You’re telling these stories like you know the full story when you’re just spouting management talking points.
From what you’ve described, your dad is middle maybe upper middle management in a company that has walled him off from moving up in the company (which I’ve asked about and you’ve ignore for some reason). But they flatter him and get him to sympathize with him and do work he shouldn’t be doing in order to impress them. In the meantime, he’s against the workers and deals with them so the execs don’t have to bother.
And I’m probably going to get his race/class/gender background is more similar to the execs than workers which breeds more sympathy with the execs and contempt for workers.
Of course there are some inefficiencies with unions as with any institution, but you’re parroting stories told for the purpose of undermining basic rights and protections for workers.
He has had every opportunity to move up, and they've basically begged him to. He doesn't want to deal with even more paperwork and scheduling and that kinda stuff than he already has to. They use Kronos for time-keeping and apparently it's been down for like a year or something so all time-coding is done by hand and then will have to be corrected retroactively and stuff like that.
He isn't "against the workers", he's "against" the time-wasting 'human brain farts' that I mentioned before who are not in any way respectable employees. (That can't be fired). He absolutely LOVES some of his team-members...the ones that work.
He would also give up his almost 30 years of seniority with things like vacation time, mandated weekend shifts, certain overtime benefits change etc... (which hey, maybe the union could fix!...probably be a little down the line with all the other things on their plate). I admit to not knowing all of the ins and outs of why he doesn't move up in the company. But he has his reasons.
The plant is surprisingly very race/class/gender diverse, for what you'd expect a truck-building plant to be.
ETA: The plant shutting down thing is just his estimate based on the way things are going currently.
They flatter him because he's the hardest worker any of them have ever met. He gets up at 4am, goes in an hour and a half early to make sure he's caught up before the team meeting at the beginning of the day. He stays late, he works when they need him. He worked 27 days straight late last year, and that's just one instance of that kind of thing. He is the embodiment of work ethic. He's not just workin for the 'atta boys' from his bosses. He works because he was taught it's the right thing to do. He just wants to do his job, get it done, and go home to his family. Whether he has to do 3 other peoples' jobs to get that done or not. He's one of those guys that will probably die 2 years out of retirement because he just doesn't know what to do with himself.
He's not this pencil pushing middle-management white guy who's just in the boys club making fun of all the feeble worker types just trying to eek out a living wage.
He's an honest, hard-working, outstanding employee who will do anything to get his job done to the best of his abilities.
But I'll just let you guys think what you want. He's out to keep the good folk from safely and healthily earning a living wage.
