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John Deere workers on strike

Landslide said:
So you’re pumping out more tires than your co worker or?!?
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Yea. Paid per tire. If you walk up and we just talk for 30 mins, I didn't make a dime in that time period. I built 330 on Monday with 0.9 hours downtime, he built 215 with 0 downtime.

To each his own. He likes to talk and take all his breaks and loaf around, and working OT is fun because he doesn't want to be at home. I only take a quick lunch, despise OT, and when I'm on my machine my ear buds are FUCKING PANTERA at max volume.
 
45acp said:
Yea. Paid per tire. If you walk up and we just talk for 30 mins, I didn't make a dime in that time period. I built 330 on Monday with 0.9 hours downtime, he built 215 with 0 downtime.

To each his own. He likes to talk and take all his breaks and loaf around, and working OT is fun because he doesn't want to be at home. I only take a quick lunch, despise OT, and when I'm on my machine my ear buds are FUCKING PANTERA at max volume.
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Sounds tiring.:flipoff2:
 
45acp said:
Yea. Paid per tire. If you walk up and we just talk for 30 mins, I didn't make a dime in that time period. I built 330 on Monday with 0.9 hours downtime, he built 215 with 0 downtime.

To each his own. He likes to talk and take all his breaks and loaf around, and working OT is fun because he doesn't want to be at home. I only take a quick lunch, despise OT, and when I'm on my machine my ear buds are FUCKING PANTERA at max volume.
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That’s the biggest issue we have, no bonus for doing good work. The job pays a certain rate whether you’re good or not. The only way to make more is through overtime so there’s no reason to be efficient.
 
arse_sidewards said:
That probably ain't great for you but it's probably a hell of a lot better than not working your ass off.
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Working at the same place 29 years, I've made some observations.

I've seen alot of older lazy guys get worn out and have all the surgeries. I've seen bust asses wear out at about the same rate as the non- bust asses. It seems just being on the concrete floor wears you out the same no matter if you're piddling or physically getting after it.

Fuck it... if I'm gonna be crippled at 60 either way I want my money AND as much time off work as I can get.
 
45acp said:
Yea. Paid per tire. If you walk up and we just talk for 30 mins, I didn't make a dime in that time period. I built 330 on Monday with 0.9 hours downtime, he built 215 with 0 downtime.

To each his own. He likes to talk and take all his breaks and loaf around, and working OT is fun because he doesn't want to be at home. I only take a quick lunch, despise OT, and when I'm on my machine my ear buds are FUCKING PANTERA at max volume.
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How do you find the time to post on here during work hours? :flipoff2:
 
Void_of_Light said:
That’s the biggest issue we have, no bonus for doing good work. The job pays a certain rate whether you’re good or not. The only way to make more is through overtime so there’s no reason to be efficient.
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45acp said:
Days off, I'm asleep 5 minutes after I get in bed. Work days I'm asleep 5 minutes before I get in bed.
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meanwhile this morning I'm laying there staring at the clock at 3am thinking about how much it's gonna suck to get up at 5

I can just lay there with my eyes closed for 5-6 hours if I ain't properly wore out
 
45acp said:
Working at the same place 29 years, I've made some observations.

I've seen alot of older lazy guys get worn out and have all the surgeries. I've seen bust asses wear out at about the same rate as the non- bust asses. It seems just being on the concrete floor wears you out the same no matter if you're piddling or physically getting after it.

Fuck it... if I'm gonna be crippled at 60 either way I want my money AND as much time off work as I can get.
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Sidetrack.... you got an exit strategy?

When I was a kid I watched my grandpa's tinker on all kinds of stuff, get old enough to retire, take vacations in Hawaii and do consulting. Then I turned 16, got jobs in auto shops and realized that blue collar guys often work themselves to death, half crippled in their 50s 60s and 70s still punching a clock. I'm doing my damnedest to not get myself into that spot:eek:
 
Projectjunkie said:
Sidetrack.... you got an exit strategy?

