primitives discuss bathroom breaks while on the time-clock

[franksolich]

http://metamorphosis.democraticunderground.com/10025227344

Oh my.

LuckyTheDog (6,250 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 02:41 PM

6 minutes a day for bathroom breaks? Union cries foul

A Chicago-area union has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against an employer who they claim is allowing them only 6 minutes a day to use the bathroom.
 
Members of the Teamsters Local 743 who build sink stations at WaterSaver Faucet Co. and its sister company Guardian Equipment Inc. said that workers have been disciplined for exceeding their allotted bathroom time of 30 minutes per week, or 6 minutes per workday.
 
"They offered $1 per day for anyone who doesn't go to the bathroom at all," said Nick Kreitman, senior business agent for Teamsters Local 743. So far, 19 people have been disciplined, with written or oral warnings, he said.
 
MORE HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/6-minutes-day-bathroom-breaks-union-cries-foul/

It's not six minutes a day; they get coffee breaks and a lunch hour too.

MineralMan (65,334 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 02:45 PM

3. Unbelievable!

Truly.

Yeah, right.

malaise (121,073 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 03:09 PM

7. America is turning into a Chinese sweat shop

How greedy are these scumbags?

Manifestor_of_Light (17,866 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 03:10 PM

10. That especially discriminates against women and that time of the month.

Takes a while to clean things up.

This is ridiculous.

I once had to beg a judge for a lunch break and tell him about my blood sugar problems when I was a court reporter. I said I needed 30 minutes to grab a burger or I would start shaking and eventually pass out. He was hellbent on working through lunch and not taking a lunch.
 
I finally said, "My doctor's name is Dr. ____and his phone number is ________. You wanna call him and check with him about it?"
 
Then he backed down after my appeal to authority. Both of the attorneys at the hearing, who were very famous and expensive lawyers, complimented me on my appeal to the judge.
 
His regular court reporter died a few years later literally from overwork from respiratory collapse. She told me once, before she died, "Normal people have to go to the bathroom."
 
He thought the courthouse couldn't run without him. He died about a year ago and it's still running without him.

MindPilot (11,458 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 05:03 PM

17. Kinda rough on us old guys too.

Between my tiny bladder and the blood pressure meds that trick my kidneys into thinking I just quaffed a keg, I would burn up my potty time well before lunch.

Hoyt (16,691 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 04:57 PM

16. While it is absurd, there is a morning and afternoon break and a lunch break.

But 6 minutes is pretty bad.

You know, when I worked for state government in Nebraska many years ago, one of the most unsavory--and oft-seen sights--circa 8:00 a.m. was going into the men's room and seeing all of the stalls occupied, pants down around shoes.

They were all middle- and upper-level managers and supervisors, sitting there reading the newspaper.

No clerical employee would've gotten away with this, spending the first twenty minutes of the working day sitting on the can.

This idea that one can do one's personal business on company time is preposterous.

<<<in all of working life, has never done a sit-down job in the men's room; only the standing-up business.

This reminds me of the brain-damaged primitive, who used to show up for work at that automotive dealership every day, and immediately upon clocking in, grabbed a magazine and headed for the men's room, where he sat for half an hour or so, reading, emptying the bowels on company time.

And not only that, he'd stink up the room so much it was unusable by other employees until circa lunch-time.

He did it on purpose, too.

[Dori]

I was taught in school to use the bathroom during lunch and recess. 

[GOBUCKS]

Both of the attorneys at the hearing, who were very famous and expensive lawyers, complimented me on my appeal to the judge.

This DUmmy has never heard of billable hours.

[fatboy]

When your on extended unememployment, all the live long day is a bathroom break.

[Delmar]

My guess is that the smokers were abusing the bathroom breaks by saying that they were going to the can but instead running outside to have a quick smoke break and not going anywhere near the bathroom.  The employer probably doesn't have a problem with a worker who has the occasional need to answer the call of nature at some time other than the regular breaks or lunch time.

