The real meaning of J&J’s layoffs

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Hope here again,

I am getting tired of people assuming that we are making up or exaggerating stories about bullying and ill treatment in Vistakon. I can only talk from my own experience – I will lay out for you just some of the things that have happened to me in Vistakon and you decide if it is bullying – ill treatment or choose yourself words to describe it.

1) I have been Cursed and sworn at on Numerous occasions by Management and some for no apparent reason other than someone being in bad form and throwing their weight around. – I’m able to handle that!

2) I have been verbally threatened with physical abuse. – I can handle that.

3) I have been Kicked and hit on an occasion leaving a large bruise on my back and some smaller ones on my leg. – I find it hard to handle that.

WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT!!!!!?????

Now can you see why I am angry???

Why I want things to change???

So Vistakon Lady,Jane,Tom,PSarsfield, Fedup,Bill8134 & any others who have not been affected personally – PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT ON THE RECEIVING END YOURSELVES THAT IT DOES NOT HAPPEN & ASSUME that we that have experienced it are OVER-REACTING.

IT’S VERY REAL WHEN YOU HAVE WORN THE EVIDENCE TO PROVE IT!!!!!

I don’t want to affect Jobs or the GOOD results that the plant achieves.

ALL I WANT IS SOMETHING TO BE DONE THAT I CAN COME TO WORK AND BE TREATED WITH RESPECT & DIGNITY.

The processes that are in place and the people that are supposed to enforce them have failed me and others.
I don’t report anything for fear of it being used against me – that I am seen to be the problem.

Am I asking too much of Vistakon or should I just do what others have been told – leave if you don’t like it??

I will ask all you out there what you think I should do

Just leave and let everything go on as before?

Or should I continue to Campaign for fairness for all?

I am at a crossroads – I do not want to cause any trouble for employees who are happy in Vistakon and have not been ill treated but I hope that now you can now see my reasons.

Do you want to support me or should I just go elsewhere?

I would appreciate your Honest feedback.

Dear Vistakon Lady, I am proud to be one of your shift mates. I hope someone tracks down Hope and this will come in time. My wish is that we get him before management does, How dare Hope would use my job and my family to get what they want. Hope is the bully and God brings to everyone what they deserve, eventually.

Disgraceful stuff.

from a vistakon PT enough is enough time to put an end to this site now. When this site first started the comments were needed but now they have to stop since they have become a joke to any sane level headed person
. The comments that Anonymous : December 5, 2009 5:05 am have sickened and angered me. stop this site now

That someone used Ger’s name on this site is deplorable. To use his good name for their own agenda is beyond belief. If someone has encountered problems get help someone working with them will help. Leave Ger alone.

I cannot believe what people are posting with regards to the bullying in Vistakon – I am shocked as I have never experienced any form or bullying in all my time there. I am not part of management staff, I work a line like most people in there. I do wonder with the stress of life at the moment are people just venting but to accuse someone of bullying is despicable.

To 3GT and your comment on December 6th I am outraged, what a fictitious world you must live in. Also I note the time on your post was 6.05am, if I am correct you should have been working at this time as the 3GT shift are on nights. Maybe you should focus your energies on something more productive than inventing stories – surely if you bullying was so active you would go to management with proof and not hide behind a blog.

To anon, to offend a dead man’s name, it can only lead me to question what type of person you are. Let this man rest in peace. His name is not yours to slander.

To anonymous post on 5th dec. Your comments are despicable. Its 100% obvious you didnt know Ger.I did, very well. He was never bullied in Vistakon….Fact. Do not use his good name to advance your own ends. He was a good man with a family. Pity you didnt think of them before you posted your rubbish. Shame on you.

Hope here again.

No Ger and hope are not the same. I do not know what factors were involved in Ger’s decision and we will never know now Maybe the way Vistakon Treats people was a factor but as I say we will never know!

The only tribute I can pay to Ger is the Queen Song – Only the Good Die young.

A hand above the water
An angel reaching for the sky
Is it raining in heaven -
Do you want us to cry?

And everywhere the broken-hearted
On every lonely avenue
No-one could reach them
No-one but you

One by one
Only the Good die young
They’re only flying too close to the sun
And life goes on -
Without you…

Another Tricky Situation
I get to drownin’ in the Blues
And I find myself thinkin’
Well – what would you do?

Yes! – it was such an operation
Forever paying every due
Hell, you made a sensation
You found a way through

One by one
Only the Good die young
They’re only flyin’ too close to the sun
We’ll remember -
Forever…

And now the party must be over
I guess we’ll never understand
The sense of your leaving
Was in the way it was planned…

So we grace another table
And raise our glasses one more time
There’s a face at the window
And I aint never, never saying goodbye…

Ger I hope you have found Peace – a Peace you were unable to find amongst us.

When an uncommon fault is found with a machine emails are quickly circulated to let people how the problem was solved – when an employee dies (especially in such tragic circumstances) there is NO such email sent out to give the Number of the Quinn Insurance Counselling helpline to people who may need to talk to someone about their feelings or make a councillor available onsite.

Are Machines all that Vistakon care about????

There is currently another employee that I heard of – out because his wife is ill –
What does he get from Vistakon???

NOTHING not even pay!! Surely there are compassionate grounds where under such circumstance that an employee gets paid – coming up to Christmas or not.
If a machine was performing poorly NO money would be spared in getting parts to repair it but when it’s a person – NOTHING!!!

Barry Found €100,000 in a drawer in his desk and fair play gave a Christmas bonus with it – on the other hand there is NO annual purchase of safety boots this year because of Cutbacks – wearing the same boots day in day out while Millions are spent retrofitting machines.

Vistakon you will learn (even if you have to learn the hard way) that there is no point in having top class machines without having the competent people to repair them.

I wish that Management & HR would look at the operation instead of sitting at their PC’s writing on here to try and discredit what we are standing up to.

I am getting some Info from NERA & also Trade Unions and will post it here as soon as I Summarise it.
If you want the full version of the Info I get please email me and I will send it on to you so as you see what options we have.

