So what are my options

[petasux]

This might be a long post.

About 6 weeks ago the company I work for came in and fired my supervisor in the middle of our busiest part of the year.They replaced him with another guy and it somehow moved me up to the senior tech on the site as Ive been there the longest and know everything and everyone concerned with the operation of the site.

We have one guy above us, hes not technically in the production end, hes just supposed to take care of ordering and other paperwork.Hes the one that raised hell and got my old supervisor fired near as I can tell because we were doing things his way.This new supervisors worried about upsetting him as a result and doesnt want to make waves.Oddly enough the office guy is now trying to run things on the floor and has totally ignored his real job for a month and a half.As a result productions gone way down and the office is on my ass to get it back to where it should be and as soon as that started the guy took off for 2 weeks, hes due back Monday but he left a mess for us to try to deal with.

Since hes ignored his actual job Im out of everything, I have very few supplies left and some of them being hazardous chemicals take weeks to get.And 6 weeks ago I had a meeting with the office and gave them a list of things I needed, they gave it to him and told him to take care of it.Ive gotten none of it.One of the main things was actually the stands we use to work on the blades being broken and constantly neededing work done to them, its a big safety issue and I bring it up often to both my supervisor and this other guy.Its been very frustrating and honestly the last week Ive been thouroughly pissed off at both of them for these among other things.I cant keep production up without supplies and I wont risk my guys getting hurt anymore because they wont fix whats broken.

Friday everything came to a head.I had finshed all the repairs on a blade and was getting ready to move it, the stand broke yet again on the tip end and damaged the blade badly.We got the blade back up and tried to get the broken stand off it and it dropped again, almost breaking a guys hand and further damaging the blade.About the same time another guy asked if we had grinder disks, I said no were out and since he couldnt work without them he got mad and walked off the site.

About that time my supervisor walked in as well.I was well beyond pissed at this point and just started screaming.At the end of our argument I told him I was shutting the whole damn place down untill everything I wanted fixed was fixed, he told me I couldnt do it and told my guys to get back to work.They said they were with me, they werent gonna get killed to save a couple hundred dollars in maintainence bills.

He told me he had done everything he could do about it and the office guy had to get it approved, I told him that was BS and he knew it, he was standing there when the office approved everything I asked for and the guy wasnt doing his job as he seemed more worried about trying to do mine which he isnt very good at judging by the weekly production reports.

Oddly enough about that time the office guy called his cell phone and he told him what I was doing, he asked to talk to me and I told him I had other problems at the moment and didnt have time, but Monday morning we were gonna have a meeting with all three of us and if something wasnt resolved I was going to go over there heads and drag the office into this and Id have our safety people on the site by the end of the week looking at everything.

I then instructed my guys to move the finished blades out, bring the new ones in and leave them in the shipping stands and not to touch them untill they could do so safely.I then made my supervisor promise them they wouldnt be in trouble for it and I would take all the heat for it if it came down to it.They informed him if I got fired over this they would all walk out anyway so it didnt matter.

So Monday I have a few choices:

Quit
Get fired
Drag the safety people into it and hope I am in the right on this
Go way over everyones heads and call the company president and hope he takes my side

Before I left for the day I did go around and take pics of all the safety violations in case someone decides to change things around over the weekend to make it look better.Theres someone from higher up in the office flying in Tuesday anyway and she used to be the company safety coordinator, she also likes me so she may find the pics interesting if nothing else LOL.

[sachiko]

The "Get Fired" option is probably not one of your options. That choice belongs to someone else. But if your crew is willing to stand behind you, your job is probably safe for the time being.

I showed this to my husband who has management experience and he says, even if you get your way, to be wary of getting stabbed in the back later on when they've figured out a way to do without you.


Our only hassle is Border Collies

[Kosherboy]

Quiting is never an option !

[The Rev]

Someone has to own the company, sounds to me like it's time they were aware of the situation. If your job is in jeopardy what to you have to lose, go over his head with the concern of life safety issues. After all if someone is injured or killed due to negligent oversight you could be liable in a law suit.

[Denny77]

Not sure I understand everything but it sounds as if your Super is aware of the problems. Get copies of requestions or any data you have passed up to him.
If he does nothing Monday about safety go over his head. I would tell him what I was going to do... I might even ask for permission. Make him make a decision. Keep cool ! Many times things that seem bad one minute go away the next. My favorite saying was , when dealing with higher up the chain, set up and knock down. Just like bowling. That really is your choice. Sounds like he is inexperienced and needs a little push.

if you get fired don't blame me.

[petasux]

I showed this to my husband who has management experience and he says, even if you get your way, to be wary of getting stabbed in the back later on when they've figured out a way to do without you.

Your husbands hit the nail on the head DLG, I cant actually get fired for refusing to work in unsafe conditions I dont think, theyve {the office}stressed repeatedly that if I think somethings not safe , not to do it no matter whos telling you to and you wont be reprimanded later for it.

But this guy already doesnt like me because I took sides with my old supervisor on different issues weve had in the last year or so, now hes gone and this guys got a serious problem with me, not because of my work or my production but because I have an opinion and dont kiss his butt like everyone else does.If I go over his head on this, which Im going to wind up doing, hes going to go out of his way to cause me trouble later.

Someone has to own the company, sounds to me like it's time they were aware of the situation. If your job is in jeopardy what to you have to lose, go over his head with the concern of life safety issues. After all if someone is injured or killed due to negligent oversight you could be liable in a law suit. Today 03:18 PM

If it not taken care of Monday, we just wont work, I can guarantee 2 of my 3 guys will stick with me on this.And Tuesday the office will be there so if nothings getting done then its all gonna be out in the open one way or the other.I remember training these guys I told them I wouldnt ask them to do anything I wont personally do, Im certainly not going to ask them to work on a 8000lb unstable wind turbine blade that could tip over or drop any time they have to move it.Liability is a concern but they cant get hurt if they refuse to work, Ive explained to them we could all be replaced and they know the consequences.

If he does nothing Monday about safety go over his head. I would tell him what I was going to do... I might even ask for permission. Make him make a decision. Keep cool ! Many times things that seem bad one minute go away the next. My favorite saying was , when dealing with higher up the chain, set up and knock down. Just like bowling. That really is your choice. Sounds like he is inexperienced and needs a little push

As I said, he already doesnt like me because of other issues, we run three buildings, mines the main one.But if the other two need something he will drop what hes doing and get it immediately, if I need something its always shoved to the back burner and can take weeks.This has been building up for a year and its time to get it over with one way or the other.

He has no experience at all with actual repair work, hes an overeducated moron who thinks his engineering degree means he knows how to keep things flowing smoothly.Only problem is all his ideas cost us production and man hours and the customers getting sick of it.

When he is gone to other sites or on his R&R for a weeks or two at a time I can actually greatly exceed my quota of repair work for the week, when he gets back everythings an argument and turns into mass confusion.I have a great crew that will do whatever I ask them, when hes around they have to listen to him and it cuts production in half.Its all in the paperwork that goes to the office every week if they ever look into it, the numbers dont lie.

My new supervisors also aware of this and since the customers not real happy anyway right now he knows if I leae the entire sites done, theyll be thrown off by winter time.He has actually told me this much in person, for some reason the guys were working for like me and my work, its the only reason were still on site.It will be interesting to see what he does tommorrow, he said he has my back but I dont know, I dont think hes got the cajones to force the issue if it comes down to it.


I was happy when I was just another employee, Im begining to find working in the management areas not really to my liking, these guys are like a pack of hyenas and someones always looking for a lead position, God only knows why cuz the pay raise isnt worth the headache.

[bawanajim]

I would stop at staples and buy a pocket recorder if you don't have one. Lay it on the table at the start of the meeting and turn it on and then speak to all that are there that you are recording the meeting for a record of what was being said.

Good luck, Jim

[The Rev]

Welcome to the world of management. I have four corporate CEO's of multi-million dollar corporations I have to keep track of their construction projects in budget and on time. Sometimes I wonder why in the world I took this job.

Today I have no financial burdens whatsoever, but my stress level if off the charts. Rarely is there ever a good trade off, for financial success, it comes with a price!

[James B]

REV. Many years ago, I was in that same boat. Blue Prints, sub contractors labor problems, you name it. One night I decided that it was that job or my sanity and I gave it up. Cost me a bundle and made me the happiest that I had ever been in my life. You are probably a better man than I was but I couldn't hack it anymore.

[emptyquiver2]

Looks like you should consider getting OSHA involved, to resolve your workplace safty issues.