A perfect example of this is the '96 Impala SS. The workers in that Texas plant knew that was going to be the last year and they probably would be out of a job soon. As a result it is rare to find an Impala from that year with all of the body panels square and lined up. It's a shame because that was the year that they finally got the design right.
It's already happened at SAPPI Paper Mill. They went Smoke Free on their LOT 1 July. The following is an email I received from an employee, who shall remain nameless. Read this. It's going to happen all over, you watch:
There are two fellows who are close to 60 in age and have no intention to quit smoking. They work at the wet end of the machine where the rest rooms are small and the doors can be locked. Normally, there are no women working at the wet end and all the security people who do rounds are men, so one or both of these guys were sneaking their smokes in the ladies' room!
Well, there was a woman , working in the wet end lab and she used that ladies' room (she had a choice of 2 others) right after one of the guys had a puff. Blank reported the smoke to security and an "incident report" was filed. Blank quit smoking last year, so maybe she's one of those ex-smokers who are miserable and wants to share the misery.
I probably won't know until Monday what's going to happen.
Just to bring you up to date, the smoking ban at our mill too effect @ 0600 on 1 JUL.
Since then, a few people have cheated. Two older guys, age close to 60, were using the Ladies' Room close to the control room where they work. They should have been okay, however, a tester named Blank used the rest room shortly after someone had smoked. She called Security. All 3 people are PACE union members. Blank quit smoking last year!
I haven't heard Blank’s excuse yet for blowing the whistle. I'm sure it'll be pretty lame.
It's funny how some of these people pick on the other fellow until their own turn comes.
1.. Blank is a volunteer fireman in Skowhegan. One time, he got his picture in the paper when a load of manure overturned in the middle of town and had to hose it off with water from a fire hydrant. This guy will go into a burning house and hose away cow dung, but whines like a baby if he smells a cigarette.
Plus this guy is a first class skunk. One Lady is one of my smoking buddies. She was out on vacation when the smoking area was moved away from the winder where she and blank worked. Blank-the-Skunk deliberately saved a "smoking area" sign and, when Lady came back to work, pasted it up in the area that used to be a smoking area. Lady didn't know any better and lit up ... Blank-the-Skunk ran right to the foreman to turn her in. Lady did get off okay. Just the same, this was a Union Brother playing a dirty trick to hurt a Union Sister.
2... One of Blanks mates is BUB-the-Baby. He whines about everything ... the foreman can't stand him (and neither could all his ex-wives!). Poor BUB hates the smell of smoke ... outside the mill, he is a dairy farmer. I guess he loves the smell of cow shit.
3.. And BLANKER. He was a Marine during Vietnam but did all his duty in the USA. He was all for gay rights in the military back when that was an issue. His answer was "It didn't bother me.". He had a gay in his unit but I guess BLANKER was too ugly to turn the guy on ... I don't know! Blanker quit smoking and is another ex-smoker who's gone crazy. Part of that is that his mother-in-law has emphysema and he has someone to care for when, with the kids gone, he thought he was home-free. I think Blanker is one of those "Me, Myself & I" type of guys.
A while back, the Company played a trick on the Union. It used to be that the ranks on the paper machine were like the military, E-9 down to E-1. The Company wanted the E-9 to become a manager and let the Union vote on it. By a 2-1 vote, the Union rejected letting their members manage. Then the Company abolished the E-9 job and busted everyone back a pay grade.
Blanker lost $3/hour when he got busted. He cried like a baby after that because he is now about 10 years away from getting that $3 back. But he's a hardnose if one of his Union members has a smoke. In fact, if either Blank or Blankee (who smoke in the Girls' Room) get fired, BUB moves up in the line-of-progression. He can make money by snitching on a Union brother! We have just enough skunks in the yard to help Sappi succeed.
My smoking buddies are the nicest people you could ever meet. They aren't nasty people. I can't say this for a lot of the "anti's". They're loaded with venom!
It ain't pretty!