Life At a Small Shop

My Husband and I would get to work half an hour early to socialize with our co-workers and get the scoop on what lines were running that day. Although our shift was technically an 8 hour one we usually worked 10. The companies we made parts for always seemed to need more than we could produce. Since we were in production, that led us to believe that the car companies were doing great! Most of the lines produced very little scrap so obviously they were making a lot of cars- which meant car sales must be doing great too! Like I said, we all had a false sense of security in our lives. We never thought the shop would close, management kept telling us of new contracts coming in and the possible expansion of the company.
Then one day it happened, the owner called a meeting before our shift unexpextedly-Delphi had filed bankruptcy! The shop lost a lot of money, but we were going to still be working and that we had nothing to worry about. That was the reason he called the meeting- to assure us that our jobs were still secure and to stop any rumors about a possible lay off before they started.
True to his word, we kept working 50 to 60 hours a week. Those paychecks were great! We put on great Thanksgiving dinners for the whole family, spent more than we should have at Christmas and just continued our wonderful lifestyle.
When we first started work at the shop there were quarterly meetings and bonuses, shop picnics,pot luck dinners,perfect attendance awards- it was a place where the empoyees were recognized and called by their first name. We had water coolers all over the shop, free coffee- even the cups and lids were supplied. One summer we got so busy with orders that we had around 100 temp employees working with us just to try to meet production!
During this time the owner started another small business in the shop. We thought that was a great idea at first. This business had nothing to do with the automotive industry and seemed to be taking off on a fast pace. As long as the owner was expanding and making money we would still have our jobs. Since we were afternoon workers we missed seeing a lot of the things that went on during the day when management was there. So when the day shift workers would tell us of the strangers visiting the shop and the signs that the shop might be having some troubles we just laughed it off. After all the owner himself had assured us we had nothing to worry about. Surely, we could trust him to tel us the truth!
As I look back now the signs were there I just chose to ignore them. Things like no more water coolers, days when there was no toilet paper in the bathrooms or paper towels to dry your hands on. Days when there were no gloves for the workers to protect their hands. I worked with some very strong chemicals and finally decided to buy my own gloves- better to spend a little money of my own than take a chance on my health or my life! Still at our monthly meetings we were told of new contracts coming in and the expansion of the plant- possibly even to a bigger building. I have learned to look beyond what management says and listen more to the little people now. I even try to research a company before I fill out an application for a job. I don't want to go through this again!

My Life Before My Job Was Moved Out Of The Country

For almost five years my husband and I had it made. With an income of $60.000.00 a year we led a great lifestyle. We both worked in a small factory on the evening shift. We enjoyed working together- it gave us something in common. At home we could discuss our work and know what the other person was talking about. If the shift had been a bad one we could sympathize with each other. We took our breaks and our lunch together and often worked on the same lines together. The shop seemed to be growing and expanding on a regular basis and a false sense of security crept into our lives. We often joked about the fact that the parts we made were for "American made" cars, yet they were shipped to Mexico for further assembly and then shipped back to the United States for final assembly-we had no idea that someday the joke would be on us!

During the summer we would take a week long vacation and go fishing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was only a four hour drive from home but we usually made it last longer than that. We would stop to eat and then play at a casino for a bit- we had no special time limit- we had no time clock to punch for 7 whole days! This was our time to relax and enjoy no matter what the cost. After all our jobs were secure and the company was growing. My husband had a 401K so we figured we were set and would be ready by the time we retired.

Summer was also a time for camping and we started a family camping trip. The first year it was just my husband and I and my daughter, her husband and their kids. We went for a weekend and spent the entire Saturday at a theme park called Michigan Adventure. My husband and I paid for the whole thing- it was worth it believe me! The next year we had 17 members come along for the trip- again we paid for everything except the tickets for the theme park. We had so much fun and took tons of pictures so we could always remember it. The third year(and unfortunately the last year) we had 27 people attend. It was just too cool to believe! My husband and I got to the campgrounds a day earlier to get things ready for the group. The night they arrived he had cooked brats in a beer bath-80 of them! Everyone chipped in what they could and somehow my husband and I still spent close to $1000.00 on that trip! Like I said we had a great lifestyle- who would ever guess that our income would drop to a mere $750.00 a month?