production operator

maintenance mechanic

project engineer

customer service representative

industrial electrician

I was wrongfully terminated from USG because of my attendance. Period. It did not matter that the lack of my attendance was due to illness from their product, and that I am under suspicion for exposure to heavy metals from my doctor. They wanted a meeting to fire me, I was not really allowed to speak. Everytime I trued to bring up this issue, I heard, you don't have that documented, or I don't like what you're implying!! Well, it us what it is, not an implecation, a fact. They were smug, scoffed and at times even laughed and smirked. When asked by smug face HR Rep, don't you want to hear your appeal options, one included was to see the plant manager. The plant manager if very new, and NOT part of their 3 ring circus. However I was notified at that time, the normal plant manager was out, and there was a fill in, authorized to make decisions on his behalf. I said no, I wanted to see the regular plant manager. I was told I would get NO waiting period to do this, and if I didn't see the fill in that day, I was waiving my right to see the plant manager at all. I went back. They began to speak, I tried to explain my medical situation, believed to come from their plant, their product. I again was snapped at, I don't like what you're implying!! Okay well I don't like liars, who claim safety is #1, unless it's your safety; then it's shut them up, shut them down, get them out of here! The phrase between all of these men, We already discussed this., kept coming up. And I threw my hands up. This was a meeting already had, already decided, they just had to have it again formally with my presence. The fill in plant manager seemed well aquainted with the old manager, and HR Rep., so they laughed it up at my expense, and of coarse fill in plant manager found in the department manager's favor to "terminate my employment". I've been sick since about 2 weeks after beginning work there. Horrible skin irritation/rash, been given at least 5 rounds of steroids, now a high dose for the next month, and still awaiting diagnostics about the heavy metal exposure, that my doctor's tested for. I have had a bad taste in my mouth, a horrible Eczamous rash, which they accused of being a pre-existing condition. A biopsy was taken from it, and the pathology was conclusive with findings from heavy metal exposure from the CDC. Nausea, joint aches and pains, very severe in feet, ankles, knees. Severe kidney pain, very very frequent urination, bedwetting, sweating profusely, breathing issues, stomach pain, including unbelievable heartburn. This has been a terrible ordeal. I would never suggest anyone to subject themselves to this place, no matter how much they pay you. If you feel you have health issues related to this atmosphere, get help immediately!!

Though my review says no I wouldn’t recommend someone this job. That’s not necessarily true. I would recommend this job, it just would depend on the person. However, their is very poor management. There is  a difference in a leader and a manager, and you can clearly spot this here. You can tell right away just how the management and employees are. You don’t move around at all hardly to get your raises. You practically have to stay on management about moving you. If not, be prepared to stay at the same job for months! There’s some strong favoritism, it’s definitely noticeable to. Be prepared to not get breaks, with the amount of change overs we have. Taking breaks is made basically impossible. Also take into account, my third week I was told to give the stacker operator a break, even though I’ve never trained on the machine. Not once. I didn’t get not one ounce of training. I was thrown on the machine by myself, running a machine I’ve not ever ran. Forced to teach myself. We have all of these employees around, plus supervisors that could give breaks or help clean Jams. However most of the time they don’t, no one cares. About you just like the company. The training absolutely sucks. I was trained on the bundler for two days and tossed out by myself. Yelled at three weeks later for not knowing something I was never taught. No one helps you, and if they do help it’s like an impossible task. The company and management care more about the product than the actual operators. Safety is poor, which is ironic considering they preach about safety from the first the you walk in the door, and so on. Bottom line, great place for money. Considering you get on a decent crew that moves you around. The pay is good, sick days and paid off days are a bonus. You get vacation after six months, plus the ability to purchase vacation. Even though the management is abysmal. They do give you the time you need off. They have good insurance. Just expect to work hard at the expense of others. Expect to not get breaks most days, and definitely I’d say watch your back. The employees are quick to throw you under the bus for there benefit. Besides the people the job is easy, and you as I’ve said you make good money for what you do. However, at what cost. I should add to that we have been laid off. With the prices skyrocketing. I’d definitely think about coming to work for USG. You switch schedules a ton. So if you’re not flexible, it’s the not the place for you. 

So many flaws at the East Chicago Plant. It was always a shady place to work from the beginning but has gotten worse over the years. If your relative got you in and they kool with the supervisor even tho you a lazy and non productive no one will every say anything to you. You can even be half blind and work here. If relatives work in the same department then you will get special treatment even tho again your not the best worker. Lots of favoritism if you  don't kiss butt and talk about everyone and run in the office and tell then they won't like you. Management looks out for the men women have to work hard as heck in Joint treatment. Supervisors talk about employees with other employees also yell at certain employees  look out for employees who really can't do they jobs but pass them on anyways so they can get a rate,everyone acts so scary and nervous it's like a circus. There lots of downtime and the equipment goes down every second, only certain ppl will help you if you have problems management turns they head on Alot of issues no one has your back it's you against them, they make you run certain jobs for weeks which are really hard while other ppl get paid for the same jobs but never work them or rarely that's not right ,they try to force you to do things that you can't do they say it's a family environment that's not true more like the feds staking you out and ready to take you out. Oh and if you make a mistake they act like you blew up everyone's car in the parking lot, they do pay well but some ppl gotta work extra hard for they money. EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES AT THIS PLACE!!!

Pay and benefits are good, hence the 2-star rating, otherwise it would be 1-star. Work culture was terrible, management was no better . Hired managers fresh out of college with no people skills, and who are more concerned with self promotion than the people or the job at hand. Their positions are just stepping stones for the next level jobs. The managers seldom stayed longer than a year and then are moved to other plants. The workers at this facility have not gotten a full bonus in over a year and half or possibly longer because of poor management. But I'm almost certain management teams receive a bonus because they have "cut cost", according to the plant manager.  New management has no idea how to run a department and likewise will not listen to floor personnel. No consistency in leadership roles and the company places immature people in supervision positions. Buddy system runs amuck throughout the facility, person who kisses the best butt gets preferential treatment. Work environment was so bad I quit the job to find better employment with a company who sees the workers as the best asset and not the production numbers for self promotion. This location was usually in the top 2 or 3 in the corporation for production and efficiency, and some instances #1, but yet are told to do better and work harder. It's bad when you exceed your production goal but then are told that it was a terrible production day. This is exactly what was told to the department by the department foreman. Kind of like telling a 3rd grader that made 105 out of a possible 110 that their grade was not good enough and can do better, sometimes it feels as though we are treated like 3rd graders. Floor workers are pushed as hard as possible in an environment where very good is not good enough.

Worked in the maintenance department. New plant was being built beside old plant. Thought it would be a good opportunity since plant was new and I was just laid off from another job. Old plant was like going back in time. Lots of physical work but interesting. Once the new plant was up and running I got to see first hand how badly this plant was built. Maintenance down days consisted of repairing the same things over and over again. Plant manager wasn't interested in making reliability improvements to prevent breakdowns. Department heads basically had their hands tied. Every time there was a breakdown plant manager would say it was a scheduled shutdown so it wouldn't count against plant. This man was and is so stupid that he said a water main break outside the plant by the city was an act of god just so he wouldn't have to pay 4 hours to the people that showed up to work before sending them home. This man could do the talk but not the walk. During cutbacks maintenance mechanics were sent out to the boardline to work basically becoming operators. I was told when checking the specifications on the board to fudge the numbers some if they were out. Told them no I will put in what I read. All I can say is it must not cost alot to produce drywall because sometimes they send more out to waste then to the shipping dept. They have a mountain of bad drywall boards all around the back of the plant. Only thing good thing about USG Norfolk Plant is the hourly employees. Plant manager needs to go and get a paper route and hope he doesn't screw that up. Do yourself a favor and don't work at USG Norfolk if the plant manager isn't new.

