Who is seeing youth entering our world?

[thepumpguysc]

WOW.. IF you could PROVE THAT.. there would be a lawsuit in a heartbeat..
The kid at my place, REALLY WANTS to learn but the "older guys" wont show him anything.. they wont give him a chance.. & leave him sitting at the shop when they go out on jobs.. unless of course they have sh-t work to do.. THEN & ONLY THEN they take him..
Here's an example>> this weekend they had a HOT JOB.. customer approved O/T & nobody wanted to work except the kid.. The "mngr" got stuck w/ the job.. so he tells the kid he's working.. the kid lives 2 miles away from the jobsite.. 50 miles away from the shop.. The mngr. tells the kid he needs to come to THE SHOP to help him load tools in the service truck [sh-t job}.. INSTEAD of the "mngr" loading the truck himself & meeting the kid at the jobsite.. OR loading the truck on Friday afternoon before they all went home..
HE MADE that kid drive 50 miles 1 way to load a frigging truck w/ HAND TOOLS.. & 50 miles BACK home OFF THE CLOCK.!!!
I would have told him what he could do w/ that O/T.!!! BTW> the job was only gonna take 1 hr to complete.!!!

 

[92U 3406]

I actually quit the first dealership because of that kind of crap. Shop service manager wanted me working in the shop. As soon as he was gone on days off, the field service manager would send me out to this long term labour deal they had with a mine. Basically just no mind grunt work. Paid well but after 3.5 years of being bounced around and really not learning anything I quit. Went to the dealer next door. I was thrown to the wolves and it was great. Had the journeyman papers but not much experience. First day there I was stuffing a reman 3208 into a big forklift. I picked it up pretty quick and within 6 months I was getting half of the big jobs and a lot of troubleshooting work (split between me and their top guy). Absolutely loved working there and would go back in a second if given the opportunity at the right time.

 

[Welder Dave]

I actually quit the first dealership because of that kind of crap. Shop service manager wanted me working in the shop. As soon as he was gone on days off, the field service manager would send me out to this long term labour deal they had with a mine. Basically just no mind grunt work. Paid well but after 3.5 years of being bounced around and really not learning anything I quit. Went to the dealer next door. I was thrown to the wolves and it was great. Had the journeyman papers but not much experience. First day there I was stuffing a reman 3208 into a big forklift. I picked it up pretty quick and within 6 months I was getting half of the big jobs and a lot of troubleshooting work (split between me and their top guy). Absolutely loved working there and would go back in a second if given the opportunity at the right time.

What happened with the job you liked, lay off or something else?

 

[92U 3406]

What happened with the job you liked, lay off or something else?

It was a union shop and I was one of the last ones to get hired, so unfortunately when the oil slump hit I was one of the first to go.

 

[PJ The Kid]

It seems to me, that the bad apples are setting the curve for the guys (and gals) that want to learn and work. Just after the reading I have done on here and some experience I have had.

 

[DMiller]

Been that way a long time, trying to correct deficiencies and preconceptions of the past are hard battles fought. I tried to set the example, tried to convey 'Tribal' knowledge yet many times I may as well have been beating my head into the concrete floor we worked on.

 

[catwelder]

ill be honest I don't help this problem much we get new people and well we are short and I don't have much time to train anyone due to the build needed. so I have just been letting it be sink or swim its hard to train when someone is pushing you to be going as fast as you can and you cant really slow down to help them

 

[DMiller]

Much difference if short on time, it is the hard nose that decides his effort is worth more or not worth his effort to teach or his invaluable knowledge is all that stands between he and the door so he will not share.

 

[catwelder]

Much difference if short on time, it is the hard nose that decides his effort is worth more or not worth his effort to teach or his invaluable knowledge is all that stands between he and the door so he will not share.

when we actually get full and slow down ill be able to show them better but right now I'm running around trying to do so much that I cant hardly speak to anyone with questions including management.

 

[old-iron-habit]

when we actually get full and slow down ill be able to show them better but right now I'm running around trying to do so much that I cant hardly speak to anyone with questions including management.

I hope not but I think you are kidding yourself Catwelder. When they get half caught up they will start laying personnel off, and the rest of you will still be running your butt off. Seems to be the trend now days. Makes it hard to get loyalty out of good employees that way.

 

[Welder Dave]

I don't know if there's many shops around that do it anymore but some of the better shops would rather train a willing new apprentice and invest in their future with the company than hire someone else with a bunch of bad habits picked up along the way. Bob/Ont is an example of someone would have been a great mentor to learn from. He was always more than willing to share his knowledge and he had it in spades!

 

[DMiller]

Hey old iron habit, in having been a mechanic thru those rough years of rail, trucking and other industry dereg just after the Vietnam Conflict ended I remember those days of on a job off a job. Worked as a truck mechanic fresh out of trade school only to see the massive slowdown and layoff then worked in any and every field job I could locate where ads were non-existent as shops needed no one had applicants from Nam by the car loads. They would be firing out one door and hiring in the other until they found who they wanted, very bad days then.

