GP Fires Shift Worker for Safety Violation

A worker in Dubuque, Iowa, was fired a few weeks ago for his second violation of the lock out/tag out procedure over the previous 12 months.

He was a second shift worker who worked a lot of 12 hour shifts during his tenure.

According to company work rules in Dubuque, a one-year time frame is important because, “discipline steps become inactive after one year…”

GP employees who are written up for safety violations must be especially cautious to follow the rules, especially during the 12 months following the infraction.

While it may seem like a cloud hanging over your head, representatives of Local 1861-5 warn that discharge may result and these cases can be difficult to overturn. In this case, the worker left without asking any help from the union in regaining his job.

As all of our sites continue or go through “rapid transformation,” we need to be aware that working long hours can subject us to being disciplined for committing unintentional safety violations.