With a Song and a Prayer

I have only sat in on one other "you're going to lose your job" meeting, but I'm sure I wouldn't be the first to say that beginning one of these sessions doesn't normally begin with an opening song and a prayer. It didn't 26 years ago as I lost my job with Republic Airlines.

That said, on Friday, May 7th, DC was called in for a special meeting involving all Facilities Management groups in our area--the Facilities Managers, Office Assistants, Mechanics, and Custodians. We were told the position of Custodian is being eliminated world-wide in the church. This is the LDS Church, in case someone happens to wander in here who is not a part of my family and who doesn't know us. My husband (DC) has worked for the church as a custodian for two months shy of three years now. Before that, he had been a self-employed delivery driver. The pay wasn't quite as good in his delivery job as the church pays, but we more than made up for it because the work was steadier and we didn't have to pay both sides of our Social Security taxes.

The options we have include taking their voluntary package of 2 weeks pay for every year served plus they would pay our medical insurance for a year, providing DC quits the job. Since he's not been on the job for quite three years, they would only give him four weeks pay. With the economy and job situation the way it is in our area, that's not the best option for us. Some who have been on their jobs for longer, would probably benefit by quitting and taking the package. There are some who are at or near retirement age for whom this works. While we're near retirement age, the time on this particular job isn't enough to be of a lot of help.

If DC doesn't quit and take the package, the church would (theoretically) find him another job. However, because it's contingent on how many people take the voluntary package to quit, the number of jobs and what they are will not be known for a while. So, we have some thinking and deciding to do in the next 45 days (which is the deadline for letting them know one way or the other). And if we don't decide, they will decide for us and he will be terminated.

Oh, and if any of my readers are LDS: Be prepared to handle your own toilet cleaning and plugged toilet chores beginning at some point later this summer. Your friendly neighborhood custodian will no longer be around to do it for you.