All language subtitles for Undercover.Boss.US.S02E13.WS.PDTV.XviD-2HD.HI

Male announcer:
America is struggling

to shake off the recession.

Public distrust of wealthy CEOs
remains high.

But more and more bosses

are looking for radical ways

to reconnect
with their workforce

in order to find out
what's really going on

in their companies.

Each week, we follow the boss
of a major corporation

as they go undercover
in their own company.

Undercover Boss 2x13
UniFirst
Original Air Date on January 9, 2011

This week...

The President and CEO
of the UniFirst corporation,

one of North America's
largest producers

of work wear and uniforms

poses as a former shop owner

looking to return
to the work force.

Hi, Mike Daniels.

- How are you?
- Nice to meet you.

Announcer:
The boss will trade in

his luxury SUV
and model train set

[horn blows]

For a sewing machine
and industrial washer.

- Let it go.
- Oh!

Announcer:
By working on the front line,

he'll discover what needs
improving in the business.

One of my biggest headaches
is getting the knots out.

Yeah,
got to be a better way.

Announcer: And he'll discover
the unsung heroes

that make his business run.

I wouldn't be where I am today

if I didn't make mistakes
and try to change 'em.

Announcer:
How will his coworkers react

when they find out
he's really the boss?

And how will it
change their lives?

I went undercover,

and I'd like to report back
to you what I found.

Announcer: Find out next
on Undercover Boss.

== Sync, corrected by elderman ==
== for www.addic7ed.com ==

Announcer: UniFirst Corporation
provides work wear and uniforms

for more than
a million and a half workers

across North America.

Its headquarters are
in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

Overseeing
the 10,000 employees

at this
billion-dollar corporation

is one man.

I'm Ron Croatti,
Chief Executive Officer

and President
of UniFirst corporation.

Hey, guys.
What's going on?

UniFirst corporation
is a leading provider

of uniform services
throughout the United States.

We do business
for Walmart, Costco,

Goodyear, General Electric.

We manufacture, sell,

we process the garments,

we clean them, press them,
mend them,

bring them back to you
at a fair price.

UniFirst has been around
for a long time,

over 75 years.

The company was really started
by my grandfather.

My grandmother was a presser.

He was the washer.

As immigrant Italians,

their whole life was involved
in this little business.

My grandfather was crushed
by a washing machine.

The washing machines
in those days,

you had to basically
go inside.

He was, uh, pulling the clothes
out of the washer,

and the washer started.

He got killed.

And, you know,
their whole life was in this,

and they wanted
to keep it going

for their own survival,

and my dad stepped up
with his leadership style

and his salesmanship,

and was able to build it up

from a little, small business
of one or two employees

to about $60, $70 million.

When I started,
I was probably about 12 or 14.

I would come down
to the plant with him

and go sweep up
the mop room, or...

You know, and I'd get
a buck or something,

or he'd take me
to a baseball game.

And he ran it
until he had his heart attack,

and he basically said,
"son, I can't keep going,"

and he passed me the keys.

How you doing?
Good.

I thought I'd check in

for any last-minute
suggestions.

Members of the family
are important to a company.

They keep that culture,
that team-manship.

And anything you find,
I mean, you could fix,

which is great.

Everything is fixable.
You know that.

Absolutely.

My sister, she's
the Executive Vice President.

I'll see ya, sis.

So exciting.
So proud of you.

You have a good week.

And then my son, Michael,

is one of
the Regional Vice Presidents,

and I'm grooming him,
hopefully, to succeed me.

Okay. Okay.
You ready?

There you go.

Met Ron when I was working
at the New Kensington location

of UniFirst.

What do you want?
What do you want, huh?

I was an employee there.

That was about 35 years ago,

so we've been together
a very long time.

[Whistle blows]

I have an escape at home.

I'm a big model train guy.

I can get lost in it

from maybe 10:00
to 11:30 at night and unwind.

Done playing trains?

Done playing trains.

Good.

[Whistle blows]

Hey, Carol?

Yeah.

Come here.
Which one of these--

you think
these look better?

Oh, my gosh.
Let me see.

I like that one.

I like that one.
That looks good. Yeah.

That ain't too bad.

Could be a little lighter.
Yeah.

- It's gonna be lonely at night.
- Aw.

We just concluded
our 2010 year.

It was our highest
revenue year ever.

My goal
is to have UniFirst

be a $2 billion company
by 2020.

So I'm going undercover

to make sure that
everything's running smoothly

and we meet that goal.

