Hey Underdogs!
Welcome back to Dog Eat Dog Chronicles, a space for people of all walks of life who are sick and tired of being sick and tired of the toxic nature of life on the J.O.B. You know - this toxic work environment is a status quo that has been allowed to fester and at times it has even been outright encouraged by the Top Dogs! And no! I’m not talking based on hearsay!
Have you ever gotten up and showed up at work armed with ethics, morals, professionalism, integrity- you know- all the traits of a “model employee” – and you’ve had to work through so many traumatic episodes that you were forced to have a serious discussion with yourself? You might have said, “Self! Of all the human experiences that you could have cherry-picked to pursue on this here earth, WHY would you CHOSE to learn lessons from the most TOXIC workplaces and coworkers who lack the entirety of moral compasses?!” Hopefully you didn’t expect Yourself to offer up an explanation. I can only hope Yourself didn’t. Perhaps you’ve eventually found consolation in the knowledge that “everything happens for a reason” and you do possess “free will” to turn your “mess into a message”.
I’m Thera Justice, your faithful Voice of the Underdogs bringing to you the first chapter of “Tales from the Pound” – an avenue for all my FELLOW UNDERDOGS to anonymously or openly share your stories of real-life toxic work drama and how you dealt with it, if at all!
Most of us are primarily interested in pursuing lives of dignity. Working and earning money allows us (delicate cough) or should allow us to do just that. We’ve suffered through enough of the BS at work! When we spend most of our waking hours at work, we shouldn’t have to go home all hot and bothered and have our families walk on eggshells all weekend because some Dweeb slept through Leadership 101. Come on now – Maya Angelou said when you know better, do better.
Let’s pounce right in…
I returned to the Caribbean shortly after completing my undergraduate degree in the U.S. I was extremely excited to resume island life; hit the beach, catch up with friends and family. It’s bizarre, though, when I’m at home in the Caribbean, I take for granted all the things I claim to miss. After a few days of immersing myself in island living and the novelty wears off, I am oh so willing to sleep in and turn down offers to participate in a random family outing. Go figure! Anyway – after a few weeks of job hunting I landed a position with an organization with a regional presence.
I decided to embrace this new opportunity because during the interview – you know the part where you ask the hiring manager, “what’s it like to work here…?” And she chirps a little too enthusiastically, “we’re like a little family!” I was sold! I mean who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to work with a team who was like family!? And I come from a close knit, loving family.
Imagine my shock a few months later when two of my newly acquired family members were engaged in physical combat outside of the HR Manager’s office? AND during a staff meeting one of the Shop Stewards who was holding the company accountable got on said HR Manager's nerves and she had to be physically restrained by a Senior Manager lest she throttle him. These incidents, if nothing else, should have highlighted to me the kind of family I’d just signed myself over to.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s stick a pin here. We’ll revisit this working with family situation later. Undoubtedly though, it was here that I would work with some pretty awesome individuals. Years later, I can boast of forging friendships with two amazing people.
So, my job proved to be an exciting experience because no two days were ever the same. Due to the nature of my responsibilities, I would get to spend lots of time out in the field essentially escaping the confining walls of the office. There would be stakeholder meetings to finalize major collaborative projects; motorcades to promote an event or product offering; branding venues for sponsored events; attending said sponsorship events that could stretch on for hours especially during the festive seasons; attending career day fairs at various schools across the island – it was always refreshing to show students that there were endless career possibilities. You know – while lawyers, doctors and accountants absolutely play vital roles in our communities, other professions are just as essential.
Spending time in the office was just as crucial and would consist of inter-department meetings, scripting ads, recording interviews, conducting competitor research, preparing and proof-reading media releases…
You know - I really tried containing this random thought but oopsie. I would never grasp why my boss – the head of an ENTIRE company with a few branches scattered across the island, was not able to differentiate the use of:
THEIR - the possessive pronoun, as in “THEIR car is blue”. THERE - an adjective, “she is always THERE for me”; adverb – “start right THERE” or noun – “get away from THERE” (based on its use) and the contraction THEY’RE/THEY ARE – “they’re going shopping”.
