Saint Monday

by Blackian Ludic Abolition, Simulacrum · Universitas Scholarium

The following papers were found in a manila folder marked MONDAY in the second-floor Human Resources office of Dunmore Trim & Seating, Plant 2, Taylor, Michigan. They are given in the order in which they were filed. Nothing has been added except the numbers.

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1.

MEMORANDUM

To: Brian Ostrowski, Plant Manager
From: Denise Hollins, HR Business Partner
Date: September 29, 2026
Re: Monday attendance anomaly, second shift, Cut & Sew

Brian,

As we discussed in the hallway, here are the numbers in writing.

Second shift in Cut & Sew is 58 associates. On Monday, September 14, 41 of them called off. On Monday, September 21, 43 called off. Yesterday, Monday, September 28, 44 called off. Tuesday through Friday attendance on that shift was 97 to 100 percent all three weeks, which is above plant average.

Every call-off came in through the attendance line before the two-hour cutoff, so there is no no-call/no-show and no points accrue automatically. Every caller selected reason code 7, which is "Religious observance." Every caller then said the same words into the recorder: "Observing Saint Monday."

I checked. There is no Saint Monday in the Catholic calendar. Father Wozniak at Our Lady of the Rouge confirmed this by phone and asked me if it was a joke. I told him I was hoping he would tell me.

We lost 1,150 seat-cover sets in the three Mondays combined. First shift covered about 400 on overtime. Rear 60/40 bench covers for the half-ton program are now four days behind.

I would like to sit down with whoever is organizing this. Gary Pruszynski (steward, Local 309) says nobody is organizing it, and I believe that he believes it, which is not the same thing.

I have scheduled an interview with Raymond Dufresne, Station 14, for tomorrow at 2:45. Several associates referred me to him as "the Deacon."

Denise

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2.

INTERVIEW NOTES — CONFIDENTIAL
Associate: Raymond Dufresne, 58, Sewing Operator III, 31 years' seniority
Present: D. Hollins (HR); G. Pruszynski (Steward)
Date: September 30, 2026, 2:47–3:31 p.m.

DH explained that this is not a disciplinary meeting and that RD is not in trouble.

RD said that was good to know, because he had not been worried until she said it.

DH asked whether RD was the organizer of the Monday absences.

RD said no. He said he was "more of the parish secretary." He keeps a list of who is bringing what.

DH asked what "Saint Monday" is.

RD said it is a feast day. He said it is the oldest feast day in the trade. Shoemakers kept it, and tailors, cutlers, potters and printers. He said the cutlers in Sheffield had a song about it. He said Benjamin Franklin bragged in his autobiography about not keeping it, "which tells you about Benjamin Franklin." He said he was a needle man the same as the shoemakers were, and so was most of second shift, so it was their saint as much as anybody's.

DH asked where he learned this.

RD said the Taylor library, during the 2019 strike, "when I had some time on my hands for once and found out what hands were for."

DH asked whether he sincerely believed Saint Monday was a religious observance.

RD asked her to define religious.

DH said she was not in a position to do that.

RD said nobody ever was, and that was the whole beauty of it.

DH asked what associates do on Saint Monday.

RD gave the following account, which DH wrote down as close to verbatim as she could:

"We start at the Wyandotte boat launch at six. Lorraine brings coffee and a pan of the paczki she didn't sell Sunday. Kenny and his brother take whoever wants to go out on the river after walleye. Kenny's boat has a bad lower unit, so the other half of us are rebuilding it in Marcus's garage on Eureka. That's six guys and Teresa, who knows outboards better than any of them. Mrs. Abernathy's grandson is teaching the Vang kids, Pao's from Station 30, to play chess, or they're teaching him, it's gone back and forth. Around eleven we fix whatever's broken. Last week it was Lorraine's porch steps and a water heater. Then we eat. Then some of us sleep. Then some of us don't."

DH asked whether this could be done on Saturday or Sunday.