When I was a kid I watched my grandpa's tinker on all kinds of stuff, get old enough to retire, take vacations in Hawaii and do consulting. Then I turned 16, got jobs in auto shops and realized that blue collar guys often work themselves to death, half crippled in their 50s 60s and 70s still punching a clock. I'm doing my damnedest to not get myself into that spot:eek:
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No exit strategy yet, but very open to it. Just cant.... think of something I wouldn't mind doing that would pay enough to be worth doing. If that makes sense.

What I do know is ill never fully retire. Never. I've watched guys retire (job 1) and get a piddling 30hr job they liked and live a great life. And then fully retire and fall off a fucking cliff.

My dad is prime example. 40 years at a factory, retired and got laid back part time county maintenance job. Mowing ditches on backroads, cab tractor with AC, 3 or 4 eight hour shifts a week and half that time spent in the shop drinking coffee. Doing great. Quit that and went fully retired when our son was born 2015 and literally turned into Biden 2 months later his mental and physical decline was noticeable to people other than us. Maybe it was just timing, or maybe not. Either way I've convinced myself (in one form or another) I'll work till I die.
 
45acp said:
No exit strategy yet, but very open to it. Just cant.... think of something I wouldn't mind doing that would pay enough to be worth doing. If that makes sense.

What I do know is ill never fully retire. Never. I've watched guys retire (job 1) and get a piddling 30hr job they liked and live a great life. And then fully retire and fall off a fucking cliff.

My dad is prime example. 40 years at a factory, retired and got laid back part time county maintenance job. Mowing ditches on backroads, cab tractor with AC, 3 or 4 eight hour shifts a week and half that time spent in the shop drinking coffee. Doing great. Quit that and went fully retired when our son was born 2015 and literally turned into Biden 2 months later his mental and physical decline was noticeable to people other than us. Maybe it was just timing, or maybe not. Either way I've convinced myself (in one form or another) I'll work till I die.
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Yeah, I don't plan on ever "retiring", I assume I'll find a gravy gig like that or hustle until I physically can't. I bought my last car trailer with the intentions of using it into my 60s wheeling and dealing:laughing:

I sometimes think of cool retirement hustles, like picking 5 transmissions to rebuild on the bench and getting the tooling for them. Customer backs up to my 1 bay tranny shop, slide the door open, run the powered crane on the trolley out, pick up the tranny, run it into the shop onto the bench and close the door before all the ac gets out. Don't call me, I'll let you know when it's done:laughing:

Or upholstery, or something like that.

Somebody mentioned there was a guy that rebuilds samurai transfer cases, that's his thing. Seems like an easy way to make $350 on days you feel like working

I'll keep my cdl current in case that ever seems like a good idea. I thought it'd be cool to get some crane certs and be a traveling guy for 5 years. Time will tell:homer:

Anyways, glad to hear that you're not gonna work yourself to death:beer:
 
Projectjunkie said:
Anyways, glad to hear that you're not gonna work yourself to death:beer:
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Oh no, I'm definitely going to work myself to death. It's just the plan is to slow it waaay down. Bid on an easier (lower paying) job at the plant, ride it till it's time... "retire" and get the fun-ish job and do that until I can't move anymore. At which point I'll hopefully have a chip in my head that I can just click on the *opt out tab.
 
45acp said:
At which point I'll hopefully have a chip in my head that I can just click on the *opt out tab.
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dr38.jpeg
 
Projectjunkie said:
Yeah, I don't plan on ever "retiring", I assume I'll find a gravy gig like that or hustle until I physically can't. I bought my last car trailer with the intentions of using it into my 60s wheeling and dealing:laughing:

I sometimes think of cool retirement hustles, like picking 5 transmissions to rebuild on the bench and getting the tooling for them. Customer backs up to my 1 bay tranny shop, slide the door open, run the powered crane on the trolley out, pick up the tranny, run it into the shop onto the bench and close the door before all the ac gets out. Don't call me, I'll let you know when it's done:laughing:

Or upholstery, or something like that.

Somebody mentioned there was a guy that rebuilds samurai transfer cases, that's his thing. Seems like an easy way to make $350 on days you feel like working
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There was an old fart around here who had a lil shop like that. Just building rear ends for trucks. He stayed busy
 
There’s some local guys that pick a vehicle to focus on doing rebuilders.
One does ford Fiestas. Another did Cobalts until they ran out and then switched to the Cruze.
It’s not uncommon for people around here to drive 50 miles one way to work, those cheap commuter cars sell well.
 
