Re: A few thoughts for those...


"Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:k2nk45trmb733l0puug0c04qd6klthm8nn@xxxxxxxxxx
On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:36:48 -0400, "D.Duck" <Don@xxxxxxx> wrote:



No government "stipends" here. 95% pay for doing in a lot of cases,
essentially nothing.

Pretty stupid for the auto companies to sign those contracts.
I wonder how much the job banks cost them.
Never saw any figures on that.
Don't know if you know this, but computer consulting companies
had similar job banks for salaried employees when they were flying
high.
They called it "the bench."
Wasn't in a contract of course. They just wanted to retain people.
In fact, I hired onto "the bench" of one in '89, at considerably more
pay than an autoworker. CTG, downtown Chicago.
Did crosswords and had long lunches for a couple months at full pay.
Man, there was some trash on that bench.
One guy told me that when he successfully got through a client
interview and landed a contract for the company, he was going to quit
and go back to New Jersey. That's what he did. What a POS.
Another one there would refuse to do interviews with clients that were
located beyond a half hour public transit commute.
The branch manager, a guy probably too decent for the job, would
come into the "bench room" and actually appear fearful to *ask* if
these jokers would do an interview somewhere.
One day he came in and asked the short-commute broad if she would do
an interview at McDonalds Corporate in Oakbrook.
She came up with some bull*** about why she couldn't go that far.
He walked away looking defeated, going back into his office.
Unbelievable. I was sitting there thinking, "What the hell? Do I
want to really work for this company?" Of course I had bills to pay.
About ten minutes later he came back and fearfully asked me the same
thing.
It was the first time he approached me, although we had been
introduced.
Well, I wasn't happy about that commute either, but so what.
I just said "John, what am I here for?"
You wouldn't believe how his face lit up.
They never scheduled that interview, but I landed another client a bit
later.
And I was gold with John, which paid off later.
All the trash was gone after a couple years, and they dumped the
recruiter who hired them too.
But they still had a bench. Spent another 3 months there in '93 when
I came off a contract when things were slow.
Bench was always 100% pay of course. 3 months that second time.
In fact, I ended up at McDonalds after that bench time.
Later, after Y2K they eliminated the bench and just started
terminating people who came off a contract when nothing else was
immediately available. I had moved on by then after 10 years with
them, but was still in touch with employees.
The Chicago branch is gone now, but the company is still barely alive.
Think it was once the largest IT consulting firm in the country,
bigger than EDS.
Same offshoring happened in IT and engineering as happened with
manufacturing. But you know that.
I know little about the UAW job banks, but I was never comfortable on
the bench and preferred to be working. I suspect it's the same for
most people. Not all, but most.
As a taxpayer/stockholder, the UAW job banks are unacceptable.
Don't know if they are gone yet, but they should go.
Having been in unions for a dozen years and then white collar for 25,
I encountered much more trash in the white collar world.
Not enough actual productive work for many of them to stay out of
trouble. Too many lazy fucks. Wouldn't last doing timed work, even
if they could qualify in the first place.
And most don't have the work ethic of hourly workers.
Might not be rightly called "ethics" since the hourly usually doesn't
have any choice about it.
But the white collar does, and often reveals his "work ethic."
Hell, some of them are farting around on the internet using company
computers and company time.
I've been on newsgroups since '95 and never even thought about reading
or posting when at work. Call me a prick, but that's how I am.
One *** at my last job was stupid enough to have porn
on his screen in clear sight of women walking by his desk.
Of course he was fired.
Not because he was a lazy, incompetent ***, stealing company time,
but because he "offended" a woman.
Good enough for me.
Whatever it takes.
When I was UAW at IH I had to think about when I could schedule a
piss.
So I don't have much sympathy for white collar layabouts.
Especially the ones always whining about unions when they should be
working.
I could go on and on, blah, blah.
But it's time for a little peace and quiet. Maybe walk the dogs.
Besides, I don't want to offend anybody.

--Vic

Sometimes the dogs are better company than people. Interesting stories.


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