Promen is running out of work (drawing: Truck 1th sketch)

by Henk ter Heide on Monday June 18, 2007

I’m again on sick leave. Again.

I was working at Promen‘s branch in Cappelle aan de Ijsel but they run out of work a few weeks ago. Thinking that was temporary I took some holidays but I’ve none left and still there is no work.

Since they run out of options they pressured me to except placement at the “doorstroom afdeling” (the overflow department) in Gouda. Every department in Gouda I’ve ever worked turned out to be very chaotic and I feared that would also be the case with the Overflow department.
Truck 1th sketch
Truch 1th sketch

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The Overflow department is the department for people for whom Promen hasn’t any work. Nothing at this department is organized. People are just placed in this room, some product is dumped in the room and people are told to fend for them selves.

Nobody knows what is expected of them so they all roam the room looking for something to do. The moment that someone has some idea of what he could do every other person in room jumps in. Resulting in a situation where ten people are doing a job that would go better when it was done by two people.

I was brought there last Wednesday and endured it for about an hour before I fled. The second day was little better and I fled after two hours. The third day I called in sick.

I’m not quit sure what will happen next. According to the agreement I have with Promen they should place me at the department in Cappelle aan de Ijsel but they don’t have work. Promen will probably claim that this are circumstances beyond there control, which isn’t actually the case. It has been known for a few years that the demand for unskilled labor would change when the European Union would open the border eastern Europe. Promen just didn’t act on this change.

I’ll just wait and see. In the mean time I can work on my drawings.

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