Dave Miller: "Is there any one area in particular that you wished you had more time for?"
Kate Brown: "The most important, Labor and Management relationship. Labor and Management, for me that's the underlying stress that causes issues in any number of areas. Folks need to sit down and work out a relationship built on trust..."
Miller: "How do you think the communication problem that you're talking about, how do they play out and how do they affect taxpayers and riders."
Kate Brown, "I think when you don't have a relationship between Labor and Management that's based on trust, when for example Bus Operators address concerns about safety they don't have a sense whether their concerns are being addressed or not. The other thing the audit addressed is better communication and we have made a number of recommendations about how Trimet management could better communicate with front line workers, with the Bus Operators."
***
There are many issues besides safety but the problem seems to be what happens when a worker attempts to go through the process for a solution. If you go up the chain of command you'll be met with an attitude that you should be seen and not heard. If a front line worker remains invisible the chances of surviving Trimet are a hundred times greater then if you start calling things to their attention like safety, mechanical issues as they relate to safety, schedules, restroom breaks, health issues created by the job, low moral, etc. Another big problem many of us face are Assistant Managers who've never operated a Bus but have been given the power to affect our careers. They don't understand the nature of our job or what we go through during the course of a day.
The Secretary of State recommended that front line employees, Operators sit down with their managers and communicate. The attitude I see coming from Center Street management is 'us against them' unless you're a personal buddy. There exists a serious hatred by Trimet management against Union workers in general including their own Bus Operators. The threat of retaliation from one of them is always there like a snake curled up in a corner waiting to strike.
Kate Brown, "Folks need to sit down and work out a relationship built on trust...,"
ONCE TRUST HAS BEEN BREACHED IT CAN NEVER BE RESTORED!
IF NEIL MCFARLANE DOES WHAT HE SAYS, HE'LL HAVE TO
CLEAN HOUSE!
Evelyn Warren
Center Street Manager
$82,141.71 per 2012 W2
Here's an example of an effort made by me to communicate with my manager, but in the end it kept us further apart and did nothing more than reinforce the hostile environment I work in.
Last Tuesday January 28th, my Union Rep and I met with Ms. Warren for a Step II hearing on a Grievance I filed asking that a WARNING be removed from my file. I was yet again blindsided into a mandatory meeting. Wasn't told what I was accused of until we met. Two accusations, neither of which were investigated. My time (pay) slip for the 2 1/2 hr meeting was destroyed. In it's place I was given time-loss. It's on-going retaliation.
I asked if we could agree the warning was untruthful and uninvestigated. If so, would she be willing to throw it out and allow us the time allotted to discuss why a continuous stream of similar accusations, time-slips thrown out, etc were coming at me. She had information about all of the events as she played a role in them. I have an exchange of documents for acts of retaliation against me and her name is on them. I wanted to talk with her, wanted to find out what was going on, see if we, as adults in a professional work relationship could just sit here and communicate with each other, attempt to resolve whatever the problem was. I asked if there were a specific problems with me either professionally or otherwise because , "I am sitting right here in front of you and we could discuss it as adults, clear the air."
She said if we didn't discuss the grievance and just the grievance only she would kill it permanently. She can't do that, but immediately came out of the gate showing us her power! She INVALIDATED ME and DENIED EVERYTHING. She refused to speak about anything other then the grievance. While we were talking she appeared to gradually change as though she were not in her body. It was as though she wasn't present but reading from a prepared script. She became very angry, and robotic. Repeating herself. Callahan-ish. That's how I perceived her except Callahan lacked emotion.
She pulled RANK,
One thing led to another, she refused to communicate. Then threatened me with INSUBORDINATION.
I offered to shake hands when we left because as far as I was concerned it was done and over with. That didn't go over too well. lol This was supposed to be a professional conversation with my Manager but the only professionals in the room were Sandra and I.
Now we'll see what McFarlane does to restore trust.
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