Jonathan sent a message to Gregg A. Tanner – Chief Executive Officer of Dean Foods Company – Email Address that said:
Good afternoon, I have a question that I can never get an answer to. I have applied to dozens of openings throughout Dean foods, and for months I do not get any feedback or any progress on openings
That I have applied to months ago. Why does it take so long for any feedback on positions that are open? Is the HR department failing to update on the career page that those openings have been filled?
I am a former Dean Foods employee and for 2 years I have been trying to return into the Field and I can never get any feedback. I am aware of what is going on in Alta Dena and how its poorly being managed, I’m hearing of lots of associate complaints of being mandated to work excess overtime because open positions have not been filled yet. I’m hearing that there are not enough vacation relief personal to cover for those who are on vacation. I’m hearing of employees putting in 12+ hours daily and are tired of it, I’m hearing that Alta Dena refuses to hire to help cut down on excessive overtime/stress on the associates. Why is the North plant so poorly managed? Why is the North plant refusing to have openings to ease the overtime stress on the associates? When I was there I was putting 12-14 hours daily in the cooler, I did not have a problem with that because I was young and easily able to take on such hours so the older associates can go home to their families and not be exhausted to where it affects their personal life.
Here’s my story, I was a teenager working as a temporary worker in the cooler for 3 years at $9/hr in hopes of being hired, I worked very hard, long long hours to where my bones would ache and out of nowhere, I was laid off(told that I was no longer needed) that was pretty devastating for somebody who gave it all they had and learned so much(I even did maintenance on machines). then I was called back in because the hired associates were not able to handle the line of work that I did for ¼ of their salary. Finally was able to move to the new cooler where I met Jon Callevaro the supervisor at that time, and he noticed how hard I pushed myself and he got me an interview with John keith(plant manager at that time) and John Ekman. And I was given an opportunity to finally be part of the Alta Dena family, I went through the hiring process and out of nowhere the position that was granted to me that I felt that I deserved got put on “freeze” now that was very disappointing for me, I felt like I’ll never be good enough. And I was laid off once again, then returned to the liquid plant in the Debagging department where I worked hard in, I once again took on 3 machines on my own at the same time, I showed how hard I worked and how much I want to be part of the family. I got no recognition form the liquid plant supervisors, and I saw ahead of time that I was going to be once again LAID OFF, so I went to the job agency and resigned. I was not going to be taken advantaged anymore. So I left Alta Dena and went to a different field. 2 year passed by, and I kept in touch with the HR manager of Alta Dena the entire time, finally I’ve seen openings of my previous positions that have been up and I was hired, I was now 22 years old and I was very thankful and once again I worked hard, in fact I worked harder then I ever have before as a temporary worker, I did 14-16 hours and never complained, called in sick, or even take a vacation. A year passed by and at that time the Plant manager(Juan Chavez) was doing a poor job and keeping the plant operating properly and I got called in and the assistant plant manager Humberto laid me off like I was a temp worker. 4 months passed by unemployed and struggling to make it by and find work once again, I got called to return but I was told, that I would only be working for 3 months so I returned and tried so hard to convince management that I was worthy of keeping around, but I knew I was going to get laid off so I resigned and now I’m at the state working for the EPA, I want to return to Alta Dena but I keep getting a run around from HR(from both north and South locations) I applied to my old positions that were up and never got filled. Why is it so difficult to have that plant properly operated where work can be evenly distributed throughout the shifts?
I hope somebody important up in corporate reads this, this is a story of an associate who just wanted to be part of the family.
If not, can you please forward this email to a director/executive? I just want to be part of the family.
Sincerely,
Jonthan
