Hypocrites in the workforce

The Hippie is a hypocrite. The Hippie is a hypocrite! The Hippie is a hypocrite!!

Let me say that one more time: The Hippie is a hypocrite!

My previous posting made some mention of the fact that I have joined the Union. The main reasons are explained in that post. Now the Hippie has mentioned before that she is an activist. She had previously asked me to grab her a Union enrolment form, which I had done. When I later asked her if she was going to join the union, her immediate response was..."It's expensive".

What? Expensive? