What’s really going to blow your mind is when you realize that if you organize you could ultimately have any rights you want.
Talk to your co-workers about your pay and their pay. Even if it is just to get them comfortable being in a position of talking about their wants for a job openly. You'll find you have a lot in common.
I helped my co-worker understand why he was due for a raise when I showed him our boss was paying skilled workers like him in the bottom 5% of the national average. He was an electrician making $32,000 yearly. Roughly $17 an hour. He was working a night job to put food on the table.
What I wasn't prepared for was half a dozen electricians demanding a raise from my boss a few days later. And my boss denying my yearly raise.
I left the company shortly after to greener pastures. I regret nothing because they got their raises.
If you work with machines that contain rapidly spinning axles, make sure you have pictures on your phone of the... aftermath... of what happens when people fuck with them, in case someone wants to fuck with them.
Scholarship kid refused to take gloves and arm guards off at the lathe.
One video later, it's not a problem anymore.
I got a talking to for that. Not a serious talking to, but a talking to.
