It's a far cry from the tempo of just a couple of weeks ago. Road crews furiously working to scrape snow off the streets are now reduced to mindless endeavors to pass the time. (At the moment at least.)
They just aren't needed the way they were in the thick of winter, if a scanner conversation a few minutes ago is any indicator.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"One's watchin' TV, one's playin' cards. Watcha got?"
"Oh about 1 p.m. if you could go out and make a few passes -- there's a little mess on Griswold, by the woods."
"Right out there by the farm?"
"Yep...may be cleared up by 1 though." (Here's hopin' ... or not.)
"Okay."
Private sector employees
Private sector employees would be sent home if there was no work to be done.
Just another example of what unions have become.
BTW, who bought the TV being used at a place of work? Taxpayers, most likely. I don't have a TV to watch while being paid to perform WORK.
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It was around lunchtime and
It was around lunchtime and by the afternoon they were busy making sure they left nothing undone. Everybody has had a brief lull at work, a few minutes to make up for the eat-on-the-run, frenzied pace of a real snowstorm.
As a Stafford resident I can
As a Stafford resident I can tell you our Highway Dept. works very hard and does a great job. We live on a North/South road that gets hammered in the winter and they can be seen going by every little while, keeping it clear all hours of the day and night. I know where most of my town taxes go and I've got no problem paying them for the services we get.
As far as the "private sector employees" comment goes, that's not necessarily true either. There are plenty of instances that my staff has down time while on the clock and I certainly don't follow them around every minute finding little odd jobs to occupy their time. They do their job exceedingly well and are rewarded for it.
Join the Union if you have
Join the Union if you have one. Call a Union Organizer if you don't. Teamsters kick ass although I don't align myself with their right wing political beliefs at all.
I've been an employee and a
I've been an employee and a manager in the private sector all but six years of my life (four years in the air force, two as a legislative employee). There's been plenty of times when I've had nothing to do at work and I wasn't sent home. And I've never sent a full-time employee home just because it got slow (I might try to find work for them, but not send them home).
Why don't good managers in the private sector send employees home during slower times? Because it's bad for morale. It sends the wrong message about the state of the business, and if you want people to work their butts off during busy times, you don't punish them (taking away pay)for your business's slow times.
There are exceptions of course, but as a general rule, I believe this to be true.
Further, I see first hand all the time how hard these guys work throughout most of the year. If they get to kick back during a predictable and normal lull, bully for them.
Further, as Billie pointed out, this conversation took place during lunch hour. Quite possibly they were on a mandated break.
Bob, You will send people
Bob,
You will send people home when they have a lull?
I, too, have worked in private and public sector and was never sent home because of lack of work.
Can you remove that straight stick you have up your back for a moment to think about the job highway department people do in the winter?
If they have a lunch break, why not allow them the opportunity to watch a little tv or play cards. I'm sure they went and took care of the drifting snow.
How about police and fire personnel? Should they go home if there are no calls?
I'm sorry you don't have a tv to watch while you work.
At my last private sector job, there were big screen tvs on all the walls (there was a trampoline in the lobby; a fully stocked refrigerator in the coffee room; beer blasts on Friday afternoons; fire drills where employees found vendor carts in the parking lot giving away ice cream sundaes courtesy of the management, breakfast buffet one day a week; an exercise room; and more). If you had down time, there was plenty to do and none of it had anything to do with WORK.
It's called morale building. When the WORK had to be done, it got done with efficiency and in good spirits.
Your post sounds like sour grapes. Maybe you should look for another line of WORK.
Posted by Bob Harker on March 2, 2011 - 2:14pm
Private sector employees would be sent home if there was no work to be done.
Just another example of what unions have become.
BTW, who bought the TV being used at a place of work? Taxpayers, most likely. I don't have a TV to watch while being paid to perform WORK.
I think i figured out what
I think i figured out what the tea party and some of the regular right wing posters on this site want for the public sector.
VOLUNTEERS
there we go, cut and dry, don't pay them anything and that way it wont "waste" taxpayer dollars keeping the roads plowed during snowstorms, paved in the summer, police services, and well since we dont need government anyways we don't even need to staff the offices.