 

[catwelder]

I hope not but I think you are kidding yourself Catwelder. When they get half caught up they will start laying personnel off, and the rest of you will still be running your butt off. Seems to be the trend now days. Makes it hard to get loyalty out of good employees that way.

gotta have hope that I can enjoy a day off and come back and not be 40 down but your right when we get caught up and everyone is comfortable something will happen and its right back to step one again. guy I work with was actually injured doing the job I do now its not a great sign when they work someone to the point they almost die and still dint hire anyone. ill end up being next most likely to be have to go out due to something that would of been preventable if they would actually hire someone when they are suppose to

 

[thepumpguysc]

I know THAT FEELING TOO.. I was hired on at THE FACTORY.. they were about 3000 units behind..
I was brought in to stream-line production & figure out what the "H" was going on.. They were working 60-70 hrs aweek for the last 5-6 YEARS>> & the workers LOVED IT.. LOTS of o/t.. & job security..
I figured it out & we were caught up in 6 months..
THEN the BOSS held a meeting 1 day out of the blue.. NO MORE O/T.. without MY knowledge.!!!
I told him after the meeting, what the H?? these guys have been living beyond their means for YEARS.. & DEPENDED on the O/T.. How about just cutting it back to 5hrs aweek, instead of NO O/T..??
He said, NO.. THAT didn't sit well w/ the workers.. & I was caught in the middle..
THEN about aweek later, the lay-offs started.. AGAIN, with out my knowledge.. they gutted the place, in one fell swoop.. laid off about 8 in my dept.. & made the rest of us, work our ass' off.. w/ O/T..!!!

 

[catwelder]

I know THAT FEELING TOO.. I was hired on at THE FACTORY.. they were about 3000 units behind..
I was brought in to stream-line production & figure out what the "H" was going on.. They were working 60-70 hrs aweek for the last 5-6 YEARS>> & the workers LOVED IT.. LOTS of o/t.. & job security..
I figured it out & we were caught up in 6 months..
THEN the BOSS held a meeting 1 day out of the blue.. NO MORE O/T.. without MY knowledge.!!!
I told him after the meeting, what the H?? these guys have been living beyond their means for YEARS.. & DEPENDED on the O/T.. How about just cutting it back to 5hrs aweek, instead of NO O/T..??
He said, NO.. THAT didn't sit well w/ the workers.. & I was caught in the middle..
THEN about aweek later, the lay-offs started.. AGAIN, with out my knowledge.. they gutted the place, in one fell swoop.. laid off about 8 in my dept.. & made the rest of us, work our ass' off.. w/ O/T..!!!

a few months ago we where over 100 behide and we working o/t so much that I dint have a normal paycheck for months then one day they go we are going to work off the build and we caught up but it was hard. its a hard fought battle to keep up but not be so far ahead that they will cut down there is no balance when its going good its decent when stuff hit the fan then everyone is dragged down and having to push throw the mud and figure out if they wanna stay or go on to do better

 

[92U 3406]

I haven't had any OT since mid 2015. A few guys have talked about jumping ship and I figure I'll stay. Why go through the hassle of changing jobs for no real gain? Not like anyone else is getting much, if any, OT around here now with the oil price slump.

 

[catwelder]

I haven't had any OT since mid 2015. A few guys have talked about jumping ship and I figure I'll stay. Why go through the hassle of changing jobs for no real gain? Not like anyone else is getting much, if any, OT around here now with the oil price slump.

i got o/t for the next 4 months its not great and a lot of the guys have started looking for new jobs or starting there own business which a lot of them do for extra money aint a bad idea but I aint ready to take the plunge right now

 

[thepumpguysc]

At my shop when the "slump hit" about 10 years ago.. they came & said NO O/T.. our o/t was BUILT IN to our weekly pay.. started at 7:30 & off at 5.. that stopped.. 40hrs only.. THEN MONTHS LATER, they started to get busy.. I said, NOPE, KMA.. it don't work like that.. & haven't worked o/t in over 10 years..
HELL.. I haven't worked a 40 hr week in over 10 years.. by choice.. Lol

 

[92U 3406]

I have zero interest than putting in more than 11.5 a day. That's already enough. I will come in on a day off if asked though.

 

[kshansen]

I know this thread is getting a bit OT and by that I mean "Off Topic" but I will add to it a bit. For years, make that decades, at the quarry OT was normal for most people. If you worked a fifty hour week and then asked to have Saturday off boss would say something like, "What you want to work Part Time?" This was half kidding and half serious, depending on the work needed doing.

Well like others here have said people get used to the hours and the pay. As we are located in the snow belt 95% of our production is done between Easter and Thanksgiving time(the November one here in the USA). The majority of the people would get laid-off the Friday before Turkey day and would live on unemployment checks till they got called back in the spring.

Back when the shop was "The Shop" us guys would work more or less year round.

Then new management came in and OT was added to the list of sins Mosses was given and most of the time it was the top of the list! Only time OT was allowed was if sales exceeded production to the point there was no product to put in customers trucks and then only the smallest number of guys were allowed to get the OT.

I heard that at several of the quarries in the area many of the guys who had been doing just fine in the past now found out that this once fairly good paying job was letting them qualify for food stamps.

I also felt the quality of new hires had dropped and the turn over rate for them was much higher. "Back in the day", as they say, most everyone hired was a relative or close friend of someone who had worked there for several years. My dad got his foot in the door through our next door neighbor and I followed dad something like fifteen years latter. Last I knew there were three men still working there who got in because their dads work there and this was just the local quarry! That is a trend that I think stopped around twenty years ago.