more done every hour. Management began to put more and more pressure on people. Workers started skipping their breaks sometimes because the amount of work demanded of them was more than they could complete in a day even with the overtime. Some would get caught, be told not to do that, and then the next day told to increase production/their numbers.
People began to ask management to hire more people. Management said they were working on it.
Months went by. Accidents increased. Severity of accidents increased. Hours were increased. But only a few new workers were hired.
Why were so few new workers hired when demand had sky-rocketed and the amount of work with it? Simple: paying overtime to the workers they already had was more profitable than hiring new ones because of insurance costs. On top of that, they knew most guys wouldn't quit despite the treatment because the job market was so horrible. It was take it, or be unemployed and unable to provide for your family (or yourself)...and the company exploited that to the fullest.
Eventually, most people were working 80+ hours a week. That's 12 hours a day EVERY DAY. We got TWO DAYS A MONTH OFF. (Not sit-on-your-ass in an air conditioned office type work. This was labor in excess of 110 F on the hottest days of summer and cold in the winter.) Everyone was exhausted. We had a minimum of one accident every month. Many of those accidents were serious. I personally worked through some injuries (multiple pulled muscles) because every time anyone reported an injury they were sequestered and grilled by at least three members of management. And honestly I was so tired and beaten down.......I just didn't have the will to deal with it.
There was a guy, we called him Sasquatch cause he was so big and hairy, great guy.......he was a single Dad and never got to see his son. Not even sure you could call him a Dad. He said that even on the two days the company gave him off every month he was so tired that he could barely play with his kid. He effectively was no longer a parent to his child, basically only a provider. It was really hard for him. He went into the bathroom sometimes, stay in there for a while, and come out with his eyes red rimmed and blood shot. Nobody said a word to him about it....You could see this guy, this big-powerhouse-worker of a guy, just slowly breaking. It was awful.
All the while the company was making record profits. Despite this our bonus never increased. Few people got raises (not even most of the factory floor management). A lot of our little perks we had before were taken away. (we used to have a BBQ every month we didn't have an accident...that obviously was gone), Christmas party that used to be fully catered at the company's expense turned into a potluck. The management would buy sodas and a bowl of salad and then sit amongst us eating our food that we brought. (by this I mean upper/office management, not factor floor guys)...among other things.
When I first started to work there I couldn't believe my luck. The pay was good, perks were good, benefits were great....good people, even the management seemed friendly and there was an "we are a family" kinda attitude. By the time I left almost all of that was gone. Gone because of one thing......greed.
I swear...the things the upper management did, had they been told they would be doing that three or four years prior they probably wouldn't have believed themselves capable of it. But once that money started rolling in the culture changed. Owner started pressuring the upper management "More production, more....faster....more, cut costs.....cut it more......more, faster, more profit!" And so, step by step...that pressure got put onto us. I could see it happening every day right before my eyes. The transformation of, not only the circumstances, but the people....was....something I'll never forget.