Need some help with a serious labour issue.

21 posts / 0 new

Thu, 2010-03-18 07:52

welder

I need a little help with a serious issue that is directly affecting my workplace.

(By the way mods...I checked the rules to see if using actual names of people was against those rules and I did'nt find anything.It is'nt my intention to break any right now,so if I do it's unintentional,so feel free to edit anything that could get the site in trouble...Thanks in advance)

A little background....

I am precisely what my handle says I am.I am a certified welder who is currently laid off from my job.I've been laid off for almost 6 months and I know how tough it is out there for tradespeople.My intention is to get my Red Seal endorsement which will allow me to be a Journeyman in my field and I can work interprovincially.The Red Seal stuff is'nt the problem.

It's my employer...It's a pressure vessel/boiler manufacturer in south-western Ontario. It was the old [name deleted] plant and when they got out of the boiler fabrication business,it was bought by some former employees.That was in 1995. One of the guys who bought the place was ready to retire and sold the business to two businessmen in the summer of 2008.Those 2 people are Mr F and Mr O. Right from the beginning, although saying they wanted to work with Union XX Local xx. In fact, our contract was up within approximately 1 month of the business changing hands,so negotiations had to start immediately after...And we did OK..We did get a sizeable wage increase and nothing else got touched other than some minor language issues.There were some warning signs however... Mr.O is more involved than Mr.F,wanted to start some monthly fund that he would pay into(250 to 300 bucks a month...I think) if no grievances were filed.He felt he wanted any issues handled "in house".Most of us saw what that was about,that being a way for him to circumvent the union and keep it out of the loop as to what was going on.

There were some minor things until April of '09,but nothing terribly serious.Right about the time the first waves of lay-offs happened,which was April of last year,there was a meeting with all of the Lead Hands.After about an hour preamble about safety and stuff...Mr O just blurts out..."Uh..I'm just runnin' this by you guys...What if we just went with no union?".This is,of course,illegal!.Now,when we told the union rep about this she was pretty pissed off. They requested a meeting with O and F over the matter.I was'nt at the meeting,however,it was made very plain that they were looking for a fight.I was told they demanded the union be decertified immediately(which was impossible if these two nimrods had even a rudimentary knowledge of labour law in the province).The counter response was basically it can't be done the way they wanted,and in fact,it was illegal for them to even bring up the subject.And that normally the Union would simply charge the employer under the Labour Ralations Act and take the case to the OLRB....And the charges start at about 100,000 large for union busting and go up from there!The Local did them a favour by only briging that fact to there attention and not following through.

I could go into many other things that went on last summer that we have grievances pending on,however,for the sakeof brevity I'll leave it for now...

This leads me to the problem and the question..In my travels of continuing to go to union meetings and handing out MANY resumes,I have heared some disturbing anecdotal stuff that,if true,would be grounds for a serious OLRB case against both Mr.F and Mr.O.In the last 2 months the very hot rumour is that [name of employer deleted] turned down sub-contracted work from another boiler manufacturer.And from some lower management of that company,that [name of employer deleted] is bidding on jobs at 3 to 5 times higher than they ever have before out of the blue!.The would jive with the owners union busting ethos,and seeing as they got their wrists slapped for their clumsy efforts a year ago,this would be a pretty good end run around the law...

My questions are these...

1.Is there any way a layperson could get involved in viewing the bidding process for boilers and pressure vessels?If so,is it possible to get that information from ...say...The last 4 to 5 years?

2.Is it against the law to basically collude to run your buisiness into the ground in an attempt to get rid of a union?

Thanks for taking the time to read this...

Issues Pages:

Labour

Thu, 2010-03-18 02:14

Le T

It might not be against rabble policy to include real names but if there is an OLRB hearing or any other kind of legal action this posting could come back to hurt you. I would guess that the mods will also be worried about the possibility of libel suits too.

Good luck with your fight. I'm not sure about your questions.

Thu, 2010-03-18 02:17

welder

Good point...I'll edit the post as best as I can...

Thu, 2010-03-18 05:14

Maysie

Hi welder. You can't edit the opening post (OP). I will edit out the names and some other identifying information. It still might not be enough. The reasons are that this is a legal and liability issue for rabble both if there is a complaint at the OLRB, but also claims that are, legally, only allegations. I appreciate you checking the babble policy and since it's not in there I'm thinking that it should be.

I wish you and your other co-workers good luck in this process.

Thu, 2010-03-18 07:44

Unionist

Maysie, I would suggest you delete the union name and local number also.

Welder, as for your two questions:

Quote:
1.Is there any way a layperson could get involved in viewing the bidding process for boilers and pressure vessels?If so,is it possible to get that information from ...say...The last 4 to 5 years?

Probably no - it's obviously all private and confidential - unless you had (e.g.) a complaint under way in front of the OLRB and they used their power of subpoena. Even then, I imagine they would keep the information to a very narrow circle and subject to non-disclosure orders...

Quote:
2.Is it against the law to basically collude to run your buisiness into the ground in an attempt to get rid of a union?

Yes - but the trick is to prove it. That was the subject of the recent Supreme Court decision in the Wal-Mart closure in Québec. Although the Court ruled 6-3 against the complaint, it did so on very narrow grounds. Usually, there's a "reverse onus" in complaints of unfair labour practice. Because of the inherent power imbalance between workers and owners, labour law generally provides that the worker (union) files the complaint and the employer can't just sit back and say nothing - s/he has to show that whatever they did was for legitimate business reasons, and not just for anti-union or anti-worker reasons. In the Wal-Mart case, because of some very specific wording in the Québec labour code, the majority ruled that the reverse onus didn't apply. Commentators have noted that if the case had arisen in another provincial jurisdiction, the outcome may have been different.

You can read an explanation [url=http://www.lancasterhouse.com/about/headlines_dec2-1.asp]here[/url], with more detail [url=http://www.lancasterhouse.com/about/headlines_dec2-2.asp]here[/url].

In Ontario, the law might be better because of [url=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/french/elaws_statutes_95l01_f.... 96.5[/url] of the [i]Ontario Labour Relations Act[/i] - but IANAL, so take this for what it is.

Bottom line - go talk to the union. Explain about the attempt last April to undermine the union. Collect any other bits and pieces like that. Suggest they consider filing a complaint under [url=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/french/elaws_statutes_95l01_f.... 70 of the OLRA[/url] claiming interference with the union (although if they can't find any more recent events, there [i]might[/i] be a time limit problem...). That at least allows an inquiry to take place under section 96, with the reverse onus on the employer. Is it worth a try? You're in a far better position to judge than I am.

Thu, 2010-03-18 07:46

Maysie

Thanks Unionist, it's done.

Thu, 2010-03-18 07:49

Stargazer

I wish you luck too welder. It sounds like an extremely demoralizing situation. I'm sure someone with a background in labour will come along to help you out.

Edited to add: hey and there he is!

Thu, 2010-03-18 14:13

welder

Unionist wrote:

Maysie, I would suggest you delete the union name and local number also.

Welder, as for your two questions:

Quote:
1.Is there any way a layperson could get involved in viewing the bidding process for boilers and pressure vessels?If so,is it possible to get that information from ...say...The last 4 to 5 years?

Probably no - it's obviously all private and confidential - unless you had (e.g.) a complaint under way in front of the OLRB and they used their power of subpoena. Even then, I imagine they would keep the information to a very narrow circle and subject to non-disclosure orders...

Quote:
2.Is it against the law to basically collude to run your buisiness into the ground in an attempt to get rid of a union?

Yes - but the trick is to prove it. That was the subject of the recent Supreme Court decision in the Wal-Mart closure in Québec. Although the Court ruled 6-3 against the complaint, it did so on very narrow grounds. Usually, there's a "reverse onus" in complaints of unfair labour practice. Because of the inherent power imbalance between workers and owners, labour law generally provides that the worker (union) files the complaint and the employer can't just sit back and say nothing - s/he has to show that whatever they did was for legitimate business reasons, and not just for anti-union or anti-worker reasons. In the Wal-Mart case, because of some very specific wording in the Québec labour code, the majority ruled that the reverse onus didn't apply. Commentators have noted that if the case had arisen in another provincial jurisdiction, the outcome may have been different.

