My Labor Story

Working Conditions:
Most of us work to survive, and working conditions must be reasonable according to the expectations of the work and to the baseline of human rights. Those of us who grew up with a blue-collar family did not have a nest egg. I depended on hourly wages, subject to the will of the employer.

Before becoming a teacher, I worked a wide variety of customer service jobs: for bosses whom I myself had to train to do the work, for excessive hours closing late into the night followed by opening before dawn the next morning, for almost no hours at all, for unequal work to others working the same shift, for inhumane conditions such as denying water until I was able to produce a doctor’s note, for inconsistent expectations over time, for managers quick to punish and slow to mentor, and for employers who feel the union is a threat and resort to retaliation and targeting a worker.

Being a teacher is not far from blue-collar minimum wage labor. Often the boss does not know how to teach and places expectations beyond a reasonable workday in amount and infrequency of breaks, occasionally acts under false pretenses, and may even choose to treat an employee differently depending on their proximity to union power.

Standing Up to Power:
Union power is about standing up to the boss. Having grown up in a conservative environment, I learned not to “talk back.” I often let the playground bullies take advantage of me and simply did as my employers asked me to do, even when expectations were unreasonable.

While my education and growing moral compass led me to question things intellectually, my protest was mostly silent. Only gradually did I learn to find my voice at work.

It took until I experienced the working conditions above in the right combination, simultaneously, harshly, and after enough education, before I fought back.

Education as Social Mobility:
My family valued education first and foremost. Schooling was a basic need, like having a roof over your head and breakfast in your stomach, and my mom always saw to it I was ready to learn. Despite all the contradictory values within a capitalist mindset about preparation for the work force, the value of a day’s work, I saw public education as going to lead me to good things in the future, even if the conditions were less than ideal.

Employers value education at the same time as feel threatened by too much of it. I learned within both public education and private university higher education the critical reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills which at times got me into trouble, especially when those employers themselves were less educated than me, and especially when I was inexperienced with just how far an employer will go to save face.

Just Cause NOT Just ‘Cause:
Employees, regardless of their actions, should see the application of Schwartz’ Seven Tests of Just Cause in their workplace:

• Fair Notice – An employee needs to be aware of a specific rule and consequence;

• Prior Enforcement – The specific rule and consequence need to have been enforced;

• Due Process – Enforcement of a consequence requires a fair assessment of the situation;

• Substantial Evidence – The burden is on the employer to prove conduct violated a rule;

• Equal Treatment – The same consequence must apply to any employee with that conduct;

• Progressive Discipline – At minimum, a warning before serious consequence;

• Mitigating and Extenuating Circumstances – An employee’s spotless record and unreasonable working conditions should be taken into account.

At one of my blue-collar jobs before I became a teacher, I worked at an extraordinarily busy customer service desk in a challenging geographical area of Portland, serving the needs of a dozen different types and classes of customers. The desk was understaffed, shifts would change constantly from day to day and week to week, the bosses did not know how to do the work and could not help with long lines, and yet expectations for customer service were extremely high. I was corrected for not smiling enough, for reacting with nervous laughter when customers screamed at me, for answering phones when I should have prioritized the person in front of me, for prioritizing the person in front of me when I should have prioritized the phone, and for going too slow with transactions.

Due to the number of times I was sternly corrected for being too slow with transactions and told to “multi-task,” I was afraid I would be disciplined. It was unclear what the problem was with being slow and careful with the company’s money and what would happen if I ignored management’s commands (lack of Fair Notice), but I feared the worst. I began to go faster by doing multiple tasks at once and being less careful. One day, while alone behind the register, deprived of sleep from fluctuating shifts, with a long line of customers waiting, needing to take care of a customer in person and answer the phone at the same time, I accidentally put a decimal point in the wrong place on a register transaction (typing in $1.00 rather than $100.00). The next day, I was called into a meeting and told immediately of my offense: monetary loss of $99. I was suspended.

Co-workers were surprised at my consequence for a small monetary loss; other employees had not experienced that consequence (lack of Prior Enforcement and lack of Equal Treatment).

The disciplinary meeting involved no questions or assessment of what happened from my perspective (lack of Due Process).

While the employer claimed video and receipt evidence (Substantial Evidence), I received no warning before the consequence of suspension (lack of Progressive Discipline). Even though the offense was slight to a multi-billion dollar company, I had never been warned about a transactional error before, and managers and workers were heavily encouraged to keep customers happy even at the expense of company profit, the loss of company profit meant for me being suspended for three days without pay (more than twice the amount lost in profit).

Bosses watched us behind the register to the point that they could pinpoint a transactional error but could not themselves do the work and assist with the long lines; they could observe too slow of a transaction while having to be themselves trained with how to do said transactions. The expectation of perfection for their employees was maintained despite the imperfect conditions within which employees had to work (Mitigating and Extenuating Circumstances).

Consistency and Persistency:
Even at this inexperienced part of my life, I knew I was being treated unfairly. At the same time, I felt powerless to do anything and understood I was at the whim of my employer. They were required to hand me a union card at my suspension meeting and I used it; however, the power of the union was at this time unclear.

My co-workers understood I was being treated unfairly. They helped me reach the customer who was glad to pay back the company for the money which was not their own. The union assured me the company no longer having a monetary loss meant my record would be wiped clean and I could return to work right away.

