Diversity
Without trying to start anything ugly on the forums i will say what my experience is with diversity is. I once put in for a job after i got out of the military at a fortune 500 company. I worked on F-16s in the Air Force for 10 years and applied for a mechanics job and was told that i met all the criteria to be hired and that i would be the next white person hired.
I asked the man what he meant and he told me point blank that he had to hire a black person because they had to keep a certain number of minorities whether color or gender in the plant at all times to keep getting government subsidies. When he told me that i would be the next white person hired i laughed and told him where to shove it in less than polite terms. I was beyond mad. Im really lucky i did not go to jail that is how mad i was.
About 12 years later i was the lead electrician for a company and the project manager quit and i put in for his job. The job was based on 4 categories. 1 time being at the company. 2 skill level. I was a 4 skill level because i was at top pay and had a degree in facility maintenance and passed 35 test for the company to move to top pay. Plus i am a journeyman in NC for facilities maintenance. 3 yearly evaluations. I also beat the person out in that category because i wrote his evaluation. 4 the last thing was attendance i have/had perfect attendance for the last 12 years at the company.
When i asked how the person beat me when we went by the criteria in the manual for the company the first thing he asked me was how i knew what the manual said. I laughed at him and told him i have a copy of it that the person before you gave me when i was hired. His face just fell to a blank. Then he had the audacity to ask me for my copy. I told him i would be more than willing to run a copy for him so he knew what the rules were. He looked like i slapped him.
He then told me that i was making more than 10 dollars an hour more than the person who took the job and that it should not bother me. He then told me that if i got hired who would do the work.
Then he told me that per year i make more than anybody at the company including him. I just looked at him and told him the difference between you and me is i work for my money.
After this happened i was no longer the ideal employee. I had received the employee of the year 3 of the last 5 years. I remember being out on bereavement because my wifes Mom and Dad died and they called me to fix an overhead crane. I listened to what they told me and told them that the ground wire was either unplugged or loose. Every time they touched the engine head they would get shocked. I told them its a bad ground. They asked me to come in and fix it so i told them to have the lift at the crane when i get their and had it fixed in about 5 minuets.
When i went back to work my check was short because they did not pay me for coming in over bereavement. The plant manager told me i was only there 5 minuets so he should not pay me the whole amount. The policy was 4 hours overtime if they called you in to work. I did not receive anything. I told the plant manager i dont care if you pay me or not that i drove 45 minuets each way thats up to you but since you didnt pay me for my 4 hours you now owe me 8. Pay me if you want but if you do not pay me call the project manager the one you gave the job too to come fix it. He paid me the 8 hours but he was not happy.
My boss could not install a receptacle. Its hard to believe but the plant manager and i never got along after that. LOL I got cancer and had to stop working.
It is nice that where i worked 2 managers from the company that i worked for have become plant managers and told me that i have a maintenance managers job anytime i want it. Sadly i am not able to work at the level i expect people to work at. 1 at the most 2 hours is all i have in a day to work. The next day i have to take off because im in to much pain. 5 or 6 hours is all that i have in a week.
This is why i do not believe in diversity. Some people experienced different things than i have. That does not make me right or wrong its just my opinion.
However if i owned my own company i would hire the person i could trust and the person that would make me the most money. The bottom line is profit.
I do understand that some people never get a chance because of race or gender and i think its wrong but you cant have it both ways. I hired a painter from our plant that was black to become an electrician. The plant manager was against it but i told him he is a hell of a worker give him 90 days like everybody else. He became one of my best employees.
Diversity is a double edged sword. I believe in the work of a man makes a man. That was how i was raised. For years i worked 60 hours a week on a slow week. 100 hours normal. Then i got passed up for a promotion because if they hired me who could do the work. Its life it is what it is.
The funny and sad part is my former project manager was going to fire the guy after his 90 days and i told him to give him a little longer that i have not had a chance to work with him because i was to busy. So he let him slide and it ended up biting me in the butt. Thats where nice guys finish. Just kidding. LOL
After cancer things does not matter as much as it used to. It changes your priority and view point.
I do not know how long i have been a member but im guessing 8 years or so and i have never said a bad word about anybody on this forum thats just the person that i am. Im not going to argue with somebody i cant see thats just stupid. This is just my experience on what has happened to me in life. Everyone else has had a different experience so your thoughts may be different that does not make either wrong. Just different opinions formed from different experiences.
I asked the man what he meant and he told me point blank that he had to hire a black person because they had to keep a certain number of minorities whether color or gender in the plant at all times to keep getting government subsidies. When he told me that i would be the next white person hired i laughed and told him where to shove it in less than polite terms. I was beyond mad. Im really lucky i did not go to jail that is how mad i was.
About 12 years later i was the lead electrician for a company and the project manager quit and i put in for his job. The job was based on 4 categories. 1 time being at the company. 2 skill level. I was a 4 skill level because i was at top pay and had a degree in facility maintenance and passed 35 test for the company to move to top pay. Plus i am a journeyman in NC for facilities maintenance. 3 yearly evaluations. I also beat the person out in that category because i wrote his evaluation. 4 the last thing was attendance i have/had perfect attendance for the last 12 years at the company.