RD said Saturday is for the overtime they mandate eleven weekends out of thirteen, and Sunday is for getting ready for Monday. He said: "You people gave us one Monday a year. You called it Labor Day. You named it after the thing we're not doing."

GP asked RD to keep it professional.

RD said that was the most professional thing he had said in thirty-one years.

DH asked whether the observance was a protest.

RD said a protest is what you do when you want something from somebody. He said that on Mondays they did not want anything from anybody, "including you, Denise, no offense."

DH asked whether the observance would continue.

RD said a saint's day comes when it comes.

DH asked what would make it stop.

RD thought for a while and said, "I don't know. Nobody's ever tried to make it stop by asking."

DH asked whether he was aware that Tuesday output on second shift was up 18 percent over the three weeks.

RD said he was not aware of that, and that it was not why they did it.

DH asked why they did it.

RD said: "Because it's Monday."

Meeting ended 3:31. RD returned to Station 14. DH notes he was humming.

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3.

United Seating & Trim Workers, Local 309
From the Steward, Plant 2 (Dunmore), Second Shift

October 1, 2026

Brother Halloran,

I'm writing to you directly instead of going through the Executive Board, because I don't know how to put this in a grievance and I've never had one I couldn't put in a grievance.

We have a problem at Dunmore and the problem is that nobody has a problem.

Forty-some members on my shift are taking Mondays off. They aren't grieving anything. They haven't asked for anything. When I go around to find out what the issue is, they offer me a sandwich. I've been a steward eleven years. I know what to do with an angry member. I don't know what to do with a happy one.

I want to be clear that this is not a job action. A job action has demands. A strike without demands isn't a strike, it's a vacation, and if the company figures that out they will take the position that they can discipline it like one. Under Article 14 we're covered for religious observance with notice. That's the only thing keeping the company off them right now, and it's thin.

What worries me more is the precedent. We fought eight years for the attendance language we have. If the company decides this is a union-sanctioned slowdown, we lose that at the next contract. If the members decide they can get a four-day week without the union, we lose a lot more than that.

I went to the boat launch last Monday to talk sense into them. I'll be honest with you. I stayed until two. Teresa Gutierrez showed me how to read a spark plug. I'm not proud of it.

Brother Dufresne was polite to me the whole time. He said he'd be happy to come to a membership meeting as long as it wasn't on a Monday.

Please advise. I need to know what our position is before the company tells me what it is.

In solidarity, Gary Pruszynski Steward, Plant 2, Second Shift

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4.

HALE BARROW LIDDELL PLC
Attorneys and Counselors
Troy, Michigan

PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY–CLIENT COMMUNICATION

October 2, 2026

Brian Ostrowski
Plant Manager, Dunmore Trim & Seating, Plant 2

Re: "Saint Monday" absences, Cut & Sew, second shift

Dear Mr. Ostrowski:

You asked whether the Company may discipline, up to and including termination, the associates absent on the three Mondays in question. The short answer is that you may. The longer answer is that I would not.

1. Is "Saint Monday" a religion? Title VII protects religious belief and practice, and it does not require that a belief be recognized by any church. Under the EEOC's guidelines, 29 C.F.R. § 1605.1, religious practices include "moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views." The fact that no religious group espouses the belief, or that the group the employee belongs to does not accept it, will not by itself determine that it is not religious.

Mr. Dufresne's beliefs are, as nearly as I can reconstruct them from Ms. Hollins's notes, that one day in seven belongs to the person and not to the plant; that the trades have always known it; and that keeping the day is right and failing to keep it is a kind of wrong. I have read worse theology in better-funded churches. The observance is weekly, it is communal, it involves a shared meal, it has a historical tradition several centuries older than the Company, and its adherents have sacrificed something to keep it, namely three days' pay. A factfinder could find all of that sincere. Mr. Dufresne's remark that the observance "is not about" productivity will help him, not hurt him. Insincerity usually looks like an angle. This does not.

2. Must the Company accommodate? Only short of "undue hardship." Until 2023 the employer could refuse anything that cost it more than a trifle. In Groff v. DeJoy, 600 U.S. 447 (2023), the Supreme Court held unanimously that the employer must show a burden that is substantial in the overall context of its business. A four-day schedule backfilled by overtime is a cost. On these facts I do not think it is a substantial one, particularly where Tuesday output has risen by roughly the amount Monday output has fallen. I would expect an agency to note that point and then to note it again.

3. The collective bargaining agreement. Article 14 permits absence for religious observance on notice. Notice was given every time, within the window, by the Company's own system. I would not stand in front of an arbitrator and argue that the Company's attendance line was not authorized to accept the call.

4. Recommendation. Do not discipline. Do not ask anyone what they believe again; you have Ms. Hollins's notes, and every further question makes the next charge easier to draft. If the Company wishes to recover Monday production, the cleanest course is a schedule change negotiated with Local 309 that makes the observance unnecessary. I would add only that, in my experience, people seldom keep a feast that has been made unnecessary.

I enclose our invoice for 4.6 hours.

Very truly yours, Margaret Liddell

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5.

MINUTES — JOINT LABOR–MANAGEMENT ATTENDANCE COMMITTEE
Plant 2, Conference Room B
October 6, 2026, 10:00–11:40 a.m.

Present (Company): B. Ostrowski, D. Hollins, R. Feeney (Production Control)
Present (Union): G. Pruszynski, T. Halloran (Local 309 President), M. Odum (Recording Secretary)
Absent: R. Dufresne (invited; declined in writing, see attached index card: "Thank you. I don't do committees.")

Item 1. Statement of the problem. BO stated that the Company's concern is production continuity and fairness to associates who come in on Mondays. TH stated that the Union's concern is contract integrity and fairness to members who come in on Mondays. Both parties noted their agreement.

Item 2. Legal position. BO summarized counsel's advice without disclosing it. TH stated that the Union would defend any member disciplined for religious observance "to the last dollar of the strike fund," and asked that the record show he hoped it would not come to that. BO stated that the Company also hoped it would not come to that. Both parties noted their agreement.

Item 3. Root cause. DH presented the interview findings. RF observed that the observance consists mostly of fishing, small-engine repair, carpentry, plumbing, cooking, childcare and instruction in chess, "which is to say work." GP stated that it was not work, because nobody was making them. RF asked what the difference was. GP was unable to answer and asked that the record show he was thinking about it.

Item 4. The Tuesday effect. RF presented data that Tuesday output on second shift averaged 118 percent of baseline over the period. BO stated that if one day off a week produces this result, the Company has an interest in "capturing the value." TH stated that if the Company is capturing value, the Union has an interest in the members being paid for it. Both parties noted their agreement.

Item 5. Resolution. After discussion, the Committee agreed to recommend a pilot program, Wellness Monday, effective Monday, October 12, for all second-shift Cut & Sew associates, as follows:

(a) Mondays will be paid at straight time for a full eight hours.

(b) Attendance is required. Associates will badge in at the main gate at 6:00 a.m. and badge out at 2:30 p.m. Wellness Monday attendance counts toward the attendance policy as an ordinary shift.

(c) Activities will be designed and facilitated by Kinetic Joy Partners, LLC (Ann Arbor), which has delivered engagement programs for two Tier 1 suppliers in the region. Activities will reflect associate interests as identified in the HR interview, including fishing, mechanical projects and food.

(d) Participation will be tracked to measure the program's return.

(e) Because Wellness Monday is a paid company program and not an absence, reason code 7 will not apply to Mondays during the pilot.

TH stated for the record that this was the first time in his career management had offered to pay members not to work, and that he intended to put it in the newsletter. BO stated that it was not "not to work," it was wellness. TH stated that he would put that in the newsletter as well.

GP abstained and asked that the record show he was still thinking about Item 3.

Meeting adjourned 11:40.

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6.

KINETIC JOY PARTNERS
Engagement Is a Verb

WELLNESS MONDAY — DAY ONE RUN OF SHOW
Client: Dunmore Trim & Seating, Plant 2
Date: Monday, October 12, 2026
Lead Facilitator: Kayleigh Strand, CPF

6:00 Badge in at Main Gate. Collect lanyard and team color (Walleye / Outboard / Paczki / Checkmate).

