Re: [Publib] Perplexed Librarian 2007 – Part One

[T Myers]

I don't think you were listening (sort of proves the point, doesn't it?) I
never saw the word "happy" anywhere in the original e-mail. Yes, some
employees will be out the door 30 seconds after their shift, but not all
started that way. Why should they stay if executives don't listen, or value
their employees? Guess what? They "don't have to" and why is it a crime to
value your personal time anyway? (coming off my soap box now)

T. Myers


On 6/2/07, Backwage at aol.com <Backwage at aol.com> wrote:
>
>  In a message dated 6/2/2007 11:11:09 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> splibrarian at hotmail.com writes:
>
> One of the main issues faced by the staff at the Library in which I work
> is
> the lack of value felt by staff from those Executives who make management
> decisions.  Feeling valuable is individually subjective and emotional.
>
>  One real problem is that making employees happy as individuals is not a
> management requirement for any firm, public or private.  For one thing, it
> defies precise definition--how, exactly, would any library go about doing
> that for each of its workers?
>
> The employment relationship is one in which the employer has very broad
> latitude of action, with a rather small list of proscribed activities.
> Within that, they can operate the firm pretty much as they see fit.  Work
> remains an exchange of effort for money, and satisfaction is not necessarily
> high on the management list.  Most firms don't want to lose people, but most
> of them have accepted that they do.
>
> One thing I hear all the time is that workers don't feel included in
> management decision-making.  Most of these workers are out the door thirty
> seconds after their shift finishes, and their interest in the workplace
> extends no further than their own particular interest or career.  That is a
> hard thing for a worker advocate like me to admit, but there is too much
> evidence to deny it.
>
> The collective bargaining arrangement is one constructed against the
> background of an agreement.  You get to grieve if the rules are broken.  The
> rules don't cover very much at all.  Collective bargaining is not going to
> get you your "happy."
>
> If I look at the dozen or so places I've worked over the years, every one
> of them had line workers who thought management ignored them.  That began
> with military service and went on and on.  There are two reasons management
> doesn't consult with lower-level employees.  One is that they generally
> don't have to.  Two is that it generally doesn't pay.  I spend a lot of time
> trying to convince working people to take advantage of their rights and to
> provide their bosses with reasoned arguments to do various things.  I stress
> the word 'reasoned.'  Most of the time what you get is a series of vague
> gripes.  As to the petition of no-confidence, I see that something like 700
> people signed it.  How many were librarians and how many patrons?  And how
> many are union members?  I could get 500 patrons to send money to the
> president of Nigeria.  And what, exactly, is the precise policy reference?
> In the agreement, that is.  If there isn't one, then you've got practically
> nothing to go on through the union, and outside of that, you'd better have a
> lot more than a list of signatures protesting Paris Hilton's appearance on
> your shelves.  Which you haven't.  I take it that you want to have control
> of branch acquisitions left in the hands of branch librarians.  That's just
> fine.  Why not put it that way, do a descriptive analysis of the situation
> and present your case?  All you've done to this point is make noise--which
> is not to be confused with speech.
>
> What you do have in the collective bargaining arena is the possibility of
> attacking any change in the material conditions of work for any represented
> workers.  That means that if the library outsources jobs, shifts locations
> or anything like that, or presents plans to do so, you can object and fight
> the changes.  Go ahead and do that.  As to the value of human beings and
> their happiness at work, you've got a three-legged horse to ride.
>
> M. McGrorty
>
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> See what's free at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503>.
>
>
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