![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Feb. 7th, 2015 12:31 amThe antibiotic is keeping things under control (for the moment.) The prescription runs out Monday. I'm on vacation next week - which, given the events this week, could be a good thing (or a bad thing - I'd almost rather if I DO end up having to go to the ER, it fly in the face of my employer.)
The big deal this week was having to sit down in an office with the 2nd and 3rd in command of maintenance and my direct supervisor (who is a nice guy, but this is not his industry - I've been there longer than he has, and he's a micro manager. In a lot of ways, I feel bad for him - but his management style is ridiculous considering the atmosphere of United, so I guess it's a hate to work with/for him, like him as a person, sort of situation.)
Why did I have to sit down in the office you ask? Call ins.
It is relatively standard practice in the corporate world to offer six sick days per year. That's for SALARY employees. As an hourly employee, when I call in sick, I DON'T get paid. Salary employees do. If I remember from my readings, the standard practice is after six days you start getting docked pay as salary. The non-union employees at United, if memory serves, get six sick days, the same amount of vacation time we do (in the same progression - unless they bargain well) and one "comp day" per month. I get two personal holidays (which have to be scheduled to not "count against" attendance) and some vacation time.
That foundation being laid, I was given a "verbal warning" over my attendance. This "stays with me" for 18 months - if I call in again without a doctor's excuse, I'll get three days off without pay. Then I'll get two weeks off without pay. Then I'll be fired.
The joke of this runs pretty deep. Without getting too specific, the oil industry is criminal to begin with, but it's asinine if you see it from inside. Many people "work" at United and receive paychecks for essentially zilch. Very little work is performed on an average day - management are the worst. Contractors typically do most of the major work. I understand maintenance in many industries looks similarly, but it's also on a much smaller scale - a small shop of mechanically/electrically inclined guys take care of the general maintenance, PMs and rounds. Contractors come in for big jobs. Not so at United - there's easily 150 maintenance employees (and about 35 supervisors overseeing them - one for every three.) Now one might say a job where one isn't required to do much isn't so bad, but try hanging around dilapidated shops for eight hours a day. We're not allowed to read books or use cell phones during downtime. We're not allowed to sit in a break room. We're supposed to "look busy" all the time - which usually means standing around talking to the same people day in, day out. It's...mentally destructive. I can't explain it any other way. It drives me insane.
Calling in every four or five weeks is one of the ways I keep my sanity (and besides that, often times it has to deal with flare ups from some of my health issues) Because I've been to so many doctors over this without a "real diagnosis(tm)", I can't just hand them an excuse every time I turn around. Which they seem to think is necessary - but it makes no difference. A guy who called in six weeks total and got fired over it had a doctor's excuse for half of those days or more - he had no health issues, he was just an alcoholic (and more than willing to drive to a doctor every week for no reason, just to avoid coming to work.) If he can find a doctor to give him excuses for whatever reason (and they knew that) why would they make it necessary to have a doctor's excuse? Why do they think that substantiates the claim an individual was sick, if they know doctor's are willing to fabricate excuses from very recent history? LOL.
Of course, I wasn't going to insult their intelligence by making these kinds of rational claims (and I feel they are pretty damn rational!) So instead I opted to just calmly sit and lock eyes with these guys. This was a first for me - sitting in a room with major authority figures at one of the largest businesses in Warren. Don't get me wrong - I don't THINK of them as movers and shakers, or real authority figures - because they aren't (two of them are guilty of spending most nights late at the Moose Club with the rest of the "big wigs" and driving home drunk) but nonetheless they hold positions that pay more than most people in Warren could ever dream of, with a lot less merit, ability and work involved. They asked me if I knew why I was there (I told them, "No idea.") They proceeded to tell me why. They proceeded to tell me they'd, "Hate to lose me over something like this." I proceeded to tell them that, "Most of my issues stem from health-related stuff, and I'm not the kind of person that goes to a doctor looking for a diagnosis (and I wasn't going to get into details like I did above - it's really none of their business. I've seen three different general practitioners over the years and one specialist - all of them just kept handing me different drugs with no idea what it actually was.) They said, "Well, then just get us an excuse and we won't worry about it." The conversation was starting to bore me and dwindle. So as I felt the "meeting" (or rather, them trying to exert authority over me) was ending, I said, "You know, it might be different if I had a real job." 2nd in command was flabbergasted. "What, what do you mean?" he stammered. "I mean, it would be nice if I had a real job, where at the end of the day I actually felt like I did something. A job that actually allowed me to feel good, and that I'm utilizing my potential. Because as it stands right now, I'm working well beneath my capabilities as a person." This turned into a, "The company is always working with the union to try and make that kind of thing happen." speech. It also turned into a, "Well, back when I started, it took 15 years." (Which is an outright lie. Mr. 2nd in command didn't spend long in maintenance. His father was a former head of Maintenance, his brother is the head of the FCC Unit.) And I know the stories from my father - back when he started, yes, the place was a bit smaller, but maintenance all worked out of the same shop. New guys would end up working on all sorts of different projects and with different people with different skills. Contractors were few and far between. It was like a real apprenticeship back then.