One person that contacted me suggested that if Vistakon do not acknowledge and act on our Views that they will contact the FDA as they have documentary evidence that procedures were not followed. I do NOT want to pursue this course of action as it would surely lead to job losses but it gives some indication as to how far people will go to get equality.

I am currently working on a plan to FORCE Vistakon into accepting a union if they will not willingly accept one – I require a few more bits of info before I roll it out to you here.

Things WILL CHANGE IN VISTAKON, trust me on that.

A saddened but more resolute Hope

Tim – Thank you for the definition of Bullying. If any former employees that have come on here would send me some details of their experiences please do so at driveonwithhope@gmail.com

I can’t believe the scorn and bitterness displayed on these pages. I agree with Bill8134, I think Vistakon is a great place to work and no I am not an office worker or middle management.

I started at the bottom in this plant 7 years ago and am still working away and proud to be part of JNJ. Yes! it is hard here at times, the pressure can be quite severe. But isn’t that why it is called work.

Shame on those who picked on “Barry”. HE is the person who is trying to keep Jobs in Limerick and each one of us with a paycheck coming in. We did not lose the amount of Jobs that other JNJ companies did and that is down to “DRIVING ON” and pushing for figures.
Figures = lower lens cost and better oppertunities for development in Limerick.

You are casting a negitive light on the types of employee’s that turn up and tune in, to help us get where we need to be.

I am not saying that this place is Nirvana but I am saying that I have always been treated fairly.

If you want to see Bullying first hand go to 3GT ops on B shift

Hope yor Prediction of impending loss of life in Vistakon was chilling!!!
This week we lost a coleague by his own hand, Ger Barron
I do not know whether or not Ger was being bullied or under great stress in Vistakon or whether he had other reasons for doing what he did but the timing was uncanny. Was Hope & Ger one and the same??

Only Ger can answer for his reasons and now we will never know.

Rest in Peace Ger

This is the real eddie maye. Dont know who the other guy is.
I dont know anything about hydration – I wrote a performance based competency called – Eddie maye ” a cavalier approach to zone 3 jams ”

As for paddy killion I remember him – he changed as a person in Vistakon – he grew yushins for legs and good/bad robots for arms. Hie eyes were cold like the chilled water running through the 32 cavity PP moulds -

That definition of Bullying is so accurate it could be lifted from a Vistakon SOP document.

HOPE…have you been hunted down yet?

I used to lock PT’s in the monomer room

The only thing can the management to say is CONGRATS TO THE SHIFT WHO MADE THE LINE RECORD but nothing in return to those who made it.

I never seen any bullyin goin on in Vistakon.. Although I spent most of my time sortin out top chambers in hydration.

Does anyone remember Paddy Killion? He used to have red hair and also blond hair and was a devil with the ladies…

The yushins will inherit the earth..

I’m Eddie Maye

Definition of workplace bullying by Tim Field

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, bully.
“Bullying is a compulsive need to displace aggression and is achieved by the expression of inadequacy (social, personal, interpersonal, behavioural, professional) by projection of that inadequacy onto others through control and subjugation (criticism, exclusion, isolation etc). Bullying is sustained by abdication of responsibility (denial, counter-accusation, pretence of victimhood) and perpetuated by a climate of fear, ignorance, indifference, silence, denial, disbelief, deception, evasion of accountability, tolerance and reward (eg promotion) for the bully.”
Tim Field, 1999

The3 hardest thing about this blog is that people have told the truth. Bullying is Rife in Vistakon. I spent 4.5 years of my life there that will never be recovered. Highly skilled and trained people are treated like monkies and made to push pallets around with welding rods. People with no skills or abilities put into ops engineer roles when they have not got the ability or the communication skills. People who go telling tales back to management treated like heroes people working their holes off on the lines treated like scum of the earth. As in the previous posts the turnover of staff is astounding, everyone hated working there when i was there it doesn’t seem to have changed. The bullying comes directly from the top down many a PT has been subjected to the hairdryer treatment from top management for simply trying to do their job. Surprised no one has mentioned the debacle of combing the plant for a suspect device when a threat was rang in just so the line could be put up and running again. Or the incident of the unfortunate explosion going back a few years when the plant was supposed to be shut for a few days but was back in production the following day.

Poor Vistaconvicts. Dont let them get to ya.

I must respond to the last few “positive” comments. I worked in Vistakon a number of years back and can now look back on it as a waste of two years of my life. No matter how much you did, it was never enough. The level of incompetence in management there was staggering, I felt that every day I was working on projects that were covering up for their incompetence, most of the lower/mid level managers were long term with the company, promoted into positions that they were grossly under qualified for. The reason they fought so hard to cover up their incompetence/asses was because they knew that they were un-employable else where. No other company would tolerate the bullying and cover ups that were perpetrated there, not to mention the cavalier attitide towards validation. So to the recent positive comments I say that you are exactly where company management want you…in fear of losing your jobs, that will keep you nice and compliant. Think of yourselves as the partner in an abusive relationship, you stay because there is no where else to go.

Bullying does occour but not all comes from management. There are plenty of bullies on the production floor and many a fine PT has left because of it.
Vistakon is a tough place to work when a line is not producing the numbers. Name a place that is not tough when things are not going well.
I’m thankfully for a job in a tough economy. I know too many who would love to be in my position.

Hope here again,

To Jim and the other one or two supporters of Vistakon maybe your seniority had afforded you immunity to the daily torment.

It is NOT mainly friends and family who are posting here but Current and former Staff as well as some independents who upon reading the comments have made up their own minds and ALL taken the Victims side.

I would like to make one point in relation to your strongly worded statement and that is that you are perfectly imaging Managements sentiments.

MAYBE TOO PERFECTLY!!!

If you are a genuine employee I have no problem in detailing for you my personal story – It would make the blood of any decent human being run cold with disgust & distain – If only I had a suitable medium to relay it to you. I am asking all Vistakon employees to support us in getting a union in Vistakon so as every employee is treated equally and respectfully.

