What Happened To Work Ethic... More Things I Hate

I was warned that I could be facing charges of sexual harassment for telling a co-worker that he looked very snazzy. He came to work wearing a new dress shirt and tie because he was going to take his girlfriend to dinner after work. I didn't say anything until HE asked me how he looked and I replied 'very snazzy'. A co-worker that wasn't even part of the conversation went to our boss to report me for making sexually harassing comments. The next time anyone asked me how they looked I asked them, don't you own a mirror?

I'm afraid to even look at people any more for fear they will find some reason to make an accusation :(

ya had me till ya got to the unions, now i will say to you sir. why the unions? if you want fair play in this country then ya take the good with some of the bad. unions made this country, and ill be willing to bet. not long after the repubs and the dems to now it seems get ride of them, they will be a loud cry for them to come back. you think with the greed in this place that all will be well when the unions are gone? hell no.

I'll be back....

The work ethic is largely dead in this country. I have to hire and fire 5 people before I find one that is competent enough and dedicated enough to do the job.

I've found that somebody that has worked a job (any job) for a reasonable length of time is the best hire. I still look at GPA to make sure they have half a brain (which is harder to find than you realize), but holding a job and actually working carries a lot of weight. The ones with a 4.0 and a bunch of honors, but no work experience, expect the corner office and a personal secretary on their first day. Somebody with low grades and no work experience is basically worthless.

And the job I'm filling is the cushiest job in the world. $500/week as a receptionist. You can even do your college homework, cruise facebook, fill out your grocery list at your desk as long as the work gets done. But, do you know how hard it is to find somebody to take the job, let alone do the job well? And this is in the midwest where $500/week is good money for a college student or somebody with only a high school education.

Fortunately she was terminated 2 months later for attempting to remove an old aluminum sign post during the night so her husband could sell it for scrap revenue.

Not that I doubt you, but is there like a police report or something available to verify your story?

It's not political correctness anymore. It is “scumbag correctness” This country is overflowing with people who have no ambitions, no work ethic, no desire, no brains and no common sense. Their best way to get ahead is find a way to file a lawsuit against an employer.

A very interesting observation! Nothing to base that opinion on, but it is interesting!

And unions back most of these people. Our nations work force is truly in a state of shambles.

I believe the law backs these people. Like workplace sexual harrassment of your co worker that was offended by "screw them", which I'm sure that ain't the whole story.

What happened to learning a skill? A plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, a machinist.....

http://www.plumbers690.org/

Plumbers Job Description:
Plumbing involves installation and repair of a wide variety of piping systems and equipment. The majority of plumbing work is in the commercial segment of building construction. From layout (or even design) preparation to final installation of fixtures and equipment. A plumber practices daily, all of the mental and physical skills acquired through a structured learning process during the five-year apprenticeship period. The layout and installation of piping materials, plumbing fixtures and mechanical equipment are learned on the job. Blueprint reading, drawing, trade- math, related systems theory and selected manipulative skills are taught in the related training school program.
The apprentice works under the direct guidance and supervision of a licensed plumber.

Working Conditions;
Plumbing is hard work, and is performed throughout the year, in all kinds of weather, inside and out. Ditch work, elevated work often involving jobs in uncomfortable positions. Potential hazards require constant “good safety attitude and practice”.

Work Processes:
Sanitary and storm piping, disposal drainage, waste and venting piping, soldering, brazing, welding, water supply and services, fixtures, appliances, trim and supports, gas piping and equipment. Plumbers should be able to understand detailed instructions to plan and visualize a completed project.

Helpful School Subjects:
Mathematics, science, blue print reading and drafting and mechanical drawing.

Term of Apprenticeship:
Serve a five-year apprenticeship, 2000 hours on the job training per year. Related training-224 hour’s minimum classroom instruction per year. At completion of five year training program each graduate will have certifications in cross connection and backflow prevention, brazing, welding, OSHA 30, process safety management and journeyman plumber’s license.

General Qualifications:

• 18 Years of age.
• High School graduate or equivalent.
• Good moral character.
• Good physical condition.

What happened?

You tell me!

A co-worker that wasn't even part of the conversation went to our boss to report me for making sexually harassing comments.

Seems to me that your co-worker had an axe to grind, or better - this problem lies less with "work ethic" than the idea that people refuse to understand other value systems. This particularly true with christians. Since christianity is the de facto law of the land, and christians are a whinny bunch of babies who insist upon forcing their "values" in our face; I think we can go the source of the problem on Sunday.

many of the rules that are in place in the work area are necessary b/c people are too sensitive and/or too insensitive.

Now, kids dont want to "learn" anything. They want to walk in and be top dog right away.

You can blame the parents for that.

Okey Dokey. Finally made it back.

I cannot speak for cube farmers or folks with smooth purty hands. I have no idea what goes on in that world. In my world we all swore like sailors, were assuredly un-PC, and pretty much settled our differences on site. Not many lawsuits for hurt feelings that is for certain sure.

I am a carpenter and can only speak in regard to the trades. I never saw much of this "what happened to the work ethic" at play in labor. The problem lies more in greed and the attitude that making more money is worth letting things slide within the world of the bosses. I have watched over 30 or 40 years as home building has taken a slide toward crappy sheet rock boxes that no one but yuppies and overt capitalists can afford and built to pathetic tolerances. All the while with wages either stagnating or dropping like a rock through pudding. Though it is only part of the problem, contractors have used scab labor from south of the border to drop labor wages and run many of us out of business. The Screwing of Labor is a time honored American Sport and seems to be ramping up with a vengeance. In fact, from my perspective we are witnessing a tremendous shift in class, culture and wage inequality within our boundaries. Seems to me that the desired outcome is a country wherein the majority become low paid wage slaves to serve the New Robber Barons and their compadres. Though Americans are slow to rile and not necessarily well educated nor informed I get the feeling that this is going to end up biting bosses and plutocrats on their bejeweled buttocks sooner or later.

I never worked Union as I am far too anti authoritarian, never wanted anyone telling me when and where I can work and wanted to do fine woodworking in lieu of form work. None the less I have great respect and thanks for Union Organizers and the history of the fight for labor. Hell, without without these guys your children would still be pulling 14 hour shifts down at the Acme Useless Products That You Don't Need But We Are Gonna Sell You Anyway Factory. Amongst the many other evile and repulsive things Management will do to labor given half the chance.

I wish I could recall who on this site delivered this quote but I think it fits. He said, "You act like you pay us.......we act like we work". That seems appropriate.

What happened to learning a skill? There ain't no f*cking work. That's what happened to learning a skill. Hell, I know a number of kids in their twenties who would love to learn woodworking and actually make a living with it. There is just not much for em to do and they are stuck with either becoming an installer for piss poor wages or producing beauty on their own for no wages.

I think y'all better stop whining about the state of labor in this country and begin a whine in regard to avarice, bosses, plutocrats and the Robber Barons who have stolen all our land, money and shyte. I don't think they are too keen on giving any of it back.

best to all despite difference in opinion, affiliation or affliction

"If, in the present chaotic and shameful struggle for existence, when organized society offers a premium on greed, cruelty, and deceit, men can be found who stand aloof and almost alone in their determination to work for good rather than gold, who suffer want and persecution rather than desert principle, who can bravely walk to the scaffold for the good they can do humanity, what may we expect from men when freed from the grinding necessity of selling the better part of themselves for bread?" Lucy Parsons