Union Rep from ........well, he's difficult

Hunter1

Any good advice or encouragement? I'm meeting for the second time this morning with the most obnoxious union rep I've met in 30+ years in this business. He has raised the expectations of his members (our employees) so high that there's no way he can begin to deliver, but he's just recently been hired from our neighbor state to the south, and he's here to show us how it's done. 'This is how we do it in Illinois, and that's how we're going to do it here.'

Oh, well, just the joys of dealing with six unions!

rad

What does he mean about "how its done"? You both should be dealing with the union employees and each other according to the respective contract.

Unfortunately, there is probably nothing you can do about his attitude, hopefully the other members will soon see he's full of hot air.

System

I think he's full of a lot more than hot air. Hunter, don't you work for a local government? What kind of unions do you deal with? Don't be intimidated or get dragged into dealing with this rep on his level.

Hunter1

Yes, it's local government. I deal with: Teamsters, International Assn of Firefighters, International Union of Operating Engineers, Labor Assn of Wisconsin (get that? LAW) representing police officers, a Dispatch and Clerical unit in our Police Dept, and a Supervisory unit in the PD. We have a local government which deals with, I believe, 23 individual locals here in the progressive state of WI.

Balloonman

He will be difficult.........an ahole, you will be firm, he will run his mouth, you will be aggravated, he will make life more difficult for you in the short term, you will have an extra cold one in the evening, he will eventually fall flat on his face, be seen as all talk and no action by the rank and file, you will smile a big smile as you sit back enjoying as they turn on him. How long? Hard to say, do as you always do, take no extra crap, cut him off at the knees when you can, and when appropriate, help him out.
My $0.02 worth!
DJ The Balloonman

rad

What a great description!

sonny

And to add to DJ . .at all cost try not to let him push your buttons.. .calm, cool and collected. He will hate it.

Shadowfax

Your'e lucky it took 30 years to run into him - I ran into him 30 years ago! The good news is you do have to negotiate, but you don't have to agree - to anything. My nemesis used to pund the talble till I had a headache. I just folded my hands on the table and sat quietly until he'd had his go, then in a very even and levelvoice presented our position. And as lonmg as he pounded the table, I refused to agree on the time of the day. Even his committee got tired of him, and eventually booted him. If he wants some contract interpretation that is a change from the way you've doing it for years, put a list of give backs on the table, or suggest there are other areas of the contract that you will be loking closely at to be sure you are enforcing. His approach is to intimidate, and as long as you know that, you can defense it. There is almost always a hot button there somewhere, that if you go to it the members will say "wait a minute.." and rein him in. Look at it as gamemanship, and don't let the bastard wear you down!

Hunter1

Thanks, all, for the advice. Shadow: I've run into some doozies before, including a female attorney who accused me of making a pass at her while we were having a sidebar in a room off of the conference room where we were negotiating. She once withdrew a grievance (We proved her wrong prior to arbitration) in a six page letter with copies to all of our elected officials in which she claimed that I had only won the grievance on a technicality, but that the union that she was representing would never be able to bargain with me again, or trust my word for anything. This, after I had proven that HER bargaining committee had been lying through their teeth for the past six weeks in order to 'prove' their case.

P S We met today, this is a contract negotiation, and the particular rep didn't show up. He sent someone else for the last two meetings. With any luck he will stay away, but the temporary rep assurred me that the regular guy would be back for next week's session.

Something to look forward to. Have a good Memorial Day

Whatever

The shop steward at our NY facility is also on the union board. The guy is not only difficult, but his word is as good as the last person he spoke to. He has twice fallen flat on his face (one of the times was an arbitration he forced on the union. The arbitrator at one point asked why the union was wasting his time and company money. ) In any case, he is a fact of life. As to the union rep, he is a nice enough person but he won't stand up to the shop steward. Matter-of-fact, he rarely shows up because he thinks he only deals with silliness here.

Don D

Remember two things:

1) Green Turds always float to the top.

2) Smile and bite your tongue. It drives them up the friggin' wall.

x:D

Shadowfax

Is there a known cause - and/or antidote for the dreaded green turds?

Don D

Yes, glad that you asked. Vegetarianism is the cause. Bacon grease is the antidote.

National Guard

"vegitarianism is the cause"

Is that a true story? I guess I'll have to pay attention now to what I had to eat that day when the green ones come back!

Hunter1

How did this thread deteriorate into such drivel?? Besides, I don't think vegetenarianism would do it at all. It's black jelly beans that'll really do the trick. So, it should only happen once a year.

Back on the subject, we met again today without the offending rep, but with promises that he'll be here on the 11th, our next meeting. This is getting to be fun.

ritaanz

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-03-04 AT 10:28AM (CST)[/font][br][br]If you were to read a job description of a union rep, it would read as follows.

Basic Function: Harass and infuriate members of managment as often as possible.

Primary duties: Display arrogance, superiority and self-importance. Behave in such a way as to debase and humiliate your management counterpart. Make an ass of yourself.

I could go on and on. The reps ususally come up through the ranks and actually enjoy the battle. That's the clue, battle. If you refuse to be suck into the melee, you have taken away his biggest and most powerful weapon. It takes a lot of composure to be able to do that. But, trust me, it works every time.