Chrysler Auto Workers Busted

[Stosh]

If Wolchak was so concerned about these guys endangering people by drinking and smoking on their lunch hour, why did they not call the police and stop them from driving after imbibing? Apparently the story was more important to him than the safety of other drivers who might encounter them on their way back to work.

Because, they were not legally drunk, probably. And, Wolchak sacrificed these guys for a slap at Obama. I guess that's all right though. Not a caring bone in the bunch here I suppose.

And when Chrysler stops serving alcohol in any facility they own, and that includes Auburn Hills, then they can enforce the code of conduct uniformly. And that includes everyone.

And rjk, a legal definition of under the influence is limited to proof of intoxication, which is.08.

Under the influence is a term used to describe a state of intoxication which is criminal during certain activities, such as public intoxication or driving under the influence.
Laws and ordinances at the state and local levels, which vary by area, make public intoxication a crime. A person commits the crime of public intoxication if he appears in a public place under the influence of alcohol, narcotics or other drug to the degree that he endangers himself or another person or property, or by boisterous and offensive conduct annoys another person in his vicinity. A person may commit the offense of public intoxication by being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This may include prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications or even aerosol sprays. It is a defense to prosecution for public intoxication that the alcohol or drugs were administered for therapeutic purposes and as part of the person's professional medical treatment by a licensed physician.
All states have laws against driving intoxicated, which vary by state. Legal intoxication is defined as a certain level of blood alcohol content [[BAC), usually measurable at .10 or .08 percent. States that use the lower .08 BAC to define intoxication are eligible for more federal assistance, and therefore, there is a trend toward lowering the BAC limit.

That being said, in no way do I condone or endorse the consumption of alcohol at work. But the ambush style of Mr. Wolchak should be reserved for criminals. Maybe he should start following around Rush or Beck or somebody like that?

[R8RBOB]

Because, they were not legally drunk, probably. And, Wolchak sacrificed these guys for a slap at Obama. I guess that's all right though. From the looks of these guys, they probably vote Republican anyway, or they DID.

The following takes place late at night at the WJBK studios in Southfield.

Rob Wolchek: Boss, you wish to see me.
WJBK GM: Rob, we have a problem. We are bleeding cash and as GM I will need to make tough decisions.
RW: Sir, what does this has to do with me?
GM: Rob, The Problem Solvers have been DOA for quite a while now. I had to made the decision to cut Scott and now it looks like I am going to have make more cuts.
RW: Does that mean, my job is on the line? Sir, ever since Kwame went to Texas then jail, the juicy stores disappeared. We can only report so much on Carlita.
GM: Plain and simple, we need a home run of a story. Wait, we need multiple home runs to justify keeping the Problem Solvers.
RW: Sir, its just Amy and I. Are you proposing to dump me and Amy?
GM: Well Rob, Amy can still be used as a reporter in the field. You on the other hand well.....
RW: I have been here at WJBK for 13 years and I have exposed so much shit you toes would curl. Okay, I admit exposing scams have been on the downside but I can still be valuable to Fox.
GM: Ok, Rob I am glad to hear that. I have a story for you that will make you a household name when the story goes national.
RW: Sure Boss, I'm game. Who are we going after?
GM: Auto workers.
RW: Au---to work---ers!!! [[Shaking his head in disbelief)
GM: Yes, Rob. Auto workers? You aren't looking at the big picture.
RW: Please, explain to me because I don't understand why the country would care about auto workers. Sure we are glad to have them building our cars but what dirt could auto workers provide that would make the country take notice?
GM: The story will be about auto workers but there will be one crucial component that will carry this story from Maine to California.
RW: Off the top of my head, the only thing that could create a stir is the name....Obama. Is the President a part of the story?
GM: Not officially but he does play a role in it. Trust me...two days after the story is aired, the entire country will know the name Rob Wolchek and that you work for Fox 2 Detroit. Do you want this because if you don't then perhaps Amy will be willing to join America's list of famous redheads..
RW: Sir, I'm ready to get to work.
GM: Very good. Go see my man. He has some background material to get you started. And Rob, hit a grand slam for the team.
RW: Will do Boss.

