Thursday’s column: Up a creek, without a paddle
From left: (L-R) Mike Lehman, David Wood, William Buskill, Larry Toney, Jacson McCrickard, Paul Hackett, Mike Seal Sr., Curt Davis, Jack Lancaster, Michael Seal Jr. | Photo by Daniel Lin | The Roanoke Times
Blaze at General Truck Body left mechanics jobless
An unhappy Jack Lancaster sat on the rear deck of his tidy brick rancher at the base of Mill Mountain. With him were a bunch of unhappy colleagues.
They’re all mechanics, welders, electricians and auto-body painters — hard-working, blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth characters.
Until July 21, all of them were gainfully employed at General Truck Body, a small company in Northwest Roanoke that had less 20 workers.
The company headquarters, which was on 10th Street next to the Interstate 581 overpass, was destroyed in a July 21 fire. Early estimates pegged the losses at $1.5 million, though owner Tony Williams says it will likely end up less than that.
Among the items lost in the fire were the mechanics’ personal tools. Mike Lehman says he lost $14,000 worth; Mike Seal Sr. says replacing his will cost at least $20,000. Lancaster pegs his at $3,500.
Before the fire, they were told their tools were insured under the company’s policy. They found out after the fire that was untrue.
General Truck Body owner Tony Williams
Now, they’re jobless, embittered, owed vacation pay, without health insurance and a majority are collecting unemployment.
Worse, most places that might hire them won’t unless they have tools. A mechanic without them is about as useful as a canoeist who’s got no paddle.
“I could have had a job a couple of weeks ago, said Mike Seal Sr., a former construction company foreman who joined General Truck in October.
“But I told the guy, I’m waiting on getting my tools. He said, ‘Well, if you don’t have tools, you can’t have a job.’ ”
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
An unhappy Jack Lancaster sat on the rear deck of his tidy brick rancher at the base of Mill Mountain. With him were a bunch of unhappy colleagues.
They’re all mechanics, welders, electricians and auto-body painters — hard-working, blue-collar, salt-of-the-earth characters.
Until July 21, all of them were gainfully employed at General Truck Body, a small company in Northwest Roanoke that had less 20 workers.
The company headquarters, which was on 10th Street next to the Interstate 581 overpass, was destroyed in a July 21 fire. Early estimates pegged the losses at $1.5 million, though owner Tony Williams says it will likely end up less than that.
Among the items lost in the fire were the mechanics’ personal tools. Mike Lehman says he lost $14,000 worth; Mike Seal Sr. says replacing his will cost at least $20,000. Lancaster pegs his at $3,500.
Before the fire, they were told their tools were insured under the company’s policy. They found out after the fire that was untrue.
Now, they’re jobless, embittered, owed vacation pay, without health insurance and a majority are collecting unemployement.
Worse, most places that might hire them won’t unless they have tools. A mechanic without them is about as useful as a canoeist who’s got no paddle.
“I could have had a job a couple of weeks ago, said Mike Seal Sr., a former construction company foreman who joined General Truck in October.
“But I told the guy, I’m waiting on getting my tools. He said, ‘Well, if you don’t have tools, you can’t have a job.’ ”
September 13, 2012 - 6:00 AM
Up the river? This is very unfortunate. Thoughts and prayers go out to them.
I feel especially bad for the business owner. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders after being ill with cancer. Sounds like all regulatory hoops for him to jump through prevent him from starting anew. It’s a real shame.
Maybe Ellen will have them on her show and buy them tools? Even if they have to scrawl anti-gay slurs on their vehicles.
#2 We’re well aware, suzie, that you think employers should be able to open anywhere they want, even moving into a residential neighborhood (as long as it’s not yours); hire employees at any wage they want; provide completely unsafe working conditions; pollute the air and water all they want; rip off customers; and pretty much just operate unfettered, but, fortunately, you don’t run things.
Presumably some of the trucks he was customizing for the RR were in the building at the time of the fire. Were they covered? Sounds like crappy cheap insurance- really inexcusable when your place is full of thousands of dollars worth of other people’s belongings.
Definitely a sad situation all around.
