I moved to IL about 10 years ago. Leaving my family and friends of Ky to forge a new family with my wife in Belvidere. My wife was born and raised in the surrounding area, so when I arrived here, I asked "Whats the best job around here", I asked several other people as well, and hands down the said "The Chrysler plant" So that became my focus.
I thought a had a leg up into getting in there. A close family friend worked there, had been there for like 25 years, was well respected and knew alot of people. But no matter what strigns he pulled, he could not get me in there. I guess the days of the referal card where done by then.
I did not have a hard time finding work around the area. I have a AS in electronics, Spent 4 years in the Navy, have a great work record. But every job I found never lived up to the pay I expected. These days, if you dont have a BS, MBA or somethign else, forget it.
So about 2 years ago when I heard Chrysler was hiring, I was excited. I checked the web site daily, and the day that it started excepting apps I filled mine out and hoped. After that I again checked the site daily, tracking my apps progress. I was kinda bummed that it was for a 119 day position, but I have always been the type of person that figues that people will be rewarded for doing there job, showign up, having a good additude and generally, they stand out and make a impression. My whole goal was to get my foot in the door. After that I had no doubt that my work ethic would land me a job.
A few weeks later, I got a phone call, asking if I was intrested and if I could do some tests. Of course I said yes, and the roller coaster ride began. Now I mentioned above that I spent time in the military. I was kinda shocked at how close some of teh tests and how it was handled matched that of the military. Again, the first round of testing passed. I sat at home for almost 2 months, wondering if I had did something wrong, or they already hired all they needed. I had almost given up.
The phone rang again, the person on the other end asked If I was ready to start the second phase of my testing. So I ended up going to Holiday Inn, gettign my physical , goign my agility test and so forth, this spanned the better part of two days, though I heard of people doing the whole procsess in one day. It was durign my second day, building door latchs, that Our group was informed that Chrysler was no longer excepting 119 temps, that we where all now applying for FULL TIME positions. I was so excited. During one of my breaks I ran outside and called my wife. There was just a buzz about the place, people where just overjoyed.
The next day I got a phone call, and conducted my phone interview. Then the next day, another phoen call informed me that I was hired for a Full time position, that I needed to go to the Holiday Inn and pickup a orentation package and show up at Cliffbreakers Monday to start orentation. I hung up the phone and ran downstairs, me and my wife jumped up and down, we went out and celebrated that night at Lone Star Steak house that night. Life was good.
The dark cloud started rolling in when I picked up my orentation package. There was some info about temporay work, and a 2 year contract. I was kinda confused, and was thinkign that since we had signed up for temp jobs at the start, and it was changed in the middle of testing, that they did not have a chance to change the info packet.
I showed up to orentation, along with about 100 other people. We all had the same look on our face, confusion and shock. It was not 10 min's into the session that the reality of the situation sunk in. The staffign people kept calling us the "choosen one's" that we where the future of the company. Bill Prewit stoof up before us, and started to cry. He felt sorry for us, but felt we had an chance to do soemthign special. He said we had a start of teh art plant, 3 hot selling vehicals, and that BAP woudl be Chrysler shining Jewel, that if we showed up to work, had a good additude and did the job the best we could, that we would be hired in. We left the first day of orentation with more questions then answer's.
The second day, not as many people showed up. The rest of us barraged the hring staff, HR and the VP with questions. So much so we did not complete everthing we where supposed to. I was pretty upset, I felt I had been lied to and tricked. But again, I reminded myself, I was just trying to get my feet in the door. Just to have a chance.
We started SMART training Thursday, after a short plant tour Wed. After 5 days in training, we where finnaly told which shift, and department we where heading to. I got 2nd shift Paint.
Next day we showed up, had a brief meeting, and was taken out into paint. We where lined up and one by one, in no certain order, given our lines. I ended up on the Polish deck.
Now, I could go on and on about all the trials and tribulations of the past year and half working on the polish deck, and surrounding decks. I have had some of the best years of my working adult life here, and at the same time, I have walked away from work with a gut wretching, minding numbing feeling. I have made a few friends, that no matter if I never get a chance to work in BAP again, I will do my best to stay in contact with. I got to work with a certain 30 year transfer from Alabama. She took me under her wing and helped me along the first few months. I was really sad when she retired and moved back to Alabama, but was thankful for the time I got to spend with her. I was lucky, compared with some of the other storys I have heard, I got grouped with some of the best people I have had the pleasure of working with. For the last 1 1/2 years, they have been my second family. Just like any family, we have fought, we have shared pain, we have shared lose of life, we have shared secrets, we have felt each others pain, we have enjoyed the time we have spent.
I am thankful for the time I have spent here. I have had my eyes open to a new world. See, this was my first Union job. I am still not 100% sure how I feel about it. I have been told that it takes about 3-5 years before you really grasp what goe son, and how everything works. Like any job, there was alot of things that I loved, and thigns I did not. No system, or job is perfect. I was fustrated at times, sad thigns I should not of, but so is life. You learn, move on, and hope not to repeat the same mistakes.
So as my time in BAP is quickly coming to a end, I look to the future, and how I can use this last 2 years to go forward in my life. My foot is in the door, and I belive and hope that my work ethic, personality and passion for the job has been enough to warrent a call back if and when a job opens. These last few months have been a emotional roller coaster, and even though things did not work out the way I had hoped, I am glad there is some closure to it. I know atleast for now, what lays before me.
There is so many people I would love to thank, from the 3 southern Bells from Alabama (you know who you are) to my team leaders(Mike and Jordan), to my very special brother from Det, to the various supervisors, and to all my fellow ETE's in the paint shop, the special bond we have formed will last for a long time.
And in closing, I would like to say one more thing. All the ETE's wanted, was the same chance, the same right you had 1-5-10-15-20 years ago, the chance to get a great paying job, great healthcare and people to back you up. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no harm or shame in that. I have not given up hope that one day, That I will be able to walk though those turnstiles as a full time employee, and be able to provide the best I can for my wife and 3 kids.
Robert Stacy
2nd shift, Paint |
