Thanks to all who read "Go Safely & Prosper"! It had the highest one and two day totals I've had in a while. I'll give you a short update on it, but first things first... I am an employee of AT&T and the following is my opinion(lol)... Obviously, someone in management read it because I was dispatched on a "helper trouble ticket" both Monday and Tuesday. That is a major change in the way AT&T has been operating and cudos to whoever changed it! I believe in giving credit where credit is due. My supervisor also notified me today that upper management called to say that the GPS on my truck was not operating correctly. That makes me think that I am under the microscope, which is okay, look all you want!
We were told Monday that all the technicians could not stock their trucks with material in the morning. We furthermore could not clean off our trucks on overtime, nor stock materials on overtime. We were also to drive out of the work center gate before picking up a trouble on our laptops. I'm not sure whose manager bonus we're helping, but I hope he doesn't get a thing! That supid plan is driving all the employees crazy. Actually the stress levels are the highest I've ever seen. Just wondering how you're going to complete all your jobs with no material on your truck is enough to worry about. I remembered that I needed 5pair drop Monday morning, did I get it? No way!!! We were threatened to all be put on one vacation schedule just from one guy asking a simple question... Sorry, that was a longer update than I meant to make.
I've been asked how I ended up working at Chelsea, Alabama, so let me tell you that story(opinion, right). I worked in nearby Riverchase and loved it - except for one thing, my truck! It was the oldest in the fleet, straight shift, and no air conditioning. I could have lived with that but the engine heat came through the firewall. You could scramble eggs on the dashboard! I complained a good bit, but nothing was being done, as usual. I came in one hot summer day and handed my keys to the supervisor and said, "go drive my truck". He asked why, and I wouldn't tell him. So he and another manager went around the block. They came back red faced and I asked how the trip was... "hot" was all I got! Again, nothing happened, and I gave up when a new AT&T edict came out that all the trucks would be locked up unless you were touching it. This happened after a manager in Texas lost a company laptop(we all suffered)! I thought, "what can I do? this will give me a heat stroke!" The best plan I could come up with at the time was to call Television channel 6 and let them do a report on "technician found dead in hot truck"! I felt like it would be a good story and AT&T would regret not helping me, but the consequences were just too severe.
About that time, someone in the group mentioned there was a job opening in nearby Calera. I could drive to that work center in five minutes from home, and it was opposite the morning flow of traffic. It was perfect! I sent a request in to personnel to transfer from Riverchase to Calera. The call from personel came in the afternoon on another hot day. I didn't even have to think about it... "yes", I said, "I'll take it"! Then, I thought, what will I be driving there. The personel manager was kind enough to give me the supervisor's number in Calera and let me contact him for the answer to that question and wait on my return call for a final answer.
I called and got voice mail, so I left a message requesting a callback. I guess it was maybe an hour later when the Supervisor called and I told him I wanted the job there but needed to know what I'd be driving(didn't want to jump from one hot truck to another). He stated quite frankly that he didn't have me a truck. He only had one bucket available and a service technician(ST) was driving it. He said, "I won't take him off of it!" He started on a long monologue about the ST, how he was his super tech, he could do it all, dsl, uverse, pots, cable... He then stated that "fact is, I want him to get this job and not you! What I really want to happen is for you to stay in Riverchase and ____ to get this job!"
Shocked, I didn't know what to say. I said, "you know, I'm not a new hire myself", "I'm a pretty good technician." He said, "I'm sure you are, but I don't want you to take this job!" I said, "could you call and check with someone about the truck and let me know?" He said he would and I could call him the next day. Needless to say, I didn't call him back. I immediately called the personel manager in Atlanta and relayed to her what happened and that I couldn't move into a job under those circumstances. I knew if I took that job over the tech He wanted, He would make my life miserable!
It was probably another month before a second position came open, a little further to drive, to Chelsea. Desperate, I applied and accepted that position. The same personel manager remembered me and the former incident and offered to give me the number of the supervisior there to call. I declined saying, "I'm not calling this time!" I'm not sure it all worked out for the best, but at least, for now, I don't have a hot truck!
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