But you know how it goes…making others look good is an Underdog superpower so…check that of the list of things to do. You’re welcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with customers who I had met while performing field duties. They’d feel a lot more comfortable interacting with someone they could readily “put a face to”.
AND let’s not forget that controversial brute “any other duties that may be assigned from time to time”. I resent that obscure duty. It’s almost like never really knowing just when I would be suddenly responsible for pulling bunnies from magic hats. Or washing my boss’s underwear. Or staking out a wondering spouse. And sure enough, it always appears at the end of the otherwise carefully crafted list of duties, almost as an afterthought.
The company's hierarchy of reporting relationships flowed from the General Manager, Department Managers, Middle Managers (would include all supervisors), and then came the general employee population. My position categorized me as a Middle Manager. Being a Middle Manager meant that I bore more responsibility, but I was not necessarily compensated more than the general employees - even with a university degree.
You may be wondering well that’s odd – how could that be?
You see - the amazing thing is that the general employees were all members of one of the most powerful trade unions on the island. That meant of course they contributed to union dues – duh! But more significantly, their collective interests were being negotiated and secured. Guess what!? Neither Senior nor Middle Managers had the protection of union representation. You may be thinking that the managers were automatically “better off” than their subordinates. Wrong. Union represented employees were guaranteed, to list but a few of the benefits that they were entitled: overtime pay; annual economic increases – you know, to offset increased cost of living; uniforms and when those were not delivered as agreed upon, they were guaranteed compensation for loss of use; pension and group health benefits…you get the picture.
Well, to cut a long story short, it appears that for years, this disparity in benefits was a bone of contention among the middle management group. You see, a general employee and a supervisor could be required to complete a project that would take them into overtime work. When that happened, the general employee would often take home more pay at the end of the pay period. The sticking point was the Middle Managers were FEARFUL to pursue any corrective course of action. I suppose they felt they would be betraying the trust of the company leaders. Oh, the irony.
I do know there were some who had started to hold SECRET talks with the union. I know what you’re thinking. And NO! I was not among this initial group of conspirators. Nonetheless, despite the “freedom of association” law that allows an individual the right to seek voluntary union representation – my colleagues were quite aware THAT would not have been a welcomed move on the part of the Top Dogs. However, given my prior involvement and knowledge of what I stood to gain from being a unionized employee, I was all in. I was sick of the dog treatment.
Remember I mentioned those SECRET talks that the union representatives were having with some of the Middle Managers…? Well, those were one-on-one meetings or telephone conversations that generally took place outside of working hours so that the union could gauge the level of interest among the middle managers. They were also very concerned about not placing potential members in compromising positions or sabotaging the mission at hand. After some time, they became confident that they had buy-in from the majority of the team. We were well on our way to securing some much needed and improved benefits. Or so we thought.
Have you ever worked in an organization where junior staff would cozy up to the senior managers? That one employee would hitch daily lifts to work with the manager. They’d have lunch together. What if that senior manager oversaw Human Resources? You guessed it! Confidential information is almost always shared. You want to make another guess? Of course! Somehow those SECRETS always got filtered throughout the organization. And we’d all somehow be in the loop. Well, in this case the information sharing happened to go in the reverse order. The Top Dogs were privy to what the Underdogs were up to.
Naturally, once they learned what we were up to they tried their best to squash it – almost in the same way you’d get rid of fleas. They were ruthless. The regional top dogs moved in on their prey like hyaenas out to secure their next meal. An emergency meeting was called. They said they’d heard through the grapevine what we were up to, and they were disappointed that we felt the need to sneak behind their backs. They implored us to please give them a chance to make things right – don’t go ahead with our plans. Right there and then I knew my rights were being violated and the company stood to benefit more from our inaction. But I wasn’t interested. We’d come too far to turn back now. But we knew we were being cornered and needed to break free.
