Not for a very long time even assuming they ever did. One of the phrases that has dropped out of the common American lexicon is "the social contract".

Just another symptom of our hard right turn to stupid.

-Laelth

The city has issued a statement that residents should "remain indoors if at all possible, to take the warnings and advisories seriously, and to check on the well-being of family, friends, and neighbors." In addition, warming centers and services for seniors are at full tilt. (Call 311 if you need to be taken to a warm place, or if you need someone to do a check-in on an elderly friend or relative.)

My husband's place of work (a college) is closed, as are all the schools, from elementary to university level. So we're lucky. My stupid brother (who lives in Indpls) of course walked 8 blocks to his office to pick up things to work on at home, even though his office was closed!

But I can see why workers at hospitals and doctors' offices need to try to get in, as well as transit workers or other vital city service people. And the postal delivery (thanks USPS!) delivered the mail on time!

I'm sure employers are differing in their demands on their workers. It seems like retailers can simply work with skeletal staff--after all, who wants to go out shopping in this cold?

We survived 14 winters of such temperatures regularly when we lived in Minnesota--we still had to walk the dog, even if it was -20 (and the damned dog took even more time to sniff every bush and sidewalk crack in those temperatures--he loved it!).

Thank goodness this will abate tomorrow. And everyone can get back to normal. I bet the stores are totally out of balaklavas!

and other types of salt - water softener, table salt, farm salt, etc.

We had 18" of snow one night. At 10PM as it started to snow, I received a call from my boss - either come to work the next day, or get written up. Obviously, we'd be selling enough road salt to choke a horse that day.

So the next day, I got up at 5AM, fired up my Buick station wagon, put it in reverse out of the garage, and did not stop until I got to work an hour and a half later. At that point, a ticket for running red lights was preferable than getting written up. I was afraid to stop, worrying that I'd get stuck - and I had to dress professionally, including a dress, hose and heels. I did have boots in the car with me in the event I had to get out of the car.

3 months later, we were all laid off and the office closed. I felt like a sucker. Never again did I break my neck for an employer.

because we were relieving colleagues who were totally exhausted, at best.

If mass transit got shut down and it was too far to walk, they'd send garbage trucks to pick us up. Those things always got through.

Here in NM, it was a scary trip down an interstate in the right lane in second gear. It was hairy only because there are always idiots who think 4WD means they can go the speed limit on black ice. They'd roar past me giving me the finger and a few minutes later I'd chug by them after they'd done doughnuts and skidded off the road into deep snow. The angry flailing and spinning tires told me they'd survived and were OK.

We were both shocked that our CEO make the irresponsible decision to open the building, at all. Had our moronic county commissioner done the responsible thing and declared a state of emergency, everyone would have been off of the roads, and the dozens and dozens of accidents I've seen reported, likely would not have happened.

I think this guy might be on the short list for a major ass-kicking.

is going to a restaurant when it's 4 degrees outside.

around while the construction guys had to jackhammer some decorative rocks out of my waiting room as part of a repair/remodeling project. She was thrilled, since she'd had to put up with a full day of it a month ago and was driven almost as crazy as I was.

Some of us do really care about our employees.

And we worked our asses off in the weather and were on call, as it was essential service. We broke our ass getting to work, rain, flood, cold, storms, whatever.

Too many jobs are not considered essential and the workers treated like shit. We need more government jobs that give prevailng wage and end this contracting it out to for profit scam.

Too many people have gone along with it for too long without looking at what they are destroying. I know how hard it is to fight these groups pushing it, too. They are a hydra, just keep coming back.

Rot in hell, Ronnie Reagan.

I remember that when the weather was forecast to be seriously bad - hurricanes, ice storms and such - he and his colleagues would get called in BEFORE it was supposed to hit, so they would BE THERE already, safe, rested, and ready to go when shit got busy. Naturally, he got paid for that time.

I wonder if the rotten assholes pitching a fit about lack of loyalty among employees unwilling to risk killing themselves are the same rotten assholes perpetually whining about how THEY create all the wealth. Looks like they've got some time on their hands.

Get to creating, you useless wastes of space! We'll be checking your work when you're done, because we're curious how much wealth you can create without any employees' useless mouths dragging you down.

Or are they just barking from home?

My guess is that many or possibly even most employers were pretty understanding. Do you have any specific examples to the contrary?

And his commute is twice as long as mine. I've planned ahead though, I maintain my vehicles, and I have one that can go anywhere, even if it's raining fire and brimstone.

All I have to do is wait a bit, give the incompetent, unprepared, or ill equipped folks to give up and park their cars, and then boom, I'm at work lickety-split. Still. I wouldn't ask anyone else to do it if they weren't comfortable doing it, and neither would my boss.

My boss is kind of a special guy too. Helped me put the roof on my house, when I didn't have anyone to help me, and was running out of time. His first priority is that all his workers are safe, whichever site they might be at, and whatever the problem might be. I am disinclined to look for higher paying work, partially because I doubt I'll ever find a person like him to work for again.

