sunday, frontload in writing- what YOU clearly expect in a time frame, and have them do the same, often we get the high attention and accolades at the beginning of a job,,...then either you dont hear anything, or the person that hired you got transfered, and any non written obligations are off the table.

alsio the unknowns can be scary- if you work with a couple pricks that undermine you, etc.

its a tough decision, but also, its good to be wanted


Here's a thought- sit down, tell your now boss, what youve been offered, tell him you are thinking about it
hopefully, he will set you up on a bonus program, that you will be much better rewarded....if he doesnt bring it up...you bring it up 16% is an impressive number!!
tell him you want bonuses, every quarter, not every year.

You got some good advise there Sunday. best one i thought was to go talk to workers at other Safeway store..

Now I cut meat first in Seattle then Nevada , and Texas.Then back again. Safeway just got a bad rep in all states i seen. alway short handed and rules...

Here in Texas, they move out decades ago, over unions. They hate union meat cutters I know that, and they will fight that. BUT, their here under other bought -out names here in Texas. Last place I worked was Tom Thumbs grocery was the top line grocery before Whole Foods moved in , now Central market, BUT,

I`ve gone back and talked to workers about a year and half ago. and it is my understanding that They gone automatic to cutting list. They use the scanner of sales the day before to send you a cutting list today.. lol

Old, co-workers Have told me, I wouldnt make it with them. short , those that really know me. I would go up the wall as to rules they have set. For, i was and took pride in able to read customer needs and increase sales, cut reworks and order tight. that was always my main goal. where ever i worked... I got bitch out one time for having a empty cooler. with a truck coming with-in two hours. I told the guy, go out there and see if You can fine anything missing in the case... . To the standers now as i see it. Its All Black or White with some many companies now. Short, home office hold control, and Your just a number. Safeway, I`ll bet will be the same there in Canada, if not now soon. Can you live with that and how is that where Your at now ? One hand I understand why they do that, being if you ever work along side someone that was very efficient @ inefficiency. It kills me, and on the other hand with those that been threw the,,"""It is all Black or White""" home office rules , I can see why upper management Looks at this way... What can one do? with these Large Grocery chains.

FYI, that is one of the down sides too Unions, the I got my time in, you cannt fire me. So I`ll see how slow I can move each day. employee .lol

Unions has lost there grib.. They NEEDs to , look to their members as a Product. I know that sound bad, but, point is, they need to work hand and hand with the companies, being why I used the word Product.. Is that they will guarantee a good, trained Knowable employee. Do the hiring for the company. by so, guarantee they the company is going to alway have a safe and productive employee.

Keep union rules as it is, just , if there is a problem the union step in and if the employee is in the wrong then the union deals with it. and, yes there is a problem if one choices to be a slacker. But, protected by union rules. being,,,Not late, never steals, and no , no-shows, if one does that, their gloden and move as slow as they can , once senorty kicks in. that aint right. BUT, Not having freedom to do your Jobs isnt ether. the it "All black and white",,,, No gray in the world. i dont know which is the worst.
I cannt work with ether. You , have to become I-robot...so if this helps..

How the attitude with your present employed and co-employees,,,as someone else already said, you could get the co-worker from hell,,lol I been with tho, just a few days for me thank God. THAT would weight in for me. and i know the drive is what your thinking now, BUT, think about how you are and what you can take first. interview other workers on those things that matter to you...Sunday

-- Edited by Seattle2TexasX on Sunday 5th of August 2012 09:18:28 PM

fdarn wrote:

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lets keep in mind that most of us are speaking of safeway locations in the united states while sunday is speaking of a location in canada.  It has come to my attention some time ago that opportunies for meat cutter's in canada are MUCH better than here in the states. In fact I have been considering pulling up stakes and moving to canada for that reason alone.    I never worked for safeway but I did work for one of their sister stores and I knew quite a few people who worked for safeway and their meat dept. was always short handed.    they hired very little help and expected the few people they had to do a rediculous amount of work. I have seen this while visiting a safe way location and I felt so sorry for the meat manager. they poor guy was just overwhelmed.   But lets keep in mind that was in Virginia.  I would suggest that Sunday try to find some people who work with a canadian safeway and get a better opinion because I really believe things are better there for meat cutters.

-- Edited by fdarn on Sunday 5th of August 2012 06:22:43 PM

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 Safeway Canada division runs independantly as a chain of safeway, as do Portland, Seattle, Denver, Nor-Cal. They are all corporate safeway's so they follow a corporate standard of policies and procedures, certain divisions may also include division policy.  All major chains like kroger, safeway,albertsons, and such who operate under different banners still use a corporate policy that effects all chains. The same ISP-CAO-key retailing they do at Krogers is the same thing Fred Meyer has  in place.  Safeway is a great place to work, yes they do have their audits and sweep logs and safety observations which all sound stupid to keep up on but are they not a good thing to have in place?  As for the person on the saw with a metal cutting glove on, as you are aware that the fingers can be loose at the ends can you imagine if that chainmail glove got even brushed by that bone in blade! I have worked for other chains and used their policies and I can tell you , Its tough to keep up with but if you are a hard worker and have a good work ethic, it is an awesome place to work, all divisions.  As a meatcutter myself I understand all the bitching about policies and procedures but I do my fair share of bitching. but hey its a good job, you get to be rewarded with customer compliments and know you contribute to your department success at the end of the day. P.S. I wish they paid us what they are paying you! :)     