However, my employer did not believe in due process. Bosses cited a lack of ‘professionalism’ as a reason to punish me more. They changed their side of the story of my suspension, changed my return date to work without warning and the purposes of meetings to avoid me having adequate union representation, cited policies which did not exist or were not enforced, required me to sign documents to return to work which were not actually required, resisted providing copies of documentation, and even cited an illogical and non-existent ‘overtime’ policy which prevented me from working more than a single day the week of my return and thereby increased the suspension time. Furthermore, since I had called for union representation before, at, and after these meetings, my employer responded with retaliation. I was not allowed to talk with my co-workers about my story; I was silenced again and again.

I documented everything which was happening and sent the narrative to my union representatives. Ultimately, my documented narrative, persistency in keeping with these issues, and the strength of my representation resulted in not only my record being wiped clean and a return of lost wages but ultimately a policy change at the company. Now, the company policy requires progressive discipline for small monetary losses. I no longer felt like a victim. My union representatives and I were victorious.

Understanding Complexity:
I know how to read employee documents and company policy. On my “extra” suspension time from the supposed ‘overtime’ policy (double jeopardy), I had the opportunity to search through all the policies and documents from when I was hired and could within the story of the employer delineate lies from truth.

When I was being asked to sign documents, I was aware of what they were saying and the consequences of signing them. As managers were reacting in a retaliatory manner, I understood what they were doing while they were doing it. I understood the employer’s actions were going to make it hard to transfer and find better working conditions.

Acting with Purpose:
Having already seen education as strengthening my skills and own social mobility, I went into teaching to create a learning environment which would lead to that outcome for the next generation too. I care about students, about our future global citizenry having the critical thinking skills to stand up to power and injustice (especially in Speech & Debate), about their preparation for an unjust world while in a safe place to fail, and about teaching in a collaborative school community who supports and challenges one another to create the best conditions for our students.

I plunged myself head-first into union work because I see the working conditions my colleagues are under which prevent a supportive, challenging, and collaborative school environment, and I want to do all I can to act. It is the obligation of the strong to give a voice to the vulnerable.

Listening and Being Present:
In everything from my own upbringing and education, to my customer service jobs, onto now my teaching, coaching, and union work, I pride myself as a listener who is truly present for others. I never wish to act without understanding all perspectives, asking good questions at good times, and if I do act without full understanding and learn something was missed, to correct missteps. Growing into the responsibility of a democratic decision-maker means understanding the gap between power and vulnerability: seeking to clear obstacles, open information, and close the gap so all people feel heard, valued, and empowered.

I especially stand up for new teachers and classified staff who are most likely paid the least, given the most work, have the least education on their employee rights, and are least likely to use their voice to fight back.

Standing Up for Others:

New Teachers: I use my experience in poor working conditions, of being taken advantage of, of being deceived and catching the deceptions and the inconsistencies, of being dismissed and silenced, to now stand up for others persistently. In education and in labor unions, we have a great deal of bureaucracy and rules those in higher positions may use against us.

For example, as a building rep, I hosted new member hospitality events and listened to new teachers, working within the system to fight back against inequitable conditions. While administration and local union leadership believed equitable duty and prep time had been given to all teachers, some staff were on a freshman “team” with minutes for required meetings and tasks. I learned through listening, reading the contract, and doing my own calculations, allocations of minutes between team and non-team teachers were not equitable. Up the chain of command, I took the member concerns and another union representative. Administration believed each team had a choice of their allocation of minutes, but through listening to the members, teams felt they had been pressured to accept a plan which would supposedly better meet the needs of their students. Teams felt it was a false choice. Until I brought up the issue, administration had been unaware of this false choice. Their awareness then led them to redo and restart conversations around meeting times and lengths. The administration thanked me for bringing the issue to them. New members felt better afterward they had their concerns expressed, a real choice in the matter, and more of their minutes back into their prep to complete their workload. In this matter, new members had a voice.

Classified Staff: Our schools do not start and end with teachers. Our classified staff—our bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, technicians, and nutrition workers—need us. Teachers are comparatively privileged. Classified staff may be on food stamps making barely enough to survive. We need to stand with them. Fight for them and with them. On multiple occasions in front of the Reynolds School Board, with no one from my union telling me it was right or wrong, just my own conscience, I have spoken up and stood with our classified staff. Our school districts need to take ownership for all of us, take ownership for the impacts on every aspect of our students’ school experience.

Better Teaching and Learning Conditions: The worse our budget becomes, the more I want to step in and fight for something better. The worse the impact of our budget on staff and students, the more I want to stand up and “talk back,” in a sense. The worse our teaching workload becomes, the more I want to rise to the occasion and stand up for our rights and our students’ rights. Wherever this path takes me, labor is my calling.

Our Union: The rock of hierarchies of which I have found myself on the underside has not been unique to the management side; the more invested I am in union work, the more I see the same patterns of thinking arise in our own union. Our own union can develop the toxicity of school district bosses, if we let it. “We can’t replicate the systems we’re trying to dismantle,” a wise Portland union president recently said. Let all of us in labor listen.

The boss may have the power, but the union—at least in its most democratic and member-centered form—will take that power back. Solidarity.