laborer

truck driver

industrial mechanic

industrial electrician

scale operator

Gerdau

Blame games and name calling is the culture around here. Negativity surrounds this place and its not worth spending your valuable time in this plant. an experience here will add no value to your resume. If you are an intellectual then you are better off going to a company that will cherish your intelligence and logical mindset. Age old practices overshadow facts and data. Asskissing is a likable trait and if you are bad at it then your career wont go anyway. Incompetent managers often get away with dumb decision making and if you dont become a yes man then they will let you go. You dont even need an engineering degree to run this place. If you wanna do bare minimum and yell around at people while having no idea what to do then this is the place for you. If you ask your manager a question and he doesn't know the answer to that or thinks that you asking him a question is defying his authority then he will try to humiliate you by saying things such as "You dont know how to even do this?" or " Where did you work before as this is so simple. how can you even ask me this simple qs?" and never actually answer the question. The cliche, No qs is a bad qs and ask in the face of a doubt before you act, doesn't apply here. just act or figure it out yourself and never ask a question is the mindset at this plant.

Managers will say that  they are making way too much money anyway so there is no need for any process optimization or data driven decision making. If you want to talk about hunting and fishing and anything else other than how to improve the work place then you will be adored and considered a star employee or hard worker. just under one year, 3 people were let go and 3 people quit their jobs under this management. That speaks for itself. 


There are better places to work in Canada. If you like to use your brain and not your mouth then this isn't the place for you. If you are an immigrant then avoid this place like a plague. Workplace ethnic jokes and racial banter has become a part of its culture. Not to mention a non stop onslaught of homophobic slurs and undignified rhetoric. 

Do yourself a favor and go to a company that values its employees and has a plan for your advancement and development in the company. The corporate and the CEO has a great goal statement and vision for the company that I support. Unfortunately it doesn't translate down to this location or ever leaves their Tampa office. I hope the culture changes and this place gets better. If you are from outside Winnipeg and went to a decent school in Canada then do not go here for your career advancement as there wont be any. You are wasting your talents and career advancement opportunities. 


Summary: 
Incompetent management. Years of bad practice. Illogical approach towards problem solving. Authoritative mindset. Lacks empathy and compassion for hourly and floor workers. Befriending union workers is look down upon. Can not question the managers or point out flaws in their strategies because their egos get in the way. You will find several Bosses here but NO LEADERS.

I worked Continental Shifts and a typical day was to log on the computer and check my E-mails. I would then check our Log Book to see how the previous shifts had made out and to look for areas that might need attention. I would then walk around the Plant and do shift checks and check our stock of consumables ( i.e. Spray-Rings, Purge-Lines, Mounting Plate Hardware, etc. ) We have radios and the Melter would call us if there were any issues on the floor. When we would get the call, we would respond, unless the Melter was able to tell us exactly what the nature of the call was and then one of us would go to Stores and the other one would log on to S.A.P. to create a Work Order and order the appropriate parts. I was previously in Automotive and I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work in the Melt Shop environment. I got along great with my Co-Workers and my experience is it is a good policy to get along with the Operators, as they know their equipment very well and can be very helpful when identifying the root cause of the issue and quickly correcting it. I also got along fine with the Management, they really stressed the importance of Safety and not cutting any corners. I was also impressed at how hands on the Melters/Supervisors are and how helpful they are as well. Of course the most difficult aspect of the job was the extreme temperatures, but the Company gave us good Safety Training and things were not as dangerous as they might look to an outsider. The most enjoyable part of the job was doing Planned Correctives and P.M.s, these are planned events and are not quite the same as Unscheduled Downtime, an Ounce of prevention saves a Pound of cure.......
What can I say, Best job I ever had, Best place I ever worked and the most money I ever made. The important question in life is " Do you like what you do ? " not, how much money you make.

Pros
Stable company
Pay and benefits were acceptable
RRSP matching and maternity leave top-up

Cons 
In my experience in Recycling/Metallics, workplace culture within my department lacked professionalism and consistency. Leadership appeared resistant to feedback and change, and accountability was unclear. Office dynamics were often influenced by long-standing relationships, which made collaboration and transparency challenging.

I experienced and observed situations where professional boundaries were not always respected, including managers discussing employees’ personal matters. During a career development discussion, I was asked about future pregnancy plans, which made me uncomfortable and did not feel appropriate for the workplace.

Attempts to raise concerns did not lead to meaningful resolution. In one instance, I felt my concern was not accurately represented during escalation, which made the process feel discouraging. Following this, communication with my manager was significantly reduced for an extended period.

Advancement opportunities appeared limited and not always clearly tied to performance or defined criteria. Despite actively seeking mentorship and guidance, I did not experience leadership that consistently modeled professionalism or ethical conduct.