I was there for a little over 4 months and did not enjoy the experience as I originally hoped. Even though I was still training as a Paper Hanger, I viewed the job as being overkill as there is too much to do for that one job. The kicker? Only one person does that job which can place a lot of stress on that sole operator. 

Management is not that great, unorganized, and the way breaks are set up is terrible. I never in my life held a job where I could not go to my own car on my break. Honestly, the breaks do not feel like breaks. The line is constantly running and if anything goes wrong, we have to cut our "breaks" short and return to work. There's also no set time for them either; you go when you can!

The place is very unkempt and dusty which I viewed as a health concern for myself. The coworkers were okay. There were a few that I could connect with.

The pay and benefits were decent, and they have a huge concern on safety which is great but it's overdone to the point of redundancy. 

Overall, I do not recommend this place as an employer. But the choice is yours.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great coworkers. Work itself is satisfying 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They cut our hrs with a promise be for 2 months that was 4 months ago. Attendance policy is super strick.  Had employees who had a heart attack they pointed them out and terminated them. Had one hit a deer same thing. It's literally so safe it's unsafe to work employees spend more time worrying about policy's that they keep adding to than there job plus get rewarded for turning people in so there not paying attention to what there doing . 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Poor morale is low. Management spends more time in there office than in the pits then come up with ideas that literally don't work but want you to do them any way then you get reprimand for it not working. They won't listen to employees with experience.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Spend more time doing job tasks that's not in your job title or job description. Then rest the day doing what your paid to do which is run heavy equipment.

The management tells you one thing and does another, the safety culture at the surface looks very well, but under the surface it is a completely different ball game. Fork trucks speeding through areas without looking, workers not using PPE and it is OK as long as it gets the job done. Maintenance being very unsafe and sometimes right in front of bosses as long as it gets the job done they don’t care. Most of their safety gear they do have is cheap and a joke to be nice. The gear barely protect you from anything. They have new people training new people. Some of the bosses say there is training pay, but you never see it. Even when it is the management’s fault, they always make it look like the workers. It seems like everyone is almost always on edge about being fired there. If you tell management that there wrong they come down on you from behind your back and make things hard for you. 

USG is a good company to work for. When looking into a place of employment individuals applying for a job ask themselves what is the pay? How about the hours? And do they have good benefits? In my current experience with the company those questions are all met. The pay is actually very good. The hours are decent but that's always a give and take depending on business. As for the benefits, USG has a pretty good setup as in insurance, incentive bonuses, and just all around appreciation for its employees. Not always is the job rainbows and sunshine but I think financially and security wise USG can give you that. The company has been around for over 100 yrs and hasn't went belly up. That's something to be looked at when applying here. Sure certain departments got downsized but that's just how things work with businesses and the economy. I would encourage individuals to think about emolument here. I currently work in the Gypsum Fiber Products department in Gypsum, Ohio.

Your coworkers at Otsego Paper are the best you can have! They look out for you & are always there if you need help or have questions. If you work with the press, the hours are long - 12hr split shift, so you need to be able to bounce back between nights & mornings every 3-4 days. The up side to this is you get one complete week off every month. I found I needed this perk as the 3 weeks you do work take their toll. You work over 2 weekends a month, but its time & 1/2 on weekends, which helps out with the inconvenience. USG (who owns Otsego Paper) give their employees a lot of perks/swag throughout the year, which i did appreciate. They are VERY safety conscience, which is a good thing. Working on the machine is loud & messy, but theres no getting around that. If it wasnt for the heavy schedule (the days you work, you have time for working and thats it!) I would still be there today. I miss my crew!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 23 salaries reported	$22.01 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 16 salaries reported	$23.69 per hour
Project engineer 3 salaries reported	$65,000 per year
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Industrial electrician 10 salaries reported	$31.99 per hour

Working at usg: Company Overview and Reviews

usg

usg Ratings

Popular jobs at usg

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected