We've all seen how the US auto industry has been a hot topic lately. The three big Detroit automakers have all had their share of financial woes, even requiring US taxpayers to bail them out. Plus, the quality of American made automobiles has long since been a question.
The first thing you notice when pulling up to the plant is the lack of foreign made automobiles. You won't see a single Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, etc. anywhere in sight (which took some getting used to). In fact, there are even signs posted on Union property that foreign made automobiles are required to park in parking lots across the street (and this rule is actively enforced).
Upon entering the factory, I was exposed to a very different working environment. To be blunt, I after my visit I am not surprised the auto industry is in the state it is in. When talking to employees about what they like best about working at the plant, they openly brag about the fact that they get great pay without having to do much work.
During my time sitting at our table trying to sell tickets, I seemed to keep seeing the same workers over and over. They kept coming back and forth. Upon inquiring why the same people kept passing by, I was informed how rampant absenteeism and other attendance abuse is. The workers have scheduled breaks throughout the day. However, a worker is essentially able to declare a break whenever he or she wants. If you need to be excused from your station (i.e. to use the restroom or get a snack) you have to call over your overseer who takes your place on the assembly line while you are gone. Again, workers openly bragged to us how they abuse this privilege. I was told that in order to "get back" at an unpopular overseer, workers will work together to take as many breaks as they can throughout the day in order to keep their overseer as busy as possible.
We were also told how each worker is allotted a certain amount of time in the plant's medical facility per week, and that workers tend to utilize all of this time even if medical attention isn't really required. In addition, we were openly told that workers tend to do their jobs as slowly as possible in order to minimize how much they do on any given day. For example, one job entails driving finished cars from the factory out to a storage lot where they will be prepped for shipping. Again, workers openly boasted how they would drive the cars as slowly as possible to minimize the amount they had to move.
Some workers were also openly talking about how they hoped to get laid off, because as per the current agreement, laid off workers still receive a large sum of their salary. All the while, we could overhear constant bickering and complaining about seniority, and how it wasn't fair how this person was assigned to this part of the assembly line and not that part, etc.
When I decided to walk through the plant I didn't see much improvement. I saw numerous people sitting reading a newspaper or talking, etc. And yet no matter how poor an employee performs, it is nearly impossible to fire them (unless they kill someone or commit a felony). Upon asking a few of the employees, they openly admitted that there were a lot of "poor performers" around that the company simply isn't able to get rid of. All the while these employees are getting incredible benefits and excellent pay.
This is only a small sampling of what I saw on my visit. I have to say I was pretty shocked how employees so gleefully and openly abuse their employment situation. It seems no wonder now why American automakers are having such a difficult time competing right now, because you can clearly see the kind of overhead costs they have weighing them down. Don't get me wrong - I met a lot of nice people. But in an environment where you hear so often about people working as hard as they can just trying to avoid being laid off, it was somewhat strange to see quite the opposite...
-Andrew
(Sorry, but we weren't allowed to take any photos within the plant)
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