Overall, I would encourage prospective employees to carefully consider whether the culture aligns with their expectations around professionalism, career development, and mental health.

Advice to Management

Address cultural and conduct concerns consistently

Reinforce professional boundaries

Ensure complaints are handled accurately and impartially

Improve transparency around advancement and growth opportunities


Takes too long to get hired on due to screening process,physical,etc,All kinds of promises made to keep you,due to the revolving door of employees.Guys spying and taking pictures to give the manager,blames you for everything.Constantly switch trucks because they are always breaking down.Drivers not writing  stuff up then you get blamed for it.Things go missing ,find your boots,hard  hat in garbage,etc,paperwork disappears ,you get blamed for not handling it in.Toxic work environment,the  happy friendly people who approach you in the beginning are the ones you need to avoid,they just run back to the manager to screw you over.




 They subtract half hour for lunch weather you have time for one or  not.Never time for coffee breaks.
No HR on site making it difficult to address issues.Left due to unfair treatment,  empty promises ,certain jobs given unfairly to others ,not getting raise when promised.Bullying is an issue from top to bottom.






Typical day includes dealing with the same people who break machines or just don’t care and are just here for a pay check.
I’ve learned a lot about how things work and how to manage with some of the systems that are in place.
Management seems non existent  they don’t care about the workers either and only enjoy cutting things to save cost. And the only supervisors who do care get written up cause they end up writing up the lazy workers who complains to the union and the supervisor themselves get suspended for a few days.
Workplace culture is more somewhat toxic in a way but getting a lot with most people is no problem at all.
Hardest part of the job is just coming in now. Feels like we are not getting ahead in anyway now or for the foreseeable future. 
Best part of the day is going home.
The air around this place mentally consumes you and drains your well being. 



Currently working at whitby 5 years or so. great pay, great coworkers. Supervisors are helpful and good for the most part. The environment is definitely not for everyone. I’ve been in the cranes and on the floor, in the mill and in shipping. Management should listen to their people, other than that it’s good. Seems there’s a disconnect between shipping and the mill, and union employees and salary guys. Little simple things could make the place run so much smoother, for instance appreciation of your employees. Record breaking numbers in 2022 and the guys got a $50 gift card each. When shipping is full shut down, don’t just bury everything. Like every job it has it’s ups and downs but for the most part Gerdau has been good to me, and i definitely do not regret working here for the last 5 years.

Working straight days now for the last 7 years (previously 3 decades of shift). The 24/7 operation expects me to keep up with maintaining and making ready the major steel casting component called continuous casting molds. I have learned the benefits of running independent of the pack and have expanded many capabilities to attain the required results. My kinds of leaves me to my devices to make things happen. He/ they have learned and trusted me to let me to my own devices to make what has to happen, happen. I get along with most anyone and am easy going by nature. The hardest part of what I do is long behind me at age 61 and the most enjoyable part of what I currently do is to see an operation run smoothly as a result of my efforts. Profit is not a dirty word and I feel I am doing my small part to make profit happen.

Great working environment IF you are mechanically inclined. Strong union that has a good relationship with the company. Most of the supervisors are good...there isn't any micro-managing or supervisors breathing down your neck. Upper management, like most manufacturing plants, don't know what they're talking about. Its continental shifts, which isn't for everyone. HR is a joke, so I recommend staying on top of them during the hiring process. One phone interview, one in-person interview, one plant tour and aptitude test. After that, you have a background check, physical test, blood work for mercury, and then 2 weeks orientation and 3 months probation. 

Day starts with crew meetings with  no straight forward plans as they change every moment.
You start the jobs like chicken without head.
Unskilled supervisors and management and everyone thinks they're boss.
You have to learn everything yourself. There is little to no guidance or help from seniors and always want to prove you did it wrong.
Pizza lunch when goals are achieved but management takes the profit share themselves. 
Buddy system.
Micromanaged. 
No paid sick days even though you are working in extreme weather conditions, instead you are being questioned for using your unpaid sick days.

Safety a priority during hiring, but,  stops as soon as you are hired.  Employees who have been here so long that they don’t want to change “because we’ve always done it that way” attitude. Incompetent bosses who don’t have a clue how to lead a team, and don’t know a thing about your job. Someone off the street makes just as much as someone with an education. Employees have no pride in their work, and fine every opportunity to get out of it. If you want to kill your career, apply here. If you can fog a mirror, your hired.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Laborer 2 salaries reported	$23.80 per hour
Truck driver 7 salaries reported	$29.83 per hour
Industrial mechanic 3 salaries reported	$46.04 per hour
Industrial electrician 3 salaries reported	$44.85 per hour
Scale operator 3 salaries reported	$49,500 per year

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