r/union

Hey everyone, hopefully you can help me and I’m sorry if this is a repetitive post but it’s admittedly a scary situation.

I work for one of five car wash brands within a larger parent company. Since my time working with them they’ve taken more and more holidays away from us, cut our “bonus” down a dozen times but still demand the same or better results (high conversion, high member retention, etc.), cut pto accumulation, and make it nearly impossible to get sick time approved. The benefits are slim and bottom of the barrel. That all being said I’m not entirely sure I have a great case for a union.

With the most recent change to our pay structure there have been other sites within sister brands that have started the process of unionizing (though I’m not sure how far it’s gotten or if it’s already been stomped out) and it makes me feel that now is the time to do it here for my sites as well. The company has also put out a response to this union attempt where they’re asking for feedback from employees as a way to cool the temperature down and try to manage the uproar in house, which I feel could be a hurdle.

Another more personal issue is that I’m in talks for a promotion. I don’t want to screw myself over by starting this process and word getting back to the company, whether it goes through successfully or not. I’m a major endorser of unions and workers rights but I also know how vindictive companies can be.

So, where do I start? Do I even have a case to start movement in this process?

Working for a national corporation

Seems as though a man decided to do his nails at work, nothing wrong with that, respect all to him.

Management requested he removes this nude colour. Asks Why? Management gives no answer.
Today. Sunday, We have found out theres a new policy in place, without informing our union.

Earlier this year we did a contract, explained our professional appearance and uniform. All was accepted, including knowing that management may not overlap into personal lives when it comes to appearances.

Management has now decided.

Women: Must trim their hair monthly, consider a conservative length. Little to no make up, Do not look distracting. No nails, if so, only nude colours. Consider a more conservative style. No Jewelry, if you do, only silver and gold, must be smaller than 4mm.

Men: Must always shave and fade your facial hair, consider buying hair gel.
Requests both to learn to style our hair.

Says "We are aiming for a forgettable look, we don't want families remembering you at all."

This all stemmed after an individual did their nails.
Everyones been given until Monday to comply. I have spoken to some coworkers, those who are unable to get hair and grooming appointments fear for being written up. This has been set up as a trap. Some fear they may lose their job this week due to such timing.

A coworker has reached out and feels this also stems from hate and retaliation of starting a union, this considerably goes under Canadas Gender Identity Expression, which is inclusive of LGBTQ+ and NON LGBTQ+ individuals, for those who feel the way they express their identity is through either: hair style, make up, manicures, facial hair, nail colour and jewelry

By no means do none of my coworkers appear as distracting, loud, or gaudy, everyone has a wonderful personality and appears professional at all times.

What is going on.

I just need to vent because ultimately I think my hands are tied. This is about my union reps in DC37. For background, been at my job 9 yrs, had my directors and supervisors come and go. This Jan this my temp supervisor at the time & the director gave a written warning, I've never received any disciplinary action whatsoever in the entire time at my job and my annual reviews were always positive. They skip over the verbal and wrote a written. In short this was the issue, the receptionist sent me an email that instructed me to cancel appointments at the request of a client and I did so. The sup talks to me the next day and it turns out there was more the request that was lost b/c the request went through 1 other person before the receptionist then to me. The sup and dir stated blamed me and only me stating I did a disservice to the client though it is normal and expected b/c reception is the 1st contact point by the clients. Reception and my colleagues will also act if I pass on request from a client and verifying it first is not expected or normal.

The next day she gives me a write up and reframed it "improper documentation" . It read like I did some wrong & false regarding documentation without saying exactly what. An outside reader wouldn't know we were talking about appointments that was easily rescheduled and there was no mention of the context.

Because it was so ridiculous and an obvious effort to make me look bad, I wrote a long rebuttal & signed it explaining exactly what this was about, why it occurred and that only I was being blamed for something that was not my doing. And THAT was my big mistake. I should have gone to the union b/c I later learned that despite my explanation, signing it was a fatal error. I can't blame anyone but myself for that.

Then 4 months later the director pulls it again, she surprises me with a final warning with 4 allegations. She urges me to just sign again but this time I sought the union. Since this was a final warning (skipped steps again) the grievance went straight to a step 3. The meeting with my reps, dir and HR was on May 19, I made my case and was able to provide written proof backing me on some of the issues. In the end the 2 union reps recommended all the allegations be dropped or at least give me a minor infraction (not sure why he added that). Overall it seemed to go well.

Then things started to go left. I heard nothing from anyone for 2 weeks so on 5/30 I email my reps and ask for the status of things. No response. A week later on 6/9 I email again and the rep replies and send 2 attachments saying my job is pursuing the write up. 1st attachment is their stating this and he says the 2nd is my dir revising the write up. He also stated things would be sent to the legal dept for consideration for arbitration the next level up.

What I notice on the employer response was that it was written on 6/3, which means he did not have it when I reached out to him the 1st time 5/30. Second thing was the revision, first matter was now vague, 2 others had some language changed and last was dropped. It was the first issue that alarmed me b/c it went from talking about a specific issue to now being vague. It now said the director had "concerns" about my handling of a matter. This leaves me vulnerable to further writes up action or being fired just for "concerns". I thought the rep should have picked on this on. Not feeling good about things now I asked him for a copy of the contracts, he sends it and adds he did not request mediation b/c Trump disbanded the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and it no longer existed. The 3 main issues:

1. FMCS was still open, staffing was reduced due to Trump but it was functioning and still accepting mediation request. But rep had 10 days to request this which already passed. I wanted to know why I was told it was closed and still wanted to pursue mediation since it's not.

2. Contract said my employer had 5 days to respond after the step 3 meeting, language left no wiggle room, just 5 days. They submitted it 11 days later on 6/3 and my rep accepted it. He should not have b/c the contract was violated. I asked why it was accepted since this hurts me and why I was not informed of this.

3. My biggest concern was the vague language of the 1st issue that left of open and vulnerable to further action. I asked to grieve the revision since it is not the same document that was discussed on 5/19.

I sent an email asking about these and now there was no answer at all. I followed up with another email asking my that my concern be forwarded to the merits review for them to consider and let them know issue 3 was my biggest concern. Again no response. Last Tues reps sends an email stating legal turned down arbitration but nothing was said about the questions I had. He did not say if he forwarded my concerns for the merit review. I was not surprised arbitration was turned down about given how things have now turned and I also learned it was hard to get even under normal circumstances. So I replied asking for an appeal and got a reply which seems like the president of the local will arrange it. By the end the president was looped into the email chain.

So this is where I am. Not feeling great, I will try my best but honestly don't think the appeal will be approved. What saddens and frustrates me the most is having no recourse to get answers from my reps and even the president is not compelling it. And since it does not look like the rep violated anything in the contract and nothing says they have to give me explanations, it looks like they can keep ignoring my questions.

Despite this, I do believe in and support unions has an organization. I won't blame an institution b/c of questionable actions of a few people. My issues are with the people and not the institution b/c it's the people who are letting me down right now. Thanks for letting me vent guys.

“Our nurses endured the trauma of serving as the region’s primary trauma center during the COVID pandemic, and our emergency department now feels like a MASH unit nearly every day. We are all now dealing with the stress and moral injury of working in an environment that is not suited to support the level of care our patients need in these post-COVID years,” explained Ellen Smith, RN, co-chair of the MNA bargaining unit. “The message from our nurses with this vote was undeniable. UMass Memorial’s nurses are united, determined, and prepared to fight for the future of patient care at this hospital.”

Please stand in solidarity with our care takers against evil corporate greed!

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