Originally posted 6 March, 2024. It was modified to remove the name (s) of real people in an attempt to preserve the integrity of the arguments contained therein.
Hi. My name is Kenth. Based on my experiences, I believe human beings are guided by principals. These can be as
simple as pleasure and pain; maximize one, avoid the other. For the most part we have a concept of a friend. People or a person who will be counted on if the pain grows to be unbearable or your pleasure
become too elusive. We have empathy in our friend. By contrast we can only
hope, at best for a degree of compassion from our enemy.
I was told by a wise person who shall remain nameless, that
I should not look for friends in the workplace. In hindsight those words made
sense but left a great deal of human endeavor to be void of humanity. Reducing
work to a sterile experiment.
In my pedagogy I learned that there was a good argument for
equality of the sexes, both in the workplace as well as in the home or other
social settings. I came to realize also that there are those who would argue,
and do actions against the principal of equality.
For some, there is no equality among individuals as there
are always those who perform better and those who own more of the means of
production and we just have to work around the various biases these differences
impose.
We can ask what makes for a better friend, similarity of;
opinion on topics, economic status, group membership? For the sakes of argument
let’s limit the question to how we navigate the workplace. If we have the
possibility of making a friend we have a certain power, as Plato said, when we
are friendly with another we own them to some degree. We say this person is our
friend and we own each other as friends.
Conversely, when another individual proposes impediments in
our path, we have the makings of an enmity. How do we come to own our enemy. I
suppose we can own the disputes that arise, and our role in their existence. It
may even be said that without there being any dispute, there is no ground for
hatred or animosity. This is why I believe we must not have hidden agendas
towards coworkers. We must be able to rely on the group known as management, to
be prepared to navigate disputes, and to seek their resolution in the most
human way.
I have heard it said that when we are functioning in a hierarchical
structure as most workplaces are, we need to learn to fly beneath the radar so
we do not stand out with any of our controversy. I know I am not alone in being
persecuted at work. My story is my own and while I am certain there is no
perfect workplace, the environment of work should not propose a restricted area
for norms and rules about how equality is interpreted.
So I have introduced the workplace. I would now like to
introduce the Union. From my point of view, following the events that I
experienced, it is safe to say there is a similar structure existent in it. A
union may be managed through a similar organizational model with those who hold
the supreme power at the top. Since Union presidents are elected from the body
of membership ranks, we can be sure the role is rarely occupied by a competent
member. The difference is in the potential for power arising from the role. In
the union the president has a disproportionate amount of sway in the direction
taken in policy.
Therefore, an individual who runs afoul of both the union
president, and the department head (or Associate deputy minister in government)
is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I will begin here in presenting my
case to you, gentle reader, to glean as you will from my experience. The
situations in my case are not unusual, in their occurrences. In some sense as well,
they could have been dealt with in a more intelligent approach.
My decision to become a shop steward originally at the
department of Finance of Canada was a simple one to make. My friend Francois asked.
Every workplace needs a union, and every union needs stewards. When I had been
hired in government computer services three years previous, I signed an oath to
the crown. I was asked to say something like so help me god. I explained at that time that I do not
believe in the existence of a god. That proved to be problematic as I would
find myself reporting to several layers of evangelical types. As a new steward
I had misconceptions on what my duties were and how to approach management, so
I made mistakes.
My first mistake was to assume I could count on a level of
respect, a minimal at least level, from managers. I expected that when there
would be changes in the workplace I would be informed personally so that I
could attend meetings prepared to provide the unions point of view on those
same topics. But this did not happen and when I attended a meeting with my
colleagues I found myself in a conflict with a coworker who was scheduling the
overtime for a project. It happened when I asked the manager if she could
assure all team members could have equal access to that overtime, that
colleague pointed out in the meeting that I had not volunteered in any of the
time slots available. I clarified that
the question was for the manager. I was punished for disrespect.
