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Thread: Seed company sells out, hundreds out of work

  1. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by bbkaren View Post
    Okay, BN, and I mean this as a sincere inquiry; given your ideal world, how would this layoff have been implemented? Or would the company have been given government funds, or something, to keep the plant open, or what?
    I would not allow private companies to patent the way they are. Monsanto is the worse. They are actually trying to patent the basic genes for the pig. Meaning that anytime you have a litter you have to send them a royalty.

    Just like how they send out scouts to tresspass property and take samples of crops to sue innocent farmers that THEY contaminated their fields, one day they will do it to all if not contained.

    No company should be allowed to corner any market with dirty tactics. Espicially one as important as the food market.

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by bbkaren View Post
    Okay, BN, and I mean this as a sincere inquiry; given your ideal world, how would this layoff have been implemented? Or would the company have been given government funds, or something, to keep the plant open, or what?
    In my ideal world? It would have proceeded just as it did. They would have been regarded as complete pricks, lost a substantial amount of business, and then carried on or fallen apart.

    But all those folks who got laid off in the middle of a work day would have been able to much more readily find new work or start their own businesses in response.

    The issue is not "this particular layoff". The issue is MUCH, MUCH LARGER THAN JUST ONE LAYOFF. I use caps here for emphasis. Capitalism has a much larger problem than just one layoff; this layoff is merely a symptom of the problem.

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by bbkaren View Post

    I think I've fallen through a hole somewhere.
    I feel like this all the time around here!

    Also, Jethro, stealing is stealing.

  4. #44
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    Right now, the only thing Ferry Morse told employees is that they will get a 60-day lump-sum payment, as required by federal law. Also, their health insurance runs out at the end of this month.
    looks like they followed the law

    Sale of Businesses


    In a situation involving the sale of part or all of a business, the following requirements apply. (1) In each situation, there is always an employer responsible for giving notice. (2) If the sale by a covered employer results in a covered plant closing or mass layoff, the required parties (discussed later) must receive at least 60 days notice. (3) The seller is responsible for providing notice of any covered plant closing or mass layoff which occurs up to and including the date/time of the sale. (4) The buyer is responsible for providing notice of any covered plant closing or mass layoff which occurs after the date/time of the sale. (5) No notice is required if the sale does not result in a covered plant closing or mass layoff. (6) Employees of the seller (other than employees who have worked less than 6 months in the last 12 months or employees who work an average of less than 20 hours a week) on the date/time of the sale become, for purposes of WARN, employees of the buyer immediately following the sale. This provision preserves the notice rights of the employees of a business that has been sold.
    http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/warn.htm

    I know it sucks as I've been there done that but what the hell do we expect it's all crashing down
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    you don't like the way I'm livin
    you just leave this long-haired country boy alone-CD

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  5. #45
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    "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
    -- John Adams

    As were the laws made in this country under the outline of that Constitution. Capitalism can/will work better than anything other system, but not when you arbitrarily change the ingredients to benefit a select few. Remove morals, deny compassion, and succumb to the ravages of personal greed and this experiment in freedom and liberty is limited, - at this late date very limited.


    "I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
    But rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man."
    - Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe

  6. #46
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    I wondered about the closing notice laws too.

    Thanks Peter for including that.
    "I must not fear.
    Fear is the mind-killer.
    Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
    I will face my fear.
    I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
    And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
    Where the fear has gone there will be nothing....only I will remain"
    [Frank Herbert...Bene Gesserit Fear Littany}

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  7. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by bbkaren View Post
    Wait. Since when does an employee get notice that he's about to be let go?

    At best, that costs the company money because they'll have everyone taking every available sick day before they leave, and stealing everything that's not nailed down. And who's motivated to work when they know they're about to be let go? What gets accomplished in that period of time?

    I suppose if the whole location is closing down and everyone is being eliminated I could see letting people know in advance, but they'd have to offer a nice severance package to everyone, to ensure they stay on their best behavior and keep working.

    But generally, I've never known a company to give notice before firing.

    This is the new reality, folks; IMO, companies don't have the luxury of being "employee-loyal" now. Times are tough.
    That attitude can run both ways you know.

    "Loyalty to the company"? Right, sure, keep on believing that serf.

    Crony capitalism screws people over, period.

    It can be screwed right back, given enough reason to hungry, out of work people. Remember "monkey wrenching" in factories? That can come about in spades real quick. Especially at the white collar level with a little creative computer accounting.
    "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war let it begin here." Captain John Parker, to his Minute Men on Lexington Green, April 19 , 1775.

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by luvmyvet View Post
    seems to me, the issue is more of how they handled the mass firings. I doubt if the company found out during lunch hour that they had to fire everyone and couldn't give advance notice. Sounds like they wanted to keep the workers working until the last minute for whatever reason.

    People will take action to protect themselves if they think their job may be in jeopardy by not taking out loans, saving more, cutting expenses in anticipation or having back up plans. These folks had no concern or courtesy shown to them and that is what stinks and will cause plenty of anger and resentment, imho.


    This^

    IIRC once a company reaches a certian size then there's a federal law that comes into effect that protects the employees by requiring the employer to inform the employees as far as sixty days out that they have to find a new job so that the employees have time to prepare, further their eductation, move, etc.

    K-
    • “I am not afraid, because I was born to do this."

      Joan of Arc
    Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

  9. #49
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    Default In a world where owners make a fortune....

    Quote Originally Posted by bbkaren View Post
    I get your sympathy, BN, but what's the alternative? Sacrifice best business practices to accommodate "fairness"?

    It's a rough world out there; if they run the company in a way that's not best for the SURVIVAL of the COMPANY, then far more will lose their jobs.

    I just can't understand how folks don't see that...especially on a liberty-loving board such as this.
    become an owner. Start a small biz or buy some stock. If buying stock doesn't sound so lucrative once you actually have to pony up a few months of cable TV bills, then maybe the "fortune" you envy owners of is not quite so certain or so lucrative.

    I liked Ferry Morse seeds. (If I remember, they had a nice little how-to booklet, very concise, on growing vegetables.) But if workers don't have the message these days that jobs requiring no particular skills are not secure, they simply don't want to listen.

    If you bemoan the ruthless efficiency of the Market, then first examine your own purchasing closely, and make some changes to use your dollar vote to support your beliefs. If it is one thing the Market respects, it is dollar votes.

  10. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yoda View Post
    become an owner. Start a small biz or buy some stock. If buying stock doesn't sound so lucrative once you actually have to pony up a few months of cable TV bills, then maybe the "fortune" you envy owners of is not quite so certain or so lucrative.

    I liked Ferry Morse seeds. (If I remember, they had a nice little how-to booklet, very concise, on growing vegetables.) But if workers don't have the message these days that jobs requiring no particular skills are not secure, they simply don't want to listen.

    If you bemoan the ruthless efficiency of the Market, then first examine your own purchasing closely, and make some changes to use your dollar vote to support your beliefs. If it is one thing the Market respects, it is dollar votes.

    I would like to know, RIGHT THIS MINUTE, what company can be bought in sufficient amounts for even a year's worth of cable TV bills that both will make anything even approaching an income and is not a total scam. That's just under $500 you're talking about, and I would cheerfully buy into such an enterprise.

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