[thundley4]

My guess is that the smokers were abusing the bathroom breaks by saying that they were going to the can but instead running outside to have a quick smoke break and not going anywhere near the bathroom.  The employer probably doesn't have a problem with a worker who has the occasional need to answer the call of nature at some time other than the regular breaks or lunch time.

Several employees were verified being in the bathroom in excess of 20 minutes at a time.

[Delmar]

Several employees were verified being in the bathroom in excess of 20 minutes at a time.

I used to work with a guy who would sit on the pot and eat sunflower seeds and litter the floor with the hulls.  Gross.  He probably was a DUmmy.  I wouldn't be surprised.

[Big Dog]

Manifestor_of_Light (17,866 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 03:10 PM

10. That especially discriminates against women and that time of the month.

Takes a while to clean things up.

This DUmmy just lit the fuse on the tampon.



Waiting for the Klampage, in 3, 2, 1...

[jtyangel]

They are angry at the wrong people. Aside from physical problems and allotting that a female may be in there more often one week during the month, perhaps if they nudged fellow employees who abused bathroom breaks to play on their iphones in the stall or grab an extra smoke break, the rules wouldn't have to be so draconian for everyone. How about too the union bylaws that have tied the hands of management to address the INDIVIDUALS abusing bathroom breaks and leave policies that an all-encompassing policy had to be issued instead.

BTW, it's liberals who love zero tolerance policies and this is basically what this ends up being. Yeah, btdt--sure everyone has who has worked and everytime policies get restrictive its usually because abusers have to be cracked down on and we aren't talking the exceptions I mentioned, but those who are just trying to take extended and frequent breaks to avoid work. AGain, put the pressure on your working partners if you don't like it to do the right thing and have some integrity and rules wouldn't have to be so draconian. Also, what union rules have tied the hands of management to deal with the individual problem children that they had to make a sweeping rule up to begin with. I have worked in a union environment too and the inability to punish and restrict the individual usually mean draconian rules on the whole which sucks for decent workers who don't abuse their employers and now get punished for shit that abusers do. Again, every reason that contributed to this is tied up in the dummies pet issues like unions. Oh well, sucks to be them.

[jtyangel]

Several employees were verified being in the bathroom in excess of 20 minutes at a time.

That's someone playing on their smart phone in a stall...guarantee it.

[JohnnyReb]

That's someone playing on their smart phone in a stall...guarantee it.

My wife complains about that happening at work all the time. The girls in her office aren't allowed to have their personal communication devises out or turned on at work. Like clock work, at times during the day the girls grab their phones and head to the bathroom for some extended time in the powder room.

If, for some unforeseen important reason, I need to get in touch with the wife during the day, I have to call her office phone. No biggie, she's paid to work, not have me catch her up on the local gossip or ask what's for supper.

[franksolich]

My wife complains about that happening at work all the time. The girls in her office aren't allowed to have their personal communication devises out or turned on at work. Like clock work, at times during the day the girls grab their phones and head to the bathroom for some extended time in the powder room.

If, for some unforeseen important reason, I need to get in touch with the wife during the day, I have to call her office phone. No biggie, she's paid to work, not have me catch her up on the local gossip or ask what's for supper.

I know I'm going to get flak for this, but I think it'd be a good idea for employers to demand that employees check in their "personal communication devices" upon punching the time-clock, to be given back to them at the end of the work-day.

In case of "emergency," well, one can use the company telephones, or one can be contacted via the company telephones.

[RobJohnson]

The union will win in Illinois.

When I was a IBEW union steward for Local 22 out of Chicago this issue came up right before I started working for Ameritech/SBC which is now AT&T (should of stayed there, I would be at Chicago wage scale but working in lower cost of living Rock Island--around $28 an hour plus commissions and bonus) We were the largest land line telephone provider in the United States.

Anyways this gay manager was standing outside of the woman's restroom with a stop watch timing how long pregnant women were away from their desks while they were urinating as they became closer to needing their six weeks off. We worked ten hour shifts and the breaks were spread out. This faggot knew nothing about the pain that women were going through just being there, sitting at there desks, all the time and once in a while they needed to simply take off their headsets and stretch for ten seconds. They were good employees. His boyfriend would drop him off at the front door and they would kiss, this was 1997...yeah did not see much of that then. His boyfriend was hired by the company and went right to one of the best jobs in the place as well. 

IOSH (Illinois OSHA which now is pretty much fully combined with the IL Dept of Labor) came in and actually seen this faggot doing this to the women. It was very embarrassing to them to walk out of the restroom to have him say "in that three minutes you could of taken two calls" we were an inbound call center. Sales and Customer Service. A lot of the programing for the phone lines was writing code, rather then a windows based mouse click. If people would call and get mouthy and they wanted their phone service disconnected sometimes it would happen while we were still talking, I was their last call. 

Due to this guy's harassment of the women that really had to piss.........and sometimes when I would go four hours between a break I occasionally had to go myself, but would try not to as I liked to be the sales leader...IOSH issued a $1000 fine towards the company, not  a huge amount of money but really pissed off his boss, and they were required to post the state rules. 

Restroom and hydration breaks are allowed as needed. As IL has no rules on breaks, nor are they mandatory, only a 20 minute lunch breach is if you plan on working a 7 1/2 hour shift, they are required to give you at least a 20 minute lunch within 5 hours of your start time. Most of us started the day drinking a lot of coffee, and sometimes you just need to drain the lizard.

Yeah I was a "union guy" but if any place deserved to have a union, it was these assholes.

[RobJohnson]

They are angry at the wrong people. Aside from physical problems and allotting that a female may be in there more often one week during the month, perhaps if they nudged fellow employees who abused bathroom breaks to play on their iphones in the stall or grab an extra smoke break, the rules wouldn't have to be so draconian for everyone. How about too the union bylaws that have tied the hands of management to address the INDIVIDUALS abusing bathroom breaks and leave policies that an all-encompassing policy had to be issued instead.

BTW, it's liberals who love zero tolerance policies and this is basically what this ends up being. Yeah, btdt--sure everyone has who has worked and everytime policies get restrictive its usually because abusers have to be cracked down on and we aren't talking the exceptions I mentioned, but those who are just trying to take extended and frequent breaks to avoid work. AGain, put the pressure on your working partners if you don't like it to do the right thing and have some integrity and rules wouldn't have to be so draconian. Also, what union rules have tied the hands of management to deal with the individual problem children that they had to make a sweeping rule up to begin with. I have worked in a union environment too and the inability to punish and restrict the individual usually mean draconian rules on the whole which sucks for decent workers who don't abuse their employers and now get punished for shit that abusers do. Again, every reason that contributed to this is tied up in the dummies pet issues like unions. Oh well, sucks to be them.

Truth

[RobJohnson]

One thing to add to my previous post. In a non union environment I let people know phones are not allowed in the shitter. 

Phones stay in your locker. Unless of course your wife is about to pop out a kid, or your mom is having a triple bypass, then there are exceptions, but we need to know about those exceptions. In fact, when I'm expecting such calls (no I don't think I have any kids on the way, but other things happen) I always let someone else in charge know why I have my phone, our cameras are watched from other locations. I don't carry my phone at work

I have a guy that worked ten hour days, salary, he was an Rph. He worked his ass off and was on a salary. He would get so slammed with customers, he would often "hold it" rather then use the restroom. One night at work, he started to urinate blood due to an infection. His doctor told him "holding it" (the urine, not his man tool) and his age (mid 50's) is not healthy. He was off work a few days and his position allowed for unlimited sick time. So if you have to go, go and get it over with.

[thundley4]

One thing to add to my previous post. In a non union environment I let people know phones are not allowed in the shitter. 

