The_Original_Roxtar: hitlersbrain: The_Original_Roxtar: I found a gun stashed behind a fence while working 12 or so years ago. I called the cops and waited until they showed up. never touched it.

why the hell would you pick up a gun you just found lying around? could have been used in a crime.

Read... The... Article...

He did, the cops never showed up.

never? you mean he's still there waiting?

WAIT UNTIL THE COPS SHOW UP
CALL AGAIN

it's farking detroit... flag a cop down.

yeah, it's inconvenient for him to have to wait for the cops... tough.

He's also on the clock. On the taxpayer dime.

Now that I think about it, maybe that's why every time I see road crews, they're all standing around doing nothing. Perhaps they're all just watching discarded firearms while they wait for the proper authorities to show up.

I would have left it where it was, called the cops, and spent a good portion of my paid hours watching the police.

lisarenee3505:
I hate to judge a book by its cover, but from the looks of the guy, he's likely a prime example of a middle-aged adolescent. I've known a dozen like him. Clearly there is much more to his story than what the article tells us. I would be willing to bet that this guy has a track record of minor infractions that, had this not been a union shop, would have gotten him fired a long time ago. Sounds like the city finally got the "nail in the coffin" that they were looking for to get rid of a sub-par employee.

I 'm gonna go ahead and judge you to be a douche based on your comment there. He looks like a guy who mows lawns and does other outside type work for a living to me.

Man...remember how much shiat we talked about England when this happened there?

Publikwerks: Then he is going to get back pay, and be reinstated....

...then be promptly re-fired 2 weeks after the media coverage abates because they "found" narcotics (or porn/another gun/etc.) in his locker. Would you really want to go back to work for those farkers knowing you had a bullseye on your forehead? A cash payout is his only realistic option.

The_Original_Roxtar: it's farking detroit... flag a cop down.

Good luck with that. The reason why you couldn't flag a cop down is that it was Detroit.

Adolf Oliver Nipples: Benevolent Misanthrope: Bathia_Mapes: sithon: they are trying to fark him out of his pension. scumbags

That was my take on the situation as well.

Yep. I've seen it happen in other agencies as well. You have to be very very careful as you approach retirement.

FTFA: So after 23 years -- just two shy of retirement -- Chevilott was fired for violation of department policies, even though he found the gun while on the job and didn't bring it to work. His foreman, who knew about the incident, was suspended for 30 days.

WJBK reports that Chevilott, who wants his job back, was also fired for insubordination and unauthorized access to the department's road yard.

The union representing Chevilott, Local 101, has filed a grievance and intends to fight all three accusations.

And this, dear friends, is why we have unions, especially government workers' unions. If this poor schlub were non-rep, he'd be out on his ass and farked six ways to Sunday. As it stands, he at least has a chance.

Yes, this is why we have unions. The only problem is when they strike, chisel nickel-and-dime raises out of the public, disrupt everything from public transportation to elementary/secondary schooling, and then plead poverty after they sign the contract to set the table for the next strike. See also: last in/first out, incompetent teachers, tenure, etc.

If unions stuck to what they are good for and ceased being legalized racketeering none of us would have any problem with them.

Yeah if only they would stop serving their member's interests and only take actions you approve of, they'd be fine.

firefly212: Don't care if it's the last straw, you don't ever create a culture where workers are worried they will get in trouble for turning in a gun. Even if he was a bad apple, the next worker who sees a gun in the grass may well be tempted to just leave it there, and that's not a situation we should ever want to create.

i was about scoff and ask how often you tihnk people are finding guns in the grass... but then i realized this was detroit. i'm sure they'd set up drop-off bins if they thought people would use them.

either way - this story needs some clarification. they spend the entire article saying he was fired for turning in a gun and one sentence saying it was something else.

which was it?

either way - i agree with you. even if he is a terrible employee they were just looking for an excuse to fire, this isn't it.

FlyingLizardOfDoom: kactuspatch: FlyingLizardOfDoom: Is there any proof that the reasons for firing him are unfounded? Ive yet to find any.