To give people an Idea as to what Vistakon has done to me I can only offer the following analogy:

If I were a fly – I would be hanging in a Vistakon web drained of my life’s blood from my body and spirit.

Up until now I have stayed in the web because I am too fearful to leave because Management tell me that I will not get another job. I thought that perhaps it was me who was wrong – that I was the only one who was treated this way. Now I know Different I AM NOT ALONE!

Now I stay to Fight. To Fight for our RIGHTS – not elaborate rights but the simple right of coming to work and be treated as a person with Dignity & Respect. This is not a fight with Middle management who will be used as pawns and discarded when this is complete but with top management who created and continue to foster this system.

If I lose this fight I will go to the dole office and answer questions like where have I worked? And Did I look for work today? and Return home to my family ( our Partners, Husbands, Wives, Children etc..) and NOT feel Dejected, Worthless, a shadow of my former self as I do feel returning from working in Vistakon.

Q. Who will stand with me???

A. I’m asking every employee of Vistakon to aid this campaign.

Q. How do you stand with us?

A.
1) Join a union if and when it in place in Vistakon – It will protect and ensure fairness to every member.

2) DO NOT KEEP SILENT! If there is an Independent Investigation speak up if you have or know someone that has been bullied.

3) If someone on your line – phase – plant has been treated unfairly – SPEAK UP – Bullies are Cowards!

4) If someone on your line tells you of an incident that has occurred even if you did not witness it – Ask questions about the incident. If they know that someone else is aware of it – it may prevent reoccurrence.

5) When the Credo survey comes around to NOT Yield to Management pressure to Falsify information. Let’s make J&J aware of the problems.

REMEMBER SILENCE IS OUR ENEMY!!!!!!

Q. Who will take our places if we should fall??

A. I feel that even if the people here on this blog are ALL silenced that Vistakon will have to at least take the first steps on the road to fairness and workers rights and that the point of no return has been passed.

When you are old and looking back on your life which of the following would you prefer to say about your life?

You Hold your head up high and Turned your back on a job for the sake of your Friends & what’s right?

OR

You Hang your head in shame that you Turned your Back on your Friends & What’s Right for the sake of a job?

Last year I know of a person who took her own life. She was Bullied by work Colleagues for years – Management were told about it – They did Nothing! The management were later held “negligent” more so than the perpetrators. It is too late for her, for her Husband, for her Children.

Does this have to happen in Vistakon before someone will Listen to us and take action???

A More Determined Hope!

For the most part I must agree with Bills positive statements . One small criticism is that some of middle / lower management have been promoted without people management training or skills and this is where most of the perceived bullying comes from . Fear of reprisal from these people keeps it hidden until something like this happens . Top management need to look at their communication structures with the lads/ladies on the shop floor.

I too agree with Bill8134. This has gone on for too long.I am a factory floor worker also. Vistakon has its faults but its not that bad either in fact I am glad of it. Vistakon gave me a chance when other “closed shop” factories wont even acknowledge your application. I have a job in the worst recession ever in a company that is investing in Limerick and its people. How bad is that. Merry Xmas.

well said Bill we cannot loose sight of the fact that Vistakon pays the wages we all need to live. Yes there is bullying going on and hopefully it will now be taken seriously in vistakon and a change will take place after this blog. Now can we stop this and get back to the more serous task of keeping our jobs in Ireland.
Yes Barry is doing a great job of keeping us all in a job but he needs to take a good look at this and act on the comments here.
Vistakon will be a stronger and a more productive facility in the future if the comments are taken on board and acted on

there is an organisation called NERA,National Employment Rights Authority which can investigate bullying claims if asked.just thought i should share that with you.

Ok enough!! It seems to be the same few people adding to this blog over and over with a few of there friends from around the country making comments to bulk it out.
I have worked in Vistakon for the last 13 years and I am not a manager or an office worker. I must say for the best part of those 13 years I have enjoyed working in Vistakon.
There are days when its hard, not enough resources and you are under pressure to get the work done. Some days your manager or supervisor can seem to be on your back with questions like, Why is that stopped ? What are you doing about that? When will this be done? and you can be asked these questions more then once in a day. To me this is not bullying that guys job is to get the numbers out he needs to know the facts, its all our jobs to get the numbers out. If the recession hits Vistakon hard we could find our selves in the labour exchange where you will be asked, Have you worked today? Have you looked for work today? Will you look for work tomorrow? and with no work to be found that will do an awful lot more damage to your self esteem than any tough day at work. At this moment we have between 7 and 9 lines down and not one permanent employee laid off that is due to the hard work of the employees and management. Especially the man at the top “Barry” he deserves a pat on the back. The men and women who are waiting for there lines to return to full production will be able to feed there familys over Christmas because of his hard work.
I am not the only one in Vistakon who feels like this. Its time to restore our good name. Vistakon is a GOOD place to work. There are another 655 voices in Vistakon, we need to stand up and show our support before it’s too late.

Barry Will You Recognize a Union if employees join one? Maybe a way we can both keep pour jobs!

Break the Silence Barry!!!

Johnson & Johnson Corporate – Your silence is Shameful! Your Inaction signals J&J’s true feelings regarding the Worthless Credo.

Hope

Shame on you Vistakon….The world of bullying is obviously still alive and well and operating unchecked in modern Limerick ! HR – Get ur finger out and stand up and be counted…Act upon J&J employees complaints…Bullies have no place in today’s workplace…Do you need to be brought up to speed on the laws regarding bullying in the workplace…I think so…..
HR – Shape up or ship out !!!!
I AM NOT A VISTAKON EMPLOYEE, BUT HAVE ENCOUNTERED BULLIES IN MY PREVIOUS WORKPLACE….SIPTU WOULD SOON SORT THIS OUT !

