Mueller Company

In 1982 I got a job at Mueller Iron Foundry here in Chattanooga.  It was hot, dirty, and hard work, but paid well.  I worked there for five years while I was finishing college at Tennessee Temple.  I worked several positions while at Mueller, and my last job was the ladle liner on third shift.  My job was to keep the one-ton ladles lined with fire brick and to put a new pour spout on them ready for the 7 am shift.  Second shift clocked out at midnight, but the ladles were still a hot 2,000°, so it took some time for them to cool down.  My foremen didn’t care where I was as long as I had my job done by 7 am.  So, I would clock in at 11 pm, wander around, find a quiet place, and sleep for two hours.  The foreman never gave me a second thought.  But one night, unknown to me, my foreman was off work and the second shift foreman worked over to cover for him.  And the second shift foreman came looking for me.  When he found me, he fired me on the spot for sleeping on the job.  The next day, the union steward told me to lie about it.  It would be my word against the foreman’s word.  But I couldn’t do that.  It would be dishonest.  I told the HR supervisor the truth and that was the end of my job.  I finished college that spring and began teaching.  But I remember that experience and recall it often.  Paul said in II Corinthians 8:21, “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”  Do right and you can face God and your fellow man with a clear conscience.