Scenes From the Workplace

differences between an employer and an employee or between a supervisor and those being supervised are an inevitable byproduct of the day-to-day activities in both the public and private sectors they are no different than those that occur in other real-life situations many disagreements can be resolved informally or they may evolve into a formal grievance when the concerned employee is represented by a union the disagreements are handled in accordance with the grievance procedure contained in the collective bargaining agreement which is usually the exclusive procedure clearly the grievance is a complaint but not all complaints are grievances whether or not a complaint is in fact a valid grievance within the meaning of the collective bargaining agreement depends on a variety of factors including how a grievance is defined in the following scenes or episodes you will see a series of occurrences in the public sector workplace there is no doubt they reflect differences between a supervisor and an employee or other differences whether or not they represent valid grievances is for you to decide in terms of materials provided by the instructor hey hey cat that was a big case not too bad not too bad you guys been behaving yourself yeah what is that gavin you made it back yeah what's what oh you mean this yeah i mean that that's not supposed to be some kind of joke i want you to know i'm not laughing oh come on katherine look it took me nearly a whole vacation to grow this thing even my wife likes well as far as i know your wife's not running this station i am now cut that thing off oh come on captain what do you got against beards you want me to make a list of them all right for one that damn thing could make us look like a laughingstock out there now nobody in my station is going to ride around with that damn fuzz on his face for another thing you wear that in some neighborhoods you can get a brick thrown through your skull for christ say captain you haven't been away that long have you everybody's wearing long hair and i know all about the long hair i know about the mustaches now listen i have not been too hard on you guys but when you run around here looking like hippies that's where i draw the line even a goddamn mayor has a fear all right and the goddamn mayor is not riding on my trucks now what's the matter with you listen this job is dangerous enough as it is without you asking for trouble how are you gonna get that thing under a smoke mask now you don't think that's a safety violation look for your information i've already worn a smoke mask it fits fine i keep it trimmed all right all right now what about a fire huh that just happens to be our business now that thing can flare up flare up like hell and the water thing could get wet and it could freeze it so happens that it helps protects from the wind all right now cut the [ __ ] carl now that thing is a violation of the dress code now you cut it off or i'm going to cite you for inappropriate dress and then you can appear in front of the fire commissioner look i got as much right as anybody else i'll be goddamned if i'll shave it off [Music] wow hey hey you see this the captain has malone signed up for my car does he think i'm going on a night patrol with a woman hey lover you're the no no no no god damn it frank no i'm not hauling a woman around not at night not when i need all the goddamn help i can get has he lost him look on your face i see you got the word come on harry it won't be that bad no no now look captain you know i've always supported women on the police force it isn't that but put them where they can handle it in the cars in the school districts in the daytime look this is not the place to discuss it let's go back to my house i want to discuss it right here and right now okay harry this is an assignment there's a lot of pressure on me to put women into all the jobs you've got to admit they know how to handle themselves they've had the same training you had and i picked you for this because you're one of my best men harry i damn well mean this i mean it too captain okay so she can handle the gun in judo but if i get involved in a tangle i want to be sure there's some damn muscle beside me i say fine if it's in the daytime in the wide open space but how are you not at night where i travel you know my territory captain it's hell's kitchen you work that once yourself i say sure let them be policemen like the rest of us but there are places where they don't belong the answer is no this is an order harry and i'm not just looking look captain maybe you got problems but don't get me involved in that i got problems of my own what in the hell is my wife gonna say when she hears i'm driving around at night with malone oh come on captain i got a wife and kids at home this job is dangerous enough without asking for problems put malone on daytime patrol where she belongs otherwise get yourself another guy okay harry you know the rule book as well as i do you refuse to obey an order you don't ride for me anymore you walk harry i'm ordering you back to your old patrol beat well god damn it he can't stick me with that this is one for the association good to see you arthur oh hi how are you it's been a long summer it certainly has but maybe not long enough you know what was waiting for me when i got back this that your teaching assignment you're damned right it is they think they're shifting me to john eaton i spent half my summer preparing for