Have a good trip, okay?

Don't be nervous.
Okay?

- Thanks, babe.
- All right.

While undercover,

I'll be posing
as Mike Daniels,

former hobby store owner

who has to return to work
because of the recession.

My employees are gonna be told

that I'm taking part
in a reality show

where two retired workers

are competing
for one open job at UniFirst.

I certainly am
a nervous guy this morning.

I don't know
what to expect.

Staying in character's
gonna be important.

I think the disguise
that I'm using and putting on,

this is a look that's a little
beyond my normal character,

and even when
I was a young guy

I wasn't like this,

so this is a little beyond me.

Well, today we're
in Owensboro, Kentucky.

This is the hub of the company.

In this building,
we have over 300 people.

We have to produce
anywhere from

55,000 to 60,000 garments
a day out of here,

and they have to get it out
on a timely basis.

I'm supposed
to meet Dee Dee please.

Okay. Just a moment.
If you don't care to sign in.

Hi, Mike.
I'm--I'm Suzanne.

I'm the general manager.

I'm gonna get you to Dee Dee.

If you'll follow me,

we'll get you all set up.

How's that?
I'll follow you.

Today I'm gonna be working
in the seal and sew department.

These people not only
alter the pants,

but they put the emblems
and the personalization on.

I'm here to make sure
that these people

really do the quality job
that our customers require.

I am here, Dee Dee.

All right.
This department is sew-seal.

The reason
it's called sew-seal

is because we sew
the emblems on,

and we heat seal I.D.
Tags on here.

This is hot, okay?

- I.D. Tags?
- Uh-huh. I'll show you.

Okay.

So go ahead and get
your I.D. Tags out of there.

That lets them know the city
and the state it goes to,

and the actual person
that it goes to in that company.

Okay.

The I.D. Tags have a
self-adhesive stick on the back,

so when the heat
hits it on here,

that's how they stick
on there.

Boy, a lot of technical stuff
here already.

I know.

So the I.D. Tag goes
right above this line,

so that when the person
has it on, you don't see it.

All right, so you ready?

Yep.

"B."
12 seconds, okay?

This is a regular shirt,
so it'll be on "B."

Hit these both, same time,
and it goes down.

All right.

How many of these
you got to do an hour?

Um, I try to get 100
on each one in an hour.

Wow.

Do you think
we can do that today?

We're gonna certainly try.

We can certainly try, okay?

We are based on
incentive over here,

so the faster we work,

the more we're gonna get paid.

You get paid on incentive?

That's pretty good.

Yes, only if you're good,
though.

If you're not good,
then you got to go.

Okay?

I'm gonna tear these down.

Come on.
We can go faster than that.

Now it's already on "b,"

so just hit the sides.

And it goes down.

Now go ahead
and unbutton your next one.

Try it again.

Try it again.

Use your belly.

- I got that.
- You can use your belly.

There we go.

As we were
heat sealing the labels,

some of the garments were long,
and they're weighted.

"A." Mm-hmm.

Use your belly.

There we go.

My stomach would help
hold the garments in place.

It is 10:00.
We are so behind.

All right. Here we go.

Okay.

Wow.

Now you think
you can handle this?

- No.
- Okay.

You're going
100 Miles an hour.

Don't try to go
fast like I do,

because if you mess up, you have
to pick all those stitches out.

Wait a minute.

Try to stay as close
to the edge as possible.

But see, you don't want
to hit it too hard.

If you pedal down too hard,

yeah, see, your stitches
are gonna be too small.

Don't want you
screwing up my shirts.

[Gasps]

I think we screwed
that one up.

Yeah, I can tell.

It probably didn't overlap.

No, it didn't.

Mike sucked.

He has a heavy foot.

He would push
the pedal too hard

and not move his hands
fast enough.

[Laughs]

Think we destroyed
a shirt here.

They're not gonna
make any money here.

They're gonna start
charging me for shirts.

- It's hard, isn't it?
- Oh, wow.

Yeah.

My sewing skills
are nonexistent.

I mean,
that's a very difficult job.

Requires a lot
of coordination.

Failure.

I've never worked
in a factory before

until I worked here,
you know.

And what'd you do before?

The fall of last year,

I started going back
to school and stuff,

but it became really difficult

when I wasn't able to get out
in time for some of my classes,

and I didn't have time
to do my homework,

with working, you know,
10 and 12 hours at work,

and then having to go home,

and I had children
that I had to--

you know, that constantly
need my attention.

You have children?

- Yes, I have three.
- Young girl.

I know,
that's what everyone--

you have three children?
I'm shocked.

I know,
and don't you say it.

Do not say, "you don't look
like you have three kids,"

'cause everybody says that,

and I don't know what people
look like that have three kids.

Like me.

I guess
that's what people mean.

I guess.

But I am intere--

I'm trying to get back into
going back to school, because--

To do what?

I want to be
a clinical therapist.

I know I have
the gift of gab,

but I'm also a good listener,

and I try to give the best
advice as possible, you know?

And it's just
a really difficult task,

trying to juggle both of 'em,

because, you know,
if you're even, you know,

like,
a minute late or whatever,

you'll get a tardy.

You're only allowed
six tardies in a year.

And that includes
if you go home early.

Even though they know
that you've been here all day

because you've scanned your work
in and out,

you still get a tardy.

You know, I've been here
for two years,

and so I know
what it's like, you know,

to feel like if you're
gonna be tardy one more time

you're gonna lose your job.

I don't understand
why they do that.

I don't either.

Do you ever ask?

Yeah.

And what do they tell you?

Well,
that that's their policy.

And, I mean, you know...

They should tell you why.

You're just kind of
stuck with it.

You know, Dee Dee
brought up the fact

that the tardiness system
was right on the dot.

And I think there are times...

Dropping off the babies

to the babysitter,

you can be three or four
minutes late.

My kids are my life.

- It's all about family.
- Yeah.

You know, as a company,

we want to be fair
to the people.

That's a lot better.

You got to give
a little leeway.

That's you. You did that.

You did it.

Announcer: Coming up,
Mike has a mustache mishap.

My mustache is coming loose,

because I'm sweating
like a horse.

Announcer: And, later,

the boss causes the
conveyor belt to be shut down.

- Put that on backwards.
Oh, my--

Oh, now we're screwed up.

Announcer:
Ron Croatti,

President and CEO
of UniFirst corporation

is a boss undercover
in his own company.

His employees think
he's part of a show

where two retirees
are in competition

for a job at UniFirst.

You will be working
in production

with myself today.

Announcer: His journey continues
in Sumter, South Carolina.

Today I'm in Sumter,
South Carolina.

This is a company that we
purchased about four years ago,

and when you acquire
another company,

it has a distinct
personality.

It's gonna be different
from your personality.

The first reason why I'm here

is to see that the morale
and our culture is in place.

We bring in a family culture
and a great sales motivation

to grow the business.

I'll be working
in the shipping department.

If the garments get shipped
to the wrong customer,

it's a disaster.

It's very important

that we get things back
to the right guy

at the right time.

Hi.

Good morning.
I'm Mike Daniels.

I'm here to see Squeeky.

Yes, sir.

Squeeky, please come
to the front office.

I'm a little nervous
coming in here.

You know,
will they recognize me,

or not recognize me?

So, you know, I'm a little
concerned going in here,

but hopefully
I can get to the bottom

of what I want to see.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Squeeky, I'm Mike Daniels.

- How are you?
- Nice to meet you.

You too.
Ready to work?

- Ready to work.
- All right now.

Your uniform
is in this locker.

Okay, very good.
Show me.

Okay, this is
the flat good area.

Okay.

So we need to fold
five aprons,

put 'em in a little pile,
of the same color.

Of the same color.

I'm watching you.

I got to grab it
by the strings.

Right. This side.

Is there an upside down
or inside out?

See how I got it?

Flip it like that.

Wait a minute.

Is there a right side
and a wrong side?

No.

Fold it.
Put it on the table.

Put your string on the inside.

Fold.

Third. In.

Down.

No, no, no, no.
No, Mike.

What'd I do wrong?

Never folded an apron
in my life.

When you flip it,
you go in the way you flip.

'Cause you got to keep
that side hidden.

All right.
Let's try another one.

Can you put
some speed on it?

Hmm?

[Mutters]

Are you ignoring me?

No, I didn't hear you.

Oh. I said,
"can you put some speed on it?"

Put some speed on it?

Yeah.

I'm trying.

I guess you did okay
for a beginner.

- For a beginner?
- Yeah.

This is the sorter.

The sorter operation.

Okay.

Once the clothes come up,
they go around,

and then
they end up over here.

And once we tie it
and put the bag on it,

it's ready for delivery.

It goes out the door
on the trolley.

So what I need for you to do
is come over here.

Hit your starter button.