One thing I’d like to know is why employers place such a heavy burden on employees to supply their own tools and equipment? Is it just so the employer can cheap out on putting forth the proper capital expenduitures to fully furnish their own companies?
I’m not expected to supply my own computer and purchase software licenses in my line of work, they are provided for me by the company because it is part of the cost of doing business.
Which brings me to a secondary question…were these mechanics considered actual employees, or were they considered indepdently contracted workers? Because that makes a little bit of difference.
But it still doesn’t change my view that requiring workers to provide several thousand dollars worth of equipment in order to be hired seems like a means for various companies to skirt buying the equipment in the first place, and it sounds doubly bad if their own insurance policies don’t protect those investments of their own workers.
I hope everyone involved can come to an amicable solution.
Gdad,
Why do you believe workers shouldn’t be allowed to have jobs as wages they find acceptable?
It just seems like there is a war against the people who do everything in this country — the small business owners. Instead, they should be honored for all they do.
Nice compassion from the self-centered crybaby workers. If the fire was an accident then they need to man up and stfu and rebuild. Instead they sit on the porch and point the finger at the owner and whine.
And now these boys will get unemployment plus charity and come out way better then they were before as do most who get their sad stories printed or put in the media.
Personally, I feel bad for the owner, not the crybaby workers.
I’ve lost all in my life 3 times to different misfortunes and have had to rebuild. But I never had my cases put out there to get the charity help. Nor would I want it.
Kristen, there were 9 or 10 finished or almost finished vehicles in the building. Some were destroyed, others were damaged superficially. They were insured.
#3 It’s hard not to notice, MMM, how you frequently use some sort of comment about gays in posts where it doesn’t really belong? You definitely have a problem, buddy.
Dan, since the tools there were an absolutely necessary part of the work that was being done, I don’t get how they’re being categorized as “personal effects”? That makes no sense…”personal effects” would be stuff like purses or clothing or other stuff people had at the shop. The tools were part of the business.
OJ, they were employees, not contractors.
I’ve had two calls this morning from companies that want to hire these guys, and one from the wife a retired mechanic who has a lot of tools that he’d like to dispose of at a discount. With his permission, I’ve referred them all to Jack Lancaster.
I’m with Kristen. This is a bit insane. How is this not a lawsuit? Was it just a verbal agreement that they accepted that their tools were covered? It’s their livelihood. How did they not change homeowners insurance policy to cover their livelihood? Something sounds off.
Excellent, Dan. Crossing fingers for all concerned, and wishing the owner good health.
Thanks, Dan. I could understand the requirement of requiring them to purchase their own tools if they were considered independent contractors who performed work for that company, my wife ran a self-employed business like that, where she was considered part of a larger business from a marketing standpoint, but she was technically an independent contractor who rented space within that business, so she was responsible for providing all of her equipment and tools of the trade, insuring them, etc.
If the insurance policy did not specifically cover the employee’s tools, that should have been communicated, because the employees then could have tried to find their own policy to cover their property, or they could have sought jobs elsewhere. And regardless of whether the business owner willfully lied to his employees about it, or was woefully misinformed on it, he screwed his workers and that looks incredibly bad.
I still don’t understand having to provide your own tools if you are hired by and considered an employee of a company though, unless you’re the owner trying to squeeze as much profit out of it as possible by not providing those tools…in which case, he could have afforded a better insurance policy, but I’m sure that would have hurt the bottom line too.
#8 Hey, Jeff Campbell, you mean the crybaby owner who’s whining about how tired he is from his cancer treatments?
I’m not serious about that comment, because I also feel for the owner, but I see nothing crybaby about the workers. They’re trying to get new jobs but those jobs require tools they don’t have and can’t afford. Guys who left their livelihoods at their former workplace because that owner ASSURED them they were covered by insurance. I guarantee not a single one of them wants to sit around collecting unemployment (HINT: It doesn’t pay very well, especially in Virginia).
And if somebody does step up and help them replace their tools, so what? Why should that bother you so much? Is it costing you anything? I didn’t think so. You claim that you’ve recovered on your own three times from losing everything. You never got any help from anybody in any way? I doubt it.
