At Carrier, the Factory Trump Saved, Morale Is Through the Floor - NYT

[Cairycat]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/business/economy/carrier-trump-absenteeism-morale.html

Seems Carrier is having problems with absenteeism and getting production where they want. The workers feel like the rug may be pulled out from underneath them at any time, so they call in.

My brother has worked for a comptetitor of Carrier's for three decades. Four days after a tornado destroyed Lennox's Marshalltown, Iowa factory, Lennox said they would rebuild, not move production out of the country. I expect that sort of commitment to the employees' futures will make problems like Carriers less common there. When people give the bulk of their time and energy and lives to a corporation, they not only deserve decent wages and benefits - they deserve to have security and respect. So what if the execs have to give up a second vacation home or some huge stock bonuses. We all have to make sacrifices to make this country work, dontcha know.

from the article:

What’s ailing Carrier isn’t weak demand. Furnace sales are strong, and managers have increased overtime and even recalled 150 previously laid-off workers. Instead, employees share a looming sense that a factory shutdown is inevitable — that Carrier has merely postponed the closing until a more politically opportune moment.

In some ways, the situation is a metaphor for blue-collar work and life in the United States today. Paychecks are a tad fatter and the economic picture has brightened slightly, but no one feels particularly secure or hopeful.
“People still don’t trust Carrier,” said Paul Roell, a group leader who has worked at the plant for 19 years. “They still have the warehouses and the factory in Mexico, and they can move down whenever. We all know that Carrier has the money to do whatever they want.”

Several times in late July and early August, so many workers were missing that the furnace line had to shut down in midday — even more disruptive than an early-morning halt. That hadn’t happened in years, employees said. Some workers cite illness, while others claim days under the Family and Medical Leave Act, saying they are taking care of sick relatives.

[RKP5637]

1. I was going to eventually replace my HVAC system with Carrier, but this will make me

consider Lennox instead.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Trump to Carrier workers

[Cairycat]

3. This comment on the article is both hilarious and on the mark:

Working for a big corporation like Carrier is similar to being married to Donald Trump. The money might be decent for a while but you know he he’ll toss you aside the minute easier, cheaper prey comes along and you know he doesn’t play fair. You know you are there to boost his ego and that, in the end, he will make sure you are a loser because his only notion of winning is when you lose.
People don’t show up for work, even if they make decent money, because they know that in the end, it won’t matter. Even when you contribute to the company’s success, you will still never be seen as anything more than an expense on a balance sheet, an expense that the company, ultimately, would like to equal zero.

It was labeled from Suzanne in Indiana

[progressoid]

4. !

Have to wonder how many times these people need to get screwed by the GOP before they figure it out.

[RKP5637]

5. So true! K&R!!! Most companies like this don't give a damn about the employees. You are

there to make money for them, that's it, period. Most employees are considered disposable.