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Aug. 4th, 2008 06:00 pmToday was hot. We had an "extreme heat" advisory, and since it was 100 degrees with a heat index of 115, yeah, it was really fucking hot.
Especially when it's hotter in the factory. We did get heat breaks, so except for the first two and a half hours, we got a break every hour in the nice air conditioned lunchroom. I just feel very, very lucky to be working in a factory in the turn of this century, and not the last one.
Besides the safety laws, equal pay to males preforming the same job, and the shorter work day. Though I do detect a bunch of sexisim and the effect of bias against females in society. The lowest position is packer: we get paid $9.45. Except for Stephen, and he's summer help with me, there are no male packers on day shift. The all the rest of the men are operators or managers.
But the biggest thing is that the majority of the temps are female. Most of the people on night shift and lobster shift, are male. And you get paid more when you work second or third shift. The majority of people working day shift are working then because they have children to take care of. Most of the parents are single mothers whose Baby Daddy is AWOL, except for one single father whose ex-wife has been in and out of the hospital for months and a widow.
Still better than Sporlen where half the summer help had kids on the way, let alone the hired people.
I would comment on race, but since this area is really, really white and I've seen five black people since I've moved here, it's difficult to draw an conclusion. I've seen three black people at the factory; two are on day shift and the last is on night shift. Of the two people who work with me, one is a packer ( she's the widow, actually ) and the other is the plant manager. Though when the plant manager was pointed out to me, he was pointed out in a sublimely racist manner. Less "the nigger is our boss," "that's are boss, he don't look it, but he's really smart."
Though the further you get from St. Louis, the more dramatic the racisim grows. Twenty minutes away though, you go from "low-level racisim" to "there's a thriving Klu Klux Klan group."
Especially when it's hotter in the factory. We did get heat breaks, so except for the first two and a half hours, we got a break every hour in the nice air conditioned lunchroom. I just feel very, very lucky to be working in a factory in the turn of this century, and not the last one.
Besides the safety laws, equal pay to males preforming the same job, and the shorter work day. Though I do detect a bunch of sexisim and the effect of bias against females in society. The lowest position is packer: we get paid $9.45. Except for Stephen, and he's summer help with me, there are no male packers on day shift. The all the rest of the men are operators or managers.
But the biggest thing is that the majority of the temps are female. Most of the people on night shift and lobster shift, are male. And you get paid more when you work second or third shift. The majority of people working day shift are working then because they have children to take care of. Most of the parents are single mothers whose Baby Daddy is AWOL, except for one single father whose ex-wife has been in and out of the hospital for months and a widow.
Still better than Sporlen where half the summer help had kids on the way, let alone the hired people.
I would comment on race, but since this area is really, really white and I've seen five black people since I've moved here, it's difficult to draw an conclusion. I've seen three black people at the factory; two are on day shift and the last is on night shift. Of the two people who work with me, one is a packer ( she's the widow, actually ) and the other is the plant manager. Though when the plant manager was pointed out to me, he was pointed out in a sublimely racist manner. Less "the nigger is our boss," "that's are boss, he don't look it, but he's really smart."
Though the further you get from St. Louis, the more dramatic the racisim grows. Twenty minutes away though, you go from "low-level racisim" to "there's a thriving Klu Klux Klan group."
