Five-figure bonuses stun employees

[mymessageboardid]

Owners of ball bearings company reward workers for years of service

CHICAGO - Dave Tiderman wondered if the decimal point was in the wrong place when he opened his $35,000 company bonus. Jose Rojas saw his $10,000 check and thought, "That can't be right."

Valentin Dima watched co-workers breaking down in tears over their bonus checks and didn't trust his emotions. He drove home first, then opened his envelope: $33,000.

Year-end bonuses are rare these days. Rarer still is what the Spungen family, owners of a ball bearings company in Waukegan, Ill., about 40 miles north of Chicago, did as they sold the business.

MORE.....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27958458/

[MadHound]

1. Wow, good for the Spungen family

Something that you rarely see in corporations anymore, compassion, kindness, and recognition of the value of their workers.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. My sentiments exactly. k+r, n/t

[gratuitous]

5. Good on the Spungens, indeed

But there's also an overlooked part of something like this. If Spungen had kept all the proceeds from the sale of the company, he would have gotten clobbered on taxes. By distributing the money to his employees, he greatly reduces the tax bite, rewards his employees who made the company profitable in the first place, and wins some good PR for his company and himself. It's a very progressive, very forward-thinking thing to do.

[w4rma]

24. The Spungens are still giving up a sizable amount of money that they didn't have to give up. (nt)

[Shiver]

25. As I understand it...

... and I could be wrong, this is how trickle-down is supposed to work. Employers and companies have more money, they give more to employees, etc.

Of course it doesn't work like this, which is why what the Spungens have done is gaining recognition...

[ooglymoogly]

68. It must be hard to find the dark side to this wonderful story. nt

[bobd0]

33. If that was their motive, IMO, in that case the ends justify the means. nt

[leftofthedial]

3. what a wonderful thing.

those are the kinds of rewards ALL American workers deserve.

[terrya]

4. Owners of a company looking after their employees.

Remarkable. I didn't think that was possible anymore.

[file83]

19. It's nice to see business owners "spread the weatlh"...

...it's a drop in the bucket to rich big-wigs, but makes a world of difference in their worker's lives and their children's futures.

[rambler_american]

59. It happens. Not often, but it happens.

Some business owners really DO care for their employees. Here's another example:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/03/60minutes/main561656.shtml

[Mike 03]

6. Bonuses can really make a huge difference, if you are not making

that much per hour.

[Canuckistanian]

7. I can imagine what their accountants said

"This is highly unusual, but, hey, it's your funeral....."

[gristy]

11. Indeed. That may very well have been what they said.

:)

[TomInTib]

8. What a beautiful story.

KnR

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Wow. What a rare family. Just the opposite of the heirs to Sam Walton.

[madmom]

40. Just FYI, when I worked at Walmart we got quarterly performance bonuses.

[Chulanowa]

10. Are they out of business now?

'Cause I'm thinking I could use some new bearings for a couple things!

[valerief]

12. I wonder if they were driven out of business. Nice gesture by them, though. nt

[kas125]

15. According to the article, they sold the business to Swedish owners.

It also says that most of the employees will keep their jobs.

[valerief]

16. Thanks. I was too distracted to actually READ the article. Now you know how lazy I am!! nt

[awoke_in_2003]

54. That is good...

my company just got bought out by a Dutch company. For our last paycheck, we got our normal wages + 12 weeks at 40 hours a week for our hard work. Now the Dutch are telling us we are getting a Christmas bonus, just because it is a European tradition. Too bad all Americans can not have it so good :(

[Historic NY]

13. Wouldn't it be nice if the government gave us a bonus, for putting up with it.

[nini]

14. I worked for a company that was sold for just about a billion dollars

around 1995. There were about 60 employees and those tight ass mother fuckers didn't do shit for us. They took their money and rode off into the sunset.

They could have given each of us a million bucks and never missed it. Hell, they could have had a nice dinner for us..

fuckers

[valerief]

17. We're ants to people like that. That's why I could never understand wanting

to fight in wars for those assholes.

[Kolesar]

32. Our company was sold for a billion and they gave half the money to RW think tanks

AEI--The fuckers who gave us the war in Iraq.
We had 10,000 employees, though.

[bitchkitty]

61. Equifax -

I worked for CBI/Equifax years and years ago. One day they gathered all of us together and announced that because that quarter had been so profitable, we were all getting a reward. We gathered together, all excited - then one by one they called us up to the front so the top fuckhead could give us a paperweight. A PAPERWEIGHT! With their name all over it, of course...

