POLI: Proof From Houston Things Arn't So Peachy, page 1

reply to post by Tentickles

Agreed. I have been seeing it happen before my eyes the past few years. The job I had was a warehousing job. When I joined in late 2006, business was still doing well, there were over 150 employees there and the place was hopping. They would hire more and more people because even though there were lots of people working there, the workload was to much. But then in the course of a year, the decline was starting. One month, it was to busy to keep up with orders, then for a month or two, it would be way too slow. Then it just got slower and slower. Employees that had been there for over 10 years were getting suspicious because they had never seen it slow during the known very busy times such as back to school inventory, or christmas sales.

Plus they started down sizing, but started little. They started making bonus almost impossible to achieve. They started firing a lot of people. But heres the thing with that, people that didn't really need to be fired were getting the ax. The laziest people of course were fired, but employees that were actually really good were getting strange write ups that eventually led to termination. But this wasn't happening at a grand scale yet. Longtime managers then started quitting for reasons of finding a better job. One manager got fired for supposedly having a sexual relationship with one of the female employees. But that was pure hogwash, for the real reason was that he was trying to fix the system to where people would start getting bonuses again because their standards were very impossible to meet.

Every month during the meeting the main manager would go on about how close we were to a bonus, but just not good enough by half a percent, oh bummer." But even before things started getting out of hand, there were suspicions that the warehouse is closing down due to a possible recession. This of course was denied, "everything is looking up and going great!" they would say. No one was stupid. But once a a few more of the long time supervisors were gone, things really got interesting. A regional manager called a meeting, did a good job of acting like "one of da boys, he was one of us, so he understands" act.

He announced a base pay raise, which of course everyone was happy. It went from $9.25 to 9.95. See when you got hired, you started at 9.25, would go up to 9.50 in 90 days, then 9.75 in another 90 days, then after you've completed your first year 10.15 an hour. Well, theoretically, if the base pay goes up, everyone else's does right? Not exactly. Few of the long time employees got a small raise, but everyone else stayed the same. So at the time I had been there over a year busted my tail and now the idiot who want's to "chill" rather than work that started a month prior to this will be making the same as me and be able to make more in less than 90 days because i wouldn't be due for another raise for another six months because i have been there a year.

This was strange to the long time employees because they remember when the base pay went up, everyones pay went up. It was believe this was designed to cause people to either quit, or get an excuse to be fired. Also to make everyone bitter. Then the "purge" began. Employees that were very good workers for eight, ten or even fifteen years were starting to get fired for the strangest of things. Of course the write ups would be first, but then the firings. All the good and experienced that were making the house limit were getting axed, and they replaced them with newbees that didn't have a care in the world. These careless, lazy people were keeping their jobs while the ones who were hard working were being let go. It was obvious the company was trying to save money this way because of a sinking ship.

I eventually got fired for showing up late on a day that was considered a snow day. My car was frozen, it took me nearly two hours to get it running, and i ended up being only 10 mins late for work because i knew it would probably take long to get the car started. My brother worked for the same company and in the year that I was gone, he told me how half the building was bought, so they downsized the warehouse, fired more employees and then was announced they were shutting down that warehouse. This was of course after certain managers had left the company. Now the place is a vacant building from what I've heard.

I tell this story because of my first hand experience in seeing all of this. The collapse was on the horizen even just a few years ago. Plus, I can see the similarities in what happened to this company to what is going on in the country. People are being reassured all the time that things are going to be ok. First we bring in the "messiah" that is going to bring hope and change to all of our problems. Gas is still ridiculously priced, as is food. The fools in charge are giving everyone the false sense of security that the recession is over and all is ok, so much so that the president is going on vacation again. But as you said in the OP, that is pure, 100% steaming B.S. I'm hearing of people everyday talking about their husband or so and so who lost their job and can't find anything because places are closing down.

I have been out of work for nearly a year and a half now. My girlfriend just finished college and cannot find work herself, plus she's pregnant (not planned, but still happy) but we are freaking out because, we cannot find work, especially when it's really needed more than ever for us. You brought up the story with the homeless man being told to get a job. When I'm in the car or in presence of someone who shouts "get a job!" to a homeless person, I tell them, "hey, you might very well be in that persons shoes soon enough, don't be too arrogant on that high horse".

This country is finally starting to collapse after many decades of termites (politicians of course) eating away at the very foundation of our nation. It wasn't as noticable, but thought the patch ups were doing the job, right now unless some miracle happens nothing is going to stop the eventual collapse if things keep going like this. Unfortunately, this is happening on a global scale, too. I do try hard to remain positive, though it is getting very difficult to do so. But hey, let's all rush to buy nancy pelosi's book, why not make her life richer, she deserves it so much!