The lights were a safety requirement and had to be changed.
If a bulb burned out in the evening or during the weekend, an "emergency" service call was required......
It's a mystery why the the plant wasn't profitable and subsequently shuttered. But, no electrician jobs were "stolen" in the process by unauthorized personnel changing lightbulbs.
“It’s a mystery why the the plant wasn’t profitable and subsequently shuttered.”
Indeed. About 20 years later, I went by the paper mill in Arizona and it was out of business as well and the plant closed down.
My brother inspects for his company for potential EPA violations they may incur during their routine inspections. He found Some debris and fifty gallon drums in an area that had dangerous contamination. He had it roped off and submitted a clean up asap order through the chain of command, high priority as the state inspection agency and EPA were coming in five or six weeks for an inspection and it was easily over a $100K fine for the company. Those that were supposed to clean it up were union employees.
Two weeks go by and nothing is done, my brother submitted a follow up inquiry as to why this wasn’t being cleaned up through the chain of command. Another three weeks go by with an inspection eminent and he finally goes to his supervisor and says if they walk in here you are looking at a huge fine, plus they will see management was told this was an issue and probably penalties. The management dithered about saying I can’t get them to clean it up, I’ve told them.
My brother said fine, I’ll get it done and pulled his team in and they suited up, prepped their equipment and moved in and started the clean up. After a couple of hours the head union thug showed up and demanded they cease their activities this was a union job. My brother looked at his team and said continue and finish this up and looked at the union thug and said I submitted a clean up order nearly six weeks ago and follow up requests and you lazy bastards haven’t even replied. We have an inspection in two days and I’m not going to lose $200K in fines because of you sorry cracks. Get off my work site! The foreman was furious, I’ll file a complaint on you! My brother said that will take some effort and work out of you so I’m not worried about you filing a complaint, get out of here.
The EPA and state showed up the next morning, inspected and they got a clean bill of health. The union thug filed his complaint and it fell on deaf ears. Before my brother moved on to another position he had several complaints filed by the union thugs. They hated him and he returned their feelings.