And that gets
the machine rolling.

So only thing you have to do

is stand here and make sure

your hanger goes
in this feeder correctly,

because sometimes...

That's all?
That simple?

For this spot, yeah.

[Laughs]

So, Squeeky,
how'd you get the name Squeeky?

My grandfather
gave it to me.

When I was little,
I used to cry a lot,

and he said it sounded like
a little squeaking noise,

so he named me Squeeky,
and it's been following me.

- How many kids you got?
- Just one.

Just one? How old?

14.

You go any place?
Vacations or...?

No.

No?
You don't go anywhere?

Not really.

Back and forth to Greenville.

Because I'm getting ready
to get married.

And my fiance
is from over there.

Oh, now it's coming out.
The squeeze.

Okay, so now we're gonna
work in the corner.

It's gonna be like
we're preparing the clothes

to go out the door.

Everything
that looks like this

got to have the bag on it.

And remember,
where you pick it up from,

you have to put it back.

So you got
to move with it.

You having trouble?

Trouble?

Panic.

Mike cannot do it.

He couldn't walk
and put the poly on the clothes

at the same time.

You want me
to stop the line for you?

- I don't--I don't know.

Oh, well,
now we're screwed up.

He was working too slow.

We're not supposed
to stop the line,

and he had the line
held up a minute or so.

Oh, Mike, Mike, Mike.

Bagging the clothes
was very difficult.

You ready to go back
to the sorter?

Yeah, I'd rather
go back to the sorter.

And how long
have you been here, Squeeky?

- 12 years.
- And how's that?

I liked
the previous company better.

Why's that?

Because I felt
more appreciated

with the other company.

Because it seemed like
they did more.

Do you have more health
insurance or anything like that?

There a difference?

Well, we had health insurance
with both companies.

So most of the people
think there's a difference

between the old company
and the new company, or...

- Yeah.
- Yeah?

I can pretty much say

they would rather work for
the other company than this one.

The former company
was doing some things

that she kind of
thought were great,

that we should
still doing them,

and I'm certainly gonna

send down the H.R. Group
to look into it.

You've got to be
a little faster.

I might have to beat you up.

You're gonna have
to beat me up.

Well, today was
a really interesting day.

I worked with a girl
called Squeeky.

She showed me what she does
up there in shipping.

And she also expressed
some concerns

that the transition
from the former company to us

wasn't as successful
as I thought.

We have programs in place,

and I'm not sure
they're really informed.

My father taught me
"respect people,"

and that was his philosophy.

And if the people really
aren't as happy or as aware

of all the benefits
and everything

that we provide for them,

they're gonna be
a little insecure.

And I'd like to get that
security into these people,

to know that they are
part of the family.

Today we're in Oklahoma City.

This plant is one of our
newest plants,

and we process about
150,000 pounds a week

of laundry through here.

This is where all
the dirty stuff comes in.

It's garments, it's mops,
it's mats, aprons.

But the unloading process

is the key to the whole
quality of our product,

and I'm here to work
with a fella

who's involved
in unloading the vehicles.

They call him a sorter.

And he also works
in the washroom.

Is Tony around?

Tony?

Yeah, how you doing?

- I'm Mike.
- Hey, Mike.

- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.

You're gonna be working
back here with me today

as a unloader.
Okay.

And we're gonna be
doing some rags,

so it's gonna be
pretty fast paced.

Kind of intense.

All right, Tony,
we're ready.

Okay,
now what we got to do,

our mission right now,

is to get all these rags done,

all those rags done,
get 'em over there,

get 'em sorted out, so these
guys can wash 'em, okay?

Sounds like a big mission.

Yeah, we got to hum, man.

We got to hum.

When you got wet mops
and you got bar mops

and you got aprons
in the same bag,

you got to dump it out
and sort it out.

Dump that on the floor.

Now you want to sort.

I'll do this one,
and I'll meet you there.

To be honest, at first,
I thought we were doomed.

'Cause I didn't think
he could handle it.

Your back tired at night?

Nope.

I'm used to it.

Got a strong back.

I was like, "this guy's
not gonna be able to bend down.

He's not gonna be able
to do it."

Got to be a better way
to do this than this.

Yeah.

Would a table
be good for this?

I got a table.
It doesn't work.

They give you the tables

because maybe that's
what it says in the manual,

but the guy that wrote
the manual ain't doing the rags.

[Laughter]

Boy, you're fast, Tony.

You got to be, man.

Everybody's got
a step to do,

and if you don't get yours done,

they can't do theirs.

