Oh the rumors!!!

You really never know what to believe at DH's work...but of course all kinds of crap is flying around about this layoff. But, something interesting happened yesterday. A guy that DH worked with in another department was going to volunteer to be one of the ones that get laid off (some people do this--they probably have a side job or something!). So, he goes in the office to put in his request, and they tell him to wait because it's not set in stone.... Okay...

Well, the biggest rumor going around is that the layoff isn't happening because of the reasons given by the pres. (economy, low orders, etc.) that the greedy SOB's on first shift decided they didn't want to "share" their time/money with the guys on 2nd shift. (See, the union and company agreed last year to let 1st/2nd shift rotate weeks worked so that 2nd shift people wouldn't lose their jobs.) Which, I don't know how that could've happened without it going thru the Union. I could be wrong, but there are some greedy people there. What ticks DH off, is that Freightliner has always based layoffs (and everything else) on seniority. DH thinks (and I agree) that they should change this "strategy" and base layoff's on job performance and attendance! They would produce a better quality product because people would be held accountable for what is in their job description. DH's friend is on 1st shift and he said there are two women there that MIGHT do 8 hours work in a week! They are there strictly for the paycheck. I guess they aren't held accountable, so they don't do what they are supposed to and when the truck comes off the line, it has to go to Off Line to have the parts put on that are missing! No wonder Off Line hasn't missed a day's work since all the layoff's started last year! HEck, they get OVERTIME!
And Freightliner employees with 10 years of service get 3 weeks paid vacation, I don't know how much sick time (I think 40 hours--which can be rolled over to the next year), a week off at July 4th and Christmas, plus a 4-day weekend at Thanksgiving. There are guys there who have used ALL this time plus 40, 50, 60 hours more!!! And they STILL have a job! That is CRAZY! I know no job I ever held worked that way! I think this issue should be addressed the next time their Union contract is up! Since their union is 90% 2nd shift workers, they could decide how the lazies with more seniority have to DO their job to keep it!

I'm not getting my hopes up about there NOT being a layoff--preparing for the worst, hoping for the best!