pipemakersforum.com

Yeah. I come into work today, this jackass walks up looking at my truck, calls the tag number in to the county cops. Apparently having a pipe and TOBACCO on plant property is considered "drug parphanelia" WTF!?!?
I mean seriously, half the people working here come in tore up on whatever dope they damn well please, and they want to fire me for having my pipe and tobacco on premises?
Is there any actual weight to the BS claim? Because if they do decide to let me go for that I will be seeing them in court. It's a cryin shame that honest people catch all the guff because these pansies are too cowardly to go after the real threats in this place.
Anybody else been in this spot before?

I would definitely take them to court if they fire you. A pipe in the form of the one that you probably smoke is hardly if not ever used to smoke illegal substances out of so it is complete bs that they would fire you for paraphernalia, especially if they searched your vehicle and foun nothing illegal. Im with you on this one, unless where you work has anti tobacco policies.

Thanks.
I'm an outside contractor in a union plant, they've been trying to boot me out for close to 4 years with none such luck.
I've been threatened with drug tests because I worked too fast, my eyes were red or my all time favorite "what's that smell?"
I work solo on literally the lowest level of this place having to handle and dispose of anywhere from 10K-250K lbs of glass in an 8-12 hour shift. Their union employees refuse todo it because it's "dangerous and dirty" The crap I sometimes get down here comes down @ 3200F, hence the "smell," burning glass is awful. Working solo, hell yeah my eyes are bloodshot after 12 hrs of glass being thrown in my face!
I've stood em down before, just pisses me off that they're stooped as low as bogus loop holes in the regulations.

Dixie_piper wrote:they've been trying to boot me out for close to 4 years

This is your real problem.

No doubt about that. It's weird out here really, the corporate level loves us because without us the have no "grunts" and it's about a 50/50 split on upper management inside the plant. But us working hand in hand with the plant's enviromental leader, preventing MANY fines, and possibilities of locking the place down has been our safe guard.
Funny part is, the guy who called me in actually talked to the same cop who searched me and my vehicle the last time this stunt was pulled, so he pretty much blew it off. Or so I was told at least.
I apologize for this getting way off topic, it's just a real pain when you realize that many people are looking to pull the plug on my paycheck and I've done nothing to them. Eh, so goes life. Still proud of the fact that I'm still here on a crew of 4 people total, and I've seen twice that many come n gone since I got on board.
Either way, pipe smokers have rights to dammit!

Just be glad you don't work for a 'Non-Smoking' company who test for nicotine like companies test for illegal drugs.

They can really do that? WOW. No way I could work for folks like that.
Like they say, there's always somebody worse off than yourself. That's seriously crazy though.

Dixie_piper wrote:They can really do that? WOW. No way I could work for folks like that.
Like they say, there's always somebody worse off than yourself. That's seriously crazy though.

Indeed it is. How messed up is that. We are all so PC now anything smoke is evil. There is at least one gentleman on another forum I'm on that works for such a Smoke Free company. Soon we won't be allowed to eat bacon....

Nate wrote:

Dixie_piper wrote:They can really do that? WOW. No way I could work for folks like that.
Like they say, there's always somebody worse off than yourself. That's seriously crazy though.

Indeed it is. How messed up is that. We are all so PC now anything smoke is evil. There is at least one gentleman on another forum I'm on that works for such a Smoke Free company. Soon we won't be allowed to eat bacon....

Everything is politics nowadays. How we look, what we do, etc etc. There is someone striving to control every aspect of individuality there is left.
The bacon comment made me laugh, I once worked for a jewish owned fabric warehouse that did refuse to haveany pork products on the "roach coach"
It is getting ridiculous, on the flip side, anything that does teach morals and values is frowned upon and considered "outdated" for fear of a religous reference. Which, I'll refrain from getting on my soapbox about, but we're so far from constitutional it's scary

I'm way with you on this one, Dixie_piper. Those anti-tobacco people are nuts, but it does sound like there may be a little more to this incident than just tobacco. Good Luck to you.
M.M

the only kind of smoke that will be leagl will be some politician blowing smoke up our but!!!!!!

adam, that certainly is a bunch of crap! another example of the "antis" getting over-zealous and the army of little tattle-tails that have nothing better to do.

Yup, the world is full of em. Thankfully keeping my nose clean for these past few years has been well worth it. Kinda funny, the countless times that a drug test or search would've been my demise, it never happened. Thank God for that! Now it's just a hassle, but it it rather rewarding to say "Ha! Told ya so!" in the end

I just saw this post and, man, that is ridiculous. Speaking as a lawyer (which I piddle with when I am not making pipes), companies can generally fire you for any reason they want in most states, unless it is for a reason that violates civil rights (race, gender, etc.) or is in violation of a union contract or whatever. However, if they "published" to someone else a false charge of using drugs there might be an issue of slander.

On a lighter note, this reminds me of last summer when I was traveling with my 14 year old and got pulled over for speeding. I tell the kid to find my insurance card, and he opens the glove box and pulls out this enormous baggy of pipe tobacco. Should have seen the look on the young officer standing at the window. Fortunately, the situation was diffused when I started laughing uncontrollably ...