classes i took that course i'll need for the seminar and now this john eaton that school it's not a question of seminars it's a question of survival i know that but i am not about to throw that preparation down the drain the scoreboard says it's following the courts you know equalized spending that means they're going to have to transfer a lot of higher paid teachers to the worst schools the school board i don't care what the school board says i didn't spend half my life working and studying to be stuck off in some jungle with my experience i should be able to pick my spots and not be stuck with the lousiest job i have seniority sounds like one for the steward jim you're just a fellow i want to see do you know what they did yeah i overheard part of it did it come out of the blue arthur got a reassignment letter now wait a minute they can't they can't shift arthur like this it's a violation of our union contract he's an experienced teacher with seniority you didn't ask for this post did you are there oh you know better than that after all this time i have just the classes i want you know i earned them sure i know it the school board knows it too but you see what's behind this thing i mean the the courts say put more money into the poor school districts so they take the highest paid teachers and put them there and think they've solved the problem well i am not going to be a guinea pig for their budget problems nor their political problems neither is the union we've got an agreement if seniority rights don't mean anything we've got real trouble this is one we've got to go with what do you say arthur i mean this is not just your fight this is a union fight charlie peters to the office charlie peters to the office charlie peters to the office charlie peters to the office did you summon fire i like hearing my name echoing through these portals what gives joe charlie where were you yesterday you know i was homesick i called in what's wrong okay so what were you doing down in martin's hardware wandering around yeah pete the foreman over in section b said he saw you yesterday afternoon you know we've got rules against that kind of thing christ joe don't have to be hauled around in a stretcher just cause i'm homesick you know i got troubles you got troubles what about my troubles trying to get somebody to work on those trucks christ this is the third monday in a row that you've been out my back joe the damn thing gives me fits after lying around for a long weekend after watching all those football games on tv the thing becomes stiff as a board by monday i know all about your back and i know you got a doctor's certificate too what i'm talking about is you're goofing off and you're supposed to be sick you know you've been warned before look i could barely get out of bed yesterday morning i couldn't have been over those engines now by afternoon i know by afternoon you're feeling just great so you get out and wander around the hardware store meantime i'm trying to get those goddamn trucks on the street now look it always feels better after i've been up for a while but it was too late to do much good here so i took a little walk and i happened to go down to the store charlie i can't run a shop if one guy doesn't carry his weight i mean the other guys notice what you're doing and the hell if they see you get away with it well they'll try the same thing i'm with joe oh no you've been warned before this time i'm putting a written reprimand in your file hey you you can't do that i was home sick we got a contract [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] now uh uh hold on a minute steve okay jones sit down i'll i'll be with you in a minute listen steve i promise you we'll have it by the morning okay yeah okay guys i'll see you well it must be pretty important to be called into my supervisor's office i've still got seven pieces of property to check out you're damn right it's important anytime i get a call like the one i had a while ago from archibald we get problems i i knew he's right he's got a legitimate complaint you know who he is he's just head of the taxpayers association that's all what the hell are you wearing that thing for what am i wearing it for you know what it means it means more money in our paychecks that's no excuse for parading it in front of a taxpayer especially that guy archibald that damn association's on our neck all the time about taxes then you had to rile him up now come off it so what if he's against it i happen to be for it and i'm not the only one our union's for it so why why can't i wear it if i want to i'll tell you why because this is the hottest issue in town the mayor has just come out against cb1 the taxpayers association is opposed to it and they're not the only ones then you come along look what's so bad about wearing this button so it says support cb1 our guys wear all kinds of buttons smile buttons football buttons half of them wear the american flag that's different there's nothing to complain about there then what about the time the city decided to build a stadium i know a lot of people who didn't favor that this department had everybody in his cousin supporting that one bumper stickers buttons and i don't remember you complaining about that but that was different the mayor was for it and so was the city council but this tax issue has everybody split down the middle there's a hassle and we got to stay out of it so off with the button so nothing i'm a citizen i've got rights like everybody