Hi Sunday,

  In some ways, the move you are about to make seems to parallel one I made years ago. I worked as a meat manager for a small independent chain of 11 stores. It was union but under a less attractive contract than the major chains.  Then I started getting calls from one of the big boys, Pathmark, a 150 store chain in the same union but the market leader in the Phila, NYC, and NJ area. They had the biggest and highest volume stores if not the most stores. I interviewed and they made me feel VERY wanted.  I would have to start part time but they told me I woudl be full time in 6 months but in the meantime I would get plenty of hours. Since they paid about 40 cents an hour more for cutters then I made as a meat manager, I made the move.  I did end up getting plenty of hours but not in the store I was assigned. There I got 20 hours and they expected me to stay if they were busy. I told them I was not a fireman and needed a schedule. I got plenty of hours and made good money by calling other stores once I got my schedule. I did earn considerably more than I had at my previous job but I really had to hustle for it. I did not get full time in 6 months though it took 4 1/2 years.  They kept telling me to apply for meat manager but I kept telling them to honor their committment first and make me full time. Eventually that happened and I was made a second man at one of the highest volume stores in the company. A few months later I was offered meat manager at a different store and I accepted. I was successful and every year or so I was moved to a "problem" store to bring it back.  Around that time the company started offering bonuses for meat managers. At first it was great because I would go to a problem store and turn it around and earn a big bonus. However something changed then. They started moving the targets to make it more and more difficult to get a bonus.  They would say things like "we want you to max out on your bonus because if you do, the company benefits even more." Well that was true but it got to where bonuses were impossible to obtain.  The company started to wonder why meat managers seemed to have so little interest in the bonus plan but that was why. The other thing to be aware of is there can be a tremendous difference in the corporate culture in a large chain vs. an Independent. Now don't get me wrong, I feel that overall I ended up better off by making the move but it was an adjustment. I adapted, and I was successful, but some others did not. Even the guy who was a superstar at my previous company and became the meat product manager for the independent I worked for followed me to Pathmark but he never could make the adjustment and left after a few months. As I have recounted in the past I worked with a very tough crowd but I just adapted to it and succeeded. that is the key. As an executive once told me "Accept change and you will survive, EMBRACE change and you will thrive".  There is a lot of truth in that. 

Now as someone else already said don't rule out negotiating for a counter offer from your current employer, but best of luck to you if you make the move. See it as an opportunity for personal growth.

Jim

Good luck to you Sunday.  I was also in the union as a meat manager and turned down offers of "promotion" to store manager due to having to go on salary if I did.

Burgermeister wrote:

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LOL> what 2 safety observations did you do that day?

As for the cutting list I now work with, it goes like this...... we must spot check with a hand held unit which consists of scanning each product on the fresh wall ( 60 feet ) and verifying that what amount the hand held says is on hand is really there. 70 percent of the numbers must be changed because for some reason they are not correct. After that is done we print the cutting list which is a confusing mess of boxes . This list tells us amount on the wall, what we are expected to sell ( taking the last 6 weeks information), amount we are to cut at this time. The powers that be say that we should just cut whats on the list to cut but when its a wednesday and its telling you to cut 95 T bones and its pouring rain outside we have to use our judgement and adjust acordingly..... WHAT follow the list but use your own judgement??? The amount on hand has to be changed with a pen by the cutters and then they have to change the number that they are to cut with a pen and then sign the sheet when complete. HOW Stuiped. If the list worked it would be wonderful . It cant get any worse in my opinion.( Good Safety Observation) by the way. People justifying their jobs because they spent thousands of dollars on a system that does not work and makes eveyones job harder. I understand that you can not win against the MAN so the best way to be is just go with the flow. Cutters are hard to find up here so letting one of them go is a drastic measure that one takes only when all other options have been taken. You have to do something really bad to get fired.

Wow seems like things have changed quite a bit since I left the business in 1996!  The only production lists we had were handwritten, based on the judgement (or lack of) the 2nd man. The worst lists were the night cutters list. Does anyone still have night cutters?  When I was on night shift (10PM to 8:30 AM) My list was 12 chucks, 8 boxes pork loins, 4 loins of beef, 8 ribs of beef, 6 rounds, and a complete grund beef set up, plus pressure wash the cutting room and equipment! It was brutal and I'd often get chewed out for not getting to the ground beef set up.  Of course the guy who would give me that list was the shrink king of our division, with the case filled over the load limit even at 3 AM.

 

We did have a "variety check list" that we had to complete on the case 3 times a day but the cutting list was separate, hand written and usually sensible (with the afore mentioned exception).

OH,, that new rules or old now, on the Cardboard Baler... lol,, You now where that came from. ONE TIME deal.. over a few KIDS, put a co-employee in the baler, and turn it on while he`s in it. Dont quote me on this, but i think he had a heart attack over it...

So, it became a National Law...I believe over that one time experience. In the late 90`s i believe