I'd hate to think that you could have offenses attributed to you on a news site and people would ask "is there any proof that these charges are false?" instead of "is there any proof that these charges true?"

you didnt answer my question. Typical.

see, i think he answered your question perfectly.

zzrhardy: I have always intensely disliked the guys who have cut my grass

don't worry - many parents hate their teenagers. it gets better

dittybopper: reddc: I would have left it where it was, called the cops, and spent a good portion of my paid hours watching the police.

I would have been like "Hey, free gun!".

meh - it's a girl gun

MooseUpNorth: WinoRhino: This guy mowed lawns and did work like that for a living. I'm not saying it isn't "noble work" or whatever you want to call it, it's just not particularly hard.

I'm curious about what job or jobs you consider sufficiently "hard" to warrant respect?

Mowing a lawn is hard work even with power equipment. It also requires a great deal more intelligence than some bean counter might be able to guess. Everything is easy if you don't have to do it.

During a New York City subway workers strike many years ago, some Wall Street shill wrote that any idiot could handle a toll booth and that the city had only one course of action -- break the strike. The subways at the time were then an underground war zone. At about the time the story was published, a terrorist without portfolio (that is, just crazy; not affiliated with any organization) sprayed gasoline through the intake slot and lit a match, napalming the teller.

Easy work, right?

Valarius: U.S. Constitution trumps state's rights. Give this guy two million.

i'm sorry, but what exactly is it that you think the constitution has to say about this issue?

Hey everybody, look what I found!!!

Wayne County's contact us site and look there is the Office of the Wayne County Executive's number listed first. Think we aught to give him a call and let him know how much of asshat his county is for letting a guy get fired for doing the right thing.

/Don't say you are going to write a letter, like your Dad would
//Call them

sid244: Hey everybody, look what I found!!!

Wayne County's contact us site and look there is the Office of the Wayne County Executive's number listed first. Think we aught to give him a call and let him know how much of asshat his county is for letting a guy get fired for doing the right thing.

/Don't say you are going to write a letter, like your Dad would
//Call them

What level of penis must you achieve in order to call for the flooding of a working office with calls demanding action in a situation where you have nearly none of the salient facts?

kmmontandon: I'm confused ... I'm constantly told that it's impossible to fire a public employee that's a member of a union.

"The union representing Chevilott, Local 101, has filed a grievance and intends to fight all three accusations."

Wait for the follow up.

MooseUpNorth: I'm curious about what job or jobs you consider sufficiently "hard" to warrant respect?

jules_siegel: Mowing a lawn is hard work even with power equipment. It also requires a great deal more intelligence than some bean counter might be able to guess. Everything is easy if you don't have to do it.

See, I specifically framed my post so that I didn't make it about the work. Though, on the other hand, I did bring it up, so perhaps I wanted to make that point. Anyway, let's have it out:

To both of you: landscaping is hard work. I did it for four years as a summer job while in college. I loved it but it was grueling. I started at 6am, wrapped up at 6 or 7pm, and got paid $10 an hour. I built stone retaining walls, put in bring walkways, did a LOT of digging, planting, carting gravel in wheelbarrows, and so forth. So I have done it, and I never, EVER, said I didn't respect it. So keep your personal insecurities in check.

Doing it for 25 years does not entitle someone to living 30-40 years on the tax-payer's dime. And before you bring it up, I'm essentially left-leaning politically.

I also worked for 4 years managing group homes for the mentally ill after college. That job was salaried, but worked out to be $8.90 / hour. It was far tougher and way more stressful than the landscaping job. If someone didn't show up for a shift (good workers were tough to find in that industry) I'd work 16 hours straight at least once each week. I was on call for emergencies 24 / 7 two weekends per month. I had to quit that job and find something else because I couldn't afford to live any longer.

If you can't see the difference between the two you're an idiot. Now, like I said: they have no right to try to fark this guy out of his agreed-upon compensation. But if you think it should be the norm, or that workers are ENTITLED to retire at 40 after cutting lawns for 25 years, you're even more stupid than I can possible explain in a single post.

