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Kenny vs WP Union today on Philly.com

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anonymous

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Philly-area Merck union chief rips CEO Ken Frazier for layoffs, endangering workers at West Point plant

Tension over layoffs and the future of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. spilled into the public domain Tuesday evening as a written exchange between CEO Ken Frazier and a union leader cast doubt on the safety of workers and people in the community near the company's factory in West Point, Montgomery County.

Merck's decision to cut thousands of jobs to please Wall Street resulted in middle managers forcing workers to accept 16 hour shifts or face termination. Fatigue increases danger of injury at the plant, the union said, and on the way home. The frustration grew when Frazier announced July 28 that all employees - except union members - would get an extra day off as a sign of appreciation for their efforts.

Dan Bangert, a 29-year Merck employee and president of the United Steelworkers Union local:
“We were once a family. I have lived that and experienced it in my 29 years of work at Merck. But by putting money and profits above all else, including the people that work for you, you are tearing that family apart. (Not what the GREAT George Merck had in mind.)

“Today, I work for a company that lays workers off, then forces (YES – FORCES) other workers to work constant overtime to fill in for the laid off workers. Worse, if you do not show for your mandatory overtime assignment, you receive discipline up to and including termination.”

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...orkers-at-West-Point-plant.html#disqus_thread
 




anonymous said:
Philly-area Merck union chief rips CEO Ken Frazier for layoffs, endangering workers at West Point plant

Tension over layoffs and the future of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. spilled into the public domain Tuesday evening as a written exchange between CEO Ken Frazier and a union leader cast doubt on the safety of workers and people in the community near the company's factory in West Point, Montgomery County.

Merck's decision to cut thousands of jobs to please Wall Street resulted in middle managers forcing workers to accept 16 hour shifts or face termination. Fatigue increases danger of injury at the plant, the union said, and on the way home. The frustration grew when Frazier announced July 28 that all employees - except union members - would get an extra day off as a sign of appreciation for their efforts.

Dan Bangert, a 29-year Merck employee and president of the United Steelworkers Union local:
“We were once a family. I have lived that and experienced it in my 29 years of work at Merck. But by putting money and profits above all else, including the people that work for you, you are tearing that family apart. (Not what the GREAT George Merck had in mind.)

“Today, I work for a company that lays workers off, then forces (YES – FORCES) other workers to work constant overtime to fill in for the laid off workers. Worse, if you do not show for your mandatory overtime assignment, you receive discipline up to and including termination.”

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...orkers-at-West-Point-plant.html#disqus_thread
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Hard to believe Frazier would put the company at so much risk. Worker fatigue is becoming a hot issue. A few injuries or significant errors would negate any savings realized by reducing the worforce unless he is willing to assume the risk and is planning to liquidate the company.
 




anonymous said:
Hard to believe Frazier would put the company at so much risk. Worker fatigue is becoming a hot issue. A few injuries or significant errors would negate any savings realized by reducing the worforce unless he is willing to assume the risk and is planning to liquidate the company.
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Union trash, they would need to work to get fatiqued!
 




anonymous said:
Philly-area Merck union chief rips CEO Ken Frazier for layoffs, endangering workers at West Point plant

Tension over layoffs and the future of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. spilled into the public domain Tuesday evening as a written exchange between CEO Ken Frazier and a union leader cast doubt on the safety of workers and people in the community near the company's factory in West Point, Montgomery County.

Merck's decision to cut thousands of jobs to please Wall Street resulted in middle managers forcing workers to accept 16 hour shifts or face termination. Fatigue increases danger of injury at the plant, the union said, and on the way home. The frustration grew when Frazier announced July 28 that all employees - except union members - would get an extra day off as a sign of appreciation for their efforts.

Dan Bangert, a 29-year Merck employee and president of the United Steelworkers Union local:
“We were once a family. I have lived that and experienced it in my 29 years of work at Merck. But by putting money and profits above all else, including the people that work for you, you are tearing that family apart. (Not what the GREAT George Merck had in mind.)

“Today, I work for a company that lays workers off, then forces (YES – FORCES) other workers to work constant overtime to fill in for the laid off workers. Worse, if you do not show for your mandatory overtime assignment, you receive discipline up to and including termination.”

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...orkers-at-West-Point-plant.html#disqus_thread
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He is treating them like slaves. That's pretty funny.

I hear he is making them sing old man river.
 








Impressed he had the balls to write this. I think a lot of workers, not just union, feel the same way and have a the same impression on middle management network wide. Others in the past on CP constantly complained about middle managers, maybe there is something to it. Will KF do anything about it?...No. Although, I'm intrigued to see what happens to WP after this letter.
 




































Merck is really asking for it now and this demonstrate that Ken Frazier is clueless and arrogant and doesn't know what he is doing. Here is how this situation is going to blow up in his face and cause a huge problem for Merck sooner than later.

A lot of these union workers do very hazardous work. If you have ever seen one of those industrial size autoclaves, you know what I am talking about.

Many years ago, the rumor goes, one of these giant autoclaves blew up and killed the union worker who was operating it. The six foot autoclave door exploded as the worker tried to open it and crushed him againt the wall across the room. Merck moved in quickly with a few million dollars of hush money for the family of the dead man and made it all go away. The non Union Merck engineer who fixed the autoclave had apparently welded two halves to make one whole autoclave. The rig was badly done and defective. The engineer was fired and the family accepted the hush money. This was in the good old days when relations with the union were good.

If this situation ever repeats again because of poor working conditions, I doubt that the union and their families will be so forgiving this time around.
 




anonymous said:
Merck is really asking for it now and this demonstrate that Ken Frazier is clueless and arrogant and doesn't know what he is doing. Here is how this situation is going to blow up in his face and cause a huge problem for Merck sooner than later.

