A possible labor option for mundane tasks

Ox · Oct 7, 2021

Production Machining

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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

garyhlucas · Oct 8, 2021

We send out assembly tasks to ARC that works with handicapped people. I just made fixture for them to do some very tedious assembly work that is done by the thousands. They also supply our janitorial services.

kustomizer · Oct 8, 2021

We just have me do them

tdmidget · Oct 8, 2021

garyhlucas said:
We send out assembly tasks to ARC that works with handicapped people. I just made fixture for them to do some very tedious assembly work that is done by the thousands. They also supply our janitorial services.

Slave labor. You should be ashamed.

mhajicek · Oct 8, 2021

tdmidget said:
Slave labor. You should be ashamed.

I don't think so. In addition to the benefits of income, people need to feel useful. Often people tend to waste away if they're stuck at home doing nothing that matters. As long as they're treated decently and paid something fair for what they do, I see nothing wrong.

Spruewell · Oct 8, 2021

I think it’s a great idea. I totally agree with giving disabled people an opportunity to do something meaningful and productive. There are plenty out there right now who are refusing these opportunities and won’t get off the couch because they think they are “better” than that. To them I say, “Prove it!”

Nerdlinger · Oct 8, 2021

mhajicek said:
I don't think so. In addition to the benefits of income, people need to feel useful. Often people tend to waste away if they're stuck at home doing nothing that matters. As long as they're treated decently and paid something fair for what they do, I see nothing wrong.

That is the correct perspective.

Bill D · Oct 9, 2021

I hear prisoners are glad to get a job, just to do something. Some of the low pay goes to repay victims. Covid this season reduced prison forest fire fighters in California.
Bill D

UncleFrank · Oct 9, 2021

We supported sheltered workshops. The people working there seemed happy to have a useful job and something to do.

Some of it wasn't parts/assembly. We'd give them things like mixed fasteners, used drill bits, etc that they would sort and sell to salvage dealers.

toolmaker96 · Oct 9, 2021

tdmidget said:
Slave labor. You should be ashamed.

You know, that is a real shit response.
We have a local organization that does the same thing. They hire both mentally & physically handicapped people to do outside assembly work. This company then goes out into the local business communities and contracts to take in outside assembly work & the like.

I think it is awesome that companies have an option to send out this type of work & support the local community. Granted it may not be the most technical & or physically demanding kind of work, but it gives these members of our community a sense of purpose & gives them the ability for them to help support themselves.

We have a guy with down syndrome that has been in town as long as I can remember, 40+ years. He makes money by towing a trailer behind his bike with advertisement signs for local companies. He drags that trailer back & forth through town every day.
For many years the trailer kept getting longer & longer. Unfortunately now as he has gotten older, his trailer is a fraction of what it used to be, but he is still out there busting his ass every fucking day.

I guess you would rather these people just sit around & be wards of the state.
With no due respect, you are an asshole.

(Correction, Lucky has cerebral palsy, not down syndrome. If I remember the story correctly, that is why he chose riding to ride a bike, was to keep his body from deteriorating.)

CITIZEN F16 · Oct 9, 2021

kustomizer said:
We just have me do them

Same here, and I hate them now as I always have. Nothing like the equivalent of screwing the caps on toothpaste tubes. I found the best way to keep my mind off what I am doing is listening to a game. I wish I was on Hawaii time, instead of central, so there would be baseball on at 8am.

Scottl · Oct 9, 2021

mhajicek said:
I don't think so. In addition to the benefits of income, people need to feel useful. Often people tend to waste away if they're stuck at home doing nothing that matters. As long as they're treated decently and paid something fair for what they do, I see nothing wrong.

And often various agencies supplement lower wages, at least during training.

A win-win situation for both parties.

Screwmachine · Oct 9, 2021

Building where I had my last workshop had a center like this. Folks ranging from physical issues to mental, the work was given according to ability, some fairly complex, some dead simple. Came to find out a machinist from a former workplace was helping to manage it- he absolutely loved it there. It not only provides work to those who would have a hard time finding it otherwise but also a social outlet. Hats off to the people who provide this service- to the folks who really benefit- the workers.

boosted · Oct 9, 2021

Employing these folks is awesome.

Part of me does worry though. It has to be carefully managed. There are a lot of scumbag business owners out there who will happily exploit a worker while convincing themselves they are being benevolent.

Back before my time there was a specific deburr and assembly department at Boeing called "pots and pans". I believe the reason it went away was the poor public perception. If the workforce is essentially captive, things can become morally ambiguous fast.

alphonso · Oct 9, 2021

I have a Downs nephew. Worked in the laundry at Fort Sam in San Antonio for years. Some of the people there cried when he left. Now at Holy Angels in Shreveport. Works in a flower shop. Nearly went nuts when they closed down from Covid. Been back at work for a month now. Happy as a clam.

garyhlucas · Oct 14, 2021

May you someday be seen as too useless to hire, so that you may understand what that feels like.

kustomizer · Oct 14, 2021

Before we moved, both the wife and I would go to the ARC center and help train the trainers so they could better help them folks. We gave them tools now and again so they could train with similar tools they may need to use and twice a year we buy their letter openers and pens to put in with our retail sales boxes

Arc is a good place, stop by one now and again as their needs are small but their impact on peoples lives is huge

huleo · Oct 14, 2021

As the father of a son that had serious disabilities, and now a marine, I will say someone disabled may prove more productive than your normal "jobber". They don't care who is winning the game, who is going out tonight, or if their clothes match. In many cases, they care about doing their job to the best of their ability.

My main concern is if the owners of these places truly have their heart in the right place. As long as that aligns, this can only be a win/win. It would be awesome to have the disabled in shop, but that is probably not practical or safe as many have specific needs that must be met.

My son is highly mechanical and I quickly found out if I told him to thread the nut on 4 turns. He would return them at 3.5 turns. Packaging machine, deburr, sorting tasks, ACE! The level of personal pride that is built is huge for them! They do not look at tasks the same. They don't say "this is a stupid job", they say "I want to do this right".

Proud parent here! You better believe when he installs those turbine shrouds, they are torqued right on spec, every time, without fail. Every disability is different, but most of them have more ability than they are given credit for.

Mebfab · Oct 14, 2021

I sold a dust collection system to a company employing people who had various issues. The company did plastic bumper and hubcap repair/restoration. He said they where the best workers, if they had a good month he would order pizzas or cook up hot dogs. He said this allowed him to keep from sending the work to mexico..

As for someone bringing up abuse. When I was a teenager I worked at a grocery store. The front end day crew was supplemented by special needs workers that bagged groceries, mopped, etc. The front end manager had them singing Elvis songs in an attempt to humiliate them and make himself feel better. He narrowly kept his job and avoided an ass beating from the parent that discovered it.

Another value to this is getting the workers into a situation where they have some skill, income and employability then into a group home. Talk to the parent of someone with downs syndrome,or head injury, or fill in the blank. They are terrified for the kids future. They know that they will outlive there children. And who will take care of them.

tdmidget · Oct 17, 2021

garyhlucas said:
May you someday be seen as too useless to hire, so that you may understand what that feels like.

May you some day work for $2.50/hr while the CEO of Goodwill makes $798.000 /year.
Subminimum Wage - NDSS

A possible labor option for mundane tasks

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