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Turning down work because of personal beliefs?

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pmtool

Cast Iron
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Location
Portland, OR
As machinist we can make any number of items for any number of customers, some of them can even fall into ethical grey areas. My question is what have you turned down because of personal or political beliefs? Hopefully this does not turn into an overly political discussion.

Stuff I have turned down was generally shady firearms related work. Like hey I have all these AR uppers I just need a little work done on. However I have done work for legitimate gun folks where I was sure all was done within the law. Just had an job engraving the logo for a politician that I don't necessarily agree with and it got me thinking. I did the job anyhow.

What have you turned down? Easier to turn things down when otherwise busy of course. Something about eating makes people adjust their boundaries!
 
Silencers and silencer parts. People wanting auto conversions. Yesterday a friend asked me to build a silence in front of a group of people---Reply Not no but hell no !!!
 
I've turned away things I thought could be a potential disaster that could injure people(common sense...), and anything that has other legal/certification problems, but in terms of "beliefs" nothing I can think of, unless I really believe I will only waste my time and make no $$$$ on it, I do believe in $$$$ and I do my best to turn away those nightmares.

For the Silencer example. In Canada that's a NO(only a very few people/companies have the right licenses to manufacture those, and none are allowed to the peasants), but if I lived in a place that allowed us peasants such magical creatures, then hell yeah I would, I'd have a few of my own, but sadly no such common sense up here :(
 
Just once, guy wanted a Swastika themed hood emblem, told him to pound sand.
 
I turned down a kitchen job because the lady was quizzing me on not only MY political views, but questioning me about the source of products that MY SUPPLIERS used.

I saw nothing but trouble ahead.
 
I turned down a kitchen job because the lady was quizzing me on not only MY political views, but questioning me about the source of products that MY SUPPLIERS used.

I saw nothing but trouble ahead.

No cannons, silencers, or any work for lawyers. One time a guy wanted me to make a brand for marking race tires. A track had a spec tire with the brand, he sourced a soft compound tire that looked just the same as the spec tire except for the brand. No dice.
 
Years ago I had a customer that would out of nowhere start ripping on Jews and Blacks. I would always just pretend I hadn't heard him and change the subject. It was the strangest thing that he somehow felt it was Ok to spew racist hate to someone he hardly knew. It didn't take him long to realize I wasn't his buddy who would engage in this crap. I did his work but always kept the conversation to parts. It was really awkward at times when he was looking for me to respond to his views.

Thank God he is long gone.

Now if someone walked in with a Bernie Sanders shirt on I would just tell him he was in the wrong place because I would know he would expect me to pay for his parts. Just kidding.
 
I was once offered an undisclosed (huge) amount of money to hack a credit rating system to bump someone's score up before applying for a loan.

I didn't mind so much from the ethical perspective, but "pound me in the ass" federal prison is place I've never been particularly interested in going.
 
I was once offered an undisclosed (huge) amount of money to hack a credit rating system to bump someone's score up before applying for a loan.

I didn't mind so much from the ethical perspective, but "pound me in the ass" federal prison is place I've never been particularly interested in going.

I worked for a company who's CFO took the letter head of an accountant and forged a document that essentially said the company was in great financial health. They were working with a private investor on a $2m loan, which was eventually funded.

This came to light when the investor sued the bankrupt companies directors, when it had become obvious that the loan had been made under fraudulent circumstances. When the accountant was deposed he took one look at the letter and said he never wrote the letter, but infact the letter he had written said the company was in very poor financial health.

For a while the CFO was living in his car behind his health club, partly because his gym membership allowed him to use the showers, and partly because the FBI was looking for him.

So I think you made the right decision.

I think in the end they took the private investor for $2m, and Sunwest bank for $6m.
 
Was he an Indian? For us here Swastika is a symbol for well-being. New cars, machine tools, instruments bought new are decorated with the Sign.

Probably wasn't, here in the OC there's plenty of neo-Nazis who like that kind of thing. Huntington Beach PD in the 80's/90's had pretty active surveilance of the HB skinhead/neo-nazi goings on. their still around.
 
Yes I have. But you don't necessarily have an obligation to school the customer on why you're doing it. Just price the job so you won't be asked to do the work. Easier if you're business-to-business, or at least non-retail.

Chip
 
The swastika is very interesting. It is a symbol that meant good things for millenia, that was spoiled by one awful usage. From Wikipedia

Swastika (also known outside the Indian subcontinent as the Hakenkreuz, gammadion cross, cross cramponnée, croix gammée, fylfot, or tetraskelion) (as a character 卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious symbol originating from the Indian subcontinent, that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross with four legs each bent at 90 degrees.[1][2] It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and dates back at least 11,000 years.[3]

Western literature's older term for the symbol, gammadion cross, derives mainly from its appearance, which is identical to four Greek gamma letters affixed to each other.[4] The name Swastika comes from the Sanskrit word Svastika (Devanagari: स्वस्तिक), and denotes a "lucky or auspicious object".[4] Svastika is a compound of Sva (स्व), meaning the "Self"; Astika (अस्तिक), itself a compound of Asti (अस्ति), meaning "Existent" or "Existing"; and Ka (क), which denotes the neutral gender. Thus, the literal meaning of Swastika is "One that is self-existent", or "self-existing", in other words; "Unborn and directly originating from eternity since time eternal".[5]

It has been used as a decorative element in various cultures since at least the Neolithic Age. It is known most widely as an important symbol, long used in Indian religions, denoting "auspiciousness".
 
Probably wasn't, here in the OC there's plenty of neo-Nazis who like that kind of thing. Huntington Beach PD in the 80's/90's had pretty active surveilance of the HB skinhead/neo-nazi goings on. their still around.

It was back in Riverside Ca, it was a white guy.
 
Sure. I generally turn down anything gun related because I just don't want to deal with it and I don't really know what is legal. I was asked to me a magazine that I think was illegal.

There's 3 glass blowers in my industrial park, so I've been asked to make parts for various drug paraphernalia. I generally decline if I know what it's for. I did make some parts for e-cigarettes back before that market was flooded.

Mostly I just turn down work that I think is dumb or will never work. I had a guy ask me to make a machine to resharpen oscillating saw blades. I couldn't see it working at all.
 
Back in the late 80's I had a guy working for me that was a very strong Jehovah's witness. We got a job drilling out an aluminum backing plate that went on a Sikorsky helicopter. I think it was a strengthening feature to mount a missile launcher or something. Who knows, regardless it was a simple job, just need a whole bunch of holes drilled in it. This guy said, nope, I will not set up or run that part. I can't support war.

I had ran that job myself. Respected his opinion, plus he was a fantastic machinist too.
 
Back in the late 80's I had a guy working for me that was a very strong Jehovah's witness. We got a job drilling out an aluminum backing plate that went on a Sikorsky helicopter. I think it was a strengthening feature to mount a missile launcher or something. Who knows, regardless it was a simple job, just need a whole bunch of holes drilled in it. This guy said, nope, I will not set up or run that part. I can't support war.

I had ran that job myself. Respected his opinion, plus he was a fantastic machinist too.


Probably 30 years ago I was fairly new on a job and a long term employee of the place I split a bank of machines with walked out and never returned when he found out because of me that we were making triggers for land mines. I had no idea they hid the fact we made such products from the guy. I got yelled at for tipping him off and I had no idea of his attitude. I went out and found another job in a couple days, screw those people.
 
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