Deja Vu All Over Again; Columbus Castings Woes, Memories of Dana-Spicer, Toledo Knows and That is Th
The plan would be to allow Columbus Castings to maintain their workforce for a period of time if the deal that they are currently going for through the stimulus's as well as key players exercising their stock options.
Personal Story and Pride in All Work!
This request comes from my heart because many years ago my dad was laid off from Dana Spicer in Toledo, Ohio. because my r that worked at Dana Corporation for close to 25 years. The look on his face, coming from a second generation factory worker, told of a man that was encapsulated with worry and remorse.
Before he said anything when he got us together, I grabbed his hand and I said, "it will be okay." His hand was huge compared to mine at the time. It told of stories, cuts, splinters, huge fingers with knuckles that were cut and scarred from all the steel that would be shot out from using the tooling to get the gears 'perfect.' My dad, unlikely as it sounds, was a brute force type of personality, but when it came to his work, it had to be close to perfect that he could possibly make it.
Sounds funny doesn't it, a factory worker that was striving for perfection all the time. You would have never known it when working on something his M.O. was to not to 'massage' it in so you don't mishap or broke what you are not able to visualize, nope hammer it home with a huge smack or a vigorous jerk. Completely different when it came to 'his work' and his product of his work. He once told me of being chewed out by a foreman because of the number of pieces that were in his 'completed' metal cart that was shown the shift production for each machine operator was less than others. At the same time, his scrap cart contained a sizeable difference than his peers.
A Foreman that was keeping tally on the production saw the obvious differences, and questioned my dad on what the hell was going on?! "Harvey, you are not making enough pieces and you are wasting too much product!" My dad responded with "I don't make crap, I make a perfect gear that measures exactly on the tolerances when measured by Micro Calipers." The gears were constantly verified using a micro-calipers (there was some lee-away for tolerances) The foreman said, "Who the F do you think you are, You are not making G D Mona Lisas!?!?!?!?!?!" My dad said "To me, I am!!!!! Go bug someone else to make your crap gears, I only make the best! Are you done messing with me so I can make the quota for the shift or do you have any other dumb ass questions?" The foreman said, what did you just say to me?" My dad told him again "Go away and ask why these guys why they make so much crap?" The Foreman realized that he is not going to make my dad change his perception of his work, shook his head and walked away.
Now, none of that mattered, ZF bought Dana and they were looking to split Dana up as soon as possible to sell the assets. At the same time, they vehemently denied of doing such a thing. Keep in mind those that were laid off had over 20 years there! My dad thought, with attaining the PhD. Emeritus in Hard Knocks and Working Man Cum Laude was almost sure that the courtesy of his loyalty to the 'plant' that they would wait to give him the courtesy of 25 years and a full pension. Whatever was the reason, was a moot point now to our family. went to do what he was doing prior to and during when he was working as a machinist, it was house painting. Also, unfortunately, he took up the bad habit of smoking at the same time.
His fallback opportunity was what he had done growing up back when he was mixing blocks of lead in the paint (yes they used to do that, to thicken the paint) with his grandfather and carrying the wooden ladders, it was back to painting. That was his weekend job and sometimes full-time job while any downtime he could find to make a buck while working at the plant. The unfortunate consequences of having too much time on his hands thinking about his bills and his future, he took to his only vice, cigarette smoking. He had quit in the past, but he did not drink, gamble, etc, and this was his 'little' pleasure.
I am sure as I am writing this, there are people there that take great pride in their work as well as those that have many years invested. That are looking forward to the next parts of their lives where they are able to enjoy all their efforts. There are others that are just learning where all the processes and how business is completed in the Columbus Castings way. We need to keep them doing just that, we need to back them as a being a key 'gear' in the bigger picture.
I am going to share this as much as possible, please do the same, please discuss and share the message. Close to 800 people that have just more than just the monetary like mortgages, leases, loans, etc. but relationships, friendships, associations, congregations and those that depend on them.
I am figuring worldwide and I do mean worldwide with The Ohio State University Alum and the like, Football Followers, Major Health Facilities, Major Fashion, Technology, Research, Defense and all the other industries and philanthropies that Columbus has embraced, we should be able to come up with a plan to keep these jobs.
(Part of the Business Plan for the Columbus Chill was if that it did not pan out financially, it would be taken care of by the city) FYI just a thought.
COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Columbus Castings could close its doors for good if efforts to sell the foundry prove unsuccessful.
Workers were informed about the possibility on Wednesday and could be given formal notice as early as Thursday, human resources manager Nick Crandall toldColumbus Business First.
Under the federal WARN act, employers with more than 100 workers must give 60-day notice before major layoffs or closings. Columbus Castings employs around 750 people.
The company said they are in talks with a potential buyer who would keep the foundry running.
http://nbc4i.com/2016/04/21/columbus-castings-warn...
Recent Comments
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Thanks for sharing.