I've been working at a factory that produces truck parts for about a month now, I live in Dallas, TX. Not going to name the company, but things have gone downhill as of recently.
I work in the better bit, the accessories department, my job is to put stickers on glued parts and pass them along. Almost everyone else works in much more physically, hotter, and health demaning areas (floating welding dust and chemical burns). Standing for 10 hours doing the same motions wouldn't be so difficult if our only safe space wasn't only in our minds. It's regularly hot enough that my coworkers' health is at risk (I mostly live with older ladies that aren't legal). Access to water is sometimes not worth the interruptions to the assembly lines. But we used to have earbuds to at least pass the time away and anybody trained enough to do another's job can take over so that production isn't stalled while someone is away.
Apparently we've been behind production needs so now an Improvements Manager has been called to get us back to speed. First of all, the earbuds are gone (reasonable). The other production lines are gutted (leaving certain workers having to do the jobs of two). No improvements on ventilation or water availability. Constant managing (strict quotas). Beverages must be bottled and put away (reasonable).
The pressure has led to a surge of new faces, destruction of cohesion, and a notable burn out of my coworkers and myself included. I'd be alright with this lean manufacturing stuff if we were given a compromise on earbuds and quotas. Some of us have resorted to malicious compliance i.e. doing the bare minimum to keep our jobs.
Am I being a baby or do I have a point in some of these complaints? I understand some of these things are legal matters so I'd like better explanation on them if possible.