#13 Man, I think it’s just sad and pathetic that these guys would put themselves out there for “charity,” you, know, like a lead to a possible job or used tools at a discount. Pretty disgusting, eh, Jeff Campbell?
UTR,
Homeowners can purchase a rider for professional mechanics’ tools. Mike Lehman found this out when he tried to collect through his homeowners w/o the rider. His agent told him he could have covered $14k worth of tools for about $175/yr.
But he and the rest of the guys didn’t realize they needed it because the company owner told them he had insurance that covered their tools. Now his insurance company is claiming that coverage was extremly limited.
I frankly don’t understand JC’s anger about this column. It seems to be coming from a point of view that argues workers are little more than slaves.
@18 – Wow, $175/yr is cheap to cover that much in tools. So he (they) just had a verbal. Was there no evidence/proof? Did they ever see it? This is getting more unfortunate. Always CYA, because no one covers it for you is a big lesson to be learned here.
No wonder he’s angry. If you’ve lost everything 3 times, it’s probably smart to rethink your strategy.
Poster #7 wrote: “the people who do everything in this country — the small business owners”
Poster #7 thinks small business owners operate WalMart.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners operate our court system.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners constitute the U.S. Military.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners are our pharmaceutical industry.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners create our weather forecasts.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners coordinate national security.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners coordinate our money supply.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners provide our educational system.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners operate our air traffic system.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners constitute our media landscape.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners provide bank deposit insurance.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners provide our surgical training.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 thinks small business owners coordinate epidemiology tracking.
What a stupid poster.
Poster #7 is stupid.
@Warren @23 – Hilarious
So essentially you small business supporters are telling workers: “never trust your boss”. Interesting.
23. Warren – As a small business owner all I can say is – Yep.
What I want to understand is why, if small business owners do everything in this country, my lawn is not mowed.
Seriously, quit being lazy silly Suzie.
Other John, I had the same opinion on mechanics being treated differently than other employees too. My husband is a mechanic with such tools and apparently a man’s tools are pretty high up on the totem pole and they almost all prefer “using their own” for their work.
It does save the company money. Each worker has made the investment so they do not have to. Each worker is more productive because they each have their own tools at their bay/station etc. instead of all sharing or walking to some main tool cabinet across the shop every few minutes. And each worker is responsible for those tools and their care and replacement.
No one should trust such an investment to someone else’s care, they should carry their own insurance, especially when tools are so often stolen and accidents do happen. People call them “grease monkey” but mechanics are professionals, with tools of the trade, knowledge gained and honed over time and many are invaluable. When you see a 20 year old dump truck or tractor-trailer on the road running smooth, that is a mechanic saving his boss thousands of dollars every year!
Actually, it is a documented fact that the workers of this nation are the ones who “do everything in this country”. With the exception of the smallest of small businesses, they could function longer without the boss than without the workers. That is just a fact. It is a symbiotic relationship and why the Conservatives are so down on the workers they need has always been a mystery. Why resent the people who make your success possible and keep it going? Only a fool treats employees the way some conservatives and right wingers talk.
A lot of chefs use their own knives in the kitchen. Things you use with your hands are going to be pretty personal and people probably have specific requirements and preferences that would make it difficult for an employer to fulfill.
Jeff Campbell #8. I have been married for 32 years and at this point we can laugh about it, but like many millions of people on earth we have “lost all” too, many of us more than once. Seems like once a decade for us. That is the bane of the working class.
When you or any one or two people “lose all” it is seldom newsworthy and seldom a case of needing help even, we just pull up those boot straps and start again. “It’s not how many times you fall down but how many times you get back up.”
This story is newsworthy because it was a huge fire we all heard about, and this is more than one or two workers sharing the same experience. Kinda like the local workers who were left holding the bag when a local small business closed their doors (only to reopen under another name and start fresh) and had not paid their payroll taxes or insurance even as they were taking the deductions. Such things are news and there is no need to feel like they don’t deserve for their story to be told.
No doubt many mechanics (or their wives) will be calling their insurance agent and a lot of good can come from such a story.