Making more money and being totally miserable with a shitty boss isn't living. Just ask me.

the man I work for has often been the only person I could turn to when I could find no one else to help me.

I left the day before and slept at the plant so I could make sure I was there for Monday morning, and I live 100 miles away from our facility.

I'd probably walk across glass for the guy, because I know he would (and has) for me.

a few weeks ago. By Midwest standards, it wasn't much, but DFW doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with something that happens once a year. Our facility was open, and as a support personnel I was expected at work. But almost every manager decided to work from home that day. Must be nice. I don't know how many accidents I almost got into, and my 15 minute commute took over an hour. Had I gotten in an accident, who would have paid my $500 deductible? You know the answer to that. I hate management.

yet business couldn't give a fuck about them.

One day (oh I dream) one day we, the workers, will stand up and say NO MORE! Without us YOU FAIL!

One day......

History must repeat itself though. We must first hit bottom so we can fight upwards once again.

to carry on without the rich capitalists. It takes money to run profitable business.
Without profit, businesses wither and die. It is a vicious circle.

a lot of people would be able to run profitable businesses. It is just because they are hoarding all the money and moving all the jobs overseas that there isn't enough capital for small businesses to flourish.

Welcome to the cold hard reality of real world.

Even businesses which are owned by workers, such as Winco foods,
are run by skilled CEO's who make oodles of money.

Also should note that capital can disappear pretty fast if business is not profitable
regardless who owns it and is running it.

The only essentials are to make sure the business is not polluting environment, and
obeying all laws.

And then stop talking about things you don't understand. Just a bit of advice.

MONDRAGÓN, Spain—For decades, the giant network of industrial and retail cooperatives born in this small town was held up as an international model. Whenever one co-op got into trouble, the rest of the Mondragón Corporation would rescue it with cash or take on workers at risk of losing their jobs.

Then the unthinkable happened.

In October, home appliance maker Fagor Electrodomésticos, a global exporter and the U.S. market leader in pressure cookers, shut its factories after the other co-ops denied it a lifeline. That, in turn, has shaken the Mondragón network, the largest of its kind in the world, fraying the bonds among its 109 surviving co-ops and eroding confidence in the weaker ones. Many of its 80,000 employees now fear for their jobs in a country with 26% unemployment.

~ snip ~

Fagor's 1,800 workers in Spain have lost their jobs and access to savings they had plowed into the co-op. Tajo, a small co-op in the Mondragón network that makes car parts and components for household appliances, says it could face bankruptcy because Fagor bought much of its production. Creditors owed €2.5 billion by supermarket chain Eroski, the network's largest co-op, have told the management to retrench by selling or closing outlets.

Much like many other corporations. That says nothing of their historical success as a worker owned and operated enterprise.

The backbone of profit is laborers.

Without labor businesses do not have a base to profit from.

Without labor businesses can not build products to sell to those laborers.

The viciousness of the cycle is inflicted ENTIRELY on labor, yet the cycle (of profit) depends ENTIRELY on labor.

One can not prosper without the other.
Both need to be checked from excesses and greed.

My wife needed to see her doctor this morning. The Doctor and everyone else was there in the clinic, and she got what she needed. They all came to work. People cope with bad weather.

is a physician (ret.) He somehow managed to get to work every day he was supposed to his entire life. I am that way myself, just because I don't know any other way. It does get annoying, though, when you are a public sector "essential" employee (that's me) and get no differential for having to be (and being) at work when all the other employees are safely at home, and you don't get paid enough to afford a measly Subaru to make the snowy commute a little easier. I am often the only person on the road with a regular car.

I am retired and hate being cooped up in house without golf.

First world problems and all. Move to Florida.

Florida would be nice for summers, but hate hot humid summers there.
Our summers in the North-West are great, moderate temperatures and low humidity.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/11809435625/" title="My-Typical-Day-In-Winter by pbmus, on Flickr"><img src="" width="640" height="640" alt="My-Typical-Day-In-Winter"></a>

is open. And an employer understanding anything about absence except death... well I can see Russia from my house and when Putin rears his little head ... forgive me I lost my train of thought for a second

-13 straight up. 15 mph wind put the wind chill at stupid. Even ironworkers know when to call it and just go home

He asked me why I couldn't make it in if everyone else was coming in. Forget that most employees live within 5 miles, and I am nearly 30 miles away. Forget that these other employees are too afraid of him to even ask. Forget that his daughter, who work there, were told not to come in.

You are right. They have no regard or respect for their employees.

The only thing that I can say is that I would bet that any employers who are on DU would not be this type of asshole. I hope I am right.

Had a blizzard with the car covered nearly to its roof with snow, and the roads were solid ice. Called in and got chewed out by the assistant store manager yelling at me about how he never missed a day of work in his life, blah blah blah. He finally bullied me to come in, took me a couple hours to get our car unburied and a path to level road dug. Another 45 minutes or so of driving at a snails pace, and finally get there to find out I am one of maybe 10 or 11 people in the entire store that bothered to come in. We managed to make a grand total of $5,000 in sales that day (compared to a normal day of $50,000 - $70,000 during the slow winter season). I may have even been sent home from work early because it was so slow, but I don't remember too clearly. Yeah, that guy was a jackass.