After the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan there was a
day called the day of honour announced by the secretary of TBS because at that
time Finance Canada and Treasury Board Secretariate were separated into two
departments with me going to TBS. It was encouraged to attend the events
planned for that day. Attending another meeting I asked the same manager
whether it constituted a day off. The manager was not sure. As it was the day
prior to the event I asked that we have an answer as soon as possible. That day
I let my supervisor know I would be away the next day to attend events. At
5:10, ten minutes after my shift ended and the service desk I worked at was
closed, and everybody else had gone for the day, she approached me and told me
I was expected to be at work the next day.
It was impossible to communicate this news to my coworkers. Since
I made my intention of being off clear, I took the day off. So I had no
expectation of respect being presented. Some might say I did not deserve
respect simply because I proved myself willing to go against a management decision.
I was promptly disciplined. I was accused of “maintaining that the day was a
paid holiday.” In the ensuing disciplinary meeting I explained that I did not
consider the day to be a day off as it required attendance at a number of
events planned in the day of honour and sanctioned by the Secretary. The top person in TBS.
Maybe discipline is not the word I am looking for. It is
their word, for sure. It assumes a lack on the part of the disciplinee. I asked bing, “what do you call the person
who receives discipline?” It obviously confused the question and replied “the
disciplined” and you know it is a leap. So I asked about the person who
requires discipline. Funnily enough, it gave me the government of Canada web
page on progressive discipline. I am close.
There is a need to provide a template for such disciplines. Do
you have concerns with an employee's work performance? Here are the steps for applying progressive
discipline in the work place. Immediately there is confusion between
performance and behaviour. The template asks the discipliner, usually a
manager, to provide the policy that was broken, some reference to the employees
actions that were suspect, and the resultant disciplinary action to be taken.
The progressive part is about increasing the penalty at each new breach. My
problem was that they actually made up policies in order to apply increased
punishments and the union was complicit along the way.
I think if person A needs discipline and person B is
prepared to provide it, that makes person B a helper. B helps A become more
disciplined. The upper level bureaucrats think they are helping when they
punish. The concept of agreeing to disagree is not recognized or practiced.
They think their response to their personal anger at an employee must hurt that
employee somehow for it to work and they think not paying your salary, is appropriate
pain, enough anyway, to help you become disciplined. If that top bureaucrat is wrong she
does not want to hear about it, and no discussion is possible. I get that. They
are floating around in a precarious situation and do not have the time in their
rise to the top, to stop and sort things out. My workplace, or hard place has
become a harassment zone.
What went wrong between me and the PIPSC union would be a
very difficult situation to describe. It began with a fellow steward who raised
an important point of order at a board of directors meeting being that one
board member was currently an undischarged bankrupt. Being a bankrupt
disqualifies individuals from holding an office in the unions decision making
body. There is sufficient cause to remove said individual. This did not hold
well with the president who sought to solidify some power base she held in the
region from whence he came, and felt, I guess, his presence in board meetings
was to her advantage somehow. She used a special general meeting to discipline
that fellow steward and I went to it. I was not invited as the president wanted
as few opposing views as possible. Some, like regional representatives were
invited as a matter of course. In any event her motion to remove this guy,
claiming he harassed this bankrupt guy was defeated. I was singled out for her
ire and I believe she followed through when I needed the unions protection. I
should have known this one does not play by the rules.
Fast forward to a time when I need union representation in
my workplace disputes and I was cut off. I had to self represent and I attend
labour board hearings to argue against treatments I was only covered by in a
collective agreement. I was prohibited from using the CA as only the union
would be able to.
Enough pointing fingers for now. I have personal issues I
think are more important to focus on for a bit. Like the life I have outside of
work. Around the time of the first disciplinary action, I fell off my bike and
landed on my head. I went to the hospital and was discharged without going
through concussion protocol. I was tended to by a Dr. Davoudie who I got the
name wrong and it seemed to irritate her. It might be my face. Or my voice, as
the executive director once told me, when I speak at meetings he can see the
other attendees visibly tense up and cringe.
