In my last blog I talked about the argument between my friend Liz and I regarding her little plot to bring complaints about a jerk at work to management. Over the last week, we haven't been working due to mid-winter break, so she and I haven't seen each other since last Thursday morning when she exploded at me in anger.
This morning, over Facebook, I got a message from Liz's account that said:
"We need to work this out, so try and find some time to talk with me Monday if you aren't too busy and if you are interested"
Maybe I am reading too much into this, but it feels to me as though she is putting all of this on me when she is the one with the issue. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't do anything wrong. I took the problem to a shop steward which is what we are supposed to do at work and Liz is upset because she doesn't trust the shop steward.
I still don't see her problem with all of this. Her goal was to take the issue to our manager because he is too out of touch with his employees to see what is really going on. Well, if the shop steward I talked to goes take this to our manager then Liz's goal will be accomplished.
To me it seems as though Liz is fishing for an apology from me and unfortunately, the only one I'll be able to give her is "I am sorry that you over reacted to this entire situation." Maybe that makes me a bad person...
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Toxic Workplace
If you think Grey's Anatomy has a lot of drama, you should see where I work! I have found myself pissing off my closest friends at work because I refused to blindly follow the masses without first checking out all sides of the story. Here's what happened...
On Tuesday, there was a union meeting that I did not attend. I decided not to attend because the last time I went to one, nothing was accomplished because everyone with an opinion felt the need to voice it in a loud and obnoxious manner, fights rose up and our reason for being there in the first place (the issue of our district's inappropriate use of the new tracking systems on our buses) was never adequately discussed.
It turns out that once again, tempers flared at the Tuesday meeting and, once again, nothing much was accomplished. However, a scandal did emerge surrounding the hugest asshole I have ever met. His name is Kevin and he is one of those creeps that doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about him and he feels that gives him the right to treat everyone around him like shit. From the moment he has started working for our district, he has infected the workplace with his negativity to the point where just about everyone there can't stand having any kind of interaction with him.
At the Tuesday meeting, he ended up telling everyone that he has gone to management and told them about things he has seen other drivers doing that he believes are wrong. Our union Rep called him a fink as did my friend Liz. Liz, as she tends to do, took it too far though and it got to the point where Kevin told her that if she called him a fink again, he would go to management with a complaint. Liz's response was "Whatever, Fink!"
Later that day, Liz was called into the office by our manager, Terry. He told her that she is no longer allowed to call Kevin a Fink and she told him that she wouldn't say it out loud but they can't stop her from thinking it. Terry expressed concern that Liz seems to be the only driver who has a problem with Kevin - that no one else ever complains about him. As I mentioned before, this is just not true and it shows just how out of touch Terry is with driver morale.
His comment sent Liz on a crusade to prove him wrong and she began rallying a group of people to go into Terry's office and lodge formal complaints against Kevin. I was one of the people she asked to join the campaign. Later in the day, I went to our most senior driver Mindi to ask her take on this whole situation. Mindi is the driver with #1 senority - she's been there the longest and she has been a shop steward and union supporter for many years. She has been trained as a shop steward to look at disputes openly and without bias and in all my interactions with her, I have seen her do just that. She is one of the most open-minded people I know and I really respect her for it.
As I talked with Mindi about the Kevin/Liz situation, she helped me see that Liz was over-reacting quite a bit. Those times that Kevin has gone to management, he did so because he first went to the driver and was pushed away because he is too confrontational. I don't doubt that. Kevin lacks any kind of people skills that any decent human could possess. I have no doubt that he approached other drivers in an accusing, unfriendly manner, so of course they pushed him away with a strong "Fuck you, Kevin!" which caused him to go to management.
I have done the same thing! Last year I had that issue with the Holy Roller driver who refused to let me pass her at a school so I wouldn't get stuck behind her at her first stop. She refused because I drive the speed limit which is too slow for her, so I had no choice but to go to management. That's what you're supposed to do. Go to the person you have an issue with and if that doesn't solve the problem, you go higher.
