Lately there has been a funny sounding squeal around the US WEST garages, somewhat like a small animal in intense pain. I and others looked for the cause of this ear shattering, sickening sound for days without success.
Then we realized that we only heard this sickening sound when we saw small groups of management huddled together! Each and every group of management emitted the very same squeal! After listening very closely we were able to determine the cause of the squeal, management had been placed on a BOINK program of their own!
You remember the Boink program from last summers negotiations? That’s where you voluntarily place twenty percent of your wages at risk, then go out and see if you can work hard and fast enough to earn your money back. Remember, the company gets to change the rules anytime it looks like you might make the bogie. Seems this isn’t a voluntary program for those that have chosen to lead us through the telephone world.
Many of those emitting the squeal the loudest are the very same ones that told us what dummies we were to refuse the opportunity offered by US WEST. Now that they have been placed on a growth opportunity it isn’t fair.
Since management doesn’t Perform a productive function, guess whose work they are going to be measured on? You got it, yours!
We as workers do not have an obligation to run harder, work faster in order for the boss to meet some impossible goal. I am sure that the pressure will be applied soon! Report any pressure to cut corners, file false reports, or other tactics dreamt up by managers to meet their goals. Better yet, explain how much faster you could get the job done, if there were decent cable in your area, you were properly trained, you had the tools to do the job, and that you were working with a dispatch system that made sense. We come to work each day to provide a living for our families. Let management realize when they do their part your productivity will rise because it no longer takes a miracle to find a pair to feed a customer.
In Unity, Dick Godwin
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