Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 1606

affirmative action

this is atom_bomb.....on hubbies computer


-Last year, I found my self in a position that I needed a second job. I sighned on to do some dry wall finishing for a company named Tesoro corp.
During my interview, they told me the basis to their company was to sighn on as many minorities and women as they could because it allowed them to get government contracts, with out throwing in the cheapist bids because new government policy incouraged affirmative action above all else.
Well, I worked with about 30 others on a base where they were building new barracks.
Most all of them were not skilled for the job, I found myself in a position of authority, which I was in no way qualified for by most standards.
Things like spotting screws, one of the basic chores of dry wall finishing, was being done wrong. For those of you who know dry wall, screws were sticking out of the wall a half inch with drywall mud on them.
Whole walls had to be redone the work was so fucked up.
They didnt have to earn their job so I guess they didnt try to produce and infact were setting the job back, the government found them selves paying for substandard work, that had to be removed and done again.
Twice the materials, twice the pay. your [tax payers] money.
There were about 6 of us who did our work professionaly, the poor guy in charge Mike [a well skilled black guy] had to take all the blame for the quality, but they wouldnt let him fire or hire anyone.
I quit because it was just idiotic, frustraiting, and draining.
15.00 an hour wasnt even worth it.
Others including Mike followed.


I admit affirmative action was once needed, I think now it is grounds for work that is not quality and workers that do not value their job and do not try to achieve at their highest ability.
If we hold high standards most will rise to meet those standards, the rest can make my hamburger.

[This message has been edited by splAt (edited 08-23-2000).]

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: London Town
Posts: 240

quote:

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Originally posted by splAt:


If we hold high standards most will rise to meet those standards, the rest can make my hamburger.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 4501

Amen, I say, amen.

A few years ago, a friend of mine applied for an upper-management position at a huge research library. His competition was a man from China who barely spoke or wrote English well, and knew nothing about libraries. When my friend was hired, the management team spent 2 weeks justifying why they hired the white man, rather than the asian man. My friend, by the way, had 5 years of research library management experience.

wtf?

As a woman, I would NEVER want to be hired for a job based on quotas. I want to be hired because I am the best person for that position. I would honestly be ashamed to find out that any job was given to me (and I say given, rather than earned) based on affirmative action legislation.

Isn't there some place in the middle where we can all meet and agree? Why must we swing from one extreme to the next? Where are our values? Do we value diversity over safety? Over knowledgeability? Over a job well-done? Over honesty?

I have many other horror stories to tell, but I won't waste bandwidth.

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