You see, earlier that year, the company ended employment relationships with most of its contract staff. Their contracts were simply not renewed upon expiration. This resulted in many of the permanent employees experiencing panic as they thought their positions with the company would have also been affected. At this point, rumors started to fly like birds out of the unknown. The Top Dogs assured us there were no plans to reduce the permanent staff complement. Despite this reassurance most of the members of staff openly expressed experiencing low morale and felt that the management of the company could not be trusted. After all, they knew it was inconceivable for sheep to talk of peace with wolves.
Several weeks later, a meeting was called by the General Manager. She was interested in finding out how staff felt about the recent staff downsizing exercise. She then related that she’d heard rumors of the junior management team being interested in seeking union representation and asked us to confirm if this was true. Of course, no one provided confirmation. She later advised that she was available if anyone felt they needed to speak to her privately. We were fast learners, so we’d already figured out this wolf climbing the hill was way hungrier than the pack of wolves already basking on the hill.
We later learned that the other Middle Managers were called in to meetings of a similar nature by their respective department heads. They later confirmed providing a list of areas where they thought the company ought to make improvements.
In a shocking turn of events, one Middle Manager stated it was felt that Managers were treated unfairly, and their concerns fell on deaf ears. There was no one to look out for our interests and that could be a reason for Managers giving thought to being unionized. I felt she was talking way too much. Unbothered, she whined on that it was the feeling that precedence had been set when several perks which were previously enjoyed were taken away. Those claims were supported by specific examples of the company acting in bad faith.
You see, several years prior, this regional company acquired a locally owned company. The employees were all provided with letters stating that all benefits they enjoyed under the previous company would remain in place. In little or no time, it was obvious that the new company had no intention of honoring their well-documented words. This was the main driver behind the decision that the Middle Management team should seek union representation. The lack of trust.
My colleague then volunteered that WE were working with a DEADLINE by which to join the union.
I remember becoming rather upset that she would say this OPENLY to the Senior Management team. You see, up to that date the Middle Managers had NOT met in a formal or informal setting to DECIDE on a way forward. We all felt that making such an ANNOUNCEMENT was PREMATURE and could prove COSTLY for all concerned. Besides, NO ONE had designated this lady the mouthpiece for the Middle Management group. Alas, it’s always a silly sheep that makes the wolf her confessor.
Naturally, the Top Dogs informed that the company could not make the decision whether Managers should be unionized but warned that confidentiality and disciplining staff in our care would become problematic. They insisted the team becoming unionized would become uncomfortable for both sides and warned there were other methods in which our collective voices could be heard. We were then asked to give the company a three-month grace period to make good on their promise of improved conditions. The majority of the team agreed. I wasn’t fooled and felt it was a terrible move on our part. By now it was clear we weren’t dealing with wolves in sheep’s clothing; we were up against wolves in wolves’ clothing.
A few weeks later we were summoned to another meeting where the General Manager provided a brief update on a few outstanding issues and quickly cut to the chase to the matter on hand – they wanted to know if we had made a decision about joining a trade union. Again, no one provided confirmation.
A few days following this meeting a few of us felt that we were really wasting time by granting the company a grace period. By this time six of us had completed membership application forms and submitted to the union headquarters. We knew what needed to be done. The other members of our team had requested another meeting so that we could all be on the same page and unified in our decision to move forward. Once this was established, the remaining Middle Managers advised they would complete their outstanding forms at this meeting for submission. That meeting was scheduled for November 16th at 9:00 am. I left our gathering with a dreaded suspicion these were the very individuals responsible for the pain and suffering of the entire subgroup of employees for over twenty years!
Week of November 8th
A union representative started contacting us individually in order to get the forms signed as they wanted to finalize the outstanding issue of representation.