You can read an explanation [url=http://www.lancasterhouse.com/about/headlines_dec2-1.asp]here[/url], with more detail [url=http://www.lancasterhouse.com/about/headlines_dec2-2.asp]here[/url].

In Ontario, the law might be better because of [url=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/french/elaws_statutes_95l01_f.... 96.5[/url] of the [i]Ontario Labour Relations Act[/i] - but IANAL, so take this for what it is.

Bottom line - go talk to the union. Explain about the attempt last April to undermine the union. Collect any other bits and pieces like that. Suggest they consider filing a complaint under [url=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/french/elaws_statutes_95l01_f.... 70 of the OLRA[/url] claiming interference with the union (although if they can't find any more recent events, there [i]might[/i] be a time limit problem...). That at least allows an inquiry to take place under section 96, with the reverse onus on the employer. Is it worth a try? You're in a far better position to judge than I am.

Thanks Unionist..I'm definately going to check that stuff out...Howeve,I can add a littl more fuel to the fire,in terms of a case.A I said before,I left some things out for brevity sake...

The building we work in a very old,some of it dates back to 1920.When the place was sold it,the owners knew they needed to renovate the place.This started around late last April.It is basically completed now,and the estimates on the toal cost of the reno was slightly north of a million bucks.There has also been capital investment into new welding machines and a CNC tube bender that I would estimate is around $120,000.

I would think anyone with half a synapse in their brain could figure out that one would not put that much of an investment into a building and equipment if one did'nt intend to use it at some point in time...Perhaps I'm wrong?

Interstingly enough,I brought these very things up at the union meeting yesterday.She said that she could look into the bidding process on her own.Now I'm hearing that might not be possible...interesting...I should make it clear that last year the district rep's came down and had a talk with ownership about it being against the law to even bring up the subject.At first the one owner that said evrything denied ever saying anything of the sort,but then realizing that 5 people heared him basically ask if we would decertify,he admitted he did in fact say it.There have been other seniority based issues where people have been laid off,and then mysteriously hired by the contractor doing th reno,but doing work on the inside(ie.painting,cleaning windows)This was historically done by members of our local if things got slow.They would bump down into the labourers classification,and continue doing that work at a lower rate of pay.They would keep their bennies andRRSP contributions going,however.

I should also add that the previous owner offered to go back on the road and drum up sales through the contacts that he knows,which would be extensive....He was politely turned down...

As I said before,other shops in the area relatively busy,in fact one was attempting to sub work out to us...That was turned down.

It seems that after getting their wrists slapped last year,they've decided to continue their assault indirectly.The company claims to be constantly bidding on jobs,however,if they are bidding diliberately uncompatatively,it would seem that it simply going through the motions on their part.

Thu, 2010-03-18 14:20

Unionist

Welder, sounds to me as if you'll have an extremely uphill battle showing they're trying to deep-six the business in order to dump the union. You'll have to come up with a credible answer to this question: "Why go through all this misery, spending money on salaries and maintenance and expenses and taxes, when they could just shut the doors?" But good luck anyway.

Thu, 2010-03-18 14:28

#10

welder

Stargazer wrote:

I wish you luck too welder. It sounds like an extremely demoralizing situation. I'm sure someone with a background in labour will come along to help you out.

Edited to add: hey and there he is!

It's demoralizing on more than one front...Firstly that I've been out of work since Sept.25 of last year.I've picked some stuff up here and there,and my wife works,but things seem a little fishy...