[jmowreader]

18. The OTHER nice thing they did for their employees

They sold the company to a REALLY good firm. SKF is the biggest bearing manufacturer in the world, and will take good care of their employees.

[Hannah Bell]

23. Maaybeeeee. We heard the same here with one of the local mills.

But they're shutting it down, piece by piece.

One of the reasons plants are bought sometimes is to reduce or mothball capacity, not increase it.

[SoCalDem]

20. My husband's company gave him $22K this year for a bonus

up from $15K last year.. His boss is an amazingly generous man.. His company is one of the FEW UNION cabinet companies in southern calif..

He invited us to go with him and his wife to Tahiti..10 days..all expenses paid, back in '03..even paid for our passports & gave us $1K in spending cash, because he "sprang it on us" with little time.. The company won the trips for two couples, and he asked us..

He also has a huge picnic every summer for employees and their whole families.. and gives all kinds of things away..

Of course no one quits..

Even his office staffers have union medical and union pay, even though they are not IN a union..

The company makes a TON of money, operates "cleanly", and produces a high quality product..

He pours EXTRA money every year into the latest equipment..and never skimps on anything that makes for a safer workplace..

[bluesbassman]

21. Great story SoCalDem. See, it can be done.

Your husband's boss probably makes a very good income for himself too, and rightly so. There is nothing better than a small business that is run correctly AND that takes care of it's employees.

[Bette Noir]

36. I want to know what that company is, in case I need new cabinets.

[JDPriestly]

22. Wow, that's wonderful. The opposite of Scrooge.

[Buns_of_Fire]

26. They're NOTABLE because they're the EXCEPTION.

That said, good on the Spungens!:thumbsup: If I had need of (or could afford) any ball bearings, I know who I'd buy them from now!

The guy I work for gave me a present of an indefinite layoff, while the owners of the apartment gave my mother a gift of a certified letter saying that, as of Jan. 1, the rent is being increased 33%.

Happy Holidays!:party:

[bean fidhleir]

27. That's a very nice gesture indeed.

But laurel crowns fade fast. How many here, without looking it up, could say who Aaron Feuerstein is?

[dsc]

30. the mill owner who rebuilt after the fire

instead of taking the money and running.

[chalky]

37. In fact, Aaron Feuerstein was the first person that popped into my head

when I read this story. That kind of behavior tends to stick in my mind.

[Career Prole]

43. I can! I can! I worked at Malden Mills!

Small world, ain't it?
I even met the man himself, in the middle of the night in the cafeteria...getting himself a cup of coffee. He sat and talked with us for a while.
I was on D shift in maintenance so the fire started after I was home in bed. My wife woke me up and turned on the tv to the news and there was my job on the tube...burning down.
Later, while I was in the "special" unemployment line set up for Malden Mills my boss pulled me out of line and said "Don't say anything yet, but you don't need this...Aaron's keeping it going! Go get some sleep because we're working tonight." All we did that night (and for quite a while after) was keep the propane heaters fueled so it was warm where the one production line left in a half-burnt building could keep going...it wasn't electronic troubleshooting but it was work and I was still on the clock, and what he did for the folks who couldn't come back yet was more amazing still.
Aaron Feuerstein is a hero to many people, and I'm one of 'em.

[bean fidhleir]

62. Small world indeed!

You were lucky to have met him. I can't recall ever meeting someone who's that good by nature.

I was greatly saddened when I read that he lost the company after all his struggle to keep it going. I tried to think of that as being something that eventually would have happened anyway, since apparently he and his spouse had no children interested in taking over the business the way he did from his parents. But I still felt saddened.

[Career Prole]

66. Many of us went down to the mill that night

or the following morning not as gawkers but wanting to do something...anything...to help save our jobs, or at least prove to ourselves that brick and steel could be destroyed by mere fire as completely as the news people were telling us. Aaron (he wanted us to call him Aaron) was there then too and already saying he'd rebuild but I don't know of a single person who really believed that. Even to us, out of work right before Christmas and anxious for any thread of hope to cling to, his words gave no reassurance because at his age and given the seeming complete devastation of the place the only thing that made any sense at all was for him to take his insurance money and call it a day. "Hell, I'd do the same thing!", was a common sentiment.
I don't know who he surprised more, us or his family, when he came through on that promise. An absolutely amazing and wonderful person and completely deserving of the devotion we still feel for him to this day.

