What would you have done? (anti-gun employer)

N

Northern Sod Breaker

New member
Well two days into my job I quit. There was alot of issues but the anti-gun policies are what broke the camels back. The signs posted at all the doors should have been a warning but I overlooked it. But yesterday morning (Tuesday) as part of orientation I had to watch a video that was nothing short of a propaganda film. It was supposedly about violence in the work place. A direct quote from the movie was "Anyone who owns or talks about buying a firearm is a violent person and should be avoided." Maybe it's just me but why does that line seem some how familar? Anyway I told them where to go in a nice manner. If it wasn't bad enough it was $20/week for union dues and it is not any wonder where that money would go. I just made the decision I'm not going to put up with that crap. The extra money would have been damn nice, but it was in no way required. So if you were in my shoes would you work for a company that was not only anti-gun, but also forced it's political views on it's workforce?
 
I would have ignored their silly political views and taken their money. If they want to talk about guns and how they are a terrible things, that’s fine, I can rant for hours about how much I love them.

I think you can get out of the union thing, not positive about it though
 
When profiling for those capable of workplace violence the ownership of firearms and frequent talking about them puts you high on the list. That is just a fact of life so accept it.
 
I agree, walking out was the best thing.

My reasoning is simple. Stress is cumulative. Even the most minor issue builds resentment to levels you might think unattainable. Pretty soon you hate getting out of bed--and some mornings you don't.

Minor issues forced me to quit and start my own company, but in many ways the damage was already done.

Kick the dust from you sandals. You did the right thing. There are many other decent employers that would be grateful to have you.
 
A direct quote from the movie was "Anyone who owns or talks about buying a firearm is a violent person and should be avoided."
Click to expand...

You know, part of me think this has to be some kind of exaggeration. The other part of me has actually been out in the world a little bit and realized how small-minded many people are.

Sucks you had to deal with it. I'd say you did the right thing. A few anti-gun policies in the workplace are one thing...annoying, but I can deal with it. But making me watch a video that directly insults me? Yeah, I'll probably be taking my skills (and guns) elsewhere, thankyouverymuch.
 
+1 to your morals.

I did the same thing with an interview a while back. They had some 50 year old receptionist acting as "security" along with no-gun signs at the front door. I turned around and left before even going in to the final interview. They called and asked why, and I told them I didn't like their office policy.
 
One of the great things about the good old USA is that in most cases we can quit a job for any reason we want to and you can be fired for almost any reason they want to fire you for. One can take poor working conditions for a while but it get to you. If your feelings are that you can't agree with their policies then it is best that you look somewhere else and that is what you did. Mush better to quit right now than two months later.
 
It depends. If I really needed the job to pay the bills I would have sucked it up until I found a new job. If it was like a 2nd job, I guess I would have kept my mouth shut until the first paycheck, then quit. To salve my conscience I would then use the money to buy more guns, ammo, and make bigger financial contributions to support gun rights.

It's worth noting that the "training film" may have been produced by some ninny at the corporate office and the thinking of the employees in your part of the country is totally different. Depends on how other trainees reacted to "People who own guns are violent..." line.
 
Shotgun,

Please clarify. Was it the Union which presented/provided the video, or was it the employer that presented/provided the video? Were they working in cahoots with one another, by one providing and one presenting the video?

I would have called my local conservative radio talkshow and told them what was going on. These people need some light shed on them. Local radio talk shows have more power than you think. The Ward Churchill thing in Boulder here came to light because of a local Talk Radio show. The CU Boulder sex scandal came to light on a national scale because of a local talk radio show. The Boulder High School sex and drug encouragement seminar was brought to light by a local radio show. You should still call a local show there and try to present it in a way that will make them turn it into a big story.

In the least you should make your local NRA office and any local firearm support activist folks aware of what is going on there. Chances are the company you worked for is not the only union/company that is doing this and it should be brought out in the open.

Just curious...were you required to sign a confidentiality agreement? If not, I would post the company and union name here.
 
If profiling is "wrong" for national security....

How can it be "right" for a business?

You don't mention what kind of business you were going to work for, but while I applaud your moral conviction, you may have left too early.

Consider, under todays laws, what you might have done, once you were an employee, and encountered a "hostile work environment"? Can you imagine suing for harrassmemt, and posibbly even winning? Nothing better than sticking it to these people using their own rules!

Some time back I undertook a company physical, and the "risk assessment" questionaire. No question mentioned guns at all. The only one concerning violence asked about the last time you were in/witnessed a physical fight. Mostly it was about safety behavior (wearing seatbelt, driving <10mph over speed limit, etc.). When the results were returned, one of the recommendations they made for me to live longer was "avoid handguns"!

I raised a bit of a stink with the company EEO/HR people, (the company does contract work for the Feds), and they agreed, that the conclusion "avoid handguns" was not justified, and the subcontractor that did the risk assessment did not get their contract renewed. Sometimes we do win, and even if small, a win is a win.

You will get no flak from me for working somewhere else, but sometimes it is worth it to take their money and teach them just how much their biased and shortsighted attitude is costing them in terms of workers, customers, and potential legal trouble.
 
Similar thing happened to me.... a while back, I went to take the NYPD test to become a Police Officer. The first orientation meeting was a few months after the exam... on this day we recieved paperwork, got fingerprinted, and listened to a few detectives speak.

One of the detectives asked how many of us already owned firearms... a dozen or so people raised their hands. He then said, "Well you are going to have to sell all of your guns before we can hire you". He said the the department forbids new recruits from posessing firearms while in the academy. Right then and there I lost all of my interest in the job. My heart sunk.

I probably could have typed up some BS receipt saying that I 'sold' my guns to my father. However, the issue was not about that for me. To me, this was a constitutional issue. My instinct and personal beliefs said, 'No, this is wrong'. I also thought about a lot of the unconstitutional NYC gun laws that I would be enforcing.... it turned me off about taking that job. Was I upset about it for a while? Sure, I still am. However, you have to stand by your beliefs.

A few friends of mine became cops with the NYPD and they drank the anti-gun koolaid. They now brag about the 'gun arrests' they make and about how that are always looking to take guns away from people. I usually ask then, 'When you swore in, didn't you vow to protect and defend the constitution of the US?' Proudly they answer 'yes we did'. I respond, 'Well you are not doing a very good job in defending the 2nd amendment of that constitution that you swore to defend and protect'. They usually don't have much to say after that.

I am now in line to become a NYC Sanitation Worker... it works out for me in two ways- 1) NYC Sanitation Workers make more $ than NYC cops and 2) I won't have to sign away my 2nd amendment rights as a new hire. I also won't have to enforce unconstitutional draconian gun laws.

Like a famous country song says, "You have got to stand for something or you will fall for anything".
 
Okay a follow up. First of all I can not prove it but I am reasonably sure that it ws the union that produced the film. (which for the record is UFCW/local 709) There is quite a bit of irony in the fact that every employee there has 2 or quite often 3 razor sharp knives on his person at any given time. Yet there worried about someone bringing a weapon in to the plant? Oh I quess I forgot that knives don't kill you as quick so there okay. (Which is exactly what a teacher told me after refusing to allow me to do my grad standard speech on gun control.) I can put up with alot of S*** but when an employer directly singles me out and offends me, and about gun control That is not going to fly. Gun control is a very tender nerve with me. I could go on talk radio or report it to the NRA or other relevant pro-gun group but it would have the same effect as dumping diesel fuel on a grass fire. For them to turn and say "See I told you gun owners are violent" would only result in them gaining ground. Either way a person is screwwed. The sad part is they have a monoply on the market and I am forced to sell livestock to them. So be it. At least the union dues are coming from someone else. So none the less I'm back to my old job. Less money but at least the boss pro-gun. I'm hoping that if I suck up enough the boss will take me with next time he goes prairie dog hunting in No.Dak. :D


Shotgun
 
How would reporting this be "violent" ??

As far as proof, I am sure once the story gets going that there would be other people who work there or are in that union who would vouch for the material and what you brought to light as being true.

Anyway, I have a headache, so I'm gonna hit the rack. I'll have a clearer head to add more comments tomorrow.
 
A direct quote from the movie was "Anyone who owns or talks about buying a firearm is a violent person and should be avoided."
Click to expand...

First of all, I consider this slander. I'd send the producers of the film and the union a demand for proof of that assertion. I've worked in companies where we've spent most of our break time BS'ing about a new gun or our last range outing... an no one has been hurt.

Let's change the wording a little bit...
"Anyone who owns or talks about buying a motorcycle is a unnecessary risk-taker and should be avoided."

"Anyone who owns or talks about buying a rap music is a drug using gang member and should be avoided."

"Anyone who owns or talks about buying a condom is a pervert and should be avoided."

One company I worked for had an employee handbook that had a weapons policy that was poorly written. It stated something like "Employees are prohibited from possessing drugs, alcohol, firearms or other weapons during working hours". In essence, I violated that policy daily by "possessing" firearms (at home) during working hours.
 
My employer (home depot) has a policy that prohibits employees from carrying weapons while working. They also prohibit employees from keeping weapons in their vehicles while working (there are exceptions where state law prohibits employers from restricting that).

I do remember a few years ago there was a company brochure on violence in the workplace, and it mentioned something about employees who "talk about or otherwise are obsessed with firearms" as being violent. I remember making a complaint about it to the HR office, pointing out that I sometimes discuss the issue of firearms, but no more than other employees who "obsess" over football or other seasonl sports. I never heard anything back, but I haven't seen more of those brochures in recent years.

I did have one incident with an assistant manager, when during a dispute he said that he knew I owned guns and was going to report my "temper" to the police and that he would say he felt threatened. I filed a complaint against him with both the corporate office and HR, and needless to say, nothing has come of it. He has since been promoted and transferred.
 
Dewhitewolf,

I worked for Home Despot for about 2 years in the mid 90s. The managment was a joke. One of the ones who interviewed me was taken away in cuffs for runnign his own plumbing supply business via HD stock. The LPS (Loss Protection Supervisor) was demoted to cashier because her live in fiances at the special order desk for another store was having their home redone with special order items that were never properly charged... They couldn't PROVE she knew but she had to ahve seen the truck loads of product arrive yet not be paid for... There were several other managers in trouble for one thing after another and of course the female assist manager who made it to store manager by "riding" the district manager's "good will".:rolleyes:

I left because it was obviously a dead end. Management in the long run would be a joke. The years of making a million off of stock were long gone although it was still spun that way. It went the path of most retail... dehumanizing.
 
I think I would have continued to work for em' and also worked to change company policy from the inside. What if they'd have been talking about Blacks being Violent, plenty of so called "evidence" what with the Riots of of the '60 and all the looting in L.A. after the Rodney King verdic, do you think the ACLU would have stood for it, I don't. Gun Owners have Rights too, granted, an employer CAN make you leave your guns at home and not allow them on company property BUT saying that just because someone owns Firearms makes them Violent is just like saying that because someone is of a certain Race that they're going to be Violent too.
 
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