I was trying to think back to the days when a "layoff" was really a layoff. For those of you who have gotten used to euphemisms, back in the day when there were unions or at least 20 percent of the U.S. workforce was unionized, one was laid off from work and such a layoff was subject to recall. It wasn't unusual even back then for GM or Ford to lay off it's assembly line workers for two weeks or a month when sales or parts deliveries were slowed. When parts became available - usually after a parts manufacturer's employees stopped striking - or sales improved, employees were recalled and returned to work.
During the layoff, those UAW (United Auto Workers) closest to Detroit or Flint would collect from the union fund and perhaps, if such funds ran out, from unemployment. Many California UAW members who were part of the aerospace industry never saw their dues pay and had to rely on unemployment, which by the way didn't last six months.
I can't say that those were the good old days. At least three times my father-in-law was laid off and twice wasn't recalled for four and seven months. The last time, Autonetics told employees that if they struck, the plant would close forever and be incorporated into its parent company, North American Aviation. And union reserves were late in coming and less than members in Michigan received.
Why go into this vocabulary lesson? Because not enough employees understand how much things have changed and how the workplace has changed, and not necessarily for the better though I was never in favor of unions. Still, with unions, there was always a chance of recall. Sometimes that created a different kind of problem such as when an employee had taken another job, seemingly more secure, and if recalled he or she had to make the decision as to whether union retirement benefits would ever kick in. Decisions, decision, decisions. Some things don't change.
Today, a layoff is a termination, plain and simple or, if you take the recent case of a Minneapolis Fortune 100 company (big deal: they're profitable, but are still terminating employees), a threefold plan where you have to think, are they going to keep me or terminate me, and if so, when? Could they terminate me two months after I opt in to staying with them, and then lose all benefits, or should I take a buyout and then hope that something else comes along?
No matter which way you look at it, it's a problem for, not just "the average worker," but for management as well. Managers, too, are being laid off, but why doesn't the company just call it what it is, a termination. Go get your unemployment and search for another job asap? There may still be some who think that a layoff holds hope for recall. Then again, I was talking to someone today who didn't know who Doris Day, David Niven, Rock Hudson, or John Wayne are or were. Am I really that old???
All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2009. Ethan A. Winning