Fighting For Us All

Trying to fight injustice for a group of employees. Their backbones turned to mush after I aired our complaint in a group meeting. Some names changed to keep me from being sued. True story.

 I always believed in fighting for the the underdog. I did it in elementary school long, long ago when it was unheard of to look, talk or be any different from the next kid. There was a chubby boy who was bullied by the other kids and I was sick of it! I suppose it did help that I was a tomboy and the other kids knew that I would back my play. During one of his torture sessions from the other kids, I spoke up loudly, telling them to knock it off. I let them know it was old and if they wanted to play that game, they could go through me first. They looked at me like I was a very strange specimen, indeed, but they left him alone after that.

Fast forward twenty-five years and I was working in a warehouse doing work I loved. It was the type of work I had been doing for six years, but with a new employer.

It was lunch time and many of us were in the break room. Someone began talking of there being a big move of our company to a bigger building across town. Bruce said the move was to be the following weekend. We, normally, worked Monday through Friday, but I said, "Well, it's a b***h having to work the whole weekend, but I could use the overtime."

I heard a few titters, then Bruce said, "Overtime? Overtime, hell, we aren't getting paid straight time! You all be sure to show up!"

I told Bruce, "Wait! If I have to work, I have to pay a babysitter. The owner of this company expects us to work the whole weekend without pay? That isn't right!"

Everyone agreed it wasn't right, they were upset and so was I. 

I announced that I was going to talk to the owner, Mr. Jackson, before the weekend.

Everyone nodded at me and I asked if they would back me up, as to how we all felt. 

Everybody nodded, enthusiastically, some saying, "Sure, right!"

Being thrown to the wolves never felt so good!

A few days later, it was announced that there would be a meeting of everyone before the move to discuss logistics. 

Perfect, I thought.

At the time of the meeting, we all gathered in a big room. We sat down and the owner began talking of the move;who would be where and what they would be doing. After the assignments, Mr. Jackson asked if there were any questions.

I raised my hand, he acknowledged me and I stood up. " Mr. Jackson, a few of us have to pay babysitters for the weekend and we were wondering if we are getting paid for the weekend move." 

He looked at me and his face looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. The room was unbelievably quiet. Mr. Jackson looked around at my fellow coworkers and they all hung their heads. Not one person would look at him. He exploded!

"Is that what you all want"?? I looked at him and nodded, but I was alone. Then, he said, " Well, maybe you all better decide if you want paid sick days and paid holidays!" 

(We had one paid holiday a year and four paid sick days. It was on the low end of the benefits pole for the times.)

He muttered and he sputtered, but never answered my question. He ended the meeting.

The next day, I was working amongst the shelves, when I saw Mr. Jackson. He approached me with an unreadable face. Then, he said that he had thought about what I had said at the meeting and he would pay us to work the weekend. I smiled and told him, "Thank you."

Then he said, "I'm paying you all straight time. None of that over time or double time crap!"

I figured I'd accept this small victory. 

As he turned to walk away, he said, " But, from now on, employees benefits don't begin until they've been here for six months, instead of 90 days."

I looked at his retreating back and thought, " You son of a b***h!"

I had been working there for two and a half months.

I was the only employee it affected!

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

this must have been from a while ago ... or now with a little Nazi owner-operator ... you should feel very proud of yourself for standing up ..especially in your growing years ... i know that my opportunities to take the side of an underdog have "came and went" .. and i am ashamed of myself because of it .. tho i got better at it after grade school ... high school we did have each others backs .. we get stronger doing "the right thing" ... may i assume you found a better company to work for after all that? ... love and peace!
E.

[Barbara Walker]

Yes, it was about 32 years ago. I didn't work there, even a year. When I gave him my notice, he said,"What do they have that we haven't got?" I'm sure he was sorry he asked me that question!

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahah! good for you young lady!! :)

[❀ Gabriela ..]

Oh my!! I am glad you stood up to that horrible man, what a jerk! At least you have a good story out of the experience, I very much enjoyed reading this!:)

[Barbara Walker]

Thank you!