Be proud that you kept getting up, just like the rest of us, and let it go!
What I want to understand is why, if small business owners do everything in this country, my lawn is not mowed.
Because you didn’t call a small business owner. LOL.
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23. Warren – As a small business owner all I can say is – Yep.
‘Small’ doesn’t mean microscopic, Richard.
Some people are unhappy that I defended small (and obviously, large) businessmen. Sorry, but I tend to be biased towards those who are the caretakers, the heavy-lifters. Everything is our headache. The buck stops with us. Mr. Williams, in addition to all the regulatory crap, has to worry about 20 workers and their families. and the lawyers. That’s a big burden, in addition, of course, to his personal ordeals.
I propose National Employers’ Day. Workers can decide what special thing they can do for their boss e.g. take him out to lunch, do something extra on the job, bring him a little gift. Something to show some appreciation for all he does for them.
“never trust your boss”
Why would you? In this day and age it’s tough to trust anyone especially in the working world. Best advice I ever received for my job/career: “The only person that truly has your back and watches out for you is yourself.”
A bit strong. But great advice.
“I propose National Employers’ Day. Workers can decide what special thing they can do for their boss e.g. take him out to lunch, do something extra on the job, bring him a little gift. Something to show some appreciation for all he does for them.”
Eric Cantor already beat you to the punch. He tried to turn Labor Day into Bosses Day. It went over like a lead balloon.
Suzie@1:41
Too bad toots. Somebody beat you to that one over 50 years ago. You mean to tell me your highly paid, well motivated, cared for employees haven’t been recognizing you on these days. Wonder whatever could be the problem.
http://www.calendar-updates.com/info/holidays/us/boss.aspx
Boss’ Day is Oct. 16 every year. Hallmark even makes cards. But it’s no wonder Screwzie doesn’t know about it….
#33 “I propose National Employers’ Day. Workers can decide what special thing they can do for their boss…”
Yet another example of suzie’s lack of originality. Oct. 16.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boss's_Day
Thank you, Suzie and Contrasuzie and gdad. Bosses Day is a great topic for an Oct. 16 column.
32. Suzie – Are you discussing your brain size again?
Oh Yeah, poor business owners. If only there was some way they could be rewarded for all that care-taking, and heavy-lifting, that gives them a headache. Oddly enough, a goodly portion of the bucks do stop with them, apparently that is not enough. The proportion that trickles down is seldom real impressive, but apparently all too generous for some to stomach. Mr. Williams, in addition to misleading those employees, will now have to deal with even more stuff just so we can mess with him. He should be able to slap up any old thing he wants and those burdensome regulations and needy employees who helped him earn all that money should just leave him alone!
#39 Glad to help, Dan, but I think suzie gets all the credit. She thought up this holiday 50 years after it first happened.
Suzie, I think most people appreciate having a job and the fact someone else has started a business at which we can work. I really do.
What I think people don’t appreciate is your attack the worker and the business owner deserves all the credit attitude.
After all, if the business owner really could do it all him/herself, there would be no need for employees.
Both the worker and the owner deserve credit.
#17 – Gdad wrote, “You never got any help from anybody in any way? I doubt it.” LOL ! Doubt all you want, shows your ignorance. And discredits any other comment you have.
#20 – DC, I don’t expect you to understand. I’m not angry first. 2nd, the whiners need to go get new or used tools. Wahhh ! Btw, Is it true that you were hogging the ice during the “derecho” ?
I wondered whatever happened to Hackett. I miss those 4-draught “lunches” at Tread.
#44 Doesn’t show my ignorance. Shows that I know almost everybody gets some sort of help from somewhere. I’m sorry that it burns you up that some of these guys will get job leads and a deal on tools out of the column. Good for them.
What I think people don’t appreciate is your attack the worker
I don’t remember attacking the gentlemen sitting on the porch. I feel sorry for their plight. If Dan’s intent with the column was to hook them up with other employers (which I do think was the intent this time) then I applaud him for that. Initially, I had thought we were going to bash either the insurance company or the boss. But Mr. Williams was also painted as a sympathetic figure.