Close to Tragedy!!

I just read an article posted around the plant and holy cow. I have to go back and reread it to make sure I understand it correctly. It starts with the fact that Monday is a holiday here, Labor Day, this is very ironic as you’ll see. Yesterday the company here distributed letters saying that some people will be temporarily laid off starting on Monday. They have been doing this off and on for 2 years. It’s very hard to fire someone so they temporarily lay him or her off (for 2 weeks up to a month) hoping they will find other work and not come back. The laid off worker gets a percentage of their pay, I think around 70%, and the government pays part of that so they don’t cost the company much when they are not working. The company has to get the government’s approval to do this (because of the part the government pays!!). There have been strikes every time they announce a new cassa integrazione. So…Anyway back to the story. Upon learning of the “cassa integrazione” or layoff one worker here evidently threatened to kill himself. The article said he was at the edge of 40 m (~120 ft) drop, which is the chimney of the test cell. The test cell chimney is right outside my window and it happened just minutes after I left last night. I can’t believe what I was almost witness to and the toll these continued layoffs are taking. Evidently someone he talked him down and he ended up in the hospital taking drugs to calm him down. I don’t think I know the person from what I have heard at the coffee machine this morning but what a tragic story. I think he’s ok now.