Edmund-Dantes

The Dark Lord has been summoned. May Yog Sothoth help us all.

Hello Adam, I can’t tell you my name (for obvious reasons) but I can tell you I’m your “adversary.” I’m an HR manager for a very, very large large facility on the East Coast. I have a uniquely difficult job not because of what it is but rather who I am: a former Union employee, regular employee, member of Managment, and now HRM. It’s tough.
It’s tough because I am “you” who decided to go into Managment to fix companies from the inside and all these horror stories of “people over profit.” What started me into my position was a POS who said “if you think you can do better than me than try it.” So I did. 15 years later with an MA in HR, 12 hrs of Fortune 500 company managerial experience, and being able to understand the “other side” like no one can (because I’ve been there) I can confidently say I am better than most “pale, male, and stale” managers. And I can tell you this with 100% certainty: none of it fucking matters.

So long as there are share holders who pressure CEO’s who will then pressure VP’s, who will then pressure SVP’s, who will then pressure local Staff members/Regional Managers, who will then pressure Managers, who will then pressure Supervisors, who will then whip employees (you know, the ones who actually MAKE the product or conduct the service) it will always be the same. If you stand in the way of increasing that stock price you are a liability.

And the one unarguable fact that I’ve learned by being on both sides of the fence is that the Union is a double edged sword. It is absolutely invaluable in assisting employees. Absolutely invaluable. An employee is stronger with a Union that without. I am so so proud when an Pres or officer knows the law, handbook, and precedent at the local level because they are protecting their employee in a way that HR just can’t because a lot of times in those meetings the “good guys in Managment” can’t say anything because we’ve been told that once we leave the room we are a unified front whether we all agree or not. We just can’t. HR can speak up in the Managment meeting and inform of the same law and/or precedent that the Union will bring you but ONLY TO A POINT. To continue to push or protect the employee from our side will leave a person labeled as “challenging”, “difficult to work with”, or “obtuse.” Next thing you know that employee will suddenly develop “performance problems.” And then a person will resort back to basic instincts: I have a mortgage and none of these employees could give a shit about me so I am going to go with the flow...but continue to do good where I can as often as I can ie Pascals Wager. How sad is that.

Absolutely without question the Union is the best thing to happen to employees...and (almost) the worst. Unions end up becoming the same monster they despise: devolving over time into the same type of perverted model that companies metastasize into - exploitation, bribery, embezzlement, closed door deal making/horse-trading that benefits the Regionals or local Pres at the expense of right vs. wrong. (I even remember a Local Pres when I was a Union member who would give you a certain grade which would determine your pay rate with the company...if you just give him a small standard cash amount every month). I am speaking from experience. Have you ever wondered, “What are they doing or planning in there?” Well I’ve been in that room. I know. And what I wrote is what happens based upon the strategy developed in that room.

You see, the Union is a business too. They have a form 10K and their expenditures are public. When your Regional rep drives a Cadillac and has a $120k/yr salary (funded by the very same employees they promise to protect) it becomes an easy target for Union busting through Fox News style exploitation.

And me, I’m just sad because I invested a good bit of my life to be accepted into a position to try and make it better. I know of both sides and it really feels as if those who really want to make a paradigm shift can’t simply because of the set-up of how businesses work: self-preservation vs collective good. I.e would you suffer for me, and I for you? Regardless of what one would say our actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear the answer.

Let’s wrap this up Adam.

There are GREAT! labor law attorneys in NYC. You can PM me and I’ll give you the name for the asshole who keeps beating us (because he makes management answer the same fucking questions HR tried to ask in management meetings!). He is phenomenal. He is expensive and with it.

Please hang in there and keep fighting for the employees even though they don’t give a shit about you but rather what you can do for them. Separate the emotion from the greater good.

If you can figure all of this out, let me know how.

Take care sir.

What are your thoughts on just 6 corporations owning around 90% of the US media?

And for fun, are you able to say a single negative thing about your owner Jeff Bezos? If yes, try it here.

And coke.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird