The Internet
2nd Level Green Feather
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2016
- Messages
- 4,332
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(I think I pretty much kept politics out of this post/rambling rant, and as far as the last paragraph is concerned, it should not be construed that I don't think cops and firefighters aren't working stiffs, too. NYPD is particularly low-paying.)
Hope you all had a good Labor Day.
A couple of years ago I had to stop working at the woodshop I was at and take a non-freelance job (at a HUGE paycut) with a company that will remain nameless.
Just like the last time I worked in the corporate world, we quickly got bought up.....over 100 people were laid off.....and they outsourced (I'm sorry....offshored, lol) everything to India and Jamaica.
How I survived all of the layoffs, I'll never know. I'm like R.P. McMurphy at this job.
I now oversee a crew of people in Jamaica. They work hard and are beautiful people. Aside from how little they are paid, they get NO paid time off other than Christmas. None.
Members of my team have the Zika virus. And they are coming in to work, working with the Zika virus.
Talking to them, they throw it in my face all the time, they can't believe I can take a day off, go on vacation, take a sick day.....I can't believe they can't.
When they did a great job? Pulling together to pull us out of a big hole left by all the layoffs? I could not even get my company to buy them lunch, or give them some small reward or carrot to work towards. You know who ended up paying for the lunch? Me! Me on a tiny hourly wage! Ate Ramen noodles all week to do it.
These people aren't dummies, they know they're being taken advantage of, and what happens is they just suddenly walk out, or stop showing up, they don't even give notice half the time. They know they're being taken for granted, their labor isn't appreciated and when they've had enough, they just walk off. It takes me two weeks to train a new person. And so.....quality control has gone WAY down. The clients are complaining, and things are coming to a head. I'm in charge of a million dollar account that might be lost next week because of all the corners cut. And the CEO is all of a sudden very visible, and beating his chest and yelling, the whole bit - even though I just worked three weeks without a day off, on the average of between 11 and 14 hours a day. I really don't know what else I personally can do to save the account. The truth is he doesn't want face what we all know: work got done and the clients were happy until he took over the company.
My pay is shockingly low.....below the poverty line, let's put it that way.......the final insult was an 11 cent raise, with not even a token Christmas bonus after a long email crowing about how much profit the company had made was circulated. The only reason we didn't lose this huge account last year? Me. Me and my team, working long hours to get the job done. I can guarantee you, though: that guy got his bonus! I'm sure they patted him on the head after looking at all the cost cuts, and said "good job".
And so.....I'm grateful for the weekend, and for paid time off, and for Labor Day, and that I live in a country that honors all of us who have to get up and actually go do the work, the nuts and bolts shit. Of course, that is if you can find work, that is if the jobs that used to be here haven't been moved somewhere else. 100 people laid off a year ago and the few I kept in touch with have still not been able to find a job. And of course, now with unemployment insurance, it's 6 months, you don't have a job? Too bad!
This job I do? You need to give your eyes a break. Lately, when I type, I skip words, or I write the wrong word.......I don't know if any of you have noticed.....I never used to be that way! It started this year, working from home on a tiny laptop, 11-14 hours a day!
Today, I had the day off, and goddammit I needed it. Labor Day is honoring ME. And probably you, too. I hope you were able to rejuvenate. My crew down in Jamaica, some of them sick with Zika? They're not so lucky. Tomorrow I (we) go back and sell my labor for a low price to a complete ingrate and total incompetent. When he loses the account, and flushes a whole year of my efforts down the toilet, I am going to laugh myself hoarse until my eyeballs drop out. The vibe this year - not just the vibe, but some of the actual words used to my face - has been: you'll do whatever we want because its tough out there and if you don't like it, tough, leave then. Last time he tried that crap on me, I countered that's not how it works, and if he can find someone to do my job better at the pay rate I get, be my guest, I'm not a yes-man. They asked me to work today, on Labor Day......no fucking way, not this time, not this year.
When 9/11 happened, there was a lot of talk about hero firefighters and cops, understandably so. All I could think of were the people who got up and went to work, the mail room guys, the friend of my cousin's who was an electrician working there, the guy I knew who was on the cleaning crew of Windows of the World (the club on the top floor of one of the towers), the two sisters I knew from my hometown (both of them) who were working there that morning.......the iconic picture of the guy falling through the air....I don't know why, but I always noticed the heels of his shoes....they were very worn down, his shoes were like boats..... this was a guy who looked like he was on his feet all day......a working man.
