The short version of this actually involves two jobs. The first was a production company based in Philadelphia. It had a VP of Engineering who had personal issues. And as time went on the company itself developed financial issues. I ended up with a job but not being paid.
The second lasted only a couple of weeks, which turned out to be a relief. It involved a station with two separate engineering departments. One for news and the other for the rest of the technical plant. The union contract said workers couldn't fix or operate equipment not assigned to their department. They had blue and yellow tape on the front of the racks. This tape indicated which department each piece of equipment belonged to! Other stations in the same IBEW chapter did not like the station. This was because the station always went on strike at the end of each contract. This would usually deplete the common strike fund to which all members had to contribute.
I know it sounds strange, but I needed a job that paid. So, I took it even though I was aware of the situation.. The news department engineering manager hired me on the spot. The problem was the supervisor under him was not present. When that supervisor got back, he went to work on drumming me out. One of the many things he did was to assign me to fix the above VTR. But he, or someone, had disassembled it almost entirely. I was to put it back together and make it work. It took at least a day to accomplish that. When I came in the next day, the machine was pretty much in the state it was when I started. When asked why it was back apart, he said they needed to check my work. This cycle went on for a week. After that time, he said, "You don't get it." I did. He fired me.