[Stosh]

The following takes place late at night at the WJBK studios in Southfield.

Rob Wolchek: Boss, you wish to see me.
WJBK GM: Rob, we have a problem. We are bleeding cash and as GM I will need to make tough decisions.
RW: Sir, what does this has to do with me?
GM: Rob, The Problem Solvers have been DOA for quite a while now. I had to made the decision to cut Scott and now it looks like I am going to have make more cuts.
RW: Does that mean, my job is on the line? Sir, ever since Kwame went to Texas then jail, the juicy stores disappeared. We can only report so much on Carlita.
GM: Plain and simple, we need a home run of a story. Wait, we need multiple home runs to justify keeping the Problem Solvers.
RW: Sir, its just Amy and I. Are you proposing to dump me and Amy?
GM: Well Rob, Amy can still be used as a reporter in the field. You on the other hand well.....
RW: I have been here at WJBK for 13 years and I have exposed so much shit you toes would curl. Okay, I admit exposing scams have been on the downside but I can still be valuable to Fox.
GM: Ok, Rob I am glad to hear that. I have a story for you that will make you a household name when the story goes national.
RW: Sure Boss, I'm game. Who are we going after?
GM: Auto workers.
RW: Au---to work---ers!!! [[Shaking his head in disbelief)
GM: Yes, Rob. Auto workers? You aren't looking at the big picture.
RW: Please, explain to me because I don't understand why the country would care about auto workers. Sure we are glad to have them building our cars but what dirt could auto workers provide that would make the country take notice?
GM: The story will be about auto workers but there will be one crucial component that will carry this story from Maine to California.
RW: Off the top of my head, the only thing that could create a stir is the name....Obama. Is the President a part of the story?
GM: Not officially but he does play a role in it. Trust me...two days after the story is aired, the entire country will know the name Rob Wolchek and that you work for Fox 2 Detroit. Do you want this because if you don't then perhaps Amy will be willing to join America's list of famous redheads..
RW: Sir, I'm ready to get to work.
GM: Very good. Go see my man. He has some background material to get you started. And Rob, hit a grand slam for the team.
RW: Will do Boss.

LOL That" s funny. Or not. sounds pretty realistic to me. More or less. Sad thing is it probably could happen that way. I hear that their news at night runs 3rd consistently.

[RickBeall]

If the rules say don't drink during work yours, then don't drink during work hours. Follow the rules, keep your job. If you don't follow the rules, take the consequences. They had a choice and they made it.

[R8RBOB]

Mitch Albom take on the plant workers. http://www.freep.com/article/2010092...-worker-lunch-

He did throw out this question out there to make people wonder.

Remember, the "tipsters" called the TV station. Did they put equal energy into asking supervisors to do something first? If not, why? If so, and nothing happened, then is Chrysler taking action only because the story made national news? And what happens if another worker does the same -- but isn't caught on camera?

[mjs]

Hopefully, he also gets random checks or firing otherwise their management isn't worth a piss and deserves to be exposed. My plant has a zero tolerance policy because lives and quality of life are at risk and when thats at stake, you don't want to be arguing definitions. That means the union. That means the management. Management drinks plenty out of work and management sometimes eats at bars during lunch, but I've heard of absolutely no one having a single drink at work.

Like one poster mentioned regarding a plant his father worked at back in the day, guys used to get completely trashed at work. Management even used to motivate their crews by buying them beer. Guys also used to get severely injured and killed. Our incident rate is now down about 97% in a little over a decade because we now do things like fire people who come in under any drugs or alcohol. For management, drinking at lunch or coming in after drinking, even if you were called in during the middle of the night, is firing. Fuck em; they're supposed to be leaders with a responsibility to protect their people and show safety leadership. For union, first one is rehab followed by random checks for six months, second one is firing. Every time the union has tried to fight this, the NLRB has shot them down so they no longer even try. So, no management team should be crying about unions on this and no union guy should be crying about worker safety if they aren't willing to report drinking during work hours. If these guys are fine with safety risks, let them work at McDonald's where the risk is getting burnt by some hot oil rather than losing a hand or getting killed.