When I told my wife, E about my reprimand letter for the
supposed disrespect she must have been sure it was my fault since she was down
on me about my poor performance review as well. I was a guiniea pig for the
supervisor's new work objectives and since they were unachievable, containing
mutually exclusive work instructions, I was administered an action plan. The
manager and the supervisor were having a great time at my expense. Work tended
to infiltrate my home life and soon enough my marriage was in the pit. I had a few run ins with traffic since I bike
to my punishing job at TBS and I follow most rules of the road. As a road
warrior I probably did not fit your template of a public servant. This would be
an understatement. If you had known me in 1990 you would be excused for not
seeing how I made it into the Public service. Further if you’d known me in 1980
you would likely have written me off. I won’t get into details here since the
subject of work place harassment should have nothing to do with a persons past.
A coworker who was once an MMA fighter was more than capable of performing
functionary duties. He must have had at least as many concussions as me. I am not sure what draws someone to the PS but
I think it is the opportunity to make an impact in the areas they have been
educated in or otherwise have experience and /or expertise.
I sought to join the public service because, since my early
teens, my cousin had a splendid life in the foreign service. We looked up to
her, my whole family did. Her dad was another story. We mostly joked about
uncle Tommy as being cheap skate. In hind sight we were so poor it would be an
improvement if we were able to keep a few dollars for bread. As a child there
is so much I had to learn about the world. I went through a lot but I always
held on the the thought that I was public service material or at least I could get
a steady job someplace and pay my taxes and someday get a pension.
I had friends, so I know what it means to be friendly and to
count on others who share your views and enjoy similar activities. I
experienced moments while working at TBS of camaraderie, but I felt management
was watching me even conducting intermitted blind sides like accusing me of
being unproductive in a meeting so they could send me home. Or of leaving a
meeting without permission when permission was not required. This last one
would be my first argument for not returning to the office following a lengthy
stint of telework if I was still in the public service, as I could avoid
arbitrary attacks by having the ability to blank my screen during a pointless meeting.
In 2018 a new ADM came on as head of the department
which was corporate services sector, I met her in the kitchen on the 3rd
floor at 90 Elgin where I operated the service desk. It was an open concept
space but she occupied a glassed in office immediately adjacent. As the shop
steward, the only one for PIPSC which we will call the union, even though it
chooses not to call itself one, so I was charmed that she would speak to me and
show some concern for getting to know me. I introduced myself and I mentioned
that I was the steward. Maybe it made me feel proud to a degree, like maybe I
might be her peer. But it was turned around fairly flatly when I mentioned that
I knew a fellow from Saguenay, she said was her home town. She asked for his
name from me to which I had to recoil since it went against my creed to toss
names around. Since that first encounter, I was not able to reach a level of
mutual respect. Plus she went petulant about me calling her Miss when I had said Ms.
I want to say something about the difference between men and
women that is more of a traditional one than an actual one. First, women can
take the name of their husband which our Karen did. The person can now do real
suspect behaviour and hide again simply by changing her name back. I never knew
her real family name but if I did, I am sure if I saw it in an invitation list
it would make a difference to me.
Here is why. She is not my friend. There might have been a
time when she could have been but things she did made that unlikely. She came
to the rescue of my supervisor, a serial micromanager when that individual had lost the handle on
reality and instead of getting help for her, she pursued me with the same plan
of attack. At the end, these two unsavory people made my workplace a hard
place. I know how hate is transmitted and becomes common place when there is a
distinction to be made like between me, an atheist, and the three women I mentioned
that I reported to being evangelical Christians. The prejudice was palpable and
the results brutal.
Like a dog who still loves the master after being smacked
with a stick, I continued to hold out that things could turn around. Being in a
place now with a much clearer head I see I was dreaming. The wording of those
disciplinary articles was undisputable, they were filled with hate and it would
be a waste of my time to think I could change their mind when a hardened bias
was evident. The union certainly would not help me therefore I was not able to hold the ADM accountable for her actions against me.
If you, gentle reader, are a member of the public service
please take heed, and if you are a steward be advised it is only a matter of
time before you fall into the cross hairs.
If you are in PIPSC Union management I hope you have a chuckle and it
warms your otherwise joyless physical aspect. If none of the above applies, I thank you for your time and I hope you found something of value in my story. And please let me know what you
think in the comments or ask questions. I will try to answer them all.
