JOB ACTION: facing down a common enemy

[Praetor]

Any ideas for the lazy and unemployed?

Get a job, LOlzzz

I meant apart from the usual generic ones im used to seeing dozens of times a week.

Well how about this one, not so generic everyday job you see mentioned in the local ads aye. Maybe its the REAL highlander from those films doing an add there.

http://timetraveler.ytmnd.com/

[Eamonn]

Brilliant eighties song, not so brilliant eighties American mullet hairdo guy. That gives me an idea, i wonder if theres anywhere in Glasgow paying for medical research volunteering?

[Yuri Bezmenov]

i have been having a difficult time posting this because i am not sure how to explain it so? the reader could understand? but i have no choice,? recent discussions have forced my hand; no more pussy footing, time to write.

a couple/few weeks ago i picked up a job at the ILWU local 13 dispatch hall.? i chose a job off the jitney board called a CL (combination lift) at berth 154 on terminal island; the 'paper dock'.? believe me, the job was a last resort, since it was a slow job count day.

A CL at the paper dock is like a basic forklift except it has two large circular drums attatched to hoses which is run by a vaccuum.? basically, you drive up to two very large newspaper rolls of paper, engage the mast to drop the drums over the paper and then create a suction by depressing a lever which creates a vacuum seal and allows you to hoist the paper.

moving right along...

the job begins at 6pm, lunch is from 9:15 PM TO 11 PM and we finish at 3AM.? lunch,? break, and cleanup time? is combined from 9:15 and 11.? cleanup and our secon break is combined between 2:15 and 3.

that night it was raining, not hard but kind of drizzling.? we were all pretty surprised that they didn't close the hatch on the ship and have us stand by until the rain subsided (the commodity is paper).? along side the ship, on the dock, they place steel plates so the crane can land the paper on a flat surface.? it is the CL operators job to recieve the paper, talke it into the warehouse and sort it, according to size.
because of the rain we couldn't get the desired traction under our wheels and there are people on foot, either marking the sort or counting the pieces as the come off the ship.

we went to lunch at 9:15, per standard practice and returned at 11.

this is where it all started...

after lunch,
the boss comes up to each of us individually and informs us that the company wants to work us until 2:30.? when he told me, i said NO!? he stopped and said, "what?"? i repeated my answer.? then he informed me that, "you know the contract states that you are only entitled to a 15 minute break."? to which i replied, " i don't give a crap, what time did this job finish the past 1000 times it worked?"? he said, "sorry, thats what they want."? i said, "so what, their not going to get it."?
at this point people stopped working and gathered around to see what was happening.
i continued, "everytime i turn around, these companies are working us closer ans closer to the hour, like our time is meaningless to us.? and i'll be damned if i'm gonna be the bitch that is on the job the night they establish precidence and every person who comes after me loses 15 minutes of their time.? i am sorry, this is not meant to disrespect you, you are the messenger, go inform the management that we will not work past 2:15."
he said, "sorry."
i said, "sorry also, i'm feeling a little queezy.? due to the rain outside and the walls of this warehouse and the exhaust coming from 16 Jitneys, i think i am going to have to call an illness replacement."
"ok, i'll talk to him." says the boss.
10 minutes later he informed us that they can't change their mind since the person who ordered the directive was gone and couldn't be reached.

all the CL drivers started talking together over the next 20 minutes while we worked.? we agreed that at 2:15 we all had to take a shit, nobody was going to move one damned piece of cargo between 2:15 and 2:30.? also, 5 of us called the BA (Business Agent) for the union.? we were concerned about our health and safety.? due to the inclement weather, the wet steel plates, which must have had oil on them, and our lack of traction with people on foot, that we would stand by until a determination was made, or the problem was corrected.

they wanted 15 minutes of our time.? we took 1 hour and 45 minutes of their time with no production while we stood by on health and safety.? during this time i informed the boss that we were entitled to have our break at the midway point, that we only took it at the end of the shift for consideration of continuing operations.? also that the BA said that once we were to work past a certain point, he cannot come out and fight for us because, we have established an agreement by working past a certain point.
meaning: he isn't going to come out at 2 because we haven't had a break.? we are supposed to inform them that we want a unit break before that, otherwise we have accepted their terms for 2:30 go.

as we were going to go back to work the boss called us all over to him and asked us if we wanted to work straight through and leave at 2:30 or take our break now, for 15 minutes and work until 2:45.
before anybody answered i spoke up.? i said, "we want to work straight through and leave at 2:15, just like the terms that were agreed to when the company sent us to lunch at 9:15 and standard practice the previous 1000 times this job worked."? i was suggesting that they had already established the terms with us prior to lunch and all the other times the job was worked.? and that just because they have capable drivers doesn't mean that they can change the rules on us.? just like the BA wont fight to protect our right after terms have been established.

an old tradition in the ILWU is; as a show of solidarity, during a dispute, each member says nothing but slowly walks to stand behind the brother or sister who is showing opposition to the greedy company.? That is what happened next.? The boss is union and began his career in local 13.? he knew that we were firm.? so he looked at me and said, "come here, i want you to talk to the superintendent."? i obliged and restated our position.

knowing full well that their decision to steal 15 minutes of our time resulted in nearly 2 hours of down time, he made some phone calls.
waddaya know.? we left at 2:15.


the moral of this story is simple.
time matters.? do you think that 15 minutes really mattered to me? NO.? but if you were to take 15 minutes from everybody whoever worked that job from that point on and added it up, it turns into a ton of extra production for the company.? my position is that we already make them too much money and do not recieve a fair portion.? now they want more.
if you don't stand together over each small battle and you give in to corporate greed.? all those small battles won by them turn into one huge chunk of your time.? and one hell of a profit margin for them.? which by the way, you won't see one nickel of the added profits, but you lost something for it.
stand together and know who your common enemy is.? and never lose sight of what you are entitled to.? never give an inch, and always remain vigil and fight for what is rightfully yours.