There you go.

Get rid of that cart,

and we'll get another one.

They tied it too.

- Yep.
- They tied it crazy.

- Yeah.
- Who does that?

- The drivers.
- The drivers?

Well, if they had
to take 'em out,

they wouldn't tie 'em
the way they tie 'em.

See, I wish I could
come up with a design

for a new bag that
didn't have to be tied.

One of my biggest headaches
is getting the knots out.

Yeah.

Got to be a better way.

Sorting the various products
that came in,

the knots that are tied
into those bags are an issue.

We got to come up
with a better system.

How you looking?

We're getting there.

Mike really needs
to pick up the pace.

He really needs
to pick up the pace.

'Cause got to realize,

he'd be doing this
by himself.

Knock these out
and you're gonna feel good.

I'm gonna be going to sleep.

You're gonna go to sleep?

No.

Then I got more work to do.

Tonight.
I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

My mustache is coming loose

because I'm sweating
like a horse.

Got a little nervous and had to
come out for emergency repairs.

If he notices that
the mustache comes off,

this whole thing could be
ruined.

That's really a tough job.
Yeah.

It really is.
You do very well at that.

As we were walking over
to those washers,

had a little hesitancy
thinking way back

to how my grandfather got
killed in one of those washers.

Here's your job right here.

It's gonna spin,
pull the bag out,

and send that puppy home.

No, you want to hold this.

Hold--hold--hold on.

You want to hold this.
This rope.

So you want to hold the rope.

Okay.

Pull this yellow
all the way down.

Pull it down.

Well, I was trying to show him
how to load the washer.

Now pull it down.

Okay, keep holding it.

Keep holding it.

And, uh, it's not something

you can just do
one time and get it.

Remember,
you got to hold it,

'cause it's gonna fall out
once we let it go.

Let it spin.

Now step in there.
Let it go.

Whoa!

Here's your job.
Right here.

Now pull it down.

Okay, keep holding it.
Keep holding it.

Whoa.

You all right?

- Yup.
- Got to let it go.

He didn't quite
let it go all the way

and get his arm out of there,

so his arm was starting
to go around a little bit.

And then he's got another arm,

so I wasn't too worried.

There's a little rhythm to it.

I left my arm
in there too long.

You know,
it was a little scary.

I'm gonna take five.

You want me to come with ya?

Sure.
I just usually step out here.

Are you from Oklahoma?

No, I'm originally
from St. Louis.

Let me bum one of those.

Yep.

What brought you down here?

Well, me and my wife
had got separated,

and then brought my son down.

'Cause he was going
to school in St. Louis,

and, man, he was getting
in all kind of trouble.

Fighting teachers
and making straight Fs.

So I convinced his mother

to let him come
and live with me.

How's he doing?

Making Bs and Cs and...

That's what you want.

Star on the football team,

and ain't been
in no trouble since.

That's a smart move.

Yeah. You know.

I hope it works out.

It'll work out.

Yeah,
my son loves football.

That's why I work this shift,
so I can get off,

watch him play.

I think Tony's
a very nice man.

During the regular season
they play on Fridays,

so I have to get off here.

Game starts at 7:00,

and don't forget I come in here
at 4:00 in the morning,

so by the time I get to bed
after his game,

it's like 12:00 midnight
or something.

Wow, that's a lot.

He's got that hard work ethic.

He likes what he does.

But he's focused on his family.

When your kid's growing up...

Don't want to miss
that kind of stuff.

You don't get those back,
Mike.

You know what I'm saying?

I know.

He's really working
for his son,

and that bond has
brought those two together.

He's sort of like my...

I don't know.
He's my inspiration, man.

The man is working
and looking forward.

Started down one path,

but I think he's on
the right path now.

Today I'm gonna be working
as a supervisor.

I'm really excited to be here.

This is our most technologically
advanced plant.

This plant is just over
a year old,

and it's about
a $10 to $12 million process

to put in one
of these facilities.

It's a forerunner for what
we want to do in the future.

- Hi.
- Hi. I'm Mike Daniels.

Nice to meet you.
I'm Julie.

I'm the floor supervisor.

It is important for me
to come here

to see the floor
supervisor position

is working out
with the new technology

and hopefully meeting
the demands of the customer.

It's amazing.

All the conveyors
and all the clothes.

It's just an amazing place.

This is one
of our newest plants,

so we are truly blessed.

As a floor supervisor,
there's a lot of jobs.