[jbnow]

28. A Michigan man sold the company after many decades

and split 128 million of the profits with employees, past and present.
He said they were the reason he had such a successful company and that he and his family didn't need it all. He seemed surprised it was such a big deal.
Hourly workers got $2,000 for each year of service. They also had good pension plans and IRAs with the company.
Salaried workers (who do not have pensions) got checks or annuity certificates they could cash in at age 55 or 62. Most got over $1 million, some much more depending on years there and merit. He'd had the company since 1959 and employees stayed
He included retirees and surviving spouses in the bonus
He paid the taxes on these.
The age requirement to get the money was there because he thinks work is good for people. There were exceptions where they could get some of the money earlier. Education was one.

Oh and he made a deal with the people he sold it to that his employees kept their job.

He sold the company for 400 million plus...and gave away much more of it too, mostly to schools. His wife was a teacher.

I remembered the details but his name just came to mind...Bob Thompson. Makes it easier to google if anyone wants to because it sounds made up.

[chalky]

39. I'm glad you remembered the name. I'd never heard of Bob Thompson

before--guess the Feuerstein story got more press. But this is another story that will be sticking in my head for a good long while. :)

[rosesaylavee]

29. Maybe we will see more of this when

the over $250,000/annum crowd pays more taxes. Some employers may prefer to give it to their employees rather than pay the extra taxes.

A fantasy but a good one, yes?

[GreenInNC]

31. not getting one this year

We are not getting bonuses this year or raises, in fact we all had to take 10% pay cuts. But by god the owners got their new cars, country club memberships, "retreats", and kids college expenses paid for.

Fuckers

[loudsue]

34. This quote in the article says it all:

""I know people who work for corporate America are not going to get treated like that. And most of the family owned businesses are not going to treat you like that," Tiderman said. "This is something that just really doesn't happen."

This is something that SHOULD be happening every year at every company. Loyal, long-time employees MAKE OR BREAK a company, it's products and/or services. It is nothing but GREED on the part of the "owners of capital" (i.e., capitalism) that they are not rewarded fairly.

And...by the way... why in the hell are OUR tax dollars being given to bail out companies that take OUR jobs overseas? Let the foreign countries that employ the work force bail out the companies.

[Bette Noir]

35. Wow. That doesn't happen often.

[Doremus]

38. How different the world would be if more captains of business had souls.

Where probably other ball bearing factories failed over the years, this one flourished. Why? Because the people who worked there felt appreciated.

A simple thing but as rare as hen's teeth.

[GinaMaria]

41. It's called Employee Engagement

and it does make or break a business. Companies are starting to look at this, as we move from industrial revolution thinking to knowledge revolution thinking. The more engaged employee makes better decisions for the company, identifies problems/solutions and has more passion and commitment. These are all things that boost the bottom line. The best way for businesses to build employee engagement/commitment is to treat them right. Manage them fairly, encourage work/life balance, have a mission or vision that every single person in the company can align their work to, reward and recognize the people who make you successful, and never lie to them.

Seems simple when written down but when you look at most companies, it seems impossible to implement. There are those that speculate that the knowledge worker revolution will be the force of future business and only those businesses that can understand the value of the human being will survive in the future. Interesting when you look at the number of corporations, companies or businesses that are failing. People not products or machines will drive the economy of the future. People are the worthy investment. A company's People Policies can make or break them.

So hopefully, stories like these won't be as rare as hen's teeth, but instead will be the norm. Here's to the future :toast:

[davidthegnome]

57. Wonderful post GinaMaria

You have a faith in humanity that I would be proud to one day be able to claim. You have my admiration. (For the great name as well as the post)

You may simply see it as good, or common sense, but it is a noble way of seeing the business world. In fact, a noble way of seeing humanity in general.

[Tigress DEM]

42. THAT is putting your money where your mouth is.

[Omaha Steve]

44. Bravo

Old school values. I don't think it was a tax dodge motive. I believe this was a thank you for years of loyal service.


Merry Christmas Bedford Falls!

OS

[Joe Chi Minh]

45. Another very positive, "Only in America........"! What a rare employer.

It shows monstrosity isn't an absolute requirement even of capitalism. No wonder a Scandinavian firm wanted to buy it.

[Laelth]

46. That is stunning.

In a world where greed is the rule, it's nice to see that some capitalists still have a heart.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[MNBrewer]

47. only problem is that bonuses get taxed a much higher rate (as least mine does)

[bertman]

48. This is a great story. Now I'm going to toot my company's horn. We are a small

general contracting company. 14 employees counting my partner and me. We have the best benefits package in the area plus we pay top of the scale and we give our employees profit sharing at year's end. Last year we gave our employees 49% of the profit because we had a great year. This year we are on track for another great year despite many other contractors having terrible years due to the recession.

We get 90-plus percent of our business by referral from happy clients. Not only is our level of work top notch, but the service is exceptional. Our clients always tell us how much they like our employees and our subs. We have done multiple remodeling projects for many of our clients.

All the employees appreciate their profit sharing checks but the funny part is the ones who think they should have gotten more. We have low turnover but there is always someone who thinks they are the most deserving no matter the contributions of others. They usually don't stay with the company for long. Human nature, I suppose.

Based on almost 30 years in the business I think it's much harder for small business owners to give generous bonuses to the line workers than it is for larger companies. The reason, I suspect, is the owners are the ones who have the greatest investment in terms of dollars and the stress of ownership, so, unless they are highly profitable they feel that THEY deserve the lion's share. To me, that's understandable because the owner's money, home, and reputation are on the line if the business goes under. Understandable even though it is not my and my business partner's philosophy.

[aggiesal]

49. Several years ago, an Orange County CA. company, ...

whose name escapes me, did the same thing.

Except this company gave a BMW 300 Series car to each of
approximately 50 employees as a bonus.

The employees arrived to work, one Monday morning to find
appoximately 50 BMW's of different colors, sitting in the parking
lot. The employees got to pick the car of their choice.

The next day that company was flooded with job applications.

I'll be willing to bet that the same thing happens to this company.

[malaise]

50. A class act

And they actually made something. :applause:

[BobTheSubgenius]

51. MAJOR kudos to the Spungens.

I read of a paving company several years ago that did this very thing. Some of the longest-serving employees got 6- and even 7-figure cheques.

[defendandprotect]

52. Wonderful parting gift by the Spungen family... too bad they've sold ---

[KakistocracyHater]

53. May others follow their lead

...

[Dukkha]

55. meanwhile my employer banked big big profits and acquired mergers

and our bonus is we have to pay for our own x-mas pot luck dinner served on our own lunch our. yippee.

[meowomon]

56. I got a $25 gift card for thanksgiving this year

After they dropped our health insurance last year.

[Orrex]

64. Yeah...

Over my 9.5 years at my last company, my yearly bonus averaged about $45, and they made me feel that, by accepting it, I was bankrupting the multibillion-dollar international corporation.

But I'm delighted for the employees at the ball bearing company--a truly rare story!

[davidthegnome]

58. Thanks for posting this one

It really is a great relief to know that some people higher up in the business world have hearts. Absolutely brilliant. From Chicago too, I hope Father Greeley is awake to read about this one, it just might make his day as it did mine.

[Regret My New Name]

60. I don't buy it... There is must be something more to this story...

Actually, I don't really think that. I just figured I would balance things out a bit. ;)

[eilen]

63. Merry Christmas, Thanks to the Spungens.

That was a great thing they did and thanks to the other posters here for similar stories. I think the only bonus I have ever received was a $50 one from a hospital or nursing home I worked for. Now I will only work for union shops and there are no bonuses in those. I just would rather have guaranteed benefits per contract than the hope the hospital's CFO and Board of Directors will decide to give out bonuses.

I've been offered gifts and cash from patients and their families but that goes against my ethics unless the gift is very small and sentimental like a picture or pushpin that helps me think about the person. Unfortunately, other people in my profession are not as, say professional. I watched in gaped jaw amazement a nurse take a ordered in lunch from a patient because he was happy she placed an IV quickly. I totally lost respect for her (a self-described Christian who would give you attitude if you didn't trade and work her Sundays for her).

[DiverDave]

65. This is happy news

Thanks, it shows that there are still good people out there.
I got a 150 buck Christmas bonus from my boss a couple of years ago, after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I thanked him and used it to pay bills.

That was my 1 and only cash bonus...ever.

[ooglymoogly]

67. Now that is a Christmas story. nt kr