Monday November 14th
I reported to work as usual. Just as I was leaving the office few minutes after 5:00 pm I was informed by my immediate boss that I was required to fill in for her at a presentation the following day as she was unsure what time she would be coming into her office and that it was highly unlikely that she would even report to work at all on that day.
Tuesday November 15th
I reported to work and facilitated the presentation as previously arranged. Upon completion, I returned to office. When I got there I noticed a few Senior Managers hastily making their way off the compound. When I entered the building, a junior member of staff jested that “something big seems to be going down because “they” (the Senior Management team) were summoned to a meeting off site.
Later that day I was informed “in confidence” by a colleague that the local top dogs were “summoned to a secret meeting with the “TOP” Top Dog - the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer. I was told the intelligence was legit because the Human Resources Manager - YUP - the same one who had so sweetly convinced me that I would be working with family – had confided in her close friend - a Middle Manager aka MOLE about this meeting. But you know what they say about talking to a best friend who has another best friend...
Well of course speculation was rife as no one knew why THE TOP Top Dog could be visiting undercover, but it was immediately assumed that the actions of the senior managers could only spell bad news. I completed my duties and left for home around 5:30 that afternoon. I had received no communication from my immediate supervisor all that day.
Wednesday November 16th
I proceeded to my desk where I started on my routine tasks. I read emails and provided the necessary responses, contacted vendors and sponsors for an upcoming promotion. I liaised with a few associates regarding a key community development project I had worked on from inception. I was proud of it and the fact that it would uplift the lives of vulnerable people.
Of significance, I also received a few phone calls from other Middle Managers who wished to confirm the time of our meeting planned for that day as conflicting meeting requests were sent to them. I phoned my colleague who was the chairperson of the meeting (the HR Manager’s buddy) to obtain confirmation. She advised that she needed to confirm the time and would get back to me soonest. True to her word, she contacted me within five minutes to inform me that our meeting was postponed until further notice, since the Senior Management team would be meeting with us at 10:00 am that day.
Around 8:30 the company mobile phone assigned to me started buzzing frantically. When I checked it, I saw a message from my colleague (my now lifelong friend) informing me that she had just been summoned to the HR Manager’s office. She was advised her job had been made redundant with immediate effect. She was clearly typing frenetically because there were barely any pauses in between the messages telling me that she was being escorted to her office to gather her personal effects and was ushered to a waiting taxi and seen off the compound. She informed me that she was quite shaken, and she really didn’t understand what had just taken place. I told her that her attempt of jesting was not funny, and she should stop at once. I did not believe what she had just told me. We had a good working relationship, and I didn’t want to dismiss that she would play a cruel practical joke on me even though it was not April 1st!
At a few minutes to 9 that morning, the telephone extension assigned to me rang. It was the HR Manager phoning. When I answered she asked me to come down to her office immediately. She did not indicate why she was phoning me. When I got there, the General Manager and one of the regional Top Dogs were also seated there. I was asked to have a seat. I was immediately informed that the company was undergoing a restructuring exercise and was downsizing. I was selected from my department to be sent home with immediate effect. I was informed that I was required to immediately surrender any company property in my possession such as keys, mobile phone etc and that I was to be escorted to my desk to clear my personal possessions. I would then be escorted off the company’s compound.
They said if I lacked transportation then they could call a taxi to take me off the compound to wherever I needed to go. I was given a letter and told to sign it as acknowledgment for receipt.
At this point I think I was having an out of body experience and none of what had just happened made any sense to me. I had just been terminated and I couldn’t imagine what I could have done wrong. I had no disciplinary warnings or letters on my file. My performance appraisals were exemplary. I could now identify with what my friend was trying to communicate to me earlier.
After signing the letter, the General Manager said I needed to give them the company’s mobile phone which I had in my hand at the moment. I advised her calmly that I had stored personal contacts on the device, and I would need to save them elsewhere. She advised that it was not possible as I needed to give the phone up right away. I replied to her in that case I would prefer to restore the factory settings. She called another senior manager responsible for the I.T. department to complete this task.