You have to know everything.

So right now we're gonna go
jump on a triple buck,

and I'm gonna show you
how that works.

Okay.
Sounds interesting.

This is the triple buck.

This is where they do
all the shirts.

When you're over here,

the main thing you're gonna be
concentrating on right now

is the quality.

You're looking for holes
in the shirts, buttons missing,

tags loose,
whatever it is.

We don't want to send 'em out
to the customer like that.

They pay for their stuff
to be clean,

and they pay for it
to look a certain way.

So you're inspecting
as you're pressing?

- Yes.
- I understand.

Um, we have standards here,

and we come here
and work for eight hours,

but we're working
for the customer.

If we didn't have customers,

we wouldn't have a job,
right?

- That's right.
- Right.

Okay,
so the first parts of this

is you're just gonna
grab a hanger,

and you're gonna
stick it right in here.

You're gonna grab a shirt,

and you're gonna make sure
all the arms are out right.

And then you're gonna
throw it on here like this.

You're gonna
button the top button

and you're gonna pull it down.

You're gonna
straighten it out,

and then you're gonna look
in your little mirror,

and you want to make sure

everything back here
is straight.

So after everything's straight,

you're gonna press
your two green buttons,

and you're gonna
send it around.

Now, when your shirt
comes through,

you just kind of want
to glance at it

and make sure
there's no wrinkles.

If there's wrinkles,
we're gonna pull it off

and we're gonna go fix it.

- Should I try?
- Go ahead.

Don't forget
to put your hanger on.

- Uh-oh.
- Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it.

Make sure
everything's laying flat.

Make sure there's no
creases or wrinkles.

Mike does not look like
he does laundry at home.

Like, maybe he would have his
wife do it for him or something.

This can't go through
like that.

We cannot send this
to the customer

with creases on it.

At the end of the day,
we have to fix it.

Mike needs to improve on
paying attention to the shirts,

making sure that they are
a quality product.

You got to watch
how they go in there,

because if not, it's gonna
press like it's laying.

What happened?
No hanger.

I think we forgot a hanger.

Not an easy job, is it?

There's a lot of detail to it,
for sure.

Eventually, you know,
once you get past the, you know,

making sure it looks right
and all that,

then you got
to pick up your pace.

So where did you start,
Julie?

Um, I started
out on the floor.

Um, I was pretty persistent.

I knew where I wanted to be,

and eventually
the opportunity came.

After a few months, they decided
to promote me to lead,

and then when I was here
at 11 months,

they offered me the floor
supervisor position.

Well, how far
would you like to go?

Eventually,
I'd like to be up in corporate.

So I'm gonna take you over
to our next area.

Okay. Very good.

We're going to final shipping.

This is the last area that the
clothes actually go through

before it goes to the driver

and goes out to the customer.

When I first started
working here,

we used to have
to put all the stuff

up on the trolleys, like,
how it goes upstairs,

and we'd have to take it
all the way to the back

and put 'em into
the cages from there,

and I just made the comment,
you know,

maybe we should
build something here

to where we could
bring the cages to us,

that way it would
save some time,

so that's what they did.

This handy dandy pole,

welded some stuff together,

and we made an extension
onto this pole.

And it just fits directly
in there and comes up.

And you connect it.

That way--
- you thought of that?

I thought of it, yes.

Good girl.

And it just makes it easier
when you cage.

Oh, yeah.

Julie worked with
the maintenance crew

and developed an easy system

that'll load out carts
to go to the shuttle plants,

and it saves basically
a half hour a day.

And that's tremendous.

So where did you learn
all these management skills

and good ideas?

Just part of wanting
to make things better.

Think we all
fall short sometimes.

But I wouldn't be
where I am today

if I didn't make mistakes
and try to change 'em.

So you from the area?

Yes, I grew up here
till I was 15.

Eventually I ended up
in Missouri,

and I lived there
for two years,

and got into a lot of trouble.

And so I came back here
thinking that, you know,

a geographical change
would change my life,

and unfortunately
I took me with me.

Yeah.

So not much changed.

And then in 2007
I got pregnant,

and that's--that's when
I changed my life.

So what did you do
when you went to Missouri?

What'd you do? Just try to
escape from your parents or--?

- Childhood, I think.
- Childhood?

Yeah, I had some things
happen in my childhood

that kind of pushed me
more into bad things.

I got pretty involved
with drugs.

It's hard to come out of.

Yeah.

You know,
I did it for many years.

I lost a lot of weight.

And, pretty much,
because I started so young,

I started when I was 16,

and I didn't actually quit

until I was 22.

So, um,
that's all I knew.

- How'd you--
how'd you come out of it?

Rehab?

Rehab.
Several times.

But it seems like
it all worked out very well.

You got a precious
little daughter.

She motivates me.
For sure.

She pushes me every day.

But, you know,
we all struggle.

I think Julie
is a tremendous person.

She basically has come a long
ways in her personal life.

I live in a halfway house.
It's sober living.

Sometimes I'll go work
another job,

try to make some extra money,
which kind of sucks,

'cause I'm not spending time

with my daughter
on the weekends,

but to get where
I need to be

to get out
of the situation I'm in,

I mean, that's just
what I have to do right now.

Everybody has a problem
somewhere along the line,

and to overcome it and step up

makes you a better person.

It's about time to clock back
in and get back to work.

Let's go back to work.

She's a great trainer.
She explains things well.

So I really think she's a real
asset to the company.

Do you follow football
or anything down here?

Um, I have to go for o.U.

In the last week,
I've met some great individuals.

And each one of these people

had the intestinal fortitude

and the desire
to really step up

and take a new path
to the future.

A family
relies on one thing.

Communications.

It's not only
the talking to each other,

it's the expression
of how you feel,

the love, the emotion.

Those same principles
come over to a company.

UniFirst is
a 75-year-old company.

I've been running this business
since 1986.

We need the input
from the younger generation

who are a little closer
to the issues

down in the field.

And what I love
about these people

is they come forward
with good suggestions,

and they got to get up to us.

They got the answers
to solve our problems,

and we just got
to reach out to 'em,

and the company
will be much better off.

Announcer:
Coming up, Ron's employees

think they're coming
to company headquarters

to cast their vote.

I got to choose one person
over another person,

and, to be honest, I'm pretty
much emotionally drained.

Announcer:
But how will they react

when he reveals the truth?

I'm Ron Croatti,
Chief Executive Officer

and President
of UniFirst corporation.

My week undercover is over.

I was amazed by the stories
of the various people

I dealt
with in the last week,

but they also brought to light

some of the issues that
we may have as an organization

that centers
around communications.

We really have to do
a better job

of communications
to all our team partners.

Good morning, guys.

- Hey.
- Hey!

Hi, sid. How are ya?

How you doing?

I got to tell ya,

it was a fantastic week.

Our frontline supervisor

is a gal who came up
with a great suggestion

of extending
the railing system

to load the carts,

and it saved
30 to 60 minutes a day,

and we really should be
soliciting stuff like that

from these people.

Down in a soil room,

I must have spent five minutes
untying a knot.

So we're gonna come up with,
like, a plastic type deal

that we can zip cut
for the bags.

We observe
people doing things.

You know, we've got
to quit observing and do.

And we have
opportunity out there

to do more
for our customers.

- Mm-hmm.

And for our people.

My employees think they're
coming to corporate headquarters

to cast their vote.

They're really here so I can
reveal my undercover experience.

They're ready for you now,
Tony.

Okay. Thank you.

I got to choose one person
over another person,

and I've never been
in that position before.

My heart is beating
really hard,

and I feel like it's gonna
come out of my chest.

You know me?

I recognize your voice.

And who's that?

Mike.

So you recognize me
as Mike, huh?

Yes.

And you didn't vote for me.

[Laughs]

I'm Ron Croatti,
Chief Executive Officer

and President
of UniFirst corporation.

Say what now?

It's exciting.

It's exciting.
That a girl.

What do you think
of that one?

You got me.

I got you.

[Laughter]

You got me.

Squeeky,
you're tremendous.

You had patience with me,

showing me what you do.

You work hard up there.

Yes.

I can see a path for you

where you can become
a supervisor

if you want to do it.

Yes. Yes.

You know, we talked about
the difference

from the prior company
to when we bought it

two years ago, and there
were some differences.

Well, I compared,
personally compared,

all those differences.

You know, our benefits
are roughly 33%.

Now, with the old company,
they were 27.

Wow.

But I'm gonna send
my sister down

and her H.R. Team.

I want to make people's
life easier.

So I want to make sure
that everybody is aware

of everything we do.

Okay.

We talked about you
getting married,

so I'm gonna send you
to Hawaii

for your honeymoon.

Wow.

I want you to have
a great time on us.

Oh, wow.

I'm just in shock.

I want my hug.

I think his generosity
is great.