We're not supposed to use our cell phones at work, but unless someone is using theirs too much no one says anything. I carry mine in my pocket, but the only calls I take during working time are from my department's foreman. He works a different shift so he's at home while I'm working.

[RobJohnson]

We're not supposed to use our cell phones at work, but unless someone is using theirs too much no one says anything. I carry mine in my pocket, but the only calls I take during working time are from my department's foreman. He works a different shift so he's at home while I'm working.

Pretty much the same deal but I don't let the newbies know that and a customer never should see them on the phone, we had managers in the past using the phone in front of customers. The customers don't know if you are talking to a supplier or your wife. When I am trying to call in an employee to cover a shift I use my cell phone to text them as all the numbers are in there and it's easier and I can be doing something else while I wait for a reply.

I get texts from other location managers, my boss sends me texts from her home, that I often only see when I check my phone at lunch, we often have a high call volume at work and it's not always easy to get through right away, some emergencies can't wait.

Actually I should be carrying it at night for the late shifts ICE, but I already have enough junk in my pocket.  Our location phones won't work if there is a power surge and we have to use cell phones to call the out of state help desk to get it reset. That sometimes includes our alarm system. Our town is full of power surges in the summer time. I gave up on setting the clock on my stove.....

It's not uncommon for an employee or a manager to send me a quick text message with a work related question, like how to order something, if we have an item,  heard of an item, etc.......... That is the exception, not the rule.

I'm one of those allowed to carry my phone, I just don't. I try to lead by example. Having that phone with web access in my pocket does come in handy around the holidays when we are trying to locate an out of stock item. I do not hesitate to refer my customers to a competitor if they have something that we don't.

[RobJohnson]

A lot of people also stream music from their phones which I don't think is a huge deal either, it's just replacing their iPod. But it only takes one person to abuse it to really screw it up for everyone.

[Gina]

Manifestor_of_Light (17,866 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 03:10 PM

10. That especially discriminates against women and that time of the month.

Takes a while to clean things up.

Wtf?  No it doesn't.  You really think less of women don't you?

Obviously the company had to do something because it was being abused.  I can't tell tell you enough that it's stealing to jack off on company time.  We have smokers  that smoke at least 20 minutes on every hour plus the take a hour lunch plus their allotted two 15 minute breaks.  Thieves! all of them.  Know what they have in common? They pay someone to keep their jobs, they are union.

[RobJohnson]

Wtf?  No it doesn't.  You really think less of women don't you?

Obviously the company had to do something because it was being abused.  I can't tell tell you enough that it's stealing to jack off on company time.  We have smokers  that smoke at least 20 minutes on every hour plus the take a hour lunch plus their allotted two 15 minute breaks.  Thieves! all of them.  Know what they have in common? They pay someone to keep their jobs, they are union.

So true, so true. 

I need to quit jacking off at work, what a buzz kill.

[Gina]

So true, so true. 

I need to quit jacking off at work, what a buzz kill.

We had this guy at work, Jack,  and when you wanted time off you would write your name on the days of the calender .  He always would have two weeks in the summer of "Jack off" 

[GOBUCKS]

One more week until the crazy bald dwarf returns to the DUmp to educate us on Ukraine, Gaza, and riffles.

[txradioguy]

That's someone playing on their smart phone in a stall...guarantee it.

Or going out and getting high and downing a beer before retuning to work.

[txradioguy]

MindPilot (11,458 posts)    Fri Jul 11, 2014, 05:03 PM

17. Kinda rough on us old guys too.

Between my tiny bladder and the blood pressure meds that trick my kidneys into thinking I just quaffed a keg, I would burn up my potty time well before lunch.

You're gonna love it when your employer switches you to Obamacare.

[txradioguy]

One more week until the crazy bald dwarf returns to the DUmp to educate us on Ukraine, Gaza, and riffles.

I've been monitoring what she's been posting over on the Disgruntled DUmmies FB page...we're in for a treat.