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jake_lex

jake_lex

Lexington, KY
February 2003

OCT 27, 2005 11:50 AM

Management of the Ford Motor Company's Michigan Truck Plant has issued a memo directing supervisors to keep track of the time that workers spend in the crapper. Management claims that workers spending too much time hitting the head is hurting productivity and profitability.



"In today's competitive environment, it is important that Michigan Truck plant immediately address this concern to avoid the risks associated with safety, quality, delivery, cost and morale," the memo said, according to the paper's report.

The [Detroit News] reported that the memo also warns that Ford supervisors will begin collecting weekly data on the amount of time workers spend on bathroom breaks and "respond appropriately."

Workers interviewed by the paper said that management is trying to divert attention from broader problems at the nation's No. 2 automaker, including soft sales of the large SUV's made at the plant following this year's run-up on gasoline prices.

"It's an excuse by upper management to gloss over some of the real problems we have out here," Jody Caruana, a worker at the plant and a committee member for United Auto Workers union Local 900, told the paper. "This might be an issue in one zone or another. But is this causing a quality or productivity problem? No."

Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari told the paper the 48-minute bathroom break limit is spelled out in the UAW contract that covers local plant rules.

"We are managing our business according to the local agreement," Gattari said.



Ford is continuing to see its market share decline, and its losses widen. So, of course, the reason for this can only be that too many workers are taking too many piss breaks. It can't have anything to do with relying too much on behemoth SUV's for your sales, and then seeing gas prices go through the roof, can it? Nah, surely not.

Boy, is Detroit fucked.

cipher

cipher

Saint Paul, MN
July 2004

OCT 27, 2005 11:58 AM

Well, surely the unions won't accep...wait...

hellomrworld

hellomrworld

Westbrook, ME
December 2003

OCT 27, 2005 12:45 PM

48 minutes ... is a LOOONNNNGGG crap ... Still its all grasping at straws ... make nice cars at a good price ... not a hard concept

thesleeper

thesleeper

United Kingdom
August 2004

OCT 27, 2005 01:40 PM

Well if it was me and they stopped me from going to the WC I would just piss were I worked, see how long they would stand for that.

Plus then sue them for bladder problems later in life.

steve626

steve626

Tarentum, PA
February 2005

OCT 27, 2005 01:57 PM

don't make cars people want to buy, worry about how much time people are pissing at work?

alpha_hazard

alpha_hazard

Fort Collins, CO
April 2004

OCT 27, 2005 02:02 PM

surely "safety", "Quality", and "morale" are a higher priority?

fountainofdreams

fountainofdreams

Batavia, IL
January 2005

OCT 27, 2005 04:22 PM

yes, piss off the UAW, what a capital idea ford. whatever

mercuryblind

mercuryblind

Baton Rouge, LA
February 2004

OCT 27, 2005 06:13 PM

The company is taking hit after hit, so they start trying to cut down on problems. Taking more than 48 minutes to use the bathroom, save those with some sort of bowel disorder, seems excessive. Does this hurt moral? yes. Is this extreme? yes. Is this wrong? no.

This is business trying to save itself. It's not doing anything abusive to its employees. I'm sure there are a dozen more cost-cutting methods that they aren't mentioning in the article because they don't make the employees seem oppressed.

TheFly

TheFly

Eagle Springs, NC
November 2003

OCT 27, 2005 07:23 PM

"In today's competitive environment, it is important that Michigan Truck plant immediately address this concern to avoid the risks associated with safety, quality, delivery, cost and morale," the memo said



Uh, yeah. Some guy shits himself for nearly an hour and EVERYONE has to be scrutinized, wait for their break time to piss?! Yeah, I see how this fucks with "safety, quality, ,delivery, cost and morale." Particularly morale. I like the idea that my bladder is their business.

Why is it that managing (including crime and punishment) is a fundamental flaw of managers?

LittleFierceOne

LittleFierceOne

Durham, NC
July 2005

OCT 27, 2005 08:52 PM

mercuryblind said:
The company is taking hit after hit, so they start trying to cut down on problems. Taking more than 48 minutes to use the bathroom, save those with some sort of bowel disorder, seems excessive. Does this hurt moral? yes. Is this extreme? yes. Is this wrong? no.

