Stewarding 8 Research – Spark Union

Stewarding Section 2: Action

Part 1: Investigate and Research

Your first action will be more research. You got Amara’s story, what more would you like to know and how will you find out?

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Let’s do some research and start to come up with an action plan!

What would you want to know about the workplace and how would you go about finding out? You can enter 'nothing' but that is probably not going to help Amara.

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Talk to some of Amara’s co-workers

If you have a meeting with some of Amara’s co-workers (with her introduction and permission) and ask them about the work climate, you could ask:

(1) What is the general practice about attendance? Does everyone show up on time and are there any consequences if they don’t?

(2) What is their impression of the boss? Does he have favorites?

(3) Is there a generally good work environment? Are there stressful situations at work or issues that standout?

Amara’s co-worker Jahair tells you:

“We pretty much all show up on time. The boss is always here early and one of the first. He drops his kids off on the way to work. He goes into his office and gets on his computer. I never heard of anyone getting in trouble for showing up a bit late. If it was more than 15 or 20 minutes it would be a problem because we open 30 minutes after we start work. As far as I know, no one has been disciplined for tardiness.”

Meredith adds:

“Our boss is not very social, he pretty much keeps to himself. We have team meetings once a week and he keeps them short with a business like agenda. He just started here about 7 months ago, transferring from another department. I haven’t heard of any issues with him one way or the other.”

Rosalia offers:

“Amara is a super friendly co-worker and always ready to step in and help. She has a lot on her plate taking care of kids as a single-mom but still has energy to be supportive at work. We all get along in the office. The boss is relatively new and hasn’t really connected with us. He is somewhat withdrawn.”

What insights do these testimonies offer you about Amara's concerns?

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Is there a union contract with relevant sections or attendance policy?

You can ask Amara to research this and get you any relevant documents.

Amara sends you a link to the union contract “hours of work” article and an attendance policy that her boss gave her a copy of when he handed her the warning letter.

What relevant information does the union contract and attendence policy have (if any)?

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What do you think of these observations?

(1) The attendance policy sets a 15 minute grace period so Amara was only 6 minutes outside that grace period. Giving her a warning letter for being 6 minutes outside period seems disproportionate.

(2) The union contract doesn’t really offer much one way or the other.

(3) Had Amara ever seen the attendance policy before? How is it distributed?

What weight do you give these observations? Do you have additional insights? Type 'none' if you have no response.

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