There are some jobs in the world where there are a handful of people – or at least one other – who can pick up the slack if you’re late or sick or quit unexpectedly.
There are other jobs that are specialized enough that everyone should know how hard you would be to replace.
OP’s friend is a machinist who makes a specific part for a pretty expensive product. Because of his hard work he made three a day, netting himself some overtime in the process.
Bobby was a CNC machinist, a good one, and the only one. The company he worked for made an intricate product, and his CNC part was crucial. The rest of the product bolted on to it. The finished product sold for tens of thousand of dollars.
It took 3 hours to make this piece. Bobby would make 3 a day, he’d make one in the morning, take his coffee break, then make another, and take his lunch break. That ate up about 6.75 hours. He’d stay late to make the third part, and make 2 hours OT.
His foreman had something against him, wanted him to do other stuff than his assigned job, and when he got the chance to hit the friend with a demerit, he did it.
His new foreman turned out to be more than a bit of a jerk. He’d try to get Bobby to do other tasks, and Bobby said no, as he needed to monitor the CNC machine during all stages of the cycle.
Foreman complained to the Plant Manager, who told him to back off and leave Bobby alone.
One day there was a bad snowstorm, and Bobby was 10 minutes late. The Foreman was there to greet him at the time clock, with a grin on his face, holding a Late Slip.
Bobby had clocked in a minute late the previous week, and the Union rules said that if you were late twice within 14 days you got in trouble.
Bobby and Foreman got into a bit of an animated conversation, and the Union Steward came over and said that Bobby had no choice but to take the hit.
So, OP’s friend stopped working overtime.
So Bobby went to work.
His shift was 8am to 4:30pm, but he usually stayed until 6:30 to finish the last part. Not today. At 4:30 he shut the machine down and headed for the door.
The next morning, Foreman comes over and says that the assembly team is short a part.
“Yeah, I know. I’m working on it right now. It’ll be done in 2 hours.”
“But they need 3 a day. Why didn’t you make 3 of them yesterday?”
“Because my shift is over at 4:30, and I went home.”
“What? You stay every night until the third part is finished.”
Bobby pulled the Demerit Slip out of his shirt pocket, looked Foreman in the eye, and said, “Not any more.”
Bobby had done the math. Every week, instead of getting 15 parts, they were getting 10 or 11.
The parts weren’t ready to assemble on time, they started producing fewer product, and everything was pretty much in an uproar.
Foreman tried to sweep it under the rug, but within a few days chaos ensued. The assemblers had no core part, and their team went to the Plant Manager to let him know that production was falling.
The assemblers liked it….they got to hang around yakking while they waited for the next CNC part to arrive.
In a meeting, OP’s friend made it clear that they had only ever been able to keep up because he was working overtime and he wasn’t doing it as long as the rude foreman was his immediate supervisor.
Eventually, there was a meeting with Plant Manager, Foreman, Union Steward, and Bobby. Foreman tried to throw Bobby under the bus saying that he refused overtime. Union Steward pointed out that, as per the contract, mandatory overtime was only in case of emergencies, and this wasn’t an emergency. Bobby had every right to decline the OT.
Foreman lost his temper, started yelling at Bobby and Union Steward, and was asked to leave the meeting. Plant Manager knew he was screwed, and looked at Bobby and asked, “What’s it going to take to get you to work the overtime?”
Bobby smiled, and replied, “As long as Foreman is my supervisor, I won’t be working a minute of OT.”
No one ever saw the foreman again and OP’s friend went back to business as usual.
And that was the last anyone saw the foreman.
By sticking to the contract, Bobby cost the company a handful of parts worth many thousands of dollars, and put the company into a position where their lowered production would cost them even more…in perpetuity.
Bobby worked a couple of Saturdays to catch up, and made double-time for those shifts.
They hired a new Foreman, who was explicitly instructed, “Do not, under any circumstances, mess with Bobby.”
Does Reddit think the friend was right to use his clout to get someone fired? Let’s find out!
Everyone needs to be clear.
Some people think Bobby needs to take some time off for himself.
They think the employer needs to have learned at least a couple of lessons.
It makes no sense to have zero backup.
Most people have known a Bobby at some point.
Men like Bobby always know their worth.
As they should.