Longer Press Runs, Looking For Busy Work Means Unemployment

DOWNSIZING: Definition from http://whatis.techtarget.com

In a business enterprise, downsizing is reducing the number of employees on the operating payroll. Some users distinguish downsizing from a layoff , with downsizing intended to be a permanent downscaling and a layoff intended to be a temporary downscaling in which employees may later be rehired. Businesses use several techniques in downsizing, including providing incentives to take early retirement and transfer to subsidiary companies, but the most common technique is to simply terminate the employment of a certain number of people.

Rightsizing is downsizing in the belief that an enterprise really should operate with fewer people.

Dumbsizing is downsizing that, in retrospect, failed to achieve the desired effect.

In today's economic climate downsizing, layoffs, terminations, shutdowns, bankruptcy, liquidations, et al are a fact of life early in the 21st Century. Just mention recession (or the possibility of) and belts tighten, spending slows. Reduction in spending means lost jobs. Lost jobs means unemployment; loss of home; homelessness.

Alan Greenspan said the word 'recession' and the belts tightened a notch. Dubya said it too. 'Mistakenly' slip in the word 'depression' and that belt swiftly slipped up around our necks while the trap door opened below our feet. The sheep were rounded up and one by one led to slaughter.

I've been laid off before but never due to economic hardship. I've been homeless three times - twice due to my own economic hardship but not the hardship of corporate.

It was during great economic times, a very profitable time for the company I was working for in Niles, Michigan that was the start of what would lead to my second experience with homelessness in less than four years.

Business was booming; presses were booked solid and customers were ordering more versions due to more stores opening. Larger orders meant longer press runs some of which could be running for weeks at a time until the next version change for another region of the country. More drugstores were being built; more big box stores were opening; more superstores were being built meaning more Grand Openings. Press run quantities grew from 350,000 per version to press runs of 1 million, 2 million, 3 million per version until a plate change or two or all were changed to start up a new version.

With press runs that large meant no work for pre-press. My work of stripping, proofing, plating all versions was down. No work would be coming into my department for weeks until press scheduling was close to opening up. Until that happened, I was there for probable problems. Cracked, scratched or worn plates that needed remade, answering phones, fielding questions, helping with QC in the pressroom.

It was also a great opportunity to pull needed maintainance on the processors, do inventory, box and send film back to the customer and, of course, make lunch runs for the guys in the pressroom.

My job was fast paced. The film would be delivered before my shift or mid-shift and I had to have the job completely stripped, proofed and one or two versions plated and ready for the pressroom before I left in the morning. Sometimes I had to go to the airport and pick up the film. Grab and go. Always a lightning speed turn-around. Easy to do on a 12-hour shift. Tough and more pressure on an 8-hour shift.

After the first year, I worked alone. There were two night shifts (B & D) and two day shifts (A & C). Ed on D-shift quit and moved back to California so that left me, Karen and Tom. The twelve hour shifts were eliminated leaving me still on night shift for 8 hours, 5 days a week and on call on the weekends. Tom and Karen shared day shift.

In the meantime, the company purchased a third C-700 heat-set press. These monster presses hold register at 65 mph with a 66-inch web. At 65 mph one roll of paper lasts 15 to 20 minutes before the second roll of paper is spliced in. Each press costs $8 million and this press was the third to be put on line in four years.

Presses are custom built but we needed another one fast. We couldn't wait a year. We needed it now! Fortunately, another company canceled its order so we bought the one custom built for them but it would be several months before it would be up.

The Niles plant was the satelite division of the corporate office located in Greenville, Michigan near Grand Rapids. We had all the new toys; the big toys, the high speed-high production toys. All was money.

Production revenue was consistent with a 25% gain EVERY QUARTER and the employees shared in the gain. Quarterly, my check for the gain (gain sharing not profit sharing) averaged $350 after taxes. Only during one quarter did the employees not get a gain sharing check. We met the 25% gain (at the Niles division) but a costly production error at corporate lost it for all of us.

Solution suggested by the Niles employees was to have separate accounts for the gain. Niles versus Greenville. It worked. We got our checks consistently again. Corporate didn't.

It was during the peak time in the press room and the down time in pre-press while waiting on getting the new press delivered and online that I received a three-month notice that I was being laid off. I was the last hired in and other than Tom, had the most experience.

Four supervisors in the press room (the press room was still operating four 12-hour shifts) protested my lay-off to my department supervisor, the plant GM to the president of the company to no avail. My last day to work was to be December 31.

I got a sterling letter of recommendation from my department supervisor and, fortunately, plenty of time to financially prepare myself.

Michigan unemployment paid me $261.00 a week. Very good for 1993, but I was making $13.65 an hour plus overtime.

I went on interviews but web-offset printing companies were scarce in Western Michigan and Northern Indiana. I knew I would have to relocate to find work in my field. Printing and publishing was all I really knew. Being a journeyman didn't help much.

I have told people for years that people don't choose to be homeless. Maybe I did or maybe it would have been inevitable once the unemployment and any money I saved ran out. My lease on the house I was renting was ready to expire so I gave notice, put my stuff in storage and slept in the car, in my storage and occasionally at my mom's. She moved to Michigan two years prior but her lease stipulated that no one could stay with a tenant longer than two weeks.

Four months later, I moved back to Ohio where a job was waiting for me in Jackson Township (Canton).

And regarding that third press line..... it was up and running shortly before I left Michigan and someone had to be hired to fill the vacancy from my layoff.

Read the last two lines of the definition above regarding rightsizing and dumbsizing.