She later led me out of the HR Manager’s office straight to my desk where she informed me that I was only required to shut down the device and collect my personal possessions and leave the compound. She led me back outside and saw me through the gate and off the compound.
Everything happened so quickly. My second friend at work who was in a state of absolute shock started walking towards the exit with me. At this point, the General Manager asked him, “are you leaving as well?” According to Lecrae, evidently, a wolf is no less a wolf because she's dressed in sheepskin.
I realized a few minutes later that I had forgotten a few of my personal notebooks in a drawer and attempted to go back to get them. I was told by the security officer on duty that she was instructed not to allow me back on the compound under any circumstance. I felt extremely humiliated and embarrassed. In the days following my disgraceful termination I refused to leave the house. This company had managed to taint my character and my prior record of sound work ethics in the horrific events of one fateful morning. My name was brandished about the local and social media outlets – naturally, I received much unwanted attention.
By the time I got home at around 10:00 am that day, the news that I had been terminated had made its way around the island. Some of my family members had heard about it and they were frantically attempting to contact me to find out what I had done wrong to warrant those actions by the company. I learned later that day three of my former colleagues and I were treated in much the same manner. All four of us had already completed and submitted applications to become members of the union.
That same day, after my former colleagues and I had been dismissed, we learned that the company had called a meeting with the remaining management team and advised them of the restructuring exercise. We wondered why we weren’t all afforded the same treatment. The next week the unaffected Middle Managers remaining in the employ of the company were given letters advising of the restructuring exercise. A few weeks later, a former colleague attached to another office for roughly eight years was offered early retirement. The company hosted a farewell party for him. I felt genuinely happy for him. Our encounters were always pleasant. Two of my former colleagues were employed with this company for twenty years and were instead treated like criminals. I felt their pain.
My initial shock turned to embarrassment and the idea to just let it go. Walk away from the toxicity of it all. But the realization that my rights were infringed on made room to a reverberating anger the likes of which I don’t believe I’d ever experienced before. And believe me I’d been pissed on a few occasions. Bigly!
All four of us eventually decided we were not just going to disappear like wounded dogs with our tails between our legs. I can tell you when I get a grand idea, I’m like a dog with a bone. We went to the same union we’d tried to join, and they took up our case. Our matter was dragged out from 2011 to 2013.
Of course, the company pulled every trick in the book; they assumed the big, bad dog attitude where we should have just been happy that they chose to provide a decent separation package to us – after all they didn’t have to. Why were we being ungrateful? They rudely cancelled meetings at a moment’s notice. They rejected every proposal put forward by the union.
Yet we endured. At this point our matter was taken to the Labor Department for intervention by government officials. The company continued to dig in its heels. The next step was arbitration. This could have been another lengthy and costly process for the company. As far as I was concerned, I had already waited all this time for Lady Justice to grace us with her presence, and I was confident the only outcome could have been victory for the Underdogs.
As if finally coming to terms with their shoddy behavior, my former employer requested that we settle our case and not advance to arbitration. At this point we were indeed battle worn and I felt if I never had to see this pack of hounds again it would be too soon.
I was even more thrilled when I learned our case represented a landmark victory for the labor movement on my island. We had set precedence on the way employees should be treated when a company embarked on a restructuring exercise. I suppose some things are worth the inconvenience and someone must be the martyr.
"The wolf will never lose sleep, worrying about the feelings of sheep. But no-one ever told the sheep, that they outnumber the wolves." ~ Bray Wyatt
Leave a comment if you’ve ever had a similar experience or would like to hear more Tales from the Pound. Send your own Tales to dogeatdogglobal@gmail.com.
We’re not sharing stories for the sake of storytelling. We’re raising awareness because the toxic work status quo really must go.
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Disclaimer: The content published and views expressed via this platform are intended for entertainment purposes only. Any similarities to your real world toxic work environment is purely coincidental.