Benevolent Misanthrope: Bathia_Mapes: sithon: they are trying to fark him out of his pension. scumbags

That was my take on the situation as well.

Yep. I've seen it happen in other agencies as well. You have to be very very careful as you approach retirement.

FTFA: So after 23 years -- just two shy of retirement -- Chevilott was fired for violation of department policies, even though he found the gun while on the job and didn't bring it to work. His foreman, who knew about the incident, was suspended for 30 days.

WJBK reports that Chevilott, who wants his job back, was also fired for insubordination and unauthorized access to the department's road yard.

The union representing Chevilott, Local 101, has filed a grievance and intends to fight all three accusations.

And this, dear friends, is why we have unions, especially government workers' unions. If this poor schlub were non-rep, he'd be out on his ass and farked six ways to Sunday. As it stands, he at least has a chance.

No, we have government workers' unions so that taxpayer money can be turned into political donations while non-competitive bargaining takes place with other people's money.

jules_siegel: MooseUpNorth: WinoRhino: This guy mowed lawns and did work like that for a living. I'm not saying it isn't "noble work" or whatever you want to call it, it's just not particularly hard.

I'm curious about what job or jobs you consider sufficiently "hard" to warrant respect?

Mowing a lawn is hard work even with power equipment. It also requires a great deal more intelligence than some bean counter might be able to guess. Everything is easy if you don't have to do it.

During a New York City subway workers strike many years ago, some Wall Street shill wrote that any idiot could handle a toll booth and that the city had only one course of action -- break the strike. The subways at the time were then an underground war zone. At about the time the story was published, a terrorist without portfolio (that is, just crazy; not affiliated with any organization) sprayed gasoline through the intake slot and lit a match, napalming the teller.

Easy work, right?

What is so hard about being burned? Seems like any idiot can do that!

//Off to do real and noble work: figuring out new methods to package crap assests as liquid gold and sell it to pension funds for burned toll booth tellers.

My mother was a Nurse for and worked for the ICU and then the Pysch for the last two years before retirement. In here 19th year (she became a Nurse when 42) here shoulder was ripped out of here socket by a 20 year old "patient". When she was able to return to work she had 2 weeks left before here 20 years. My mother was in a union as well.

The Hospital Administrator call here into his office the day she came back to work. He told her she was no longer needed due to her age. She received nothing from the Hospital at all. The union was a joke, as they were terrified of the Administrator at the Hospital.

This was in the late 80's, almost 30 years ago, and what happened to this man from Detroit still happened today. The only plus for either one is the fact that..., actually there is no plus at all.

I'm conflicted . . . I hate unions in general--but this is an example where they are being worthy of their own existence.

So after 23 years -- just two shy of retirement

Well there's your problem.

jules_siegel: Mowing a lawn is hard work even with power equipment. It also requires a great deal more intelligence than some bean counter might be able to guess. Everything is easy if you don't have to do it.

No it is not, and no it doesn't.

Being an ironworker is hard work, crafting wooden beams but nothing with handtools is hard work. Working in a foundry is hard work. Mowing is tedious, not hard by any stretch.

wombatoftruth: lisarenee3505:
I hate to judge a book by its cover, but from the looks of the guy, he's likely a prime example of a middle-aged adolescent. I've known a dozen like him. Clearly there is much more to his story than what the article tells us. I would be willing to bet that this guy has a track record of minor infractions that, had this not been a union shop, would have gotten him fired a long time ago. Sounds like the city finally got the "nail in the coffin" that they were looking for to get rid of a sub-par employee.

I 'm gonna go ahead and judge you to be a douche based on your comment there. He looks like a guy who mows lawns and does other outside type work for a living to me.

And on top of that, we know he is morally sound. He went outside his call of duty to ensure public safety. Not everyone can be an investment banker. It's disgusting to judge people based on what they do. Anyone who works deserves respect for the job they do, regardless what it is.

