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Post Info TOPIC: Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


That's right. Its's been a helluva few months. In the past four months the manager left, a cutter left, our good service case gal transferred and our wrapper transferred. Currently the team consists of a manager who was a clean-up four months ago, a semi-crippled clean-up, two post-retirement age counter people and the Meat Monkey--who is GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS ****!

So supervision has been all over the problem, sending help and working to get us some help, right? Oh hell no, they still walk in the store, wrinkle up their noses and start nit-picking the case and the paperwork. Are you kidding me? And you're wondering why people are quitting left and right?

Not sure how I'm going to survive this. I'm a good ten years from retirement, but my body ain't going to take a whole lot more of this. I have 32 years invested in this company and its hard to walk away from 5 weeks paid vacation and benefits but my back is about shot and my shoulder is sore and I'm starting get shooting pains up my forearm.

 

Send whiskey and prayers!

 



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Guru

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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


I am really glad to hear from you , but sorry to hear what you are dealing with. That story is becoming all too familiar with most of us. I remember when I worked 7 Days a week by myself for 2 years at one save a lot. Then I remember when I had help from a 92 year old man for 6 months. He was a nice guy, but there was only so much he could do, being so old a frail. A sad state our trade is in isn't it?

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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


meat monkey its good to gripe and uve an interest in your job,its cr£p getting old oh to be young again but youve qualities because you can see all those faults in mismanagement and lack of staff. just a suggestion why do you not try to be the manager and set down rules to higher up this is what i need , maybe you dont like paperwork or dealing with ppl not turning in but you do care why not guide people a bit and put feet up prob for 50c an hr more

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Veteran Member

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Posts: 445
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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


That will be my story the week before and week of Xmas. Its my shop and I got good people. The SMs pretty much leave me to my work and the M God and her demi gods will be in but only as a courtesy visit to tell us Merry Xmas.
It will suck working the 12/17-1/2 straight but hey , its the business I chose.

Ps. working 4a-6p on Christmas eve will be a hoot...



-- Edited by kbraker510 on Friday 2nd of December 2016 07:15:49 PM

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Veteran Member

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Posts: 227
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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


Yeah, I thought about management. They even twisted my arm a little--but at this point in my life I know who I am and who I'm not. I like to work, hard and fast, I like the craft, but I'm not an alpha male, I am not a social person and the thought of hiring and firing and disciplining and conferencing and politicking and training and training and training and training just makes me depressed.

The store director told me four months ago that I shouldn't come complain to him when the shop falls apart--but i can't be somebody I'm not. And until the job starts paying like a skilled trade again and starts attracting people who actually want to work, it wouldn't make much difference anyway.

Just hope I'm still standing when that day comes.

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RE: Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


Hi Meat Monkey, I really feel for you. This is a story that I am hearing all over the place. What is happening to you and your company lays the foundation for pre-packed everything!. Some time I think its a conspiracy between supermarkets and meat packers. To reduce or eliminate overall labor costs at supermarket.

Here is an example of what I am talking about: Walmart  can easily cut its number of cashiers by 50 – 75% by replacing people with self-serve machines. Instead of having one cashier on a machine, in their stores presently, there is one person supervising 5 self service check out machines.
The worker supervising the 5 machines will be much happier employees and Walmart has no problem with paying that worker full time with benefits. Its a win, win for both employee and company. With no union intervention.

Self-serve has been implemented in every industry because of its incredible savings power. Retailers, airlines, restaurants, banks, Lowes,– they’ve all convinced consumers that doing work themselves is the best thing for them and the companies have reaped the financial benefits from it.

Likewise to save labor in a highly serviceable department like meat, is to create a intolerable labor conditions, which will be their reasoning to establish labor saving merchandising like pre-package everything.

So while highly motivated people like yourself are suffering and getting burn-out, and customers are not getting the service or products they would like, upper management is looking for meat products that will save labor-cost for justifying that decision.

Lets look at it at another angle. I call it the (labor merchandising angle). T-bones are on sale at $5.95 per pound, and stores bring in many  short loins to fill the orders, but because of a shortage of labor in the department they can't keep up with the demand. Customers complain, department managers complain, meat supervisors complain and it gets to the Meat God. The Meat God now has an opportunity to seek-out pre packaged T-bones to take care of the problems.

A month later T-bones are on sale again, same price $5.95 per pound, right before Memorial Day. Short loins are ordered in great quantities, but unbeknown to meat department managers they receive a "forced distribution of pre-packaged T-Bones wondering what the heck is going on. What do I do with these? Then he is told to use them if he can't keep up with the demand. And he does. And it works!

The meat department manager is happy, the consumer is also happy, and the company is happy because  there isn't any lost sales. And the consumer has just been introduced to pre-packed beef cuts. Do you think a consumer would pass up a $5.95 per pound T-Bone because it was cut and pre packaged elsewhere? Heck no!

One more example and I will stop running off at the mouth. There was a time in America when you pulled up to a gas station and bought gas. The attendant pumped your gas so the consumer could stay in the convenience of their car, not getting smelly gas on their hands and clothes . Today the only two states that still do that is Oregon and New Jersey and I am hearing that they may get rid of the laws too. "The Gas God's cut their labor cost substantially, without any consideration of the consumers".

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Phil ( coalcracker ) Verduce

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Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


Coalcracker. I will have you know that my mom and my nephew work at the only gas station I know of that is still full service. My nephew pumps gas and my mom is a clerk. This station is just up the road from where I grew up and they have had attendants to pump gas for at least 40 years. That shows that some people still want full service.

There has been an increase in independant shops opening in recent years. One reason for that is, costomers want their meat cut on location. i agree what big chain supermarkets are doing paints a very bleak picture for our trade.

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Veteran Member

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Date:
Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


I get what you're saying coalcracker.

The day twenty five years ago that they announced that we were going away from hanging beef to box beef, my old manager turned to me and said supermarket meat cutters are dead. We thought he was nuts. We liked it. We could order just what we needed, much less waste and we didn't need to work half as hard! And the company promised us they wouldn't cut jobs or wages.

Well it took a while, but my old boss was right. We didn't lose our wages--but they've been frozen in place for over twenty years. Nobody lost their jobs right away but long gone are the days when there were five or six cutters and apprentices in every shop.

Yes, I see the pre-pack creeping in. It's crap product, cut sloppier than hell and gas-packed to retain color even after it's rotted but convenient and economical so...

Yes, some people will seek out small independent shops, but the vast majority just don't give a damn or are too poor to complain about quality. I would definitely not be surprised if I end my career unpacking boxes in a big box store like walmart fo what? 14 bucks an hour?

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RE: Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


Get a commissary job if you have one close by, way better, not perfect, God bless you

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Allen Scott


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RE: Heading into Christmas as the only cutter in the shop.


There's a lot I could do--especially with minimum wage rapidly approaching what I make now. It's just hard to walk away from five weeks paid vacation, time and a half on sunday and holidays and other grandfathered benefits. I've given 32 years of blood sweat and soul to this company, I'm not sure I can leave--unless they fire me.



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