This is business trying to save itself. It's not doing anything abusive to its employees. I'm sure there are a dozen more cost-cutting methods that they aren't mentioning in the article because they don't make the employees seem oppressed.



Well, duh! That's the fucking point of the article; of all the things they could be focusing on, they're gonna pain themselves over how long Rosy the Riveter is in the fucking john!?? And, yes, it is wrong. I'm sure Ford has a malingering clause or somesuch in it's contracts. That alone should be sufficient to deal with employees who might be purposely wasting time in the crapper; but to get that fucking specific, to nit-pick over someone's rather personal time, is ridiculous. Hell! I'd figured out by the time I was 12 that it was nobody's fucking business when or how I went to the john.

And:

hellomrworld said:
48 minutes ... is a LOOONNNNGGG crap ... Still its all grasping at straws ... make nice cars at a good price ... not a hard concept


Duuuude! I would so be fired. I'm a "toilet reader", so I could easily spend a half-hour on the crapper with the latest "Newsweek". wink

Lior

Lior

United Kingdom
August 2005

OCT 27, 2005 09:06 PM

hellomrworld said:
48 minutes ... is a LOOONNNNGGG crap ... Still its all grasping at straws ... make nice cars at a good price ... not a hard concept



True.

But what if some poor guy had a nasty curry for dinner the night before.
48 minuites may not be long enough!

heh tongue

NatasKaput

NatasKaput

Bozeman, MT
December 2002

OCT 27, 2005 09:12 PM

welcome to the working mans world, some times you ain't got time to pee, you suck it up and deal

googused

googused

Portland, OR
OLD SKOOL

OCT 27, 2005 09:12 PM

Ha ha! You'd be hard pressed to find a curry in Detroit!

I'd be willing to bet that they're spending far more researching this than they're losing in time. Most problems could be solved by getting rid of half of middle management.

polkadotty

polkadotty

Medford, OR
September 2005

OCT 27, 2005 10:08 PM

googuse said:
Ha ha! You'd be hard pressed to find a curry in Detroit!

I'd be willing to bet that they're spending far more researching this than they're losing in time. Most problems could be solved by getting rid of half of middle management.



So true!

Plus, what happens if you do spend too much time in the potty?
Supervisor: "Well, Bill, I see you've made 5 trips to the restroom, adding up to a total of 50 minutes in the restroom today."
Bill: (turns red) "Uhhhhhh......."
Supervisor: "Would you like to explain to me why you were spending so much time in the restroom while you were on the clock?"
Bill: "I....uhhhhh....."
Supervisor: "We have a rule here at Ford, only 48 minutes in the restroom."
Bill: "I HAVE EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA, OKAY?! WOULD YOU RATHER ME SHIT ON THE FLOOR?!"
Supervisor: "Uhmmm, carry on."

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

OCT 27, 2005 10:15 PM

I can't say I didn't waste time in the restroom when working at the restaurant.

SirPsychoSexy

SirPsychoSexy

Ridgewood, NJ
January 2004

OCT 27, 2005 10:17 PM

Mandatory daily fiber pills!

thestral

thestral

Manassas, VA
August 2005

OCT 27, 2005 10:31 PM

Yeah, 48 minutes is a pretty good amount of time for bathroom breaks. I mean, seriously, aside from some medical condition that should be plenty.

Besides that, I feel no sympathy for the workers on this one. You know why? The unions have negotiated themselves into bankrupting the company. They've decided that they can't just accept what the business will offer them, they've gotta screw the business, demand more, etc. Well, as part of that they negotiated how long they get to spend in the crapper each shift. Did anybody else catch that? How long they can spend in the crapper is actually in that contract. So, they got the pay they bargained for and they got the small amount of time in the toilet that they bargained for too. Deal with it.

datsun

datsun

Richmond, CA
October 2004

OCT 27, 2005 10:58 PM

TheFly said:

"In today's competitive environment, it is important that Michigan Truck plant immediately address this concern to avoid the risks associated with safety, quality, delivery, cost and morale," the memo said



Uh, yeah. Some guy shits himself for nearly an hour and EVERYONE has to be scrutinized, wait for their break time to piss?! Yeah, I see how this fucks with "safety, quality, ,delivery, cost and morale." Particularly morale. I like the idea that my bladder is their business.