Let us get to the root of the problem at vistakon limerick which is how this blog started . the J&J credo . management at vistakon tell you what score is needed in the credo survey to keep the company as a “flagship” J&J company , and are not shy in pointing out the ramifications to your job if the company does not keep up these ratings.
Does this sound like the basis for the credo i ask?
Some one from J&J coporate should come to vistakon for the next survey and tell the employees to express their actuall opinions in the survey , and see the ratings drop like a stone!

Hope Here,

Well Anne you just don’t get it do you!!! We do not trust management with ANY PART in an Investigation into themselves! It is too little too late from you!!!

If there are heads to roll because of this then the HR manager – who is supposed to be ultimately responsible for employees welfare must be the first in line to the Guillotine!!!

You have failed us Anne at every turn – You chose to copper fasten your position in the company rather than do your job of protecting us!!

You have failed us!!!

I can’t believe what you are suggesting!!!

Name and shame the bullies – now this is typical Vistakon style – Vilify, Victimise & make a scapegoat of people – ok these people may have bullied but it will not solve the problem by destroying their reputations when they are only adhering to a system of management allowed to exist and indeed fostered by upper management.

Q. How do Vistakon solve the problem?

A. Get an Independent Investigation underway & Fully Implement the recommendations.

Q. Why an independent investigation?

A. Because HR have condoned and ignored these practices in the past – they have lost the Confidence of the employees and are led by a Manager who puts self interest before the Interests of employees.

If you need to talk to someone in confidence then email me – NO REAL NAMES TO BE USED! As Management will stop at NOTHING to hunt us down and destroy us.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT LET ANYONE FALL FOR ANOTHER MANAGEMENT TRICK – DO NOT MAIL YOUR DETAILS TO ANNE’S EMAIL IT’S A TRAP!

My “special” email address is

driveonwithhope@gmail.com

I do not want bullies names or details we all probably know who they are already. I am just there to talk if you need support if you were on the receiving end of a “bad day”

driveonwithhope@gmail.com

I would like to hear employee suggestions on becoming unionised (use the email provided for this please) perhaps this is a way of bringing management to their knees – if they don’t treat us with respect then we cripple them in the only way that will hurt them:

“Hit their Numbers”

Hope

Heard about this site earlier tonight.I read all the posts and i am in full support of everyone especially the people of vistakon in limerick.I do not know if the medeator of this site will allow names to be mentioned but if so i will tell my story ,give names and add my own name as well,its about time the truth came out.

Come on people add your comments do it at home as you cannot use the net at work.Your comments do not get logged or answered on the V.O.E. at work so now is the perfect oppurtunity to REALLY voice your opinion .

Hi there, I’m a former Vistakon Limerick employee and heard about this blog today. I want to remain honest, non bias and yet honest.
It is the best engineered and driven facility I have worked in my 16 years of work, that is not an accident but yet it does achive this at some discomfort to its employees. It sets targets, often not too easy to achieve but it seems to manage them. Too many companies in Ireland are held back by the lack of honest work and endeavour to keep their company and this country competitive and in work.
Here comes the bad bit. As an employee you get a pat in the back and smiles when the line makes a good number or target. However you are given out to for not working hard enough if the line traget is not met. This is the night you have sweat out your guts, were late for your dinner or missed it altogether. Its also for me the day/night you get the job sadisfaction of fixing something and thats wrong, at least in the companies eye’s.

For any achievement their is a price. The practical enviroment in their is, you are looking over your shoulder the whole time, second guessing to see if what you have done is right or wrong today with the winds that blow that day. Their was a particular bully of a supervisor in my day who I get the hint was moved on or at least helped move on, but complaints were smiled at somewhat when he left, but the reality is the managment structure and its demeanour is there and established since its opening. It would take a few senior changes in headcount to effictevily change this, it would be slow and may also take some of the companies edge.
Bottom line, I like working, even in a sweatshop, its keeps me on the go, but not in a headwrecking and false enviroment.
AJ Ireland

In relation to Anns comment about sending comments to an e-mail address i dissagree,lets keep it as is on an open board format so everyone can read and contribute,you can copy and paste from here Ann and send comments to j&j.

As a former employee of vistakon in limerick , i have to agree entirly , that bullying is , a major factor in so many talented tradesmen and women leaving over the years, in a 6 year period over 400 hundred people left vistakon , , what dose that tell you , the jackboot , and propaganda is alive and well and living in managments office in vistakon limerick, and the withc hunts will continue there , i think jnj should be asking questions , but their silence is deafing.on the night i handed in my notice 3 others did the same , to leave a permanent job to take up employment as a temp with another company .I pity the poor people who are stuck in such an awful work enviorment, maybe it would be better for all just to move the irish managment to poland , im sure the polish people would welcome their tactics (Not)

Hope here again!

There are more people coming out in support of our allegations – When will management do something about this? I mean to allow or instigate an INDEPENDENT Investigation into the inner workings of the company NOT Lobby the government for the reinstatement of the death penalty or do what they always do – NOTHING and wait for all this to pass over.

In relation to “Anonymous” comments that we do not want jobs in Limerick – I totally agree with you – WE DON’T WANT JOBS LIKE THIS IN LIMERICK OR INDEED ANYWHERE! Even in Poland or the Ukraine I would hope and expect this type of behaviour NOT to be tolerated!

Carrying on the topic of Job losses I would like to Issue a forecast of what will happen in Vistakon in 2010.

Q. Is it true that Staff numbers will be decreased in 2010?

A. Officially the answer is NO But employees will be “Pushed” out the door by changing them to unsuitable or no shift patterns and making it difficult as possible for them to continue working in Vistakon.

Q. Is this Legal?

A. YES. As part of the Vistakon contract an employee’s role or hours can be changed by the company at any time at the company’s discretion.

Q. Is this Ethical?

A. NO of course not it is essentially “MASS CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL”

Q. Am I talking rubbish?

A. Judge me by what happens. There are approx 660 full time, permanent employees in Vistakon today – How many will be there in December 2010?

Thank you Eddie for Re-surfacing and clarifying the situation for us!

Let’s Keep the pressure on so as we can get some fairness in our workplace.

Q. How do we keep the pressure on them?

A. Tell your friends/family/media about this site and indeed about the true situation in Vistakon Ireland.

Quoting some famous words!

Lets “Drive On” with our campaign.

I would like to congratulate Hope for the interesting analysis. I feed that it was very unbiased.

To elaborate on Hope’s request for support I suggest the use of this email address:

vistakonbullies@gmail.com

Because management feel it is appropriate to deal with these concerns with a sinister suggestion that “personal problems” are the root of the complaints, I am offering another alternative.

Post a comment on this page acknowledging an incident of bullying and email your examples of bullying in Vistakon Limerick by management (or anyone) to vistakonbullies@gmail.com.

Include in the email the name of the culprit, a description of the bullying and why you felt it inappropriate or excessive.

If relevant, include any observation on how the bully was perceived by their peers. Was it deemed acceptable? Was it rewarded? Or was it pointed out that it was inappropriate?

Remember there is a difference between being pushed to achieving company goals and being bullied. Bullying relates to being insulted, marginalized, demeaned or intimated.

Such bullying can be considered more excessive if committed in the presence of others. A feeling of worthlessness or embarrassment is a good indication that bullying has occurred. Whereas, a feeling of desire to get more done the next time is an example of being driven to higher levels of performance.

The emails should be sent anonymously and contain accurate examples of bullying as described above.

I will collect these emails and conclude who are the most significant contributors to the bullying culture in Vistakon. These mails will be forwarded to J&J in the hope of raising an investigation into the practices in Vistakon Limerick.

The aim of this exercise is to eliminate bullying in Vistakon while sustaining the companies performance level. High performance without intolerance is goal of any modern organisation.

It is time, a Hope suggests, to let the culprits know that bullying, as described above, is an unacceptable practice.

Well said Hope.Yes bullying does go on in Vistakon Limerick.To quote from their credo”WE MUST BE MINDFUL OF WAYS TO HELP OUR EMPLOYEES FULFILL THEIR FAMILY RESPONSIBILITES what a load of bull.If you have any problems or misfortunes you are told get on with or get out the door.There is no compassion shown to employees by the upper management of Vistakon.Great place to work? I THINK NOT.

Im Sure the polish and Ukranian managers will be far nicer when the plant moves over there as you obviously want it to. too many jobs in limerick anyway

Hello, this is the real Eddie here and I can assure you that I did not write the second post that is attributed to my name. I stand by everything that was in my original posting. Obviously senior management in Vistakon are having fun impersonating people on line. I suggest they stop spending all their time browsing the internet and start doing some real work for a change. Maybe the bullying is a symptom of all the spare time they have on their hands!! This type of internet misuse on company time would certainly not be tolerated by any of the ordinary workforce.

Looking at Jim’s retraction. To me it looks like the management in Vistakon wrote this. If this is the way they run a business they need to rethink there attitude on staff

Bulling is the main management style in limerick i have worked there six years and have seen some form of it every day. everyone knows the people who are doing it but it is just ignored.take a certain ops engineer on
shift

I would like to add some facts to the Unsubstantiated comments made about Bullying and Intimidation in Vistakon Limerick.

Fact 1
Bill Weldon contacted Management of Vistakon limerick following “Jims” comments.

Fact 2
Upper Vistakon Management called a meeting with middle & Lower management to “Discuss” the Issue

Fact 3
Employees were made aware of the situation and “educated” as to the depth of the “Atrocity” that “Jim” had committed.

Fact 4.
Jim & Eddies Initial comments were withdrawn.

From the Facts above would an Impartial observer think that:

A) Management were concerned about the possibility that Bullying or Harassment was taking place in their facility and were implementing some mechanism to investigate if allegations were founded or not?

OR

B) Management Instigated a “WITCH HUNT” to find and discredit Jim & Eddie.

Unfortunately the evidence points to the latter as NO communications were sent to employees to state an investigation was underway.

Also I would like to point out the wording of both Jim & Eddie’s withdrawal of initial comments – they are very self demeaning – citing obvious major Personal problems.

These Retractions were either not carried out by Jim & Eddie or if they were they would appear to have been done so under severe Duress. – Either way it gives you an insight into how management at Vistakon Limerick works.

As in some previous comments I agree that not all management are engaged in these tactics but ALL are aware of them as they are so widespread and if they do not practice them themselves they are surely as guilty as those who do by turning a blind eye to it.

I am calling on Bill Weldon (if he indeed cares about the J&J Credo) to Personally visit the Vistakon facility as a matter of urgency and meet in confidence any employee who would like to air their views to him personally

I like to deal in facts so here are a few more for you

Q. Was I bullied in Vistakon Ireland?
A. YES

Q. How did the incidents make me feel?
A. Stupid – Foolish – different – alone – incompetent

Q. Were the Instances as “Jane” states treated “seriously”?
A. Sadly – NO

I agree with other commentators that point out that Vistakon Management make employees feel like they are Lucky to have a job at all and as a result you surrender your Dignity and Submit to their will.

It is encouraging to see that some Employees are Voicing their Opinions here – Maybe it is not the correct place or maybe due to sheer frustration and lack of alternatives employees are forced to resort to this medium.

Does it not point to something being very wrong in Vistakon Limerick that even one employee writes of Being Bullied & Harassed at work? And more are backing up these claims! If only a few people have the courage to Write our experiences here my main worry is HOW MANY OTHERS ARE SUFFERING IN SILENCE? & CAN IT BE STOPPED?

Q. Do we all that write negative comments about Vistakon have Serious Personal Problems that drive us to this callus act?

A. Statistically Unlikely!

Q. Will I retract my comments here?
A. NO. If there is a retraction I can Now assure you that it will NOT be penned by my hands!

