Chairs and Sh**ty Manager Greatest Hits

Guest blog article by Grease Monkey D. Dragon, Undercover CTA Worker

So the word is that the managers want to confiscate the chairs we keep next to our toolboxes (again).

The chair thing is like the phone thing: Managers who do not know our job are attempting to justify a management job that we simply don't need! 

The truth is that the managers have no skills. The managers that came from the toolbox only entered management to run away from work and not a single one was a decent repairer. 

NOT ONE! 

I remember after one of the Chair Wars several years ago: I saw the first office chair snuck into a shop! Of course that Repairer sat his fat ass in it over 7 hours a day. I guess he was practicing for his current position as a manager.

Next thing on the Sh**ty Manager Greatest Hits is Safety Glasses. To my knowledge, we have never had one eye injury in our shops. But we have constant back injuries due to management not maintaining the shops and equipment. 

Why you ask? 

Because they don't know the job!

Lastly, as we move closer to the imaginary Fiscal Cliff, we will see more of this Trump "Apprentice" Sh*t Show! In fact, the first thing that someone is going to realize is that Rail Maintenance personnel is made up of nearly 25-freakin-percent managers! 

The average company in the real world relies on just 4%. 

The Authority management model is 1 manager for every 3 workers. In my career I can even recall several occasions of being the only Repairman and having 2 managers sitting in the office.

Take my chair today! 

But when someone realizes that all the chairs in the office aren't needed, there will be more than enough extra chairs to replace the one taken!

The opinions expressed by guest bloggers here or in Shop Talk newsletter are not necessarily the opinion or sanctioned policies and actions by Brother Eric Curtis Muhammad Basir, ATU Local 308 members, elected leadership or stewards. In the spirit of the First Amendment and the ATU Obligation, all CTA workers and supporters are welcome to submit content of any point-of-view for this blog. Real identities will be hidden upon request.