LETTER: Temporary foundry workers earn less pay

I was reading the March 4 issue of the Perry County News and saw the comment in the story that when Waupaca first came to town, the first 500 employees were easy to find. Then they claimed that they struggled to find people to fill jobs.

I say bull crap! I think there are plenty of people who can do the job and are perfectly willing but Waupaca only wants to hire through temporary services. How can people not be good enough to work a full-time job with full benefits and full pay but are good enough to work the same job under temporary conditions for less pay?

They use the excuse people that apply aren’t qualified. I believed this at first until while working a full-time job I enrolled in the Perry County Basic Manufacturing Skills Course, a three-month program – which I completed. I went back and got my GED, and I have always worked full-time jobs so my work history is there. Armed with these achievements that are supposed to help people get better jobs and live better lives, I applied at Waupaca, calling them three times a week for a solid year. I finally got an interview and never heard from them again. But if I wanted to leave a full-time job for a temporary job for lower pay and no benefits, I could have worked at Waupaca.

It’s a sad world we live in where we have to have a middleman take the money we, as hard working Americans, should be receiving to support our families, just so these companies don’t have to give us insurance and better pay.

Just what does qualify a person for a job at Waupaca without going through a service? I have friends who work at Waupaca and friends who work there through a temp service. The only difference is the ones working through the temp service don’t receive full pay. All of them work very hard and should receive equal pay for doing the same job. I feel the reason these companies can’t always find good employees is simple. Get rid of the temp service and actually hire employees for permanent jobs with equal pay and people might want to work.

Also, if someone gets in a little bit of trouble, which ain’t hard to do in this town even though they have paid their dues and done their time, that’s another reason to not permanently hire someone and they end up working for less than they deserve.

Let’s face it, you don’t have to have a college education and multiple degrees to do these production jobs. It’s not rocket science. Whatever happened to an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work? Guess those days are gone. I’m not an angry person at all. I am actually quite happy and pleasant. I’m just speaking my mind and calling it as I see it.

JEFF HUGHES
Tell City