Beyond that,most of the people working there right now are high senority people,and they are demoralized by the current situation.Apparently,some of the folks in management are really cracking the whip on those who are still there.But I can tell you that about 6 months after the take over,morale went down the tubes.I know that even some in management felt a real chill go through the place.I talked to one guy who said that with the previous owners,the front office and floor management talked together and knew what was going on.Since the buy out,there's like some wall of silence,and no one in the front office tells anyone in the plant anything.As I said before,the guy owns another business(Mr.O),and they all think he's just great.I assume he ran off anyone who would'nt say "Yes" and filled the place up with people who would'nt question anything he did.

I was happy when the place was sold that it stayed in Canada.I was hoping that money would be put into the place because it IS profitable.But Mr.O and Mr.F don't repect the process.In fact,they have complete disdain for the process.At least with the previous owner,you could negotiate with him,and he'd meet you half way.With these two "upstanding Canadian businessmen",it's their way or the highway!

Sat, 2010-03-20 21:26

#11

waltjmat

Welder, I worked for Mr.O's other company long before he bought it. I can tell you at the present time the many employees are just hanging on in there, trying to make a living. He is a very two faced person, he tells things as he wants other people to hear it not as the truth. Most of the management are yes people to Mr.O, but not all of them. I am not a yes person, I tell the truth as I believe it is wrong to try to have someone make a decision on a lie, which is one reason I am no longer there.

My history. Until leaving the company, which I have never really officially done, I had worked there since 1970. January 2006 I had a serious operation and the surgeon set certain restrictions on me, but told the employer I could return to work after some time healing and he was given a date, but the restrictions would be with me for the remainder of the time. Long term disability payments continued to come to me while I spent some hours in the plant just getting stronger, progress was not as quick as hoped for. Eventually Mr.O notified the insurance company that I could not return to work because he had no job for me. I was at the time the longest serving employee, had been the shop forman for many years until I asked to go back to production, which was with the previous owner. I sent out resumes, talked to many businesses, tried to get even a part time job, but it seems no one wanted a older person(62). I really had needed the extra years to top things up in my retirement funds, but that did not work out. Shortly after my medical benefits were cut off and I was left to pay for all medications related to my surgery and health.

I understand there are, or there were, employees at your place that were employed previously by Mr.O. and he had them let go for some phoney reasons.

Mr.O. has fired people, gone through the court system, payed the settlement and continues on, he finds this part of doing business.

Sun, 2010-03-21 03:21

#12

welder

waltjmat wrote:

Welder, I worked for Mr.O's other company long before he bought it. I can tell you at the present time the many employees are just hanging on in there, trying to make a living. He is a very two faced person, he tells things as he wants other people to hear it not as the truth. Most of the management are yes people to Mr.O, but not all of them. I am not a yes person, I tell the truth as I believe it is wrong to try to have someone make a decision on a lie, which is one reason I am no longer there.

My history. Until leaving the company, which I have never really officially done, I had worked there since 1970. January 2006 I had a serious operation and the surgeon set certain restrictions on me, but told the employer I could return to work after some time healing and he was given a date, but the restrictions would be with me for the remainder of the time. Long term disability payments continued to come to me while I spent some hours in the plant just getting stronger, progress was not as quick as hoped for. Eventually Mr.O notified the insurance company that I could not return to work because he had no job for me. I was at the time the longest serving employee, had been the shop forman for many years until I asked to go back to production, which was with the previous owner. I sent out resumes, talked to many businesses, tried to get even a part time job, but it seems no one wanted a older person(62). I really had needed the extra years to top things up in my retirement funds, but that did not work out. Shortly after my medical benefits were cut off and I was left to pay for all medications related to my surgery and health.

I understand there are, or there were, employees at your place that were employed previously by Mr.O. and he had them let go for some phoney reasons.

Mr.O. has fired people, gone through the court system, payed the settlement and continues on, he finds this part of doing business.

Well..You're precisely the kind a guy I want to talk to.Anyone who's talked to anyone at Mr.O's company says he's just great.I suspected that was BS because I assume he,and his "friends" decided to rule your former workplace with an iron fist.Your assessment of his two-faced nature is spot on.For the first nine months,as long as we tried to accomodate him,everything went great.He promised us monthly barbecue's,time off when we needed it,We even had a real nice Christmas party in Niagara-On-The-Lake in '08.As soon as we said "No" to him,the gloves came off.