[Emily]

I like this story!
Keep it up!!

[Barbara Walker]

Thank you!

[TL Boehm]

There was a time when this kind of behavior was attempted. And I actually worked for someone who - because I was salaried, actually had us move on a weekend without pay. AAAAAND. When I asked for vacation time (I had four weeks accrued but as the accountant - it was difficult for me to actually take the time off) the owner asked me how much time I had. I told hm and he said "that's too much I need to talk to someone and get that changed" So the policy was changed and I lost a week of vacation time. I was in the administrative dept and not the operations department - those in that dept got to accrue up to four weeks but admin were dropped to three. We also lost two days of sick time. So, for me this is believable.

[Barbara Walker]

That was a raw deal, especially making it retroactive. I can remember bussing tables as a teenager and at the end of your shift, they wanted people to clock out, then come finish closing up for up to thirty minutes. Way back in the day! Thank you for the review!

[The Realist]

There is no point in trying to stand up for people if they are not willing to help you face the consequences with you. No offence but your fellow co-workers are pretty weak, to not stand by you. but i applause to you personally for standing up for yourself and the others, especially when they stayed the hell down during the meeting.

[Barbara Walker]

Yeah, that's why I specifically asked them if they would back me up. If I had known they were all going to punk out on me, I would have met with the owner privately. Thank you for reading my story!

[The Realist]

Your very much welcome.

[Coyote Poetry]

Years ago my mother stood up for others and she got fired also. Your story happens often. Sad part, thanks to two weak presidents. Big business got stronger. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Barbara Walker]

Thank you Johnnie!

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome my friend.

[Davidgeo]

First sentence, you have a stray "he" that needs to be deleted.

More "standing up to the man" stories... it's been a theme lately.

Completely unbelievable. An employer would risk huge lawsuits and massive fines by demanding you move COMPANY property without being paid? Ha.... That's laughable, saving a couple grand by risking several million and the financial welfare of a company? Nah, not likely. Even a complete moron would understand he is risking his entire company for a really s****y reason.

Also, why would he specifically tell you about his change to employee benefits? Even if he was singling you out no one would be so stupid as to make it that obvious. He's just put that s**t in a memo or address you as a group. Again, the way you wrote it --- lawsuit.... a huge one.

Even for fiction this is not a believable story, therefore.... I don't like it. Sorry. The writing was fine though... you got that going on at least.

[Barbara Walker]

I guess this goes under the truth is stranger than fiction catagory . I've often said that "I could write a book, but no one would believe it. I've lived it and I can't believe it!" I guess he banked on everyone being so afraid to be without a job for any amount of time, keeping people from doing anything. To top it off, when I left there for a better job, he had the gall to ask me what could be better than working at his fine establishment. " What do they have that we haven't got?" When I readily began listing off many items, he shut the #%@& up! Thanks for reading. I do appreciate it.

[Davidgeo]

Ha... yeah. I've got some stranger than fiction things myself, I know what you mean. I should of said, IF it's fiction is not believable. It's a bizarre thing sometimes when reality departs from our expectations. It's probably why most young people are so f*****g happy all the time.

[Barbara Walker]

Ha! I could take that two ways-either you're being sarcastic (oh, no, not YOU) or you haven't seen how clueless many of them are. I do like me some sarcasm. In my head, I think I am more sarcastic than anyone knows! Keeps me sane. I am sane, aren't I?!

[Davidgeo]

It's whatever you want it to be.

[Shannon]

And since it applied to everyone who had been there under three months (just you), its all fair, right? Nice connecting of two stories.

[Barbara Walker]

Thank you for reviewing S. Mi.

[Matching Socks]

Hmm. So no one spoke up at all. Gotta love when people have your back and then back away. Still, you have to stick up for yourself.

[Barbara Walker]

Thanks for reading Ana. I wrote this for a contest and think I forgot to submit it. yeah its ok no one spoke up. I would have done it anyway

[Matching Socks]

You're welcome.

Maybe you can still submit? :)