Union guys I know are honest with you if you're not a dick and our guys don't come in drunk anymore or drink at work anymore. We've fired all the assholes that are willing to risk the safety of the guys we are responsible for keeping safe. If you think we should have to work around guys like the ones on the news, fuck you, I hope you die too! Sure, some still get high out of work, but they know enough not to bring it in. No tests needed at the gate, no random tests needed for those that don't have a history. We only test for cause and that includes working dangerously like slopping molten metal around. And even if the guy tests clean, he will be held accountable for any reckless behavior.

[mjs]

From the closing of the Albom article:

If those Chrysler workers had been lunch-partying inside a building with no camera access, there'd still be a problem, but there would be no story. The lens changes everything. Our challenge is not only to focus it, but to keep it in perspective.

Keep it in perspective? Things like this is what decides whether a dad comes home or not, whether you have a son without an eye. Whats more important to Mr. Minutia himself? Cell phone courtesy?

[13074Glenfield]

I worked at Jefferson Ave Assembly in the late 70s and, sure, there was lots of drugs and drinking going on. Now I live out of state and it just seemed to me that times and practices like this had changed. So I was kind of surprised to read about this story happening now in Detroit. I do not think there is another area of the country where you would find people arguing that it's ok to get hammered at work. Not anymore. The whole thing makes me kind of sad because I read some of the people here and they're saying that they don't want to be endangered by these guys or others like them. They want to do a good job and turn out a quality product. And what people across the country see is a bunch of screw ups. Makes me think Detroit may never come back. It's not the times that have changed. It's that union mentality that hasn't.

[abraham]

I'd like to see how many people are in the fox 2 parking lot at lunch boozing it up. Or they probably get an hour so they can hit the bar or restaraunt. I'm sure there are plenty of them. I'm almost certian there is at least 1, depending on the size of your shop or office, at every place.

[jackie5275]

The one thing that strikes me about this whole story and this was coming from Rob Wolchek and Huel Perkins in this commentary is that the workers were doing this on the taxpayers' dime because of the bailout money Chrylser received from the feds. The whole tone was "Don't be doing this with MY tax money". Something that many people seem to forget or neglect to acknowledge is that these guys are taxpayers too. One way to view this that it's their taxes that went to bailout their company, not necessarily yours. Yes, everyone's tax money gets spread out all over the federal budget, but those complaining seem to think it's only THEIR tax money being wasted. Therefore they are some sort of a victim. It's those workers' tax money being wasted as well.

[Detroitnerd]

Well, now that you mention government money being wasted, I have to say I'm totally pissed at the workers. Thank goodness we can count on our news media to faithfully expose any and all waste of government money. I should have known it was the unions' fault.

Oh, wait ...

Golf After Bailout at Northern Trust Prompts Outcry

Feb. 25 [[Bloomberg) -- U.S. lawmakers are asking companies to repay taxpayer money spent on private jets and other perks after Northern Trust Corp., the Chicago-based custody bank that got $1.6 billion, hosted a golf tournament this month.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?s...id=newsarchive

[terryh]

Ive worked in non-union shops in which employees were given second chances after stealing, drinking an drugging. Not true that unions only protect the 'bad' workers.There are steps, per contract, that are taken for discipinary measures. At union stores I worked at, it was often up to an individual store manager whether or not an employee was allowed to come back to work after a suspension. I won five weeks back pay years ago because I was suspended for over five weeks when, contractually I should have been off no more than three days.

Anyways, too bad for the families of those individuals who are going to suffer for their bad decisions. Some of them may have already had a history of relapse and rehab.

[dadinup]

Slime in the ice machine, I'm Marvin Zindler... Eye Witness News!
Sorry, but I can't help but wonder what he could find sniffing around the Fox boss's business. That, of course, is off limits, "do as I say, not as I do". Glad that Wolchek is the perfect [obedient] angel.