I have never been so tired.
Emotionally and physically spent.
Do you know how much energy it takes to stand up for yourself?
To stand your ground and not give in when people give you push back?
When they threaten you and start treating you terribly?
After my break down at work over the refrigeration check I started doing some research on what my rights are.
I just wanted to make sure I had a foot to stand on.
I read the Massachusetts state law that basically says a retailer cannot force an associate to come to work on Christmas Day to do a refrigeration check. It has to be strictly voluntary... "Just in case" is not covered under the law.
Good to know.
I also emailed my human resource manager and asked him for the company policy. Turns out there isn't a written one, it's simply "implied."
The day after my breakdown one of my department heads, Jim, approaches me and says he lives in town and won't be doing anything Christmas morning and he will do the refrigeration check.
What a wave of relief.... I won't have to fight with anyone.
I'm not going to have to fight for my rights. Do you know how good that feels?
I nearly cried out of gratitude.
I was so thankful to this man.
I told Earl that Jim has volunteered and Earl says ok that should be fine, he just needs to get approval from the district manager. This was on Saturday.
Sunday I asked if he got approval, he said no but don't worry about it.
Monday I asked, no don't worry about it.
Monday night I see an email go out to my district director. It simply says "Can union managers conduct refrigeration checks?"
Nothing about myself and Tom living 50 miles away, nothing about me being away 100 miles away with my family on Christmas Day. Just a simple question.
The answer is, "No, admin only."
So now my blood is boiling. I send an email to my district manager explaining the situation and asking if we can make an exception.
I never get a response. Christmas is Friday of this week.
Tuesday is my day off. I see the response from my DM, "No sorry, try to get some one else in the district to cover for you."
I decided to make a phone call to the attorney general to have a discussion about what is happening at my place of work.
I speak to one of the clerks and explain my situation. She is appalled and sends me directly to the assistant attorney general.
I tell her that my work is union, I am non union. On Christmas Day they are telling me that I have to drive over 100 miles to do an unpaid refrigeration check.
She tells me the state of Massachusetts forbids this unless product loss or property damage is imminent. I tell her that all we do is walk in, walk around and make sure things are cold, and leave. I also tell her we have a refrigeration alarm company that calls if temperatures aren't holding.
She laughs..... she LAUGHS.
She says that's absurd and gives me her name and number and tells me that if I need her to speak to anyone in regards to this she will. She also tells me to make sure my employer understands the anti-retaliation law.
Ok... now I know for a fact my legal rights.
Next part... work the next day.
I was scheduled to work 2-11p. I wanted to talk to human resources in regards to a bunch of different things so I send him an email asking if we can meet in confidence, off the record. He doesn't respond.
When I arrive at work no one really says anything to me. Nothing about the refrigeration check. Nothing at all.
Earl and Tom are pretty much joined at the hip so I, as usual, just do my own thing.
About two hours later Jim, the one who volunteered to do the refrigeration check, walks by me and says "Sorry it didn't work out with the check, that really sucks for you."
Hm... so they think I'm doing the check and they're avoiding me because they don't want to see me have a melt down again. Yea, that doesn't work for me.
I go upstairs and take my name off the company list and put "N/A"
My store manager gets a phone call about why his store has an N/A for the 8am Christmas check. Finally I get the page "Eliza to the managers office." Here we go.......
I walk upstairs and Earl and Tom are in the office.
Earl says, with a smug smile on his face, "Come on in, have a seat."
So I walk in and sit. I know what is about to happen so my heart is pounding. My palms start to get sweaty...
"Did you take your name off the refrigeration check list?"
I flush red and feel the heat hit my face.
This is my usual reaction when I'm getting into fight mode. Unfortunate for most, they think they are getting under my skin and have an edge on me.
I cock my head and shrug, "Yes, I did. I told you I wasn't doing it."
"So, who told you you could do that?"
Deep breath, you can do this...
"Who told you you could put my name on the list Earl?"
He then goes into a speech on how I have to do the check and how it's my problem...
"Well you see Earl, I told you, I told HR, I told the district manager that I will not be around to do this check so, I'm not doing it."
He flips his lid.
"The thing about you Eliza, the THING about you that just pisses me off is you think you are way up here..." He holds his hand above his head. "You think that your family is so much more important to you than mine or Tom's. You think you have a right to put your family before this team. You are the worst team player I have ever met!!"
I kind of chuckle, am I seriously getting yelled out because I put my family first? I think I am. This is a joke.
So I go into it...
"Earl, I never said I would do this check. As a matter of fact I've only ever said I can not do this check. You told me to get it covered. I did. I then went above and beyond and hounded you to make sure that you got it approved, you said it would be fine. Finally after you put it off for three days you get word that it is not ok. That union cannot do the check. Why can't they?? It makes no sense what so ever!"
"They can't do it, you're doing it, end of discussion."
"No Earl, it's not end of discussion..." he cuts me off.
"I cannot believe it is three days before Christmas and we are having this discussion. This is absurd. It's absurd if you think I'm going to do both the checks!"
"Finally something we agree on! It is absolutely absurd that this is the first time we've sat down and spoken about this, we should have discussed this MONTHS ago. You can not tell me I have to do this. It's voluntary, you ask. And by the way, it's also absurd that you would even ask either myself OR Tom to do any of the checks! You live 6 miles away, we live 50 miles away! Now who's not the team player! I want to know why Jim can't do the check! Because the union forbids them to do the check without getting paid? Is that why? Because it's against the union handbook? Well guess what, Lisa Price told me I don't have to do it and I'm not."
Tom is now trying to bury himself in the wall. He's not so tough now that I stood up to Earl. Guess this conversation isn't going how they thought it would... He is clearly nervous that I am going to also tell Earl all the shit Tom has said about him behind his back. But I don't, no need to. I can do this all on my own.
"Who the hell is Lisa Price!??"
"The Assistant Attorney General. I have her phone number right here if you would like to call her. I told her to expect your call."
His jaw drops to the ground.
"Eliza, this is the business we're in. THIS IS WHAT WE DO. You have to accept it. This is how it's always been!"
"Well, it's not right and I'm not going to be forced to do something the law says I don't have to. The union has the union, we have the attorney general for this exact reason. Union people aren't the only ones with rights. I know my rights and this is not right."
He shoves his hand towards my face. "Goodbye, we're done here. Good-bye."
I get up and walk out, take a deep breath, shake it off, and continue working. No room for error now.
Life is about to get very... difficult.
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