His usual meely mouth routine involves him saying something like ,"Why do I need a 3rd party to run my business?".He does'nt seem to realize that the "3rd party" does'nt really involve him,is'nt about him,and,has no desire to run his business.Another one of his lines is that he would allow us to have a "workers organization" if we did decertify.To which we ask him who would be the final arbitor of any disputes?he always answers,"Me!".So again,it's all about Mr.O,and his version of fair.I assume your intimately knowledgable about this?Another is,' I could just move this place and hire other people.There's lots of people who will gladly work for 23 bucks an hour!".To which,he gets told you just can't up and move a place to get around a union.

As far as employee's that were let go...I don't know of any that were employed from outside.I do know that some of our guys went up to work at your former place because things got behind.They came back saying that the employees that were there were constantly asking about our union and how much we make.I suppose no one knows what anyone is making at your former place of employment because that's how non-union shops work.I do assume that he pays a certain group of scumbag types fairly well,though...Correct me if I'm wrong,but would that be :family members of upper management,yes men,and,the rats?Those groups are all interchangeable,by the way...

We do have a foreman who was hired as a fitter 2 months before the place was bought.He was clearly a plant for Mr.O to report on who was or was'nt a good worker.It's a shame because theguys actually fairly nice,but as far as work goes,I would'nt trust him farhter than he can be thrown!His initials are A.M.

A question for you...

Do you know of anyone else who worked there who got let go on questionable grounds?In otherwords,mainly because they would'nt toe the company line and say yes to Mr.O,and his "friends". If so,I ahve another question for you...

Would you be able to clear your schedule,and perhaps with these other guys,come to a meeting?

It might be better to pm me because I don't know who is reading this...

Sun, 2010-03-21 10:08

#13

waltjmat

First, your information that everyone at Mr.O's plant thinks he is great is very misleading to you. The morale there is at the bottom, they are just there because they have not been able to find other work.

Yes we had a nice Christmas party the first year along with all of Mr.O's family and friends, there were as many other people as there were employees, some of us thought we were on display to them and we did not like that. Then he took away a $100.00 a month bonus paid to us at Christmas if we had been there a full year or any part of a year at the time.

He told us when he first bought, that he wanted to keep the plant union free, most of the guys liked the idea, because our former owners appreciated their employees and knew how hard it is to make a living. We were told if we tried to organize he would close the plant and sell off the machinery.

Very hard to put a pay scale on any employees as he does pay them what he likes, by how much he likes you and to some extent the type of worker you are.

As for A.M. he was let go under very questionable circumstances, not by his doing. I do not believe he would put himself into a situation like you suggest, he was well liked but also very vocal about his feelings.

The employees are fed up with the happenings there, some would like to organize, but are reluctant because of Mr.O's threat and also because of the fact they have been looking for work and know they have not been successful in finding an alternate place of employ. Some are working a few hours a week and on the work share program for the remainder of the hours.

I was emailed this topic by a employee there. I do keep in contact with some of the workers. There is a case of wrongful dismissal still to be heard, this has been ongoing for about 2 years. I believe Mr.O. knows that inevitable outcome of this case and it does involve condsider dollars. I spoke with this former employee last night and gave them this subject.

I will contact some other people with this. I now live 4-5 hours north of the Niagara area, so it is not a simple matter for me to come down.

I will keep most of the correspondence public so any potential employee of Mr.O's can see what type of employer he is.

Tue, 2010-03-23 02:19

#14

welder

Yes....Mr.O like to use the carrot and stick method of motivation.First he tries to be accomodating,then when that does'nt work,the authoritarian bully comes out.I suspect the real Mr.O is the bully,however,it seems in moments of lucidity he realizes that might not be the best approach to take...Then Mr.O becomes Mr.Accommodating once again.

