Unions and Workplace Bullying: Some great information!
Kathy
Here are some situations that unfortunately often occur in workplaces:
Sally has been employed at the Board of Education for 15 years. Her
supervisor Jean, a former worker, feels threatened because Sally knows
more about the schools than she does. At least once a week Jean comes
over to Sally's work area and begins to criticize her work. She talks
in a very loud voice and tries to provoke Sally. She stays in the area
criticizing Sally, walking around looking at her work for upwards of
45 minutes at a time. Sally is thinking of quitting.
Ramon gets a sick feeling in his stomach every day before work. He
knows that his stress is caused by a fellow worker, Jeff, who harasses
him daily. Most workers are afraid of Jeff because he is big and loud.
He constantly talks about "going postal" and constantly picks on other
workers. He steals their lunches, throws things at them and shouts
vulgarities. He is friends with the supervisor and never gets
disciplined for his actions, even when workers complain.
Rachel works in a large hospital in the admitting room. In the last
month on three occasions she was assaulted and verbally threatened by
people in the waiting room. Her supervisor told her it is all part of
the job and to quit complaining.
Previous UE Stewards have dealt with the issues of racial and sexual
harassment, particularly the sticky problem of how to handle these
situations when the perpetrator is a Union member. This issue deals
with the problem of workplace bullies, those people who harass and
bother other workers. Like the problems of racial and sexual
harassment the perpetrators are usually management, but can also be
Union members. It also deals with the issue of workplace violence and
what is the Union's role in preventing violence and protecting our
members.
What Constitutes Workplace Bullying?
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) workplace bullying is one form of workplace violence, which
they describe as follows:
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE is any physical assault, threatening behavior or
verbal abuse occurring in the work setting. It includes but is not
limited to beatings, stabbing, suicides, shootings, rapes, near
suicides, psychological traumas such as threats, obscene phone calls,
an intimidating presence, and harassment of any nature such as being
followed, sworn at or shouted at.
In the year 2000 the "Campaign Against Workplace Bullying" did a
survey of workplaces and asked workers who had been the victims of
bullying why their harassers picked on them. Here are the top five
reasons:
Target refused to be subservient, resisted control.
Bully envied Target's competence in his/her work.
Bully envied Target's social skills, popularity, positive attitude.
The victim was a whistleblower and was retaliated against.
The cruel personality of the bully.
Not surprisingly most of the bullying was done by people who are in
higher positions at work than the people they picked on. The same
survey showed that:
81% of the time the bully ranked 1 or more levels above the victim.
14% were a peer or co-worker.
Only in 5% of the cases was the bully of "lower rank" than the victim.
The big problem with these surveys is that they don't refer to the
fact that most of the bullies are bosses, they are referred to as
being "higher in rank," but we know what they mean.
One very clear fact came through, most Personnel Managers don't do
anything to protect the victims of harassment. In 42% of the cases the
immediate boss of the harasser helped harass the victim or tried to
punish the victim rather then the harasser! Human Resource Managers
refused to help the victims in 51% of the cases despite repeated pleas
for help.
Signs of a Workplace Bully
Screaming/yelling, public attempts to humiliate, seeking to do battle
when and where she/he chooses, needs to compete and "win" to feel
good.
Controls all resources (time, budget, support, training) so as to
prevent you from being successful at your job, undermining, setting
you up to fail.
Constant, personal verbal assaults on your character, name calling,
belittling, zealous attention to unimportant details, committed to
systematic destruction of your confidence in your abilities.
Manipulates the impression others have of you, splits the work group
into taking sides, defames you with higher-ups and at next job,
killing your reputation.
Who is Responsible?
In the first place the employer is responsible to provide a safe work
environment. It is the job of the Union and the Stewards in particular
to make the employer live up to their responsibility.
It is the responsibility of the Union to defend the members from any
form of workplace bullying or violence. If the union learns of any
harassment or threat of violence the Union is obligated to protect
that member. To fail to do so would not only be morally wrong but
would be a violation of the Union's duty of fair representation.
Making the Employer Live Up to Their Responsibility
Grievances: If the bully is a member of management a grievance should
be filed. Remember that NIOSH defines workplace violence to include
verbal harassment. A grievance can be filed using the "health and
safety clause" or the "recognition clause" (the Union represents
members over all working conditions.) Sometimes the "no discrimination
clause" can be used if the harassment is tied to one of the prohibited
forms of discrimination.
Publicity: If the employer refuses to take the issue seriously the
Union may want to generate some publicity on the issue. An
informational picket line (where it is legal) or leaflet distribution
may prod the employer to take action.
File a complaint with OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety
Administration). Here is what OSHA says about the employer's
responsibility:
Employers have both a legal duty and a moral obligation to provide a
safe workplace. To prevent loss of life and injuries and to limit
financial losses and potential liability, employers should institute
policies and procedures to prevent violence from occurring in their
workplaces. These policies may include means to identify the potential
for violence, procedures to prevent the occurrence of violence and, in
the event prevention fails and an incident of violence occurs, plans
to respond and mitigate further damage.
Under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970, employers are required to
provide their employees with a place of employment that "is free from
recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or
serious harm to employees." This duty includes inspecting the
workplace to discover and correct a dangerous condition or hazard in
the workplace and to give adequate warning of its existence.
The OSHA General Duty Clause has been interpreted to mean that an
employer has a legal obligation to provide a safe workplace. An
employer that has experienced acts of workplace violence, or becomes
aware of threats, or intimidation or other potential indicators
showing that the potential for violence in the workplace exists or has
the potential to exist, would be on notice of the risk of workplace
violence and may be required to implement a workplace violence
prevention program.
Please note that the Union MUST notify the employer of the problem and
the employer has refused to act, before going to OSHA.
If the bully is a Union member?
Even if the problem is being caused by a Union member harassing
another Union member, the Union must still act. First it is best for
the Steward and Officer to investigate the situation, make sure all
the facts are in. If the investigation shows that there is indeed
harassment taking place, they must confront the bully and warn him/her
that their continued actions could lead to trouble. In these
situations it is best to have a witness.
If this fails then more workers, in a group, should notify the bully
that their behavior is unwanted. NEVER threaten the bully with
violence, that is playing their game. If the behavior continues then
management will have to be brought into the picture. This is not
always as simple as it seems. Remember the statistics. In 42% of the
cases the boss knew about the bullying and helped the bully. If
management does nothing to stop the harassment, then a grievance can
be filed against management.
Protecting Members from Assaults
UE Stewards and Officers should not wait for physical assaults to
happen before taking action. In those industries where UE members have
to deal with the public, an assessment should be made on the
likelihood of danger. The union should approach the employer with a
plan for safeguarding employees. This may be more lighting in parking
lots, more security guards, not working alone but in pairs, etc. DO
NOT wait for contract negotiations to present these proposals. The
employer has to live up to their obligations all the time, not just at
negotiation time.
Contract Language
All contracts should contain language that obligates the employer to
provide the workers with a safe and healthy workplace. Additions to
current clauses could include language that states that the employer
will also provide a workplace "free from harassment, violence or the
threat of violence."
Where clauses exist that make health and safety a "joint effort" it
should be clear that it is the employer that has the main obligation
to provide a workplace free from harassment, and violence.
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