welder

painter

finisher

assembler

shipper/receiver

DOEPKER

Overall, if you like the position you start at and don't get frustrated with constant confusion, lack of leadership, and a toxic work environment, the pay and benefits are almost worth it. Almost.

However, be prepared to constantly be moved to different positions anytime someone is sick or takes a day off, or honestly sometimes just because. Half the time people are shuffled around to departments that don't actually have enough work to require the extra help. People are taken out of their department where there's work to do, just to be dropped into another department to spend that time sweeping or cleaning up because the department is backed up or management isn't communicating their decisions to each other or the employees. The responsibilities of a department often get pushed onto a different department and employees are left to figure things out on their own. This might not sound so bad in theory, but there is a specialized position for people who are specifically paid more to be moved around to different positions and fill in where needed.

If you're the type to just show up, do your job well, and go home, you're still going to face an uphill battle. You will be taken advantage of, and your fellow employees will spread every rumor under the sun about you behind your back or worse even try to get you in trouble with management.

The union contract ensures wage transparency and a good starting wage, and you can earn more if you learn from the right people. But it's not worth the headache. The wage only makes it harder to find somewhere else to work without taking a massive pay cut.

I worked there for a long time, and was extremely experienced at my job. The other workers that actually wanted to be there were great. Unfortunately they seemed to hire lots of people with no motivation to improve and lots lacked the technical skills needed to complete work. 

Management was always shifting, I had probably 6 different supervisors in 3 years with some of them literally lasting one day. I watched many people get promoted out of the union then pushed out of the company extremely quickly without the protection provided by the union.

One shift completed most of the work in my area scheduled for the whole day, and when asking about how the work was balanced between the shifts I was told it was just different and I didn't understand why things were just different, even though I had 9+ years of experience more than my supervisor in the specific area.

The shop we worked in the summer also got near to +40 degrees, and to solve this problem management got an air conditioner. Not for the shop, just to aim at the equipment so work could continue. Much of the equipment also took years to be replaced and fixed.

When the new supervisor started I was told he was going to work on getting me to be a shop crew chief, and a year later had never brought it up to me again.

Very frustrating place to work unless you just keep your head down and don't rock the boat.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part working at this company was the people I worked with and the hours I was able to work whether it was day shift or night shift I had a wonderful time working there and the managers were amazing aswell

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part working for doepker was getting used to the work schedule since I was on a switch shift schedule

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment was amazing had great coworkers and team leaders and the people who trained me really helped me figure out how everything ran smoothly there

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My typical day working at doepker was simple got to work early clocked in and got straight to work and sometimes I'd forget about breaks and just keep working so I could get more stuff done during my workdays

The management lies, blatantly at the expense of the workers. most of the management team is related and seems to have no idea about what we build or how to run a company. union is wimpy, no wage increase anywhere near inflation rates. they move stuff out of house and quality has dropped but no one seems to care. they let machines wear out, very little maintenance is done, the yard is a mess.

It used to be run by people who seemed to care about the product and maybe had some respect for the employees. now they don't seem to care about anything, putting out an inferior product and they don't seem to care about the employees at all. currently they want to move most of the people in my area to a different area where we would end up with a pay cut and be doing something totally different from what we currently do. they seem to be abandoning this plant.

- Honestly found the work boring, repetative, and depressing. Treated like a number instead of a person, managment seemed to be two steps behind on everything, as well as poorly drawn blueprints and disorganization. 
- christmas bonus was a small "grocery only " sobeys gift card. 
- Team is overall friendly but communication was severly lacking. 
- 1 coffee break. 
- Disciplinary actions over even the slightest rule breaking.
- a real US vs Them mentality with managment/office vs floor workers. 
- tool supply is a complete joke
- CEO wont talk to anyone on the floor besides the supervisor
- Dont bother working here.

Good company to work for, though at times unorganized by management. Can learn a lot of new skills if you are willing to put a serious effort into learning some new training. Not much room to move up the ladder though. A starting point if you're looking to learn some trade skills, to advance in trade school or further your career.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The overall satisfaction of seeing the finished products rolling off the assembly line.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
When me and numerous others got laid off due to shortage of work during Covid.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very positive, friendly, easy going coworkers and environment

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
10 hours of production line welding, but time flys by when you are having a good time working.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company give everyone a chance to learn a skill, get training. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
When working in production, you have to inspect the entire trailer before releasing it. It’s a chain job so if you’re the last on the chain all responsibilities are on you. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Safe environment. Union part of industry. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come to work and do your job.

My time here was good and I enjoyed almost all of my co-workers. The company structure made me feel safe and it was a fairly inclusive environment where one could approach another (no matter of seniority) and expect some time be given to the problem at hand. The wages were reasonable and the people in the front office (management) were never anything but friendly and cooperative with me during my time there. The company's advancement structure was very easy to understand and attainable for those who worked well.

As in every place communication is bad. Management treats us like kids. The only qualification is welding experience and to read a tape measure. Then throw you into a job where no one really knows what they're doing since things change daily. Ask for tools, we're told they're coming. ESAB welding machines are garbage as they continue to give porosity and yet manager tells us we don't know how to use them. They then keep buying them knowing we have problems. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Welder 9 salaries reported	$28.22 per hour
Painter 4 salaries reported	$28.00 per hour
Finisher 5 salaries reported	$23.70 per hour
Assembler 2 salaries reported	$24.35 per hour
Shipper/receiver 2 salaries reported	$25.51 per hour

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