Title says it all. I worked as an Apprentice Mold Maker for a glass container company. I averaged 70 hours a week through the pandemic, while also taking classes towards my Journeyman card. I had never been late, never called in sick, never been written up.
In December 2021 I was diagnosed with a super rare form of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, called Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma. The HR guy at my work allowed me to take Spring Semester of my classes off so I could go through treatment for my Cancer. Fast forward to Fall of 2022, the day before my classes were set to start again I was informed I was being fired for NOT KEEPING UP WITH MY CLASSES. (I was 3 hours short of where I should have been).
My Union President and other reps did NOTHING. Wouldn't even file a grievance on my behalf. So I went and had full body radiation treatments before my insurance ran out.
Then I went out and found a new job. Told them during the interview that I would need to miss a few days of work for doctor's appointments and they seemed fine with it. My probationary period comes to an end. I'm fired again – this time for missing too much work, even though I got manager approval for all of the 4 days I missed. So much for supposedly putting “people first”.
5 months later and I'm still unemployed, without insurance, $40k in medical debt, still have incurable cancer.
And these shit hole companies wonder why no one wants to work for them.