Granted, maybe Kevin should have gone to a union rep before management to see if maybe they could help resolve the issue, but he didn't. There isn't much that can be done about that. Here, though, is my issue with Liz's campaign. She wants to go directly to Terry with the complaints against Kevin. Isn't that exactly what she was pissed that Kevin was doing? That, my friends, is hypocritical. It reminds me of the recent Republican Party Campaign to make known the wasteful spending habits of President Obama and to encourage people to not waste money - they held their meeting, of course, in Hawaii at an expensive hotel. Um....DUH!
This morning, I went to Liz to voice my concern and she asked me if I told Mindi about her plan. She became quite upset when I told her I did. Mindi and Kevin are often seen talking and many have come to believe that they have a "buddy/buddy" relationship. Maybe they do, but I know enough about Mindi to know that she has the kind of personality where she can successfully talk to someone even if he is the biggest asshole. I think that is something to be admired, not feared.
Liz, however, is certain that her big "plot" has been exposed to the enemy. She is angry with me now and I am sure that as I write this, she is telling everyone what a fink I am, now.
What I was hoping to help Liz see is that nothing will be accomplished by her little campaign. So an uninformed Terry will now know what a creep Kevin is. Is he going to fire him over it? That is very unlikely. He might pull Kevin into his office and slap his hand a little, but Kevin is still going to be the huge asshole he has always been. Nothing will change, except maybe now Kevin will be watching Liz and the people who complained about him more carefully as they drive. He'll be watching their every moves, just hoping to have something to tattle to Terry. He's vindictive like that.
Several years ago, a group of drivers wrote a letter to the board of directors about our boss (the guy above Terry) who makes our work environment toxic. One of us went before the board and read the letter while the rest of us stood behind him for support. But nothing changed! Our work environment is still toxic and our boss is still an asshole. The only thing that came of our letter was now our boss knew us all by specific names and had placed targets on our backs with the intent to watch us and hope for a reason to fire the rabble rousers. I know this is a fact because the very next day, I passed by our boss at work and the man who had passed by me many times before called me by my name for the first time. For months after that, I could feel the eyes staring at me and longing for me to fuck up somehow.
I am worried that this will happen to Liz and to all the people who go in and complain about Kevin to Terry. I am also worried that Liz will hate me because to her I am now a Fink and can't be trusted. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe I'll be better off not hearing all the gossip that Liz loves to tell me. Now that I can't be trusted, I won't have to hear all that crap any more. But maybe I've also lost a close friend, too.
On Tuesday, there was a union meeting that I did not attend. I decided not to attend because the last time I went to one, nothing was accomplished because everyone with an opinion felt the need to voice it in a loud and obnoxious manner, fights rose up and our reason for being there in the first place (the issue of our district's inappropriate use of the new tracking systems on our buses) was never adequately discussed.
It turns out that once again, tempers flared at the Tuesday meeting and, once again, nothing much was accomplished. However, a scandal did emerge surrounding the hugest asshole I have ever met. His name is Kevin and he is one of those creeps that doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks about him and he feels that gives him the right to treat everyone around him like shit. From the moment he has started working for our district, he has infected the workplace with his negativity to the point where just about everyone there can't stand having any kind of interaction with him.
At the Tuesday meeting, he ended up telling everyone that he has gone to management and told them about things he has seen other drivers doing that he believes are wrong. Our union Rep called him a fink as did my friend Liz. Liz, as she tends to do, took it too far though and it got to the point where Kevin told her that if she called him a fink again, he would go to management with a complaint. Liz's response was "Whatever, Fink!"
Later that day, Liz was called into the office by our manager, Terry. He told her that she is no longer allowed to call Kevin a Fink and she told him that she wouldn't say it out loud but they can't stop her from thinking it. Terry expressed concern that Liz seems to be the only driver who has a problem with Kevin - that no one else ever complains about him. As I mentioned before, this is just not true and it shows just how out of touch Terry is with driver morale.
His comment sent Liz on a crusade to prove him wrong and she began rallying a group of people to go into Terry's office and lodge formal complaints against Kevin. I was one of the people she asked to join the campaign. Later in the day, I went to our most senior driver Mindi to ask her take on this whole situation. Mindi is the driver with #1 senority - she's been there the longest and she has been a shop steward and union supporter for many years. She has been trained as a shop steward to look at disputes openly and without bias and in all my interactions with her, I have seen her do just that. She is one of the most open-minded people I know and I really respect her for it.
As I talked with Mindi about the Kevin/Liz situation, she helped me see that Liz was over-reacting quite a bit. Those times that Kevin has gone to management, he did so because he first went to the driver and was pushed away because he is too confrontational. I don't doubt that. Kevin lacks any kind of people skills that any decent human could possess. I have no doubt that he approached other drivers in an accusing, unfriendly manner, so of course they pushed him away with a strong "Fuck you, Kevin!" which caused him to go to management.
I have done the same thing! Last year I had that issue with the Holy Roller driver who refused to let me pass her at a school so I wouldn't get stuck behind her at her first stop. She refused because I drive the speed limit which is too slow for her, so I had no choice but to go to management. That's what you're supposed to do. Go to the person you have an issue with and if that doesn't solve the problem, you go higher.
Granted, maybe Kevin should have gone to a union rep before management to see if maybe they could help resolve the issue, but he didn't. There isn't much that can be done about that. Here, though, is my issue with Liz's campaign. She wants to go directly to Terry with the complaints against Kevin. Isn't that exactly what she was pissed that Kevin was doing? That, my friends, is hypocritical. It reminds me of the recent Republican Party Campaign to make known the wasteful spending habits of President Obama and to encourage people to not waste money - they held their meeting, of course, in Hawaii at an expensive hotel. Um....DUH!
This morning, I went to Liz to voice my concern and she asked me if I told Mindi about her plan. She became quite upset when I told her I did. Mindi and Kevin are often seen talking and many have come to believe that they have a "buddy/buddy" relationship. Maybe they do, but I know enough about Mindi to know that she has the kind of personality where she can successfully talk to someone even if he is the biggest asshole. I think that is something to be admired, not feared.
Liz, however, is certain that her big "plot" has been exposed to the enemy. She is angry with me now and I am sure that as I write this, she is telling everyone what a fink I am, now.
What I was hoping to help Liz see is that nothing will be accomplished by her little campaign. So an uninformed Terry will now know what a creep Kevin is. Is he going to fire him over it? That is very unlikely. He might pull Kevin into his office and slap his hand a little, but Kevin is still going to be the huge asshole he has always been. Nothing will change, except maybe now Kevin will be watching Liz and the people who complained about him more carefully as they drive. He'll be watching their every moves, just hoping to have something to tattle to Terry. He's vindictive like that.
Several years ago, a group of drivers wrote a letter to the board of directors about our boss (the guy above Terry) who makes our work environment toxic. One of us went before the board and read the letter while the rest of us stood behind him for support. But nothing changed! Our work environment is still toxic and our boss is still an asshole. The only thing that came of our letter was now our boss knew us all by specific names and had placed targets on our backs with the intent to watch us and hope for a reason to fire the rabble rousers. I know this is a fact because the very next day, I passed by our boss at work and the man who had passed by me many times before called me by my name for the first time. For months after that, I could feel the eyes staring at me and longing for me to fuck up somehow.
I am worried that this will happen to Liz and to all the people who go in and complain about Kevin to Terry. I am also worried that Liz will hate me because to her I am now a Fink and can't be trusted. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe I'll be better off not hearing all the gossip that Liz loves to tell me. Now that I can't be trusted, I won't have to hear all that crap any more. But maybe I've also lost a close friend, too.
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