To Avoid Criticism
Do Nothing, Say Nothing,
Be Nothing.
Elbert Hubbard.
Organizing. Member organizing. Service Employees International Union, Local 503 made a decision several years ago to build our Union by Member Organizing. It was discussed amongst the true believers; I am sure there was some debate. Unions do not seem to make any decisions without arguing it from all sides. (Some call it democracy.)
Member organizing is really a pretty simple idea. The people who have the greatest knowledge about the work they do . . . are the workers. They know how the work is performed. They know where the work is performed. They know the best way to get the work done, if the rest of the world will stay out of the way. These people should organize.
The workers also have the most to gain by effective organization. Good organizations provide a framework that fits the workers, their lives and their workplaces. Good labor organizations find a way to speak with one voice for many. The purpose of that one voice is to carry a message to those we work with. The well crafted message will voice what the workers require, not just to work, but to work happily, to work efficiently.
I ask that each member of ODOT Local 730 get organized. We each get organized to come to work: pack a lunch; wear appropriate clothing; choose transportation. In the same way we need to organize to belong to a strong Union: study our contract; elect our own workers to represent our needs; bargain & negotiate wisely for our future.
In a strong Local all members will read and seek to understand their contract, their collective bargaining agreement. Effective Locals teach their managers what the contract means and firmly insist that all abide it.
Members with an eye to the future form an opinion. Those who labor for their family and the public interest learn about the issues in their communities. They Vote. They elect persons who will carry forward their concerns to their community, the legislature and the Union.
Elders in our Local will teach the new employee that strong Unions make for strong communities with good wages and healthy families. Some members will step forward to work for all.
I am not asking that all members become stewards. Do get to know your steward. There should be a steward on every crew, elected by you, the crewmembers.
The staff of SEIU 503, OPEU is a vast resource.
Member Organizing. Rank & File members doing Quality work for our State and our communities.
mac
^^^
Elbert Hubbard, an American, lived from 1856 - 1915. A writer, publisher and philosopher, he was influential in the arts and crafts movement. Much of his writing illustrated people doing for themselves.
Other quotes attributed to him:
“Responsibility is the price of freedom.” and
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
mac
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5 comments:
"They know the best way to get the work done, if the rest of the world will stay out of the way." This sentiment is rather self serving, and self aggrandizing if you stop and think about it. Why do we need a legislature or a Governor if this view is correct? Why does ALL of America's economic engine utilize an organizational design in which management directs labor?
There are many socialist thinkers and of course, all anarchist philosphers who believe we do not need either.
Most of America's economic engine are owned or were started by the capital of one person or a few. I believe that our organizational model looks like that economic engine rather than like a public service entity. Our government agencies are certainly not modeled on the democratic principles we claim our system is founded upon. Indeed, many in our society argue that public service is not necessary, that all entities should generate profit.
I believe that profit motive and public service seldom work toward the same goals. In my experience profit seeking elevates self while public service ethic places others before self.
ODOT has experimented with a more worker regulated system. I did not work in Region 4 during the period of self managed crews. I have talked to many who did. It is my belief that many of the crews were very successful. There was still a management structure. The management role was scaled back to more of counsel and support. There were also crews who famously failed. My opinion of the result of this is that the fix was to throw the baby out with the bath-water. Management did not (or could not) fix the failing crews when those crews could not help themselves. The whole system was thrown out and reverted to something more familiar.
In my area of Region 5 the TEAMS system that was inplace did not place the manager so far distant. However, the crews were to be more involved in the day to day planning of work. Many managers and coordinators openly stated that they did not support the TEAMS process. They climbed the work place ladder to make the decisions and give the orders. They did not like sharing responsibility with ordinary crewmembers. TEAMS is not even discussed anymore.
ODOT has its share of people who do not share information well with those they work with. They are not comfortable with trusting crewmembers with decision making responsibilies.
To tie this back to labor organizing and Unions, many of those people who cannot or will not share responsibility, also do not trust workers to make their own decisions. In many ways our labor contract, the collective bargaining agreement set limits on those who would make all my decisions for me; without regard for my experience, sometimes without regard for my safety.
I was around during the ODOT experiment with TEAM development. It was then Director Forbes who put that process in place. He hired team development specialists and he hired process facilitators and he pushed it down our throats whether we liked it or not. I remember having to attend team training and I remember what happened to anybody that did not like everything they were saying to us. Then he nominated himself for a national award and he left ODOT. All the top managers he left behind are now gone because they could not get along with the next layer of management who they had treated so poorly. What I leaarned from that experience is that even a good idea can be a bad thing depending on how you go about implementing it. Life is all about balance. A level effort without coercion or compulsion will generatre more acceptance than will an effort that is characterized by fanatics pushing their agenda on people who just want to come to work and do their job. Yes, there were some very good things about team development at ODOT. Unfortunately, it was implemented so poorly by those in charge that the experiment died and left a very bad taste in everybody's mouth. Nobody should be making decisons without regard to your safety. I'm just saying that a manager who has got an engineering degree and years of experience probably has some ideas about how things should be done. I am not an engineer but I have a lot of hands on experience. I offer my opinion on how things should be done. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don't. I don't know what he knows, but I give him credit for the education and experience he has that I do not. I respect authority because I do not want to come to work in chaos. If you are saying that public service should be modelled after a democracy where decisons are made by the majority, I do not see how that works when responsibility for failure rests with the guys at the top alone. ODOT fails dramatically in a very public way and it is the Director's head that rolls. If he has that responsibility shouldn't he have the authority to pick the people he wants to make the decisions? And to your point of view, the people the Director picks to make those decisions are foolish if they do not consult the people who actually do the work to get their perspective. After consulting them, he makes a decison which should be respected. I respect what you are saying and I am just suggesting a more middle of the road approach that's not much different than the way it sounds you want to be treated yourself. Just my opinion ....
Thank you for your opinion and your work. This is the purpose of this blog. For members to talk about issues.
I am a realist. I know where I work and I desire the best for ALL who work here and the public that we serve.
Remembering that the original intent of the Member Organizing post was to encourage ODOT Local 730 members to become informed. My intent was also to show my coworkers that Member Organizing is logical because those members know best what the priorities are.
In my service, I have been fairly fortunate with regard to my immediate managers. In my experience I know not all employees have been so fortunate. And as an officer, who hears and represents folks statewide, I hear plenty of examples of poor leadership.
It is our desire that members are empowered to speak up when necessary, and provide Quality public services to Oregonians.
I am not a union leader but I also hear from my crew and other crews plenty of examples of supposed poor leadership. However, it is my experience that when you peel away the layers of the onion oftentimes you just find sour grapes at the core of it. As a practice, I listen to everything with a grain of salt and I look for myself before I take somebody else's word for it. If I have a beef with my manager I can talk to him and we work it out.
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