Anything but friendly
By Scott Godshaw
This is a follow-up article to my “Good Bye Old Friend” (West Allis)
article. The members from Department 552 are now settling into M-8 and in
retrospect, the new department has been anything but friendly. At most of our
informational meetings held at West Allis, when the question arose regarding the
jobs and rates changing, we were informed that they would not.
However, almost all the jobs that came over have been reconfigured and of
course the rates have been cut drastically. I have never seen morale at such an
all-time low. The way some of these jobs and machines have been put together is
ludicrous and it is unclear why no one asked for the input of the machine
operators who have run these jobs for years. Certainly, ergonomics was not a
priority when these machines were assembled in M8. It is no wonder that many of
our members from this area are ending up in Rehab.
With respect to other departments, the flywheel department was and is
still one of the heaviest and most difficult piecework jobs throughout the
corporation.
I was in negotiations and yes, we agreed to and voted in, a contract that
would eliminate piecework August 1, 2004. However, it is very blatant that the
Company would take this approach when the talk that always swirled around was
working together, being partners and mutual respect.
And why is this happening? Maybe, just maybe, someone is just trying to
make a name for themselves at our expense. Whatever the reason, the abuse and
disrespect shown our members is excessively distasteful. As I said last month,
goodbye old friend. You’ll be missed. I just never realized how much.
Membership Meeting
