truck driver

roofer

cabinet maker

NSG Pilkington

-Overall Rating: I would give the boiler room operations 5/5, however, your role is still under that of the Employer and upper management. 

-Work/ Life Balance: 12 hour Continental shifts with day/ night rotations every other week. That means days off midweek and every other weekend off. 

-Salary/ Benefits: Competitive benefits plan and retirement package.
The wage isn't terrible but it's sub-par in terms of the average qualified 3rd Class OE, especially considering the expected responsibilities. 

-Job Security/ Advancement: Pilkington just celebrated 50 years last summer! Just remember that you are part of the automotive sector... Job advancement is not recognized in this department. If you're a 3rd Class OE looking to advance to a 2nd Class OE (highly, highly recommended) you will see a wage increase of about $2. Your duties and expectations will stay the exact same. 

-Management: as of March 2019, its current Chief Operating Engineer is the best of the best. You will not find a more knowledgeable and approachable person in this position. 
There are a couple of bright spots in other departments of  management/ engineering as well, especially the younger crowd. 

-Culture: as for the duties expected of a TSSA qualified 3rd Class OE, you will need to know the layout of all equipment and systems associated with the boiler room (air, water, steam). 
This is not a job for someone who is used to sitting in a control room... Though you will have quiet shifts, be prepared to single-handedly change large valves (3-4") or to assist with removal of said valves, pumps, motors, piping, etc.  
You are the only operator on your shift...

Terrible management the likes of which most would believe I'm exaggerating. I assure you I'm not. The disorganization is visable to every employee at Pilkington. The production planning is non existent and lacks common sense planning. Common sense is also rare to find in this facility.  The managements lack of people skills is more of a personal matter that I don't need to elaborate on especially if you've worked here at any point. In regards to the production planning; in the 3 months working in the assembly room I had one 12 hour shift were we actually worked the entire scheduled shift. The rest of those days were riddled with stops and hour long shut downs due to lack of material (having enough product/materials to run should be a common sense planning question) Yes the glass factory regularly runs out of glass.  The eployees suffer for these poor management skills by being bounced around the plant to places they are unfamiliar with, untrained and or uneeded. Your schedule regularly changes to fill scheduling gaps without notice due to the the high employee turnover. Employees regularly smoke recreational drugs on breaks and bring alcohol to work. Temps are treated like lesser forms of life because they do not yet have the union on their side despite the fact they pay union fees (not optional)  terrible pay rates with very little chance for growth. You are better off working at Tim Hortons as you start at $15 per hour regardless of your qualifications.  Do not work here no matter how much you might need a job. It's not worth it.  Unless your self worth is non existent.

Start off by paying higher wages, a dollar above minimum wage for working 12 hour shifts doesn't cut it in the world we live in. secondly, working weekends should be additional compensation, and last but most importantly all new hires are employed through a temp agency which avoids any issues of obligation directly with Pilkington ,this way they can put you on temporary layoff, what about the people who have to feed their families.This company has the worst reputation of really not caring about work culture, nor local people who support them.I have worked for them previously for 3 months,  60 people were let go 2 years later I figured I would give it another shot because they were hiring and maybe things have changed with their culture. But absolutely not! I was put on a temporary layoff due to GM being on strike.I 'll explain that to the power company and Telephone company etc!!! what a joke this place really is.

Worked afternoon from 3pm -11pm. This meant no life/family time at home. Actual work was fairly simple however training was minimal. Each section(line) has fairly similar job duties around the warehouse working with automotive glass and minor control systems. These sections CAN be taught in a rush, however this does not result in a good final knowledge for the person doing said job all shift long. At the beginning of each shift there is a meeting talking about numbers needed to be met, and which section every person is set to.  CON - The entirety of a person's shift is spent standing in one single space all day doing the exact same job over and over. This was not enjoyable, and switching sections never happened during a shift unless you were being trained through shadowing another person.

Pilkington Glass is just another factory. Although for the amount of work one must put into the different jobs, compensation is a disappointment. 12 dollars an hour is just not enough to live on, let alone pay the car insurance. The length of the shifts is excessive (12 hours). I do enjoy working with some of the people but I would much prefer to work in a healthy environment with people closer to my age. during my time at the company, I have learned to drive the forklift and use different machines associated with windshield manufacturing. The hardest part of the job is standing for 85% of the 12 hour shift; its just too long and hard on the legs/back/feet.

Most of the people hired on will get fired or just leave within the first week. The management there will find any loopholes in the system to screw employees so the union cant do much to help you. the building is extremely hot in the summer and often people will forget to relieve you so you wont get a bathroom break for up to 4 hours. If you do leave you will get in trouble. God forbid you get on one of the managers bad sides because they will put you on the shift you least like and send you to the hottest, most labor intensive areas of the factory out of spite, and it doesn't take much to anger them. I have seen good hard workers go and crackheads stay. The company several years ago nearly went under. This is no place to build a career

What is the best part of working at the company?
Honestly it's a horrible place to work the management's shelf life is very short and every manager does things differently. The Collingwood location is the location I worked 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The shifts 3 on 2 off 2 on 3 off continental shifts 12 hour shifts 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The employee's that have been there for a while are amazing but for the most part it's a revolving door

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depending on your department or station you are working at its pretty much wash rinse repeat

I worked here in my early 20s and worked hard. They reward hard work with more hard work. I knew how to do almost every job on every line and I enjoyed switching it up, but typically I got stuck on the more difficult positions. I tried to advance to a utility position and they gave it to someone with more seniority but couldn't do the job properly. I ended up quitting and going back to school and don't regret it at all.

I only worked for 4 days and I was let go because the employment agency told them " I was not a good fit". whoever made that decision obviously never saw how I worked or the people who worked with me.

The first line supervisor never had to question my work and my co-workers always had nothing but positive things to say about me; I was never late for work,  kept up with production, a good team player & always came back from break on time. So, how they came to their decision, remains a mystery.

The job itself is good. Favoritism for certain people. Union reps are hardly there so management get away with whatever. To many people think they are supervisor while the actual supervisor sits in his office all night. Comes out to yell at people for low production numbers, doesnt as why. Fork driver high all the time and gets away with it. Safety is not a priority here. Some people are good co workers but they usually dont stay for long.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Truck driver 1 salary reported	$23.00 per hour
Roofer 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Cabinet maker 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour

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