Why is it that managing (including crime and punishment) is a fundamental flaw of managers?


actually, it's pretty common in manufacturing industries for workers to take excessive breaks while on the clock. it's a way for them to get paid while they smoke, pee, text message, whatever. some companies have even had problems with employees gambling in the bathrooms while on the clock (it happened at a Mervyn's I worked at - some guys had a domino ring going in the restroom!). any time you have people working for an hourly wage, there will be a few asshats trying to milk the system. seriously, if a worker needs to be in the shitter for an hour, they don't need to be collecting a paycheck for it.

LordAuch

LordAuch

Los Angeles, CA
April 2005

OCT 27, 2005 11:16 PM

Customer:

Whats the brown thing and the yellow discoloration on the floor board of the trunk of my new car.

Salesman:

Its a present from the very, I mean VERY dedicated assembly plant workers at Ford.

wink wink wink wink wink

SirPsychoSexy

SirPsychoSexy

Ridgewood, NJ
January 2004

OCT 27, 2005 11:26 PM

datsun said:

TheFly said:

"In today's competitive environment, it is important that Michigan Truck plant immediately address this concern to avoid the risks associated with safety, quality, delivery, cost and morale," the memo said



Uh, yeah. Some guy shits himself for nearly an hour and EVERYONE has to be scrutinized, wait for their break time to piss?! Yeah, I see how this fucks with "safety, quality, ,delivery, cost and morale." Particularly morale. I like the idea that my bladder is their business.

Why is it that managing (including crime and punishment) is a fundamental flaw of managers?


actually, it's pretty common in manufacturing industries for workers to take excessive breaks while on the clock. it's a way for them to get paid while they smoke, pee, text message, whatever. some companies have even had problems with employees gambling in the bathrooms while on the clock (it happened at a Mervyn's I worked at - some guys had a domino ring going in the restroom!). any time you have people working for an hourly wage, there will be a few asshats trying to milk the system. seriously, if a worker needs to be in the shitter for an hour, they don't need to be collecting a paycheck for it.




That's my only real motivation, not to be hassled. That, and the fear of losing my job. But you know, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.

aktrekker

aktrekker

Spokane, WA
December 2004

OCT 27, 2005 11:26 PM

Where I work we get 22 min per day to include all of the time we are not actually working. If we start going over that on a regular basis, we have to start going off the clock for bathroom breaks, meaning we don't get paid for them and have to make up the time we spend there.
48 minutes per day is a helluvalot of time in the bathroom and still get paid for it.

pixie_fragments

pixie_fragments

Ann Arbor, MI
May 2004

OCT 28, 2005 11:40 AM

1. Ford the company has fucked over many many people in its time.

2. Unions are fucking awesome. They prevent abuse of employee rights.

3. I'm assuming this 48 minute limit is per 8 hr work shift. That being said, crap before you leave your house and do your fucking job.

4. I might be an asshole but laziness is a massive part of the problems with this country.

ASSH0LE

ASSH0LE

Las Vegas, NV
June 2003

OCT 29, 2005 02:22 AM

pixie_fragments said:
2. Unions are fucking awesome. They prevent abuse of employee rights.

3. I'm assuming this 48 minute limit is per 8 hr work shift. That being said, crap before you leave your house and do your fucking job.




2. Bingo. There's one unionized group that does what I do for my company. They get raises just about every year. We supposedly get raises based upon our performance, but it never really seems to work that way.

3. Damned straight. I'm a fucking diabetic, and even on one of my worst control days I don't spend 48 minutes in the bathroom. Some days I spend six of the eight hours driving. Generally I don't take a leak at all while I'm working (unless I have to). Granted, my bladder can probably hold more than most, been diabetic for 25 odd years. I shit before or after work.

Gwendolyn

Gwendolyn

SUICIDEGIRL

Indiana, USA

OCT 29, 2005 02:37 AM

48 minutes? I definitely never spend anywhere near that long in the bathroom in a day. I guess I might get close to that if I were really sick. But if someone is that sick... well, they shouldn't be at work anyway. Almost an hour in the bathroom per shift is way too long. I don't think there's anything wrong with requesting that employees follow that rule.

BurialRabbits

BurialRabbits

Portland, OR
January 2004

OCT 29, 2005 12:40 PM

I think workers should have to clock out before using the restroom. I also think that if they all sat down and watched the Michael Keaton film Gung Ho it would boost morale and that this plant would become an industry giant.

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