Workplace Issues

Some things just don't make sense when you look at them for what they're supposed to be. Take, for example, a labor union that doesn't know the issues its constituents face. Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, commenting on a recent contest the union conducted, said: "We had no idea…What surprised me was the intensity of the response…We were amazed both by the volume and the underlying tone of what we heard, the kind of searing, painful quality…"

How is it that a labor union that's been around for 55 years did not know about the work issues their members deal with? Actually, they did!

I contacted the AFL-CIO in October of 2005 to ask how I could bring the helpful advice in the book, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Boss? 13 Types and How to Survive Them" to the attention of their members. The book contains 39 real-life stories of workers who were abused by their bosses and specific advice about how to deal with 13 bad-boss personalities. I received the following response, via e-mail, on October 24, 2005:

Please send me a review copy of the book so that I may consider it for our website.
Thanks.
James Parks
AFL-CIO Publications Department
815-16th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20006

That same day, I mailed a copy of the book to Mr. Parks. So, even if they weren't listening to their members, they knew about bad bosses when they got the book. What happened next? Nothing. At the very least, they could have told their membership about the free advice posted on the book's Web site, BIGBADBOSS.COM. But they didn't.

Then, imagine my surprise when, 10 months later, they conducted their "My Bad Boss" contest, gave their members no helpful advice whatsoever, and offered prizes—not help, but prizes—for the worst experiences! And imagine my further surprise when one of those prizes was a book about bad bosses that was published in November 2005 (one month after I contacted them) by an affiliate of the American Management Association! When labor organizations start going to management organizations to seek advice for their members, you've got to wonder, "What's wrong with this picture?" Especially if you're a dues-paying member.

But you have to remember that unions are revenue-earning businesses, too. Businesses that are run by managers. Businesses that are not exempt from harboring bad bosses within their own ranks.

So what really goes on in the AFL-CIO? We have no idea. Or do we?

Happy Labor Day.

This AFL-CIO bad-boss contest becomes even more suspicious as hoards of people tell of past events, while no one currently reporting to a bad boss tells of getting any help with their situation from the union. And now the union has hooked up with a social commentator to provide insight into the reason bad bosses exist—someone who, by her own admission, is not an expert in the subject.

In her most recent book, Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich tells of undertaking an investigative research project to learn and report on the inner workings of large business organizations. When she is unable to get hired into a management position, because she is unqualified, she changes the nature of her research and discusses what it was like for her to search for a job.

Now the AFL-CIO positions Ehrenreich as an expert in understanding the bad bosses she never observed or experienced. Here are a few excerpts from her book:

"I realized that I knew very little about the mid- to upper levels of the corporate world..." (p 2).

"I had the disadvantage of never having held a white-collar job with a corporation" (p 8).

"After almost seven months of job searching…I have gotten exactly two offers…But these are not jobs…in that no salary, benefits, or workplace is provided..." (p 189).

"I continue to make applications and follow-up phone calls…until I am overwhelmed by a sense of futility" (p 202).

So the AFL-CIO chooses this person to explain "the real problem with bad bosses." Lacking any knowledge about the subject, she invents an obscure term to sound believable and then purports to have the answer to the cause of bad bosses:

"The problem isn't particular bosses, but what I call 'Bossism'--the hierarchical system that governs all known bureaucracies, both public and private. Giving one person huge power over others…"

There you have it. Problem solved. What a fine service the union is providing.

Now take a look at the insult Ehrenreich adds to injury:

"My great advantage in this project is that I can simply say 'game over' and return to my normal work as a writer" (p 211).

But it seems that Ehrenreich's "game" isn't over after all. And guess who the pawns are?

You ask your boss about missing inventory and accidentally find out that your boss is stealing from your company. He flies into an angry rage, knowing you've found him out. After that, he follows you around every day, criticizing everything you do. He gets so close to you when he yells that he spits in your face—creating both an emotional-health and a physical-health threat. You try to file a grievance with your union rep. What does she do? Laugh and say, "Hey, that's a pretty good story. Why don't you submit it to our contest—you could win a one-week vacation!"

Believe it or not, the AFL-CIO, under its Working America unit, has launched the "My Bad Boss" contest. Why? They say it's to increase membership. But wouldn't membership automatically increase by word-of-mouth if they were actually solving these problems? In this Reuter's article about the contest, one union official is quoted, saying it's "an opportunity for people to get this off their chests…" Don't members already have that opportunity, every day, by going to their reps? And don't members want more from their unions than just the opportunity "get this off their chests?" Don't they want the union to help put a stop to the bad boss problem? Isn't that what they're paying dues for (or making donations for)?

So, what's the AFL-CIO going to do with all of these stories? They say they're going to offer five prizes to the worst cases. That should make you feel better about where your money's going, right? Now read the Contest Rules (which the Web identifies as being on the "disclaimer" page http://www.workingamerica.org/badboss/disclaimer.cfm):

"Entries may be used by Working America for any purpose without the permission of the participant or any consideration apart from participation in the Contest in accordance with these official rules...Working America may edit each entry, whether or not selected as a winner, and may republish it on the Working America website and in any other form."

Whoa! The union wants you to give them your bad-boss story for their own use—any way and any time they want to use it? Doesn't that article include the names of some book writers? And isn't one of those runner-up prizes a book published by the American Management Association (AMA)? And doesn't that AMA book suggest that your boss may not really be the cause of your problem? And isn't Reuter's, who advertised this contest, a partner of the AMA (it says so on their Web site: http://www.amanet.org/aboutama/partners_sponsors.htm)?

Well, let's not be too surprised—after all, unions are just businesses, too. Big businesses. Businesses that take in lots of revenue from their members and pay big salaries to their top-level people—union bosses—union managers. And union managers are eligible to join the American Management Association and increase the AMA's revenue.

So, I wonder what good ideas AFL-CIO managers might have about making even more money off their members by exploiting their bad-boss experiences rather than solving those problems?