Q. How can you as a reader help us in Vistakon?
A. Add a comment of support! Maybe through people power we can get change for the better. Even if it’s as simple as “Investigate Vistakon Limerick”

“Jim” Thank you for your courage in opening “Pandora’s box” Let’s hope that the lid is not replaced on it before your endeavours are rewarded.

Thank you for your time.

Management in Vistakon Limerick are a crowd of self serving over achievers, as a general rule. They, generally, do not have comparable management qualifications (or behaviors) of managers of other large companies. Their goal is to protect themselves by bashing those below them.

The company can survive and prosper with these “leaders” due to the extremely strong J&J brand and the impressive product development in America. The Limerick operation gets brilliant products and a huge budget so even the mediocre thinking of Limerick management can deliver the results.

Unfortunately, overachievers tend to be paranoid of their own “success” and incorrectly take on a bullying strategy for self protection. It is this misconstrued and aggressive behavior that has lead to the notorious culture in Vistakon in Limerick, Ireland.

I have to agree with what eddie and jim said in his original comment. Obviously from jane’s comments she works in the office/management side of vistakon if she thinks that bullying and harassment are not tolerated. I have been at the receiving end and seen at first hand the different “tactics” that are used by management. It happens everyday in vistakon and especially on the production floor where production is foremost to everything else and employee welfare would definitely be at the lower end of managements thinking. While there might be signs up around the company saying that employees welfare is foremost what is written and what is actually happening are 2 different things. The reputation that vistakon has in the wider community around limerick is not very complimentary. While I do not want to tar all the management with the same brush the good one’s can be definitely counted on your 2 hands or maybe even 1. The amount of begging and groveling and spin that is put on stories by management before a Credo would not be believed by people until they experience it themselves.

This is Eddie here again and I am just writing in to say Vistakon management are not that bad really. I read through my previous post and realised that it was harsh. I am under a lot of pressure at the moment. The managers are doing their best to keep the factory running and to keep everyone’s family supported. We are working hard to avoid any job losses and will come out of these challenging times.

Drive on

I don’t know who John and Jane from Limerick are, but they obviously sent Jim off for some spelling and diction coaching since his first post.
I worked for Vistakon in Limerick and during my time there witnessed a level of bullying and intimidation I have never before seen in any other plant in which I have worked. One thing strikes true though in “Johns” posting, his comment ” I have a family to rear and Im happy to do my bit.” in other words “You’re in Limerick in a recession and you’re damn lucky to have a job” is the stick they are using to beat/threaten both permanent employees and contractors into submission.
Employees in Vistakon Limerick are probably expected to work the longest hours in the industry for one of the lowest pay rates in the industry. Bonuses are nearly always tied to unachievable targets and usually to group rather than individual performance so that no control is possible by the individual.
Vistakon (or Fistakon as it is affectionately known in the recruitment sector) has one of the highest staff turnover rates of any company in Ireland.
The credo, written in every language under the sun, is hanging on the wall in every part of the plant. Maybe the problem is that nobody can find the version in English?

Having had time to reflect on my previous statements down below I wish to withdraw them fully and just to say that I have told lies about this great company of ours that is jnj. I am ashamed to have come on here, and at the time I took my built up anger and ongoing frustration out on a flag ship company in this way.That now famous script (credo) is our light in the dark. To my work mates and friends what can I say, I feel I have left you all down. To John and Jane I want to Thank both of you for your thrust worthy contributions and to repeat only what you have already said on here, ie.there was no bullying or harassment of any sort taking place. To the Management who are and have always worked tirelessly for the better of this company, I take my hat off to each of you. Limerick and Ireland are far better places because of all of your efforts. A lot of good work has been done over the years to make this company what it is today, I only hope that I have not damaged that good work in any way by coming on here foul mouthing and dragging our good name through the muck. Also I hope to deal with the many issues in my own personal life at the moment and hopefully move on from where I am at this point. Thank you all for your time and patience and again Sorry.

I agreed with “John” and I am afraid that “Jim” from J&J Ireland is talking a load of rubbish. I also work for J&J Ireland and feel that the comments by Jim were totally unfounded. Management here are definitely under pressure to try and maintain productivity and cost savings to meet the current economic crises. But bullying and Harassment have never been tolerated within J& J and never will. We all are working hard to maintain the business and to keep competitive. Yes the pressure is on but we are all under the same pressure to streamline and cut costs, we have lines down but management are doing everything humanly possible to continue to keep Jobs and are keeping us informed of the changes that are ongoing. Comments like’s “Jim’s” are unwarranted and not based on facts and in the end, could end up damaging the hard work that is being undertaken to ensure that J&J have a long and productive history in Ireland.
“JANE”

heard about this blog today at work in Vistakon in Ireland.

My ‘friend’ below is talking rubbish. Yes its not easy here, but I see lots of lines down and nobody laid off. In other factorys in Limerick they would be rushing us to the door. Thats Credo enough for me. I have a family to rear and Im happy to do my bit. The investment here seems to keep going despite the recession.
Dell walked out of Limerick ealrier this year and put 3,000 on the dole.

‘John’

I am definately not surprised. I currently work for a J & J company as a temporary employee. It is a shame how many temps are present here, with no benefits, making WELL under 38K, and treated as if we do not exists. A shame that we educated, experienced “employees” are subjected to this. So once again, it is no serprise that they are laying off permanent employees to possibly replace them with temps. J & J shows no loyalty to the hard working, under paid employees that keeps their complany running.

I was recently laid off by J&J. I received a small package for almost 10 years of service. I have to say that management is top heavy across the board. J&J treats their employees (especially Legacy Pfizer employees like the unwanted stepchild). It hurts that I won’t have a job with them and will have to spend the holidays looking elsewhere for work. At least now I can apply to Pfizer.. after all I was always categorizes as a Pfizer person all along. Yes, I am hurt – but not surprised.

The Credo is not just a statement of social responsibility. It is also a management vision, reflecting a strong belief that having a good ’society’ in the company is vital for its success.