A lot of these union workers do very hazardous work. If you have ever seen one of those industrial size autoclaves, you know what I am talking about.

Many years ago, the rumor goes, one of these giant autoclaves blew up and killed the union worker who was operating it. The six foot autoclave door exploded as the worker tried to open it and crushed him againt the wall across the room. Merck moved in quickly with a few million dollars of hush money for the family of the dead man and made it all go away. The non Union Merck engineer who fixed the autoclave had apparently welded two halves to make one whole autoclave. The rig was badly done and defective. The engineer was fired and the family accepted the hush money. This was in the good old days when relations with the union were good.

If this situation ever repeats again because of poor working conditions, I doubt that the union and their families will be so forgiving this time around.
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Oh please. That is an old fairy tale members tell each other in the Bldg 1 break room as they sit around eating potato chips.
 




anonymous said:
Oh please. That is an old fairy tale members tell each other in the Bldg 1 break room as they sit around eating potato chips.
Click to expand...

Good try. Have it your way. If I didn't think you are here to dig, I would tell you. In the meantime, you have better pray some of that old manufacturing equipment does not break and cause harm to product, patient and employee because the consequences will be very serious.

Weather or not we like Unions is irrelevant in the eyes of the law when it comes to industrial accidents.

I don't know what Merck's plan for dealing with the unions is, but I do know that it is a dumb idea to shit where you eat. The unions do a great deal of essential work that is crucials to the proper functioning of Merck, and they deserve some respect while they are still doing their job.
 




anonymous said:
Oh please. That is an old fairy tale members tell each other in the Bldg 1 break room as they sit around eating potato chips.
Click to expand...

Wrong. It did happen, sometime in the early '90s. I remember that an announcement appeared in The Daily newsletter for the site (no longer published - another cutback). The safety programs at WP were beefed up after the accident. Although I'm pretty sure it was a union worker that was killed, I believe the problem was traced to an autoclave redesign where the temperature / pressure probe was placed on the wrong side of a shutoff valve. The failsafe didn't work because the probe showed atmospheric temp/pressure when actually the autoclave was still pressurized. When he opened the latch, the door swung out violently and crushed him against the wall. So it was either a design fault by the engineers or a welder reading the blueprints wrong.
 




anonymous said:
Wrong. It did happen, sometime in the early '90s. ....
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This is correct. Here are the links from a simply Google search:

Lab Aide Killed In Explosion 2d Hurt At Merck Facility In Montco
http://articles.philly.com/1992-01-...tal-chicken-pox-vaccine-gary-bruell-autoclave

Posted: January 25, 1992


One lab assistant was killed and another injured yesterday when a door blew off a sterilization machine at Merck Sharpe & Dohme in Upper Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, police said.

The 2 p.m. blast was apparently caused when an autoclave, used in manufacturing an experimental chicken pox vaccine, malfunctioned, according to Upper Gwynedd Police Detective Richard Klees. He said one of the doors on the autoclave apparently blew off and struck a lab assistant in the head.

The assistant, Ronald Reese, 48, of Norristown, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other lab assistant, Edith Frank, 57, of Pennsburg, was taken by Lansdale Volunteer Medical Service Corp. to North Penn Hospital, where she was treated for a bruise to the lower back. She was released about 6 p.m. yesterday.

Merck Rejecting Osha Findings In Blast At Montco Plant One Employee Died, Another Was Hurt. The Firm Faces A Stringent Osha Penalty, With A $73,250 Fine.
http://articles.philly.com/1992-06-23/news/26033352_1_osha-george-tomchick-informal-conference

Merck & Co. of West Point is protesting the conclusions of a federal agency that last week slapped the company with the most stringent safety penalty at its disposal, including a $73,250 fine, in connection with a January explosion that killed one employee and injured another.

The Montgomery County company has refused to pay the fine, and has scheduled an informal conference with the agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), next Tuesday.
 




anonymous said:
This is correct. Here are the links from a simply Google search:

Lab Aide Killed In Explosion 2d Hurt At Merck Facility In Montco
http://articles.philly.com/1992-01-...tal-chicken-pox-vaccine-gary-bruell-autoclave

Posted: January 25, 1992


One lab assistant was killed and another injured yesterday when a door blew off a sterilization machine at Merck Sharpe & Dohme in Upper Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, police said.

The 2 p.m. blast was apparently caused when an autoclave, used in manufacturing an experimental chicken pox vaccine, malfunctioned, according to Upper Gwynedd Police Detective Richard Klees. He said one of the doors on the autoclave apparently blew off and struck a lab assistant in the head.

The assistant, Ronald Reese, 48, of Norristown, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other lab assistant, Edith Frank, 57, of Pennsburg, was taken by Lansdale Volunteer Medical Service Corp. to North Penn Hospital, where she was treated for a bruise to the lower back. She was released about 6 p.m. yesterday.

Merck Rejecting Osha Findings In Blast At Montco Plant One Employee Died, Another Was Hurt. The Firm Faces A Stringent Osha Penalty, With A $73,250 Fine.
http://articles.philly.com/1992-06-23/news/26033352_1_osha-george-tomchick-informal-conference

Merck & Co. of West Point is protesting the conclusions of a federal agency that last week slapped the company with the most stringent safety penalty at its disposal, including a $73,250 fine, in connection with a January explosion that killed one employee and injured another.

The Montgomery County company has refused to pay the fine, and has scheduled an informal conference with the agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), next Tuesday.
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For gods sake, find something newer than 20 years old to bitch about. I was there and it ended up being the production persons misstep. Now go home to mommy!
 




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