‘Giving 100 Percent’ And Getting Fired In Return
He had an exceptional matrix. He had numerous recommendations in his folder from several supervisors. There were truck drivers that would not let any one else work on their truck but my husband. He never called in sick, went in when he was sick so the shift would not suffer. He was the head of the safety board which I think in the end was what ended up to be his downfall. He and I had talked about him getting off the safety board when he returned from his day off because the things he had wrote up to be fixed had not been done and serious accidents had been happening and he knew that there was paperwork to back up these people’s claims but the originals had disappeared.
Before I get ahead of myself there is one thing that happened before his fall. There was a supervisor’s job that came up that was only posted in-house. It was for 1st shift. Only 3 people went up for this job: my husband and 2 others. The other people were not qualified for several reasons. One had just gotten off of a step 1 and his matrix was terrible and the other worked on the trailer side and the job was for the truck side. Everyone pretty much knew that my husband had the job. The people he interviewed with told him he had done exceptionally well on the interview. Their names were [names withheld], Sorry don’t know their last names.
What we didn’t know was that the guys on first shift had gotten together and signed a petition that said if my husband came to their shift they would all transfer. My husband believes in giving 100 percent and when he cashes his check he feels as though he has earned it. He also knows how first shift works because he has worked 2nd shift for years and has had to clean up their messes because the majority of 1st shift are screw ups and they’d rather hide for 8 hours than work. They knew if my husband came to that shift that they would have to work.
The very next day after his “Exceptional Interview” he was called n the office and told he did not get the job because he was not a people person. My husband just said okay and left. He had a safety meeting that he had to go to.
In this safety meeting there were only 3 people that were required to attend and my husband said “Come on Guy’s, let’s not wait till the end of the shift to clean up the bays or after your own self. “Sh** ya’ll are kids that have to be told to pick up your stuff.”
That ONE word that everybody in that shop uses everyday 1000 times offended one of those men. The word “Sh**” got my husband fired. They all wrote statements to the fact that he did indeed say the word and when you are hired by Wal-Mart you are told about those kinds of words in orientation. So he was sent to the house immediately.
The position is still not filled.
It was not because he said a naughty word. It was because he always kept a copy of his safety meetings and a copy of every thing he wrote up and every accident that happened because nothing ever got fixed. People got hurt badly by falling down into the bay area and well I could go on and on but let’s just say there was never any paperwork to say that it was a hazard and that this problem was supposed to be written up to be fixed. I sincerely hope that President Elect Obama signs the bill that will allow Wal-Mart Employees to have the right to have a union behind them. They deserve so much better than what they have now – which is nothing! My husband found a job in less than a week but there is a shortage of diesel mechanics in this area. My heart goes out every time I see the checkers at the stores – all the employees that have to put up with the B.S. that is dealt them on a daily basis. May God be with each and every one of them.
—Terry Campbell Morton
P.S. To Lee Scott and the Waltons – The underground bunker you have will become your grave!