In that sense, J&J has abandoned the credo. In the last years, its employees have become increasingly alienated, and J&J is no longer a happy company. The relation between management and employees is now almost entirely adversarial, and the result has been a very serious decline in internal R&D productivity.

The downsizing of J&J does nothing to improve internal productivity, but it does reduce the losses and puts more money in its pockets to compensate this failure by buying drugs from smaller biotechs.

It’s not decentrilization, it’s really all about acquiring other company patents by buying them out and then spitting out what JNJ does not want! Good luck to Guarabo. I don’t think you will succeed under Veronica!

Weldon purchased a 7.5 million dollar home the week before the layoffs. That doesn’t seem very compassionate to his employees.

Alex is absolutely right when he writes that the American economy has to change. J&J caters directly to the consumer, but we have 17.5% real unemployment in the US !!. What would one expect them to do ?. The rest of the world, where J&J manufacture and sell their products, is not much better. This has nothing to do with the CEO salary. J&J’s profit margin barely changed over the past year (up 0.2%) – how can you raise employees salaries, and preserve jobs ? They have to compete with other companies in the marketplace, and if you don’t make the right moves, you lose, and then more people will be out of a job. It’s actually pretty simple. To ‘fix’ many of J&J’s current problems means to fix the American economy fist, and not through acts such as health-care reform…

I think there are many issues here. As a former JnJ employee I know that they are a very responsible and conservative company. I also know that they are a publicly traded company. Although their credo does put patients and employees before stake holders, in the end it is the stake holders that have the gold card. I think the big picture is that if a company like JnJ is starting to see difficulty, its only a matter of time before things will get extremely difficult for everyone.

The problem today is really the publicly traded company idea. They aim to provide the best return for investors. In order to do so they find ways of “doing more with less” i.e. outsourcing to lower cost. Although it puts more money in the share holders pocket, its like pulling the drain plug in the US economy and letting the money flow into other countries.

Also CEO salaries are a bit posh these days. Bill Weldon is a very smart man in a very significant position. I believe that he should be compensated well for his responsibility and hard work. But “well” doesn’t necessarily mean he needs $30mil/year. Im not saying he doesn’t deserve it but the last I remember, Warren Buffett only pays himself something like $100,000 a year.

Bottom line the American economy needs to have significant changes or young American such as myself (23) aren’t going to be “proud to be Americans” anymore.

John from Ireland…I work for Vistakon Ireland.(Limerick).I aggree that the Credo is not worth the paper its written on. Maybe it is for the Fat Cats at the Top,and im sure it is.In my opnion its just one big smoke screen of a statement.The amount of Bullieing and Harassement that goes on at our plant is Unreal,and Management know about it but just turn a blind eye because of the fact of that big stick is quoated time after time,,,Our credo,,just a smoke screen as iv already mentioned.There are 600+ working in our company,in the past 10 years over 400 have left because of the way they treat their employees.And you tell me that the so called credo works….?I really do belive that their is a lot of corruption from the top down,,ie the management only look after themselves as has been already stated in other comments here.

What to know the real reason why they’re laying off employees besides poor leadership and a lack of real vision for the future of the industry? It is the irrationale pay scale that is awarded for top executives. There is no rationale reason for the enormous disparity of salaries. http://www.philly.com/philly/photos/062509_top25_ceos.html This is a rip-off to the real hard working employees who sacrifice much more and to the shareholders who see their dividends continue to shrink.

Yes they are abandoning the Credo. It is nothing but lip service. When it is convenient to bring up, they do, when it is not, they do not. All abuot the profit. If J&J is truly concerned about the future of J&J, then maybe they can reduce the Sr Managements bonus and salary structure. Funny how J&J has one bonus percentage for all companies, but that doesn’t apply to Weldon and the Board, who receive significantly more. Real Ethical…

J&J is known for its legendary credo that puts employees above communities and shareholders–second only to customers in terms of management’s priorities.

Couldn’t be more wrong. The credo is a plaque on a wall. True, the employee paragraph is second, but management governs by the last paragraph and shareholder value. Period.

Neither J&J Management or employees is abandoning their Credo! Those people being layed off understand that J&J is taking the steps necessary for J&J to remain a viable company in the future for it’s customers, employees, and shareholders.

As a shareholder, and an employee who could be layed-off, I know that J&J management is abiding by our Credo. Employees are treated fairly and we all understand that J&J, like any other company in the world, cannot guarantee us life-long employment.

What J&J and it’s employees do guarantee is that they will continue to provide products that will help people live happier, healtier, and longer lives.

With Chuck Prince on the J&J Board why are you wondering about the reason for the recent lay offs. Mr. Prince destroyed Citi Bank, he is one of the key people sited for the global economic down turn and at the 09 Annual Meeting Mr. Weldon referred to “Prince” as one of his “most trusted advisors”. The only question is why the business press does not question the role “Chuck Prince” is playing in the cultural change and business decisions at the top of J&J. The influence of a wall street hack is obvious in the latest lay offs, the recent changes in internal HR policies and in the fact that Weldon is becoming more and more tone deaf. The Credo is dead at J&J and so is the culture of valuing employees, Chuck Prince lives to destroy another company and industry. Shame on Weldon for not accepting Prince’s resignation from the J&J Board after he was fired from CITI Bank

As a former JnJ employee, I can say that they do try to protect their employees. Many of those “laid off” will be offered extremely nice packages, others will have the opportunity to move to other divisions and companies within the corporation. This article is alarmist and not at all helpful. As with other lay-off periods (and there have been some) JnJ is repositioning itself – moving its focus from one area of pharmaceuticals to another. I do wish the media would stop making mountains out of grains of sand!

Where is the accountability from the top? J&J is no different than any other company. They hire people from other company’s that have destroyed peoples lives(Christine Poon). She has failed everywhere she goes. All of these pharm company’s lived high off the hog and now middle management and reps are paying the price. Weldon just purchased an 8.5 million dollar house in Florida. J&J is in New Jersey right. That’s a long commute. Oh yeah, he’s has a private plane.