When i asked how the person beat me when we went by the criteria in the manual for the company the first thing he asked me was how i knew what the manual said. I laughed at him and told him i have a copy of it that the person before you gave me when i was hired. His face just fell to a blank. Then he had the audacity to ask me for my copy. I told him i would be more than willing to run a copy for him so he knew what the rules were. He looked like i slapped him.
He then told me that i was making more than 10 dollars an hour more than the person who took the job and that it should not bother me. He then told me that if i got hired who would do the work.
Then he told me that per year i make more than anybody at the company including him. I just looked at him and told him the difference between you and me is i work for my money.
After this happened i was no longer the ideal employee. I had received the employee of the year 3 of the last 5 years. I remember being out on bereavement because my wifes Mom and Dad died and they called me to fix an overhead crane. I listened to what they told me and told them that the ground wire was either unplugged or loose. Every time they touched the engine head they would get shocked. I told them its a bad ground. They asked me to come in and fix it so i told them to have the lift at the crane when i get their and had it fixed in about 5 minuets.
When i went back to work my check was short because they did not pay me for coming in over bereavement. The plant manager told me i was only there 5 minuets so he should not pay me the whole amount. The policy was 4 hours overtime if they called you in to work. I did not receive anything. I told the plant manager i dont care if you pay me or not that i drove 45 minuets each way thats up to you but since you didnt pay me for my 4 hours you now owe me 8. Pay me if you want but if you do not pay me call the project manager the one you gave the job too to come fix it. He paid me the 8 hours but he was not happy.
My boss could not install a receptacle. Its hard to believe but the plant manager and i never got along after that. LOL I got cancer and had to stop working.
It is nice that where i worked 2 managers from the company that i worked for have become plant managers and told me that i have a maintenance managers job anytime i want it. Sadly i am not able to work at the level i expect people to work at. 1 at the most 2 hours is all i have in a day to work. The next day i have to take off because im in to much pain. 5 or 6 hours is all that i have in a week.
This is why i do not believe in diversity. Some people experienced different things than i have. That does not make me right or wrong its just my opinion.
However if i owned my own company i would hire the person i could trust and the person that would make me the most money. The bottom line is profit.
I do understand that some people never get a chance because of race or gender and i think its wrong but you cant have it both ways. I hired a painter from our plant that was black to become an electrician. The plant manager was against it but i told him he is a hell of a worker give him 90 days like everybody else. He became one of my best employees.
Diversity is a double edged sword. I believe in the work of a man makes a man. That was how i was raised. For years i worked 60 hours a week on a slow week. 100 hours normal. Then i got passed up for a promotion because if they hired me who could do the work. Its life it is what it is.
The funny and sad part is my former project manager was going to fire the guy after his 90 days and i told him to give him a little longer that i have not had a chance to work with him because i was to busy. So he let him slide and it ended up biting me in the butt. Thats where nice guys finish. Just kidding. LOL
After cancer things does not matter as much as it used to. It changes your priority and view point.
I do not know how long i have been a member but im guessing 8 years or so and i have never said a bad word about anybody on this forum thats just the person that i am. Im not going to argue with somebody i cant see thats just stupid. This is just my experience on what has happened to me in life. Everyone else has had a different experience so your thoughts may be different that does not make either wrong. Just different opinions formed from different experiences.
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Government type contracts work the same way, minorities and women get moved to top of the list for awarded contracts.Just the way it is, more qualified or not.
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We had three in all the time I worked for the govt. contractor. One was a fair machinist, one girl caused trouble and sued the company.. and the last worked for me as a janitor on nights. He was worthless and the owner wanted him gone. So one night I put a box on a bench , ran some fish line over the air lines overhead. He was hanging on his broom and ask me what the box was for. It had holes in it. I was across the shop and yelled over it was my pet snake. I pulled the line and the box moved. He moved fast , so I came over , slid my hand under the box and pulled out a black rubber snake. He ran up the aisle, ran outside and we never seen him again. Problem solved. 0 -
dav1965, I have been member for quite some time now. Mostly a reader more than writer and it is easy to see why you are one of most respected guys on Forum after reading your topics.
A small similar story. I had a friend at West Point in the 57th MP's in mid 60's just before I was discharged. He was E6, gung-ho, married with two kids, great husband and father. Commendations up the yang yang. He took the NY State Police exam and scored a 99. He was told they could not hire him because there were too many Minorities ahead of him. He was very depressed because he was due to be discharged in about a month I think and almost Re-uped. He went up to Connecticut shortly there after and took the SP exam with a perfect score and was hired as a Connecticut State Trooper. When one door slams shut another opens.3 -
I think you have an HR problem.
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The purpose of diversity was NEVER about diversity. The purpose of diversity is to gather votes.
In the elusive real world the logical choice is the most qualified based on skills.0 -
"I have given you a government that looks like you." --- Al Gore Jr 0
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