As far as the union free business goes...He has a visceral dislike for organized labour.He takes it as a personal afront to his business operations.It's a typical free market approach to things,even though his father worked his whole life in a union shop and those union wages paid for Mr.O's education.The threat he used is the usual opening salvo from management inany potential union drive scenario.It's usually an empty threat when you really delve into things because why would he by a place like yours,if he did'nt think he could make money?He obviously did.The real reason is power and control over the workforce.If Mr.O can keep people afraid for thier jobs,they won't make waves,and,he can keep his labour costs down.He also is the final arbitor of all workplace disputes.

Oddly enough,your former workplace might be in a very good position to organize itself.Think about it..He's not making any money at my place because he's deliberately pricing himself out of the market(allegedly),so,he must be using your old place for profit...Having said that,a union drive will only work IF the most senior employees are really angry.Ohterwise,it will fail.Mt experience with uniondrives is this...

1.Company becomes aware of potential union activity and calls a general meeting.

2.Company threatens to shut the doors if a union comes into existence.

if that does'nt stop things...

3.Company becomes your "best friend" and gives "love offerings" to show thier "appreciation" for all that you do for them.(ie.potential benny increases,potential tool and equipment allowances,generous RRSP plans).By the way,don't go for any of that junk.If you do,most will be fired.You have to go all the way by this point.They will try to intimidate,bully,threaten,cajole,and use any other tactic to keep what they want...Which is power and control of their workplace.

AM kinda told me what happened to him.He also told me the Mr.O called him back out of the blue.I was speaking to him one night last summer on the way out.He telling me how great it was to work for Mr.O at your old place.How he changed everything for the better.How he could get time off whenever he wanted.How Mr.O lavished people with lucrative bonus's.I knew what he was getting at so I did'nt bother telling him he sounded like a union busting yes man.Besides,like I said he's not really a bad guy.

If you do contact anyone else,please get them to post here.

Wed, 2010-03-24 17:23

#15

triciamarie

I got nothing on the thread topic, but waltjmat, did you speak to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal about your employer's ongoing refusal to accommodate your disability?

Also, if you didn't file a WSIB claim for this injury before, conceivably it might still not be too late to do so now, if a doctor now (and ideally not previously) identifies a causal connection to your work, ie prolonged static /awkward posturing, heavy repetitive job duties etc. File your WSIB Form 6 lightning fast upon receipt of any such medical information. If the Board gives you a hard time you can also cite "anti-injured worker animus" as a ground for requesting an extension of your time limit to file the claim -- a HRT ruling might help you there. If any of your relevant medical records are more than about six years old, you might want to act to get acccess to them now before they are potentially destroyed. You could request a medical opinion on causation from one of the OHCOW clinics (Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers) which are funded through the OFL. No guarantee that such a claim would be accepted but it will cost you very little to investigate. The OHCOW report would be free and if you get supportive medical, you can request free representation in your claim through the Ministry of Labour.

Your third option is to speak to a labour and employment lawyer.

Thu, 2010-03-25 21:27

#16

waltjmat

triciamarie, thanks for your reply.

this operation was not work related, I have high cholesterol, hence blockage of some arteries.

The employer was willing to take me back for sometime until the restrictions were placed on me that I could not kneel, this is a position that is needed at times. Recovery was slow, he did allow me to come into the shop to do small things but still on disability insurance. He eventually told the insurance company he would not take me back as he had no position for me. I was sent for a test in St. Catharines, the results were not favourable. I saught the services of a labour lawyer, knowing the employer would take forever to settle anything with me and I could not afford to wait for income, I went with the disability insurance which got me to the point I could collect OAS, even though there was no money to put aside to add to my retirement fund.

I had been in contact with the Ministry of Labour, they were not very helpful at all, I eventually just gave up on that approach. I did go to Human rights also, also they were not the least bit helpful. I feel that some of these people have a job and they really don't care if they perform or not.

Thu, 2010-03-25 21:59

#17

triciamarie

Sorry waltjmat, didn't mean to put you on the spot there -- I confess when I heard mandatory restrictions I was wondering about problems in the neck; I see that a lot in older welders (if that's what you were) and it's usually just written off as age-related, when it's also due to flipping the visor on the old helmets.

