The Myth Of German Craftsmanship

[dales]

German Autoworkers Discover Bimmers, Booze and Bongs Don’t Mix

By Steph Willems on March 20, 2017

If you end up purchasing a BMW 3 or 4 Series model build at the automaker’s Munich assembly plant in early March, just know this: two of the workers building it might have been high as a kite.

A report in today’s Bild newspaper claims that two workers were so blitzed on booze and synthetic marijuana that they passed out while working on the assembly line, causing a temporary — and costly — shutdown. Yes, this happened, BMW has confirmed.

The two gassed workers apparently made it almost to the end of their shift before hitting the deck.

In response to the report, an embarrassed BMW confirmed to Deutsche Welle that the employees had indeed consumed “copious amounts of alcohol” and the aforementioned fake weed before putting their best efforts into building premium sedans and coupes. An ambulance was called, while production has halted for 40 minutes.

Assembly plants are a well-oiled machine, and any delay can lead to big bill for wasted time. Well, that’s what happened here. By keeping the previous night’s party going, the two workers cost the automaker approximately $1.06 million, according to an anonymous source — hardly a dime-bag expense.

The Bild report claimed that one of the two workers was subsequently fired, while another was shuffled off to another plant.

BMW’s hooch and reefer incident is reminiscent of a similar event at Fiat Chrysler’s Jefferson North assembly plant. Back in 2010, 13 workers were fired after being filmed smoking up and drinking while on break. Two years later, those workers returned to their jobs. Union dues sometimes pay off.

[or reinforce the view that many have of a lazy UAW slob]