We would appreciate hearing about your experiences with situations like those in WORKPLACE SURVIVAL: DEALING WITH BAD BOSSES, BAD WORKERS, BAD JOBS or THE VIOLENCE VOLCANO.
All comments are subject to editing to remove identifying material and/or to "clean up" language.
- THE VAN FLEETS
For more information about our books Click here.
4 comments:
My boss was a woman who assumed she was the CEO! She came in like a north wind, changing everyone's duties to get them to leave. Then it went from bad to worse. All the good people left, even men almost ready to retire. Those who remained were people who were no threat to her. Oh, did I tell you that she got fired when she crossed paths with the Board?!
Here’s my example of a bad coworker, who may also be dangerous. We work mostly in teams, and this guy always bullies others to get them to go along with him. If we oppose him, he’ll disrupt meetings by shouting at us, interrupt individuals when they try to present their views, slam his fist or some object onto the table, write memos to the team and the boss implying that someone else is the problem, etc. One time he tossed a chair across the room, then laughed at the surprised look on everyone’s face. We were scared that he might have a gun or some other lethal weapon. Outside meetings, he lobbies the supervisor for his way—mostly by criticizing the rest of us. You can predict his behavior, so team members are reluctant to participate. Nobody wants to work with him individually or as a team member. He lowers productivity as well as morale, but the company won’t fire him. Probably because the bosses fear that he’ll turn on them, or turn ballistic on all of us!
I work in a place that is bound to prove someday that bad bosses can cause workers to become violent. These bosses hire and fire according to personal likes/dislikes, not competence. They do not like people who tell them that the machinery needs fixing, or even that all of us have found a way to improve operating procedures and thus improve productivity. But the thing they do most to light fuses is firing or threatening to fire a person whenever a mistake is made, no matter how small or how large, how significant or insignificant, the error. But only if you're on their bad list ! The tension that comes from everyone fearing they'll make a mistake is almost indescribable. If the job market were not so tight, literally everyone would leave this dept.
After a year of being unemployed, I finally got a job running "team" from NC to CA and back. My co-driver turned out to be a "bully", and drove so unsafely that I was terrified to go to sleep when I was on my 10 hour break. I would take Tylenol PM's to knock myself out.
After one week w/ that maniac, I requested to be put w/ another team driver. Instead, they put me back in the truck w/ the nut case.
When we got back from our second trip out, I went right in and spoke w/ Safety and Dispatch. The company claims that they have no one else to team me up with. NJ Unemployment has suspended my benefits, I have had no income in over a month, and am in danger of becoming homeless. All because I refused to work w/ someone who put my life, and the lives of innocent motorists at risk, and I cannot tolerate a "bully". My video, "Nightmare co-driver" is on YouTube, my channel is NJKatwoman.
I have had much support from other ladytruckers, such as TruckerDesiree, Donna Smith from AskTheTrucker, and Women In Trucking. In my featured video, I thank everyone for their emotional support, but then I started crying at the end. I have no place for me and my beloved kitties to go if I become homeless.
No-one should be forced to work in a hostile enviroment!
Post a Comment