Not sure if this will make any difference for you but the old Ontario Human Rights Commission of 2 -3 years ago is now called the Tribunal and they act much more quickly than before. Might still be worthwhile checking out whether you coudl apply under their transitional provisions if you filed a complaint before and it went nowhere, or possibly bring a new complaint. There is a free Legal Support Centre attached to the Tribunal that might be able to give you some help -- or maybe not.

Fri, 2010-03-26 03:16

#18

welder

triciamarie,you are correct about the neck injury thing...

All welders should use their hand to flip thier shield down or or keep the side screws loose enough to allow the sheild to fall into place.

Waltjmat...Any luck with respect to our discussion?

Fri, 2010-03-26 08:38

#19

Jabberwock

Waltjmat,

I certainly think you should pursue another complaint with the Tribunal as I believe the employer has failed in his duty to accommodate. The onus is on him to prove undue hardship in accommodating your restrictions.

If this were union, you could have pursued arbitration and won. However, since this is a Human Rights and not just a labour issue, there surely has to be some recourse for you. Perhaps others are more familiar than I am with the Ontario system with regard to DTA issues.

Fri, 2010-03-26 11:45

#20

triciamarie

Sorry again about the thread drift welder, but with your indulgence...

I did a tiny bit of research and it appears that in fact there may be a causal relationship between welding exposures and arteriosclerosis. Depending on the amount and type of welding / cutting / grinding performed (by the welder and in the shop) and the materials used and working conditions, I wouldn't be too quick to say that welding was not a predisposing risk factor contributing to the onset or progression of this disease, without a specific, well-informed occupational medicine opinion.

Not to say this would be an easy win but if someone in this situation has the time and fortitude to pursue this it could be a very important case. Send me a PM if you know of anyone who's interested, and I may be able to help organize the medical review.

Tue, 2010-12-28 20:20

#21

machinist1

Welder

New here, see one of my former workers(waltjmat) was on here a while back, he also worked for Mr. O at his other plant. He got the shaft real good by this guy. I also am no longer employed by Mr. O. Was there 3 years to long, theman only has two employees that he really likes, they are both in the management and they are Mr. O's yes men.

Recent activity at the place has been implementing a rule stating you must be at the plant no less than 15 minutes before start of your shift, if you arrive within that 15 minutes you will be deducted 15 minutes from your normal 8 hours, wants you present for 8 1/4 hours, pays you for 8 hours, not legal I don't believe.

Fired one young up and coming fellow for making a screw up on a piece he was working on, mainly because he had no leaders to help him, he went to the labor board and did receive a good settlement of over $10,000.00, but this is the cost of doing business to Mr. O.

Most recent Mr. O came out of his office and told one of the happy employees to stop whistling Christmas Carols, said he didn't want them in his place and that he was being to loud also. The fellow went and told some of the other people around there and they told him to continue his whistling, but do it a little more quietly, well, Mr. O came out again and was real rude to him, telling him not in his business. Mr. 0 did not have a good Christmas spirit.

One of the longer term employees found another job in Pt. Colborne at a competitors shop, thought he would do the right thing and give a two week notice, Mr. O was visibly upset, went and told the fellow to pack his tool box and get out that day, which he did and went to his new employment. Again Mr. O has lost his spirit.

As far as the former contributor to this forum, he went to see some of his friends that he had worked with for a long time, during business hours, he was approached by one of the two yes men and told that Mr. O had left instructions that if he ever happened on the property, the police were to be called and he was to be removed. He gave him the opportunity to leave before calling the police. This in front of many employees who the contributor(waltjmat) had showed them and advised them many times. Most of the guys that knew what happened approached him and shook his hand or patted him on the back.

There is still one case of wrongul dismissal to come to the courts, it is a case of a real long term employee, called and fired at home. It will be long drawn and Mr. O will lose this one for sure, too many former employees ready to go to court. Maybe this one will help to straighten out the mess.