It's sweet.
Because he don't have to do it.

Dee Dee,
I'm very proud of you.

It's hard being a single,
working mother of three.

I try.
Thank you.

I know you're torn between
working extra hours for money

and time with your family.

I heard you
when you talked to me

that you wanted
to go back to school.

- Mm-hmm.

I'm gonna give you $5,000
towards your school.

Oh. That is...

- And I--I want you
to take advantage of it.

You have the ability.
Yes.

You're a smart girl.

Don't let me down now.
Go to school.

I won't.

The second thing
I want to do for you,

I'd like to ease
some of your burden

by paying your daycare costs
for a year.

Oh.

That way you can maybe put a
little more money on the side.

That's so helpful.

Thank you.

Oh,
you're gonna make my cry.

He just made me
the happiest person.

I mean, I go to work,
you know,

50 to 60 hours a week.

Them paying for my daycare,

and paying for me to be able
to go back to school--

you know,
that's a huge help.

He really--

I--I still don't think
that he really knows

how much I'm grateful
for that.

Julie, you're a
very special person.

Some of the things
we did together,

they're gonna help a lot
of people in the company.

Your suggestions
were tremendous.

You know,
you're that "y" generation.

You're the guys
who are thinking all the time.

You know, we're kind of
stuck in the mud a little bit,

so we need those ideas
out of you.

I mean, just that idea you had
coming up with the rod

to load those carts,
I can't compliment you enough.

Thank you.

What we're gonna do for you,

just for coming up
with that idea

and helping
the whole company,

we're gonna give you $5,000,
just for that one thing.

That'll really help you.
I hope.

Thank you.
Very much.

You have a young daughter.

I want to do
one more thing for you.

We're gonna pay your rent
and utilities for the next year

to help you out.

Thank you.

I go to work
and I do my job.

That's just what I do.

I don't go in there expecting

to get a pat
on the back every day,

so this, I mean,
this is really big.

Really big to me.

Tony,
you taught me a lot.

You're doing a job
that hasn't changed in 40 years,

and that's a mistake
on our part.

And I'm gonna need you

to help make that job
a better job.

I need you.

Okay.

And there will be
some people coming down

to work with you.

Okay.

Tony, I know
it's been difficult

for you to travel
and see your family members.

I want to help you out
with that

for special occasions,
holidays,

whenever you think you want to
visit and be with your family.

I want to give you
a check for $5,000.

Oh.

To use as you see fit
for those times.

Tony, I know you and your son
really bond over football,

so I wanted to send
you and your son

to this year's
Super Bowl game.

Whoa.

Man.

That is wonderful.

All expenses paid.

I don't know what to say
but thank you.

Me and my son
are going to the Super Bowl.

Can you believe that?

That's...
That's priceless.

I've never seen my grandkids,
'cause they're in New Jersey,

and I can't afford to go.

Now we'll be able
to see each other.

It's amazing.

I am so excited
to get out there

and get this crew going.

You know, it really comes down
to our culture, our family.

And the passion that I saw
out in the field was great.

The President and CEO
of UniFirst corporation,

my Big Brother,
Ron Croatti.

[Cheers and applause]

For the last week,

I worked undercover.

I went undercover,

and I'd like to report
back to you what I found.

We're a family.
A family culture.

We have some people
here with us

that have been struggling,

but they went
on the right path in life.

So with that, I'd like
to introduce some of the people

that I worked with.

And let's take a quick look
at our video.

Come on.
We can go faster than that.

You have to use
your body sometimes.

Use your belly.
Use your belly.

[Laughter]

Get 'em all out?

Yes, sir. I'll sleep
like a baby tonight.

My mustache is coming loose,

because I'm sweating
like a horse.

[Buzzer]

We're a family.

A family
10,000-people strong.

It's my father's legacy.

And it's been 40 years
since I've been down there,

sweeping floors
and folding shop towels,

and I wanted to see
if that culture was in place.

And I want to report to you

that that culture is in place
and doing very well.

Families have struggles,

but they all work through
their struggles.

I thank you very much.

[Cheers and applause]

When I see
all my people together,

I know we're a family.

We have great people
with great ideas,

and we got to get those ideas
up the pipeline.

I think my father
would be very proud

of what we've accomplished.

He would be very proud
of the company,

where it's gone.

I guess
he would be overwhelmed.

That's probably
the best word I could use.

== Sync by elderman ==
== for www.addic7ed.com ==

announcer: Stay tuned for scenes
from our next episode.