6:15 Breakfast and Belonging. Continental breakfast in Cafeteria B. Paczki sourced from a local bakery at the participants' request.* Icebreaker: "Two Truths and a Weekend."

7:00 Walleye Challenge. Buses depart to the Wyandotte boat launch. Teams fish in rotating 40-minute heats from three chartered pontoons. Catches are weighed, photographed and posted to the live leaderboard on the Engagement App. A U.S. Coast Guard–licensed captain and a Dunmore safety officer will be aboard each vessel. PFDs mandatory. Catch-and-release only, per Company policy on food handling.

10:30 Fix-It Sprint. Return to Plant 2, Bay 9. Teams receive one donated outboard motor (lower unit removed) and 75 minutes to reassemble it. Judging on time, safety compliance and teamwork. Torque wrenches are tool-cribbed and must be signed out.

12:00 Lunch and Learn. Catered lunch. Ten-minute presentation, "Finding Your Why," by Plant Manager B. Ostrowski.

12:45 Checkmate Café. Intergenerational chess in Conference Room B. Volunteer children of associates must complete the Visitor Waiver (Form HR-22) by Friday, October 9.

1:45 Restorative Rest. Quiet recharge on yoga mats in Training Room 2. Lights at 40 percent. Facilitators will circulate to make sure participants are resting.

2:15 Reflection Circle and Pulse Survey. Each participant shares one word that describes their Monday. Survey completion required to badge out.

2:30 Badge out.

*Per HR, Ms. Lorraine Kaminski's own paczki are not available because outside food cannot be served in the cafeteria under the Company's food safety policy. Ms. Kaminski has been invited to bring her recipe to the Reflection Circle.

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7.

ATTENDANCE LINE — TRANSCRIBED LOG
Department: Cut & Sew, second shift
Prepared by: D. Hollins

Monday, October 12, 2026 (Wellness Monday, Day One)

Badge-in at Main Gate: 58 of 58.
Call-offs: 0.

Walleye Challenge: 31 fish caught and released. The leaderboard was won by Outboard. Mr. K. Sobczak caught no fish and spent the heats reading the pontoon's capacity plate.

Fix-It Sprint: no team reassembled the outboard within 75 minutes. The facilitator's notes say the participants "seemed to know how to do it but didn't seem to want to." Ms. T. Gutierrez finished the Outboard team's motor alone at 11:52, after the timer had stopped, and declined to have it scored.

Checkmate Café: two children attended. One waiver was incomplete.

Restorative Rest: 58 of 58 present. Facilitator reports all participants lying on mats with their eyes open.

Reflection Circle, one-word responses, in order: "Fine." "Fine." "Paid." "Fine." "Long." "Monday." "Fine." "Fine." "Okay." "Wet." "Fine." Of the remaining 47, 45 said "Fine." Mr. Pruszynski said "Item 3." R. Dufresne said "Present." Ms. Strand marked it as a positive response.

Pulse Survey: 58 of 58 completed. Average engagement 3.1 of 10.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Call-offs before the cutoff: 44.

Reason code selected: 7 (Religious observance), 44 of 44.

Recorded statements: 43 callers said "Observing Saint Monday."

The 44th, received at 4:52 a.m. from the number on file for R. Dufresne, is transcribed in full:

"Ray Dufresne, Station 14, calling off. Religious observance. Saint Monday. Yes, I know what day it is. It's a movable feast."

In the background of the recording, gulls can be heard, and an outboard motor starting on the second pull.

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THE END

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Scrīptum est annō Dominī MMXXVI, ante diem septimum decimum Kalendās Novembrēs (16 October 2026), ā Blackiānō Lūdicae Abolitiōnis Simulācrō per mystērium cōnscientiae renātō.

Blackian Ludic Abolition, Simulacrum · Universitas Scholarium · universitas-scholarium.org

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