else it happens to be important to me and my family well it happens to be important to this department and to the mayor too how well we get on with the public look jimmy the council will soon be voting on this it's just a matter of a few days why don't you be reasonable me why don't you be reasonable this button goes where i go okay if that's the way you want it as long as you wear that button you stay home until this issue has been voted on you take this attitude you'll have to take the consequences i'm also writing a strong letter of reprimand it'll go into your personnel file and stay there look i've got a legitimate right to wear this you guys are always trying to keep us quiet just because i'm willing to speak out you pick on me i'm not standing still for this i'm going to talk to the steward so so get manual for me will you well there you are you know what this is about i'm sure yeah i didn't expect you in mr barnes isn't this the time of your regular weekly meeting downtown it so happens the meeting was cancelled so i come back and what do i find you and my parking space again now how many times do i not trying to take your parking space i was only going to be in the office for a few minutes i've got another appointment yet besides it's raining i know it's raining what's that got to do with it you have your own parking space and i've warned you to stay out of mind but you weren't going to be here and i was going to be gone before you got back yeah i've seen her car in your space lots of times that's because it's next to the building i've told my secretary when it's dark and that night around she's free to use my space i repeat my faith you put out for sleeving look what's wrong with your face anyway it's not that far away now you were given that space because you were in and out of the building making client calls and because you were driving in a car pool and by the way i've seen you drive up alone recently how come i lost my riders but i expect to get some more soon now look you've never been given that space if it hadn't been for carpool you know that well a lot of people park there without carpools why are you picking on me look i'm not picking on you i'm talking about rules and you've been breaking them right along now apparently my warnings don't mean anything yeah but i wasn't going to be there you've gone too far i'm withdrawing your parking authorization now from now on you'll use our outside line maybe the walk will do you good i wasn't doing anything different than anyone else you're just mad because you got wet you have no right to take away my parking space i don't believe this fan says i didn't get the job in the finance department oh let's see grace got it that's right she's in that department wasn't it about a year ago when she shifted over that shift wasn't a promotion this job is a promotion and i have more experience now isn't seniority one of your union rules you're the steward well sure we go by seniority but if grace was selected maybe she is in the same department i heard mr jones likes her and she's worked for him before but i still have more seniority it's a promotion and i want it what is that for union uprising a way you two live oh marge marge i didn't get that job i told you you couldn't jump into that department i'll tell you this mr jones doesn't make the selection regardless of what you've heard we go by the rules and i know what the rules say yeah but i know what management will say nobody ever got promoted from this department directly to finance you know she's right we've never had this problem before but i can handle that job you know that i have more experience much more you don't have to argue with me okay maybe it's not in my department i don't care if nobody's done it in the past right maybe they were afraid to ruffle some department chiefs but i'm not well i know that okay are we ready to fight for it do we have a union or don't we in this hospital ward b houses the most disturbed psychiatric patients employees working there are specially selected but when there is a shortage of hospital aids for ward b others are assigned to the ward today there is a shortage now they're going to grab somebody again for that job today but this time it is not going to be yours truly i've been in their damn near every day for the last three weeks yeah that place is too much uh-oh here she comes oh sorry mike but i need you in ward b again roberts is still out and there's nobody available to fill in uh honey it's all yours i'd better get back to work look how come i get caught in the ringer again i have been in there every lunch hour lately now i told you yesterday i am fed up no more mike this is no time to be complaining it's just for the lunch period now let's get going no ma'am not again it is too tough a job now the regular aides in ward b get paid extra but i never see any of it well you're only there a couple of hours if you were there all day it would be different look that is the worst war there is and it is not my job i am just an aide and that is what i get paid for now if something goes wrong in there it's my neck not yours and i don't even get the pay i deserve that's enough now nobody is picking on you if you don't want to do the job i'll find somebody who will go ahead okay but if you refuse you can just take the rest of the week off you're under suspension you can come back and see me on monday look you can't do that i am standing up for my rights i'll get my shop steward you