FlyingLizardOfDoom: Is there any proof that the reasons for firing him are unfounded? Ive yet to find any.

Having just read the article, I can honestly say no, there is no proof offered that the reasons for firing him are unfounded. However, at the end of the article there is a quote which suggests that the reason for him being fired--finding the gun and turning it--is thin gruel: "Union President Thomas Richards told the TV station, 'There's never been any policy brought to light on what we should do when they find a weapon'."

So, it appears that no policy exists for a situation of this nature. Therefore, firing him seems a bit premature. Then again, so does suspending his super for 30 days because he knew about the incident.

As for the other charges, I cannot comment on them as nothing is presented in the article as proof that they happened, the circumstances under which they happened, or how serious they were.

lisarenee3505: I hate to judge a book by its cover, but from the looks of the guy, he's likely a prime example of a middle-aged adolescent. I've known a dozen like him. Clearly there is much more to his story than what the article tells us. I would be willing to bet that this guy has a track record of minor infractions that, had this not been a union shop, would have gotten him fired a long time ago. Sounds like the city finally got the "nail in the coffin" that they were looking for to get rid of a sub-par employee.

the demonetization of self defense pisses me off!

werekoala: Union officer here.

This sounds like exactly the kind of situation we are designed to deal with.

Darwin has a sad.

LeglessDog: I'm conflicted . . . I hate unions in general--but this is an example where they are being worthy of their own existence.

Do you really hate the ideas of workers banding together to protect their rights, or do you have a few notable bad apples and representations of union reps in cheezy 70's movies?

The_Original_Roxtar: hitlersbrain: The_Original_Roxtar: I found a gun stashed behind a fence while working 12 or so years ago. I called the cops and waited until they showed up. never touched it.

why the hell would you pick up a gun you just found lying around? could have been used in a crime.

Read... The... Article...

He did, the cops never showed up.

never? you mean he's still there waiting?

WAIT UNTIL THE COPS SHOW UP
CALL AGAIN

it's farking detroit... flag a cop down.

yeah, it's inconvenient for him to have to wait for the cops... tough.

I'm going to assume you've never been to Detroit and have no knowledge of the police department there. They have a standing policy to not respond to non-emergency calls because of budget cuts. In fact they often don't respond to emergency calls either. He could have waited forever and not had one show up.

/it's a broken city

detroitdoesntsuckthatbad: I'm going to assume you've never been to Detroit and have no knowledge of the police department there. They have a standing policy to not respond to non-emergency calls because of budget cuts. In fact they often don't respond to emergency calls either. He could have waited forever and not had one show up.

/it's a broken city

True, but detroitdoesntsuckthatbad

The Muthaship: What level of penis must you achieve in order to call for the flooding of a working office with calls demanding action in a situation where you have nearly none of the salient facts?

I've heard this is where the 4chan peeps excel.

WinoRhino: Doing it for 25 years does not entitle someone to living 30-40 years on the tax-payer's dime. And before you bring it up, I'm essentially left-leaning politically.

Pensions are funded by employer and employee contributions. They are earned compensation in lieu of direct wages, as are benefits in general.

Pathman: dittybopper: reddc: I would have left it where it was, called the cops, and spent a good portion of my paid hours watching the police.

I would have been like "Hey, free gun!".

meh - it's a girl gun

bootstrap: He actually did call the police, but they didn't show. When he finished the job he had the option of taking the gun or leaving it.

Everyone knows you take a canoli and leave the gun. Duh.

dittybopper: Being an ironworker is hard work, crafting wooden beams but nothing with handtools is hard work. Working in a foundry is hard work. Mowing is tedious, not hard by any stretch.

This.

Your relativism is touchingly inane. For me, writing, drawing and graphic design are easy work. Try mowing lawns for two decades, as you get older and your body deteriorates. Maybe your back goes bad.

Human beings in our times are worse than rats and cockroaches when it comes to compassion. This seems to be especially true of the administrative classes all the way down to foremen. It's why the 1% win every time.