Working People #1

I am quitting that shithole, Jen, I’ve had it!  

Les slow down what’s wrong now, Jen is in the kitchen and walks into the dining room, and she sees Les has already dropped into the rocking chair with his dirty work clothes on. Jen grimaces a little as she has seen this little act too many times lately. I thought you were ok with the pay cut I thought you said it was the least you could do to save some of the other guy’s jobs. Les looks at her, he has a weight in his eyes, in the curve of his shoulders.

Those bastards don’t care that’s the problem, we take the pay cut to save the company, to save our hides and they don’t care. They put 400 A45d axle brackets on today that were not in spec. I showed it to the foreman at 9 AM today and the line stopped the production planner came over and checked it out. They called upstairs and must have been told to keep going, there were no other parts in the plant. I asked the foreman if they were going to change them out offline and he said likely.

Well, later on, I was out talking to Rick and I notices some of the axles were already crated and on the dock. I said to Rick where are these going and said they were needed at B plant like yesterday and were going out the door. Jen I don’t think those cars will be unsafe but they will wear out darn quick, we are building crap.

Jen came over and rubbed Les’ back, he pulled away. Hey buddy I didn’t do anything to you what’s the story? I’m just tense Les whines, I need a break or something, that place is killing me, Les touches her arm. You make good money Les and we need the benefits, we can’t just have you walk away from that.

We are taking the pay cut Jen, but if we don’t have the quality it will be for nothing and we will be on the street. I can’t work for people I have no faith in, people who would put profit over quality, people who don’t give a damn. It grinds you down to do something every day that you hate, that you do in good faith, but it doesn’t result in respect from your boss or from the customer.

I remember back 15 years ago when we built a product we were proud of one that let you sleep, and it’s funny but during that time our wages were the envy of many other plants, not that the two went together, but I think that they could afford the wages due to the respect the axles and trannies we build allowed. We had a good product that we sold at a good price. We bought the cars that our stuff went into because we trusted our work and a company that would pay for our work. We were a team, Jen.

This current wages bullshit is only to maintain their profit while they cut the costs of the junk we sell to move it. We are all buying whatever cars as we can’t judge what is good, we just smother them with warranty and hope for the best. 

Go change your clothes, suppers ready, I’ll pop open a beer for you. Jen turns Les sits there another moment then goes upstairs.

Jen is sitting at Mannie’s Pizza with her Dad on Thursday noon. Dad, you worked at the plant for 40 years and you seemed Ok with it? Jen, says Karl Jergens grabbing her hand with his rough old paw, Jen smiles. I worked in a different time we fought for those wages and the working conditions, quality was the concern of everyone but we made sure we were protected from them buggers, first and foremost. Everyone bought American cars and we had no issues with selling product, it’s different now and it’s been different for a long time, it was already changing in my last 20 years. Les is a good guy and he knows stuff so he knows junk when he sees it and maybe that’s not a good thing. I bet a lot of the other guys are more concerned with their own issues than whether or not something wears out early on someone else’s car. I heard that management over there doesn’t care anymore they have kicked the can too long and the plant is too old to build a line that can produce a product with more quality and fewer people. The word on the street is that there is a new plant in Honduras that is up to date with a smaller cheaper workforce. I hear that they’re even going to give those workers some benefits to keep the do-gooders off their tails.

What’s the answer dad? What can we do? Well Jen for the good of the family Les needs to get out before they kick him out. He’s a smart guy and he can find something. He is always messing with computers and has fixed Mom’s a couple of times after she gets one of those Trojans or whatever they are. A lot more people around here are going to be keeping stuff a lot longer as the good jobs go way and people who can fix the stuff will find work. Les can do it and that company will miss him, well maybe.

Jen sits in the Delta Armouries on Sunday morning with Les, they got a gift certificate for brunch for their 20^th anniversary. Jen has related the talk she had with her Dad. Les sits silent for a few minutes. In a bit he leans back. No unbuttoning your pants here Les she quips, he smiles. Jen are you telling me you can endure some tough times if I make some plans and quit the plant? Look Les says Jen, you are not happy and I am not going to endure that much longer, you need to get your shit together soon. If that means drawing up some plans and moving forward and away from that plant then let’s go. Les is silent again, he is afraid, but he is more afraid of being in the huge group that will be on the street when that plant closes.

I have some ideas Jen, I will get to work, I am sorry I have been such a bear for these past months. Jen looks into his eyes and maybe she sees a little spark.