Schools can't get warm enough, etc. That means, in many cases,, a working parent might have to miss work.

While waiting, I noticed a magazine that apparently served as a mouthpiece for the company management. Leafing through it, I noticed an item about a guard in Florida who was being feted for getting to work during a hurricane. I remember thinking how ridiculous that was. What would that precious company have done for him if he had been injured trying to get there, or for his family if he had been killed? No employer is worth that.

Many of us work from home but not all. The message has been clear to the in-office group on Friday and today (possibly close to 75 people) if you can, work from home. Consider our safety above all else. And a word to the wise from the CEO - the Metra was a mess today and to be avoided if you value your sanity tomorrow. But for those who the commute won't be terrible and if they want to come in to work, come on in. Totally up to the employees to decide.

I am not always pleased about my employer but in this regard, they are doing the right thing.

I was about one of five people to show up.

crazy!

I know my company encourages everyone who can work from home to do so. (We have offices across the country obviously)

I'm happy for those people that have employers like you that know the right thing to do in this dire weather situation. As you read this thread - you will note that there are instances on both sides. People like yourself that have understanding and caring employers and other people that have employers that don't care about the health and welfare of their employees. Those are the ones that I am singling out.

I'm sorry that you need a list of those employers to understand that those type of employers do exist out there.

Bad examples-

post 5 bad
post 15 bad
post 25 bad


Good examples
Post 6 Good
Post 9 good
Post 14 good
Post 25 good
Post 35 good
Post 40 good


Cool story though LOL

You kind of have to back it up with SOMETHING.

I would assume that there are likely a few employers out there who are acting unreasonable in these circumstances. Are there "a lot"? I don't know. Any major corporations? I dunno. Of those who are demanding too much, what are the specifics? Has anyone been terminated? Again, I don't know, and you aren't providing any details. I am assuming you don't know either.

Without specifics it seems rather pointless to rant about it. I may as well rant about employers shooting employees on sight for stealing pens.

Get behind warming and climate change countermeasures.

had been issued a "code red" condition meaning nobody on the roads except plows/sanders and police/fire.

You went through a lot of work typing up the post. But it's based entirely on speculation making assumptions that the majority of employers are assholes.

Perhaps not a majority, but a considerable amount none the less.

This does not change the fact that your post is 100% speculation and a straw man.

We could sit here and site individual examples, however that would still not change the fact that your post is 100% speculation.

.... do NOT get me started.

>>>Many businesses are closed. People are encouraged not to stay off the roads, not travel and hunker down. >>>>

>>>>Yet if you ask those same employers if they've taken any provision to help any of their employees that might get stuck in their parking lots or have dead batteries after putting in a full days work - they don't offer any help to those loyal employees. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

that car is just not going to start. People in Canada and Alaska where these temperatures are common use heating blankets on the engine during the coldest days and nights.

Employers are just going to have to suck it up.

Has someone told you specifically that their employer was upset about them not coming to work? Did you read this online?

When my friend asked if they would make provisions for her if her car wouldn't start at quitting time - she was told flat out 'no'.

Since I learned of this from her - two other relatives ran into a similar situation and that is why I posted my original rant.

Again - not all employers are like this - but there are a lot out there that have total disregard for their employees. My intent of posting was to bring attention to this and hopefully embarrass those employers that don't care about the health and welfare of their employees.

Yeah - they might make it to and from work during this dangerous weather situation - but heaven forbid that somehow they got injured or hurt - they might be out longer from work - than just missing a day because they wanted to protect themselves.

I'm quite surprised by some of the reaction I got to this post. I would have thought that DU'ers were more caring about situations like this. I was surprised at how many took me on and called this a 'strawman' post and basically took the side of employers like this.

I was just seeking clarification because it really seemed strange to me that employers would do this. Yeah, I agree that any employer who wouldn't give an employee a break in severe weather is an ass. I work in a job where someone has to be there 24/7, and we still try to help out anyone who can't get there.

If you had posted it just like you did in this post the folks might not have jumped on your comments.

By making blanket statements that "a lot" of employers you're kinda tossing "a lot" of employers into a group that you have determined is deserving of scorn.

Basically you pulled a "Joe the Plumber". When in fact you had posted nothing to explain where your OP came from. Your friend works for an ass. But that is hardly representative of "a lot" of employers. How many small or family owned businesses fall under your blanket of "a lot"? How many large businesses that actually do care fall under your "a lot"?

and they told everyone to work at home. While technically, the building is open, most employees were encouraged to stay indoors.

Edited because I read the other posts... and you can't seem to point to any particular employer, so maybe there really weren't that many pissed off after all.

To which I respond: do you want me out for one day or do you want me potentially out for a few weeks if I am in a car accident and injured?

Last time our area had a crippling ice storm (doesn't take much here in TX) they offered to send me and some others a taxi. Um, cities and schools shut down, police begging people to stay off the streets, mangled cars on the highway...unless this taxi was a tank, I wasn't going to take them up on their offer.