Over the years it was nice to get a break at the holidays , those days are long gone . It's work work work as usual these days having to fill in for everyone who DO GET OFFF ! My family members have off over 2 weeks , me , I will be in here every night other than Christmas eve . Shutdown , firewatch , startup etc . I'm using my remaining sickleave tonight , outta here at 1.30 instead of 7am , not giving these " use or lose " hours back to the parent company for sure . I have 16 months to go before I can kiss this workin man blues crap a well deserved goodby .
Looking forward to it .
Welcome to my world. Like you I spent many a holiday and weekend hard at work while all the relatives were relaxing and enjoying time off. The big difference in my case is that before I took the job I was made aware that working long hours on holidays and weekends was "normal" for the position I was interviewing for. The wife and I talked it over at great length, and mutually decided the wages, benefits, and chances for advancement far outweighed the inconvenience of working through the holidays. For the first 3 years I worked for the company the only holiday I didn't work was Christmas Day. All the others (Easter, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving) were considered work days.
Production was king, so line maintenance, new equipment installation, and major equipment and building repairs were all scheduled for times when the production crews were off for the holidays. Planning was key to getting the projects completed in time for the production crews to start at their normally assigned dates and times. Some plants had 2 weeks off around the Christmas/New Years holidays, so it was a given that new equipment would be installed, and existing equipment would be refurbished during that downtime.
Months in advance the parts department would start putting together "kits" to rebuild machines. Each kit would consist of Vidmar cabinets full of replacement parts. The cabinets would be shipped to the sight a couple weeks before the projects were to begin so they would be sure to be there in time.
In order to complete the projects in a timely manner the engineering and maintenance staffs would be broken into teams and scheduled for 12 hour shifts. The projects were manned around the clock and supported by highly skilled mechanics, welders, machinists, millwrights, plumbers, electricians, and any other disciplines required. We didn't have any problems recruiting volunteers from every profession. Everyone knew that for the hourly employees there was a night shift premium, overtime after 40 hours, double time on weekends, and triple time on holidays. Often times we had more people volunteering than we had open positions. Some times it got to the point we had to limit overtime to a few individuals. They were working to the point of exhaustion, which increased the likelihood of health problems and accidents.
We had an excellent management/employee relationship. No One was forced to work, and (for the time) the pay was to the level most everyone wanted to be involved. This was a lifestyle for over 30 years. It was demanding, but at the same time energizing and educational. It brought a sense of satisfaction working with highly skilled professionals, and seeing highly complex projects completed on time, on budget, with no accidents or injuries.
Alas nearly all of the people involved in those projects has long retired. The nice thing is that the company still sponsors an annual reunion breakfast for all retirees and former employees. I still see dozens, and some years hundreds, of the people I worked with. Unfortunately the ranks are growing thinner. I often wonder if the skills these craftsmen had have been passed to the next generation. I certainly hope so.
