Well, I'm glad (not really, but you know what I mean) that I'm not alone in this.
At first I thought it was just North Carolina, and "the way things were done down here". I moved here 7 years ago from NY, left a job with IBM. I am coming to find that it's a country wide thing. Loyalty is a thing of the past.
As has been discussed in other threads, finding the right place anymore is really tough. I know it's easy to say "move to where the work is", but that's just not feasible for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons.
I can't say that I was out-and-out lied to at my first place in NC, but there sure was a lot of information withheld. Holds true for the 2nd place, too, but that's another story.
I had to laugh, 'cause I ran into that "shift differntial thing" once, too. The employee hand book spelled it out: 2nd shift 10 cents. I said "that's a typo, right? supposed to be 10 percent?" He looked at me like I had two heads. They honestly expected that to be incentive.
First place: they helped move me down here, gave me the song and dance, great place, regular raises, blah blah blah. As has also been said, should have got it in writing. A year and a half later, after getting their shop squared away, they said "thanks alot, see ya later". It's been said that when one door closes, another one opens. Now, I know nothing about tobacco growing or hog farming. That was the kick in the ass I needed to get my own thing going. (BTW, this is a company that moved down from Chicago to exploit the cheap labor)
After reading some of the posts in the other threads relating to this, I count my blessings for finally finding a place that does respect my abilities. Decent pay, decent bennies, *real* climate control (not just opening up *both* barn doors for ventilation, they send me to school, buy me new equipment, etc, etc... only draw back is the 140 mile (round trip) commute (to the big city). Small price to pay for working at a respectible place (good mpg car and a motorcycle).
Mark