The J&J Credo has become little more than the equivalent of a politician’s wedding ring. The company flashes it for PR value but removes it when they think no one is watching.

Even at a company like J&J, layoffs may well be a neccesity. But if the Credo is truly lived, terminated employees would receive very gracious severance packages to bridge them to their next job. Reality is that once layoffs became a regular event at J&J, the packages were dramatically reduced by more than 1/2 to the level of “industry standard”. Sadly, the new package is considerably LESS generous than those from Wyeth, Astra, etc.

The credo has indeed fallen to the greed that characterizes so many modern day executives, including those at today’s J&J. In 2009 the credo remains little more than a story about how the company acted admirably in response to the Tylenol issue some 30+ years ago.

Doesn’t surprise me. JNJ is unethical as a competitor, why not discard your loyal employees.

I am very sadden at the turn J&J has taken since Weldon’s leadership of the company. It is no longer the company it was. The credo is something that is talked about but sacrifed for short term profits. It no different that most companies – total focus on the street. General Johnson would be ashamed….

The headline promises to offer an answer, but the article merely states an obvious question.

J&J credo means nothing to employees. Total lip service. They layoff and rightsize every year impacting thousands and thousands of loyal employees. But that makes a great company…. right??

The CREDO is an interesting document. Created by RW Johnson many years ago, when times were… well… different As an ex JNJ employee (12 years, we were “outsourced” this year), I’ve been able to see first hand what the main driver appears to be. It is simple.. it’s the dollar. Look at what is happening. A good amount of business and job growth in JNJ has , is, or will be moving to the off shore sites that bring the largest labor savings, regardless of what other factors might be present. Take a look in Juarez, Mexico. Lot’s of companies choose to use the cheaper labor force, and the El Paso corridor, including JNJ. Although the corruption in this part of the world runs deep, companies like JNJ still reduce US jobs for the savings they can realize. The question becomes if this part of the world behaves this way, why are our big US companies contributing to that economy? The answer would again be the dollar. JNJ has for years now taken a great deal of pride in bringing “double digit growth” to the financial community. Even in this challenging economic environment, JNJ seems to be holding that expectation higher than any other element of the Credo. I’m looking forward to the time when companies like JNJ begin to sacrifice some amount of profit and growth for economic stabilization. 7000 more people out of work will help the bottom line at JNJ, but that 7000 more people that now are… well… you know… hunkering down their spending.

Can you imagine a JNJ executive coming forward and saying we are going to slow down our profit expectations, cause we want to hunker down and save some jobs? Reminds me of a lyric from a song by Supertramp. “Dreamer…. you silly little dreamer”

Interesting take on J&J – they are historically very conservative. To that end, I think this is a sign that the world has changed. Not unlike some comments you have heard from retail CEOs on their view that consumer spending habits/behavior will be permanent rather than fleeting.

J&J is a good example of how important leadership is. Bill Weldon was a surprise choice for the CEO role….and he has been a disaster. What was once a business machine – with 10’s and even 100’s of operating companies striving for excellence, has been turned into a playground for Bill and his pals.

If you review all the acquisitions done since he has arrived you’ll find only one success, the Pfizer OTC business. The rest, Alza, Scios, Conner, etc were multibillion dollar failures. Cordis has been destroyed by the competition largely due to a terrible pricing strategy when Cypher was launched. Pharma led for 5 years by one of Bill’s friend….who was a reject from BMS. Now Pharma is run by someone from consumer products.

The belief within the executive ranks seems to be that as long as they increase the dividend shareholders will be happy….and they will keep getting their bonusses. Thats not leadership.

JNJ it truely a legendary company especially with regards to employee welfare however, it is a traded company and with all the pressures which comes with that. As a former employee I have the luxury of making comparisons. J&J does have major strengths and the legendary credo is a part of the structure. True, it’s applied differently around the world, and needs to be, given different cultural norms and expectations. However, one must keep in mind, the bi-annual “credo survey” ensures local management are meeting the Corporation’s expectations regarding the welfare on it’s employees, as perceived by those employees. My current employer, another global Fortune 100, has nothing like this in-place for engaging it’s employees.

Jessica, I’m sure Bill Weldon will tell you that you’ve misconstrued J&J’s Credo. It does not place employees ‘above’ communities or shareholders, or of any order. It simply acknowledges responsibility to those stakeholders and ultimately to the doctors, nurses, hospitals and patients who use our products everyday. J&J is not immune to the economic environment, but declines in several large revenue assets over several years are the reason for this restructuring. The job loss and impact on families is obviously troubling and I feel for those affected. Ultimately, J&J will bounce back as a stronger company well positioned to capitalize on the global health care market.

I’ve worked for Vistakon for 20 years and got layed off not due to senority but by performance. They lumped us all together. Lower level techs and upper level techs. Didnt matter that the upper level techs were required to know more so as a upper level tech as at a 5 I lost my job to a lower level tech that had a 6. They also said 5 managment positions were going to be impacted. They were but instead of losing their jobs they were moved to other positions within the company. Just like Weldon said. “I guarantee we will fight for every one of you that works in this corporation.” thats if your managment we’ll find a place for you but the ones that actually made the product, your out the door.

Weldon buys property Lost Tree Village – http://m.industry.bnet.com/pharma/10005099/jj-ceo-weldon-bought-845m-waterfront-lot-as-he-planned-8100-layoffs/

J&J credo is used as an example for all for all the good reasons…but J&J is a company like any other company and they need to keep pace with industry’s profitability. Trust me I know, after 10 years at J&J within 3 different companies, I was given a package (a ggod one mind you…) just before christmas 2008. I have won every sales award there is in the company (individual, team, region, project….) and still they didn’t do anything special for me…they simply had to cut 33 canadian employee’s as per corporate guideline and that was it…no more Regional sales managers. J&J is so decentralized that the credo is applied in many different ways…it’s all about individual leaders at that point and whatever they decide is the rule.