The 4th of July is approaching. Let's look at the Declaration of Independence, the founding document that this holiday celebrates.William Kristol, editorial contributor to the NYTimes noted (June 30, 2008) the following from the Declaration:
"...all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." Meaning that people will tend to bear the suffering of oppressive and unfair rule rather than abolish it, if possible. He goes on to observe, in his own words: "The people are conservative. Liberty sometimes requires the bold leadership of a few individuals."
He refers to the signers of the Declaration who had dubious authority from the people of their respective colonies to declare independence for the 13 colonies but did it anyway. What did they have to offer each other? "...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Not a big safety net.
By signing the Declaration, they put themselves on the "most wanted list" of the British and spent most of the rest of the war moving about from place to place to avoid capture and execution for treason.
The degree of the treatment and punishment may be different, but the concept is the same. Do you continue to suffer silently under an oppressive governance structure or do you take steps to change it?
Happy Independence Day to all.
Richard Reuther
7 comments:
Look no farther than the Warehouse. We have the conserative golden boys and we have the two bold people,that stood up to the BS.Those two are sub par workers "thank you chunk porny for that one". Oh I forgot about the HR/British.
Will the war start or will the Bitish run and hide?
HR do you know what a EEOC is?
Mark, I heard some of the Sup Staff say that they are going to fight you all the way to the court room. They are mad as Hell at you.
barbara, I'm in the kitchen.
come play. HA HA HA HA
REMEMBER, show me the end!
If folks at the ESC are angry at the whistleblowers, they have only themselves to blame. It is not unusual for those who create the problems to not be able to take responsibility for them.
They have mismanaged many District assets including the most precious-their workers. Whether they are folks in the warehouse who have apparently put up with an extremely poor manager or teachers in the buildings who may have been subjected to bullying treatment bordering on illegal age or racial discrimination or just your average worker who is trying to keep their head down and their nose clean so that they won't be the next target, the Edmonds School District has NOT been a SAFE working environment for many. Working in such an environment is very likely to make you physically sick as well as heartsick.
If you don't feel safe, you don't do your best work. If you do not feel safe in the classroom, you aren't able to give the students your best.
That means the "what's best for kids" slogan is not a valid description of the result of some key administrative actions. The actions of the administration have been counterproductive to that stated goal.
If they are angry at people who are pointing out the contradiction, that becomes their burden, not those of us who are saying that the emperor has no clothes. People who speak truth to power in spite of the dangers-physical, psychological, and economic-should be thanked by those who cannot (for truly personal and understandable reasons) gather the courage to do the same.
We are thrilled that the matter is heading to court. Perhaps their anger will continue to blind them to their responsibility until the court corrects them.
To July 2nd:
Good thing that many of us have religiously kept documentation on the warehouse supervisor. I heard that he continues to tell management and the union that there is no work at the warehouse. Maybe somebody would like to ask Fred Conley how bad Chuck is lying? Fred is paying hell for all of Chucks Lies! I think Dale is next?
Actually, advice on keeping documentation is the ONLY positive thing EEA did for me. And at that, the remark was made off-the-cuff, AFTER I mentioned that I was keeping track of events, not first on their part as part of any formal strategy to combat the treatment that the senior staff was enduring and therefore help its union members.
The 2 inch thick notebook of documentation stopped Tam in his tracks (it has grown to TWO 2 inch thick notebooks). Before I pulled it out, the "investigation" was all about my "misbehavior." Suddenly, there was no denying that the real problem was the principal, office manager, and others recruited to bully senior staff. There could be no pillorying of me without doing something to them as well.
IF YOU ARE BEING BULLIED OR WITNESS SOMEONE BEING BULLIED, MAINTAIN DOCUMENTATION OF WHAT YOU SEE. This documentation can include e-mails; written evaluations which suddenly become more frequent or much more critical of your work; memos from superiors that contradict what you see or experience (Nick's monthly blurbs's); contemporaneous writtings about treatment (physical, verbal, psychological)that you witness or experience (write it down as soon after the event as you can, date it, make multiple copies and keep them in different places); evidence of unusual treatment directed at you or others but not at other members of your work group. Considering recent court rulings, keep as much of this documentation off district computers; do your writing at home; hand written materials are OK, but word process them as well and keep the hand written original with the processed copy. DATE EVERYTHING!
Notify your supervisor (or your supervisor's supervisor) that you are being subjected to "the treatment;" if they do nothing they will be in violation of Board policy and possibly state law. Notify your union that you are maintaining documentation of your treatment; they may do nothing, but doing nothing may put THEM at legal risk of "failure to represent" you as they are required by law to do. Start looking for a lawyer; it will make things go easier when the time comes to confront your bully and his/her handlers. They can sit in on the meeting.
IF YOU HAVE A WRITTEN RECORD, IT IS A LOT HARDER FOR ADMINISTRATION TO TAG YOU AS A "DISGRUNTLED" EMPLOYEE; IF YOU HAVE NO DOCUMENTATION, YOU MAKE THEIR TASK EASIER. IT'S A LOT EASIER FOR YOU TO SAY, "DURING THE FACULTY MEETING ON APRIL 14TH, 2005, X AGAIN INSULTED ME IN FRONT OF MY COLLEAGUES SAYING...." AND MAKE IT STICK. OTHERWISE YOU'RE JUST BITCHING ABOUT YOUR JOB, YOUR CO-WORKERS, ETC.
DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!
That trail out of ESC better not be damp after today. The custodian is going to have to clean that up.
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