Now it's just an overly compartmentalized, grossly inefficient joke. After that bit of conversation, it was done. I got up and walked out. The only thing that really stuck with me was them asking me the obligatory, "We're willing to help if you need it." Which is primarily something they say to people with drug and alcohol problems. People with those problems are given all sorts of special treatment and consideration. When you're just a person who can't stand not being given any opportunities, skill building or real work, they could give a flying fuck less about you (you'd think companies would love a person like that? So many people just want to come to work, do the same job every day, and be as lazy as possible - sometimes I feel like the world is completely upside down.) Lucky me - I get to have some interesting health problems, and enough mistrust of authority to make it almost completely impossible for me to hold an average everyday job. Guess it's time to look for something that's not so average everyday - or at least something where I can make it not be.
I'm glad I said what I did. I didn't insult anybody, didn't insult the company. Just told them how I felt, in a completely honest fashion. Consequences? I'll probably be putting my two weeks in soon. When they said to me, "We'd hate to have to fire you over this." I just responded, "You don't have to worry about firing me. Before that ever happens, I'll have put a two weeks notice in." That made them backpedal a bit, too. I'm glad that I've developed the way I have - that I'm not so predictable. I know they've had plenty of those meetings, and I can only hope that I shook them up enough to make them think, at any rate.
The big deal this week was having to sit down in an office with the 2nd and 3rd in command of maintenance and my direct supervisor (who is a nice guy, but this is not his industry - I've been there longer than he has, and he's a micro manager. In a lot of ways, I feel bad for him - but his management style is ridiculous considering the atmosphere of United, so I guess it's a hate to work with/for him, like him as a person, sort of situation.)
Why did I have to sit down in the office you ask? Call ins.
It is relatively standard practice in the corporate world to offer six sick days per year. That's for SALARY employees. As an hourly employee, when I call in sick, I DON'T get paid. Salary employees do. If I remember from my readings, the standard practice is after six days you start getting docked pay as salary. The non-union employees at United, if memory serves, get six sick days, the same amount of vacation time we do (in the same progression - unless they bargain well) and one "comp day" per month. I get two personal holidays (which have to be scheduled to not "count against" attendance) and some vacation time.
That foundation being laid, I was given a "verbal warning" over my attendance. This "stays with me" for 18 months - if I call in again without a doctor's excuse, I'll get three days off without pay. Then I'll get two weeks off without pay. Then I'll be fired.
The joke of this runs pretty deep. Without getting too specific, the oil industry is criminal to begin with, but it's asinine if you see it from inside. Many people "work" at United and receive paychecks for essentially zilch. Very little work is performed on an average day - management are the worst. Contractors typically do most of the major work. I understand maintenance in many industries looks similarly, but it's also on a much smaller scale - a small shop of mechanically/electrically inclined guys take care of the general maintenance, PMs and rounds. Contractors come in for big jobs. Not so at United - there's easily 150 maintenance employees (and about 35 supervisors overseeing them - one for every three.) Now one might say a job where one isn't required to do much isn't so bad, but try hanging around dilapidated shops for eight hours a day. We're not allowed to read books or use cell phones during downtime. We're not allowed to sit in a break room. We're supposed to "look busy" all the time - which usually means standing around talking to the same people day in, day out. It's...mentally destructive. I can't explain it any other way. It drives me insane.
