I saw that my local grocery store in St. Charles MO was hiring in 1991 when I found myself unemployed as a leader with the American Ethical Union, so I filled out an application. The jobs were listed with the pay grade next to them. The highest paying position was as a meat cutter. I got the job and joined the meat cutters union. I was sent to a training to learn all about cuts of meat. When asked why I wanted to be a meat cutter during our introductions, I called upon my grandfather and dad’s cattle business in New Mexico. I told them how grandfather butchered cattle for the soldiers at nearby Ft. Bayard NM after the Civil War, some of whom included the Buffalo Soldiers who were there to fight off the Apache. Of course, I could have just said that it was the highest paying job available at my store, but I never passed up an opportunity to tell a story.

The current Job Description at Schnucks

This is not an official job description, but represents major responsibilities a new hire can expect to perform. You could expect the position of meat cutter to include the following:

DUTIES:

• Provide friendly and courteous service to customers
• Know how to use all tools including power tools ( saws,grinder,cubing machine,sealer,wrapper machine Weigh, Wrap, label and price product
• Clean all meat equipment and tools.
• Know how to perform work in service meat department.
• Cut and prepare all cuts of meat including blocking beef, pork, lamb& veal
• Grinding meat
• Cube steaks & patty steaks
• Prepare product for the service meat case
• Suggestive selling and product sampling
• Receive product from our warehouse
• Stock, straighten and rotate product in meat cases and coolers
• Read and understand shelf tags
• Follow company safety guidelines when using equipment
• Provide customers with proper cooking instructions
• Check and maintain the proper temperature controls for coolers, freezers and cutting room
• Maintain cleanliness of work area, equipment and meat cases following company safety and sanitation guidelines
• At closing, pull product from service meat case for proper storage
• Other duties may be assigned at the discretion of store management

TRAINING

Training will be provided at store level.

PHYSICIAL DEMANDS

Bending
Stooping
Work in cold wet environment
Must be able to lift up to 125-150 pounds
Working on feet entire shift (8 hours)

My first day on the job was the best. I learned how to clock in and was reminded that I couldn’t clock in before seven minutes before my shift and had a seven minute window after I was supposed to clock in before my pay was docked. I was given a white coat to wear over my sweater and jeans. It was cold in there. I tied on a white apron and was given a pair of white gloves and a white paper hat.

John, my supervisor, introduced me to the wrapper machine where I would weigh, wrap, label and price product. The tall journeyman butcher brought in a side of beef and shared raunchy stories about his adventures the previous night. I’d never heard so many swear words being bandied about. John introduced me to the woman I’d be working with and the men gave us a work out of teasing and innuendo. The day was off to a great start, but the normalcy of the day shifted when they learned that I was a member of the clergy.

I rarely heard swear words after that first day and was spared the details of sexual prowess. I was sort of sorry I’d copped to my vocation. However, my co-workers soon began confiding in me and I found a role as a pastoral counselor as I slapped meat around.

Jane told me that our boss John constantly sexually harassed her. It turned out that her boyfriend was a journeyman at another store and she wanted to transfer to be in the same work place as him. John would not approve her transfer. He also held the fact that she couldn’t read over her head. She was being sued for custody of her daughter by her former husband who was using her illiteracy against her. We discussed solutions to help her learn to read and find legal representation. As to John’s harassment, I kept an eye on him during my shifts but there was little else I could do. Jane couldn’t afford counseling. John shot us the evil eye whenever he saw that we were talking in a confidential pose, but he couldn’t call us out because we always kept on task.

John’s mother had recently died and he came to me to talk about his grief journey. I stayed after I’d clocked out a couple of evenings to offer bereavement support. Even though he harassed Jane, I was trained to comfort the bereaved and knew we all make mistakes.

The butcher who made sausage was a jolly young man who brought sunshine into our meat locker. I learned about all of the different kinds of sausage he made and created the correct labels for them. I got pretty good at learning the lingo and identifying cuts of meat. My co-workers saw that I was a dedicated meat wrapper and appreciated my gumption. When my husband and children visited to see what I was up to, John bragged about me. Jim replied, “Kathi always does her best at whatever job she has.” Jim was a vegetarian at the time.

I spent some time out front behind the meat counter and suggested recipes to our customers. I learned how to slice meat to the customer’s specifications and wrap it up neatly in butcher paper. Some of the parents at my children’s private school shopped at our store and were startled to see me behind the counter. I cheerfully greeted them and chit chatted about school events to break the awkwardness.

Meanwhile, I kept sending my resume out to find a job that reflected my vocational training.