Political Memes

It was a common mentality there, which was amazing to me, considering it was a union job. But it turned out that was part of the problem, since unions guarantee overtime allowances.

I eventually realized it was because quite a few people were determined to take as much overtime as possible out of pure greed. They seemed to often believe they were somehow getting one over on management by working overtime. They didn't really need the money, and they truly didn't care about how little time they spent living their lives versus working. Getting two hours of time and a half meant more to them than any evening spent at home.

There were those that needed to pay their bills, but they were rare and completely overshadowed by the greedy. The majority of overtimers just wanted more money and less time at home.

The truth was most of the greedy were committing massive time clock fraud during their overtime and were relying on one another to keep the lie going that the overtime was needed. Then, anyone who didn't want the overtime was considered a threat to their profit margins, and so was treated with contempt.

Management knew, but didn't care, because employees selling their bodies was barely the cost of business. I mean, a single fastener, of which we would scrap hundreds without a care, would cost the company more than an hour of a full-time floor worker on double time and a half. It was worth more to them to keep ~~butts in seats~~ feet on the floor (just remembered that before I left, they took all the chairs away to keep people from sitting so much...) and eyes on the machines than it was to try and stop people from abusing the overtime system.

Overtime in manufacturing isn't going to make anyone a millionaire, but you might be convinced otherwise from how they behave. The money was amazing for manufacturing, the best you can get really, but it will never be enough to make me willing to miss time with my family.