Hope you all had a good Labor Day.
A couple of years ago I had to stop working at the woodshop I was at and take a non-freelance job (at a HUGE paycut) with a company that will remain nameless.
Just like the last time I worked in the corporate world, we quickly got bought up.....over 100 people were laid off.....and they outsourced (I'm sorry....offshored, lol) everything to India and Jamaica.
How I survived all of the layoffs, I'll never know. I'm like R.P. McMurphy at this job.
I now oversee a crew of people in Jamaica. They work hard and are beautiful people. Aside from how little they are paid, they get NO paid time off other than Christmas. None.
Members of my team have the Zika virus. And they are coming in to work, working with the Zika virus.
Talking to them, they throw it in my face all the time, they can't believe I can take a day off, go on vacation, take a sick day.....I can't believe they can't.
When they did a great job? Pulling together to pull us out of a big hole left by all the layoffs? I could not even get my company to buy them lunch, or give them some small reward or carrot to work towards. You know who ended up paying for the lunch? Me! Me on a tiny hourly wage! Ate Ramen noodles all week to do it.
These people aren't dummies, they know they're being taken advantage of, and what happens is they just suddenly walk out, or stop showing up, they don't even give notice half the time. They know they're being taken for granted, their labor isn't appreciated and when they've had enough, they just walk off. It takes me two weeks to train a new person. And so.....quality control has gone WAY down. The clients are complaining, and things are coming to a head. I'm in charge of a million dollar account that might be lost next week because of all the corners cut. And the CEO is all of a sudden very visible, and beating his chest and yelling, the whole bit - even though I just worked three weeks without a day off, on the average of between 11 and 14 hours a day. I really don't know what else I personally can do to save the account. The truth is he doesn't want face what we all know: work got done and the clients were happy until he took over the company.
My pay is shockingly low.....below the poverty line, let's put it that way.......the final insult was an 11 cent raise, with not even a token Christmas bonus after a long email crowing about how much profit the company had made was circulated. The only reason we didn't lose this huge account last year? Me. Me and my team, working long hours to get the job done. I can guarantee you, though: that guy got his bonus! I'm sure they patted him on the head after looking at all the cost cuts, and said "good job".
And so.....I'm grateful for the weekend, and for paid time off, and for Labor Day, and that I live in a country that honors all of us who have to get up and actually go do the work, the nuts and bolts shit. Of course, that is if you can find work, that is if the jobs that used to be here haven't been moved somewhere else. 100 people laid off a year ago and the few I kept in touch with have still not been able to find a job. And of course, now with unemployment insurance, it's 6 months, you don't have a job? Too bad!
This job I do? You need to give your eyes a break. Lately, when I type, I skip words, or I write the wrong word.......I don't know if any of you have noticed.....I never used to be that way! It started this year, working from home on a tiny laptop, 11-14 hours a day!
Today, I had the day off, and goddammit I needed it. Labor Day is honoring ME. And probably you, too. I hope you were able to rejuvenate. My crew down in Jamaica, some of them sick with Zika? They're not so lucky. Tomorrow I (we) go back and sell my labor for a low price to a complete ingrate and total incompetent. When he loses the account, and flushes a whole year of my efforts down the toilet, I am going to laugh myself hoarse until my eyeballs drop out. The vibe this year - not just the vibe, but some of the actual words used to my face - has been: you'll do whatever we want because its tough out there and if you don't like it, tough, leave then. Last time he tried that crap on me, I countered that's not how it works, and if he can find someone to do my job better at the pay rate I get, be my guest, I'm not a yes-man. They asked me to work today, on Labor Day......no fucking way, not this time, not this year.
When 9/11 happened, there was a lot of talk about hero firefighters and cops, understandably so. All I could think of were the people who got up and went to work, the mail room guys, the friend of my cousin's who was an electrician working there, the guy I knew who was on the cleaning crew of Windows of the World (the club on the top floor of one of the towers), the two sisters I knew from my hometown (both of them) who were working there that morning.......the iconic picture of the guy falling through the air....I don't know why, but I always noticed the heels of his shoes....they were very worn down, his shoes were like boats..... this was a guy who looked like he was on his feet all day......a working man.
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