Calling in every four or five weeks is one of the ways I keep my sanity (and besides that, often times it has to deal with flare ups from some of my health issues) Because I've been to so many doctors over this without a "real diagnosis(tm)", I can't just hand them an excuse every time I turn around. Which they seem to think is necessary - but it makes no difference. A guy who called in six weeks total and got fired over it had a doctor's excuse for half of those days or more - he had no health issues, he was just an alcoholic (and more than willing to drive to a doctor every week for no reason, just to avoid coming to work.) If he can find a doctor to give him excuses for whatever reason (and they knew that) why would they make it necessary to have a doctor's excuse? Why do they think that substantiates the claim an individual was sick, if they know doctor's are willing to fabricate excuses from very recent history? LOL.
Of course, I wasn't going to insult their intelligence by making these kinds of rational claims (and I feel they are pretty damn rational!) So instead I opted to just calmly sit and lock eyes with these guys. This was a first for me - sitting in a room with major authority figures at one of the largest businesses in Warren. Don't get me wrong - I don't THINK of them as movers and shakers, or real authority figures - because they aren't (two of them are guilty of spending most nights late at the Moose Club with the rest of the "big wigs" and driving home drunk) but nonetheless they hold positions that pay more than most people in Warren could ever dream of, with a lot less merit, ability and work involved. They asked me if I knew why I was there (I told them, "No idea.") They proceeded to tell me why. They proceeded to tell me they'd, "Hate to lose me over something like this." I proceeded to tell them that, "Most of my issues stem from health-related stuff, and I'm not the kind of person that goes to a doctor looking for a diagnosis (and I wasn't going to get into details like I did above - it's really none of their business. I've seen three different general practitioners over the years and one specialist - all of them just kept handing me different drugs with no idea what it actually was.) They said, "Well, then just get us an excuse and we won't worry about it." The conversation was starting to bore me and dwindle. So as I felt the "meeting" (or rather, them trying to exert authority over me) was ending, I said, "You know, it might be different if I had a real job." 2nd in command was flabbergasted. "What, what do you mean?" he stammered. "I mean, it would be nice if I had a real job, where at the end of the day I actually felt like I did something. A job that actually allowed me to feel good, and that I'm utilizing my potential. Because as it stands right now, I'm working well beneath my capabilities as a person." This turned into a, "The company is always working with the union to try and make that kind of thing happen." speech. It also turned into a, "Well, back when I started, it took 15 years." (Which is an outright lie. Mr. 2nd in command didn't spend long in maintenance. His father was a former head of Maintenance, his brother is the head of the FCC Unit.) And I know the stories from my father - back when he started, yes, the place was a bit smaller, but maintenance all worked out of the same shop. New guys would end up working on all sorts of different projects and with different people with different skills. Contractors were few and far between. It was like a real apprenticeship back then.
Now it's just an overly compartmentalized, grossly inefficient joke. After that bit of conversation, it was done. I got up and walked out. The only thing that really stuck with me was them asking me the obligatory, "We're willing to help if you need it." Which is primarily something they say to people with drug and alcohol problems. People with those problems are given all sorts of special treatment and consideration. When you're just a person who can't stand not being given any opportunities, skill building or real work, they could give a flying fuck less about you (you'd think companies would love a person like that? So many people just want to come to work, do the same job every day, and be as lazy as possible - sometimes I feel like the world is completely upside down.) Lucky me - I get to have some interesting health problems, and enough mistrust of authority to make it almost completely impossible for me to hold an average everyday job. Guess it's time to look for something that's not so average everyday - or at least something where I can make it not be.
I'm glad I said what I did. I didn't insult anybody, didn't insult the company. Just told them how I felt, in a completely honest fashion. Consequences? I'll probably be putting my two weeks in soon. When they said to me, "We'd hate to have to fire you over this." I just responded, "You don't have to worry about firing me. Before that ever happens, I'll have put a two weeks notice in." That made them backpedal a bit, too. I'm glad that I've developed the way I have - that I'm not so predictable. I know they've had plenty of those meetings, and I can only hope that I shook them up enough to make them think, at any rate.