Another round of layoffs. This time it’s all salary positions.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Last week John Deere announced it would be cutting some salaried positions due to a decline in agricultural equipment sales, and Wednesday, those employees learned their fate.

According to a WARN notice on the Iowa Workforce Development website, John Deere let go of 69 employees in Waterloo and 34 employees in Davenport.

Des Moines hopes road construction helps long-term infrastructure goals
In a statement, the company said the layoffs were due to three factors: significant economic challenges, rising operational costs, and reduced customer demand. John Deere Sales are down 20% this year and net income is down 17%.


Deere says its laid-off workers could receive up to 12 months of severance pay and compensation for unused vacation or paid time off, and job placement help.

WARN notice records show that in 2024, John Deere eliminated 1,473 manufacturing positions in mass layoffs at its facilities in the state.
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1800 laid off so far this year.

Before this week's cuts, Deere had slashed about 1,830 production workers in Ankeny, Dubuque, Ottumwa, Urbandale, Waterloo and the Quad Cities’ Davenport and East Moline, Illinois, plants, as well as at an Urbandale research center.
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Projectjunkie said:
Yeah, I don't plan on ever "retiring", I assume I'll find a gravy gig like that or hustle until I physically can't. I bought my last car trailer with the intentions of using it into my 60s wheeling and dealing:laughing:

I sometimes think of cool retirement hustles, like picking 5 transmissions to rebuild on the bench and getting the tooling for them. Customer backs up to my 1 bay tranny shop, slide the door open, run the powered crane on the trolley out, pick up the tranny, run it into the shop onto the bench and close the door before all the ac gets out. Don't call me, I'll let you know when it's done:laughing:

Or upholstery, or something like that.

Somebody mentioned there was a guy that rebuilds samurai transfer cases, that's his thing. Seems like an easy way to make $350 on days you feel like working

I'll keep my cdl current in case that ever seems like a good idea. I thought it'd be cool to get some crane certs and be a traveling guy for 5 years. Time will tell:homer:

Anyways, glad to hear that you're not gonna work yourself to death:beer:
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My job isn’t physical at all except for walking up a flight of stairs to my office :flipoff2: I haven’t really had a physical job since I turned wrenches in the 80’s and early 90’s and that wasn’t really tough physically. I was somewhat physical when I had a welding job in 2014-2016 (year off licking my wounds from crash in there) then operated a waterjet table for couple years but that wasn’t really physical imo with forklifts and overhead crane. I was in good shape tho.

Currently I’m in office most of the time mixed in with traveling to various states. I do maintain a CDL and will make some runs to help off set the crazy cost of a hotshot haul. And then the occasional trip like last week to oversee a big project for a few days.

I’ll work here as long as I can or possible and this will be my last full time job I believe at this point. I’ll do part time after that as I know not working is what will put the end to you. We are built to work to keep our mind, body and soul at peace even with the aggravation you have to put up with.

Your health is very important part of the equation also, I know people my age that can’t do anything in life anymore and that’s sad to see. Most of it is self inflicted, like ignorance of managing diabetes. It’s horrible to see what that does to someone not keeping control of it. I have a certain frame of mind on things if I get to that point where there’s no return to a functioning life. I believe staying active as much as possible is the best thing you can do for yourself.

As far as a physical job for a living goes, I saw the old timers in the shop I worked in back in the days and how it made them age out before their time. I decided back then to change my life and at the same time, an opportunity opened up that I took advantage of and never looked back. I watched every one of those guys pass away before their time from health reasons. Was it work related? Don’t know, but it made me notice and think about it. I think some people can handle stuff like that and others not so much. We’re not all built the same way for sure.

Stay positive and keep it pointed in the wind.
 
gunracer1 said:
ill take "things that never happened to him" for 1000 Alex. just another attention whore wanting clicks, is my bet.
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We have a new marketing firm and all of the employees are posting with regularity about work life balance on social media from official accounts.
Their performance is questionable at this point in time and it's turning into a bfd.
 
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