I (18M) was an electrician apprentice (or trainee) from March-September of this year at a non-union company. Everyone seemed nice enough, and my coworkers were easily to get along with. But they always stared at me like I was an alien whenever I took my rest breaks (which in the state I was working in, Washington, and the state I live in, Oregon- rest breaks are legal and cannot be waived or combined with lunch, but we’ll get to that in the next paragraph)
When I was first hired and asked about how many breaks I would have during my shift, they told me this: “Oh, we don’t take rest breaks. We just combine breaks and lunch to make a longer lunch to make it more convenient for everyone,” I was the only person that takes rest breaks (except for a journeyman- let’s call him Patrick), but he clocked out for the 10 minute break (mind you, rest breaks are paid- don’t ask me why he did it, and he clocked out for 30 minutes and worked for FREE during the LUNCH BREAK) When I asked Patrick why he was doing that, he said that he wanted to get the job done by the end of the day, and if he stops and eats, it would be delayed, and the boss wouldn’t like that.
Most of my fellow apprentices asked me why I take the rest breaks. I explained to them that I have prediabetes and I take the time to recharge by eating an apple or a bag of cashews, and drink a Polar. I also said if I take a longer lunch, I’ll have no snacks to rely on through the day. Patrick overheard me and blurted out proudly that he only needed to eat a banana or a piece of toast to stay fine throughout the day.
So what do you think about this? Here’s my rant