BIG SHOT: Needing to Have the Last Word

The song is superficially about the protagonist mocking a woman with a severe hangover for her intoxicated escapades around town, making numerous social and verbal faux pas while high on alcohol and drugs ("But now you just don't remember all the things you said / And you're not sure you want to know / I'll give you one hint, honey; you sure did put on a show!"). The song makes reference to late 1970s nouveau riche fads such as Elaine's restaurant and Halston.

I think about some of the people I deal with at work. We know the types: queen bee, drone bee, worker bee. It's the queen who has been getting my attention. Lately, I have been dealing with a supervisor of a call center. The woman--for lack of a more graceful term--has been sleeping her way to the top. Why anyone would want this person is fodder for another story. She has an aura of superiority and many employees have called her dismissive, superior, demeaning, and non-communicative.

During an investigation that was initiated at her decision, she was finding facts that would indicate the employee had flaws in her work ethic or behavior. The employee, as well as others, have noted that the training for the job is deficient and that the agency expects behavior or output on the part of the employee that he or she really believes was not part of the learning curriculum.

This woman responded to my face and in front of the employee, "It's not that she doesn't know how to respond appropriately to the customer, it's that she chooses not to."

DANG, B*tch!! You've got more nerve than brains to say something like that to a union representative.

So I filed a grievance and during the grievance I more or less ripped out a new a**h*le for that supervisor (IN FRONT OF HUMAN RESOURCES and in the presence of the grieving employee). I talked about bridge building and about understanding that one's words have impact that can be considered negative or demeaning. I said that when an employee (or when employees) state that something is lacking, these statements should be considered as part of a learning curve for management. I said that supervisors need to be approachable and transparent (their own BS terminology) and I reminded this woman and H.R. that the agency has a policy of "See something, say something."

Well I said something.

I spend most of my union time filing grievances on behalf of employees. The grievances list the violations and the remedies. Lately, I have made a point of including the remedy of apologizing to the employee. The agency has always refused. Well, I recently found a section of the agency's handbook that states that employees are expected to apologize on behalf of the agency. "I'm sorry you feel that way," or "I apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced."

My argument now is that if apologizing is part of the employee's conditions of employment, then the agency needs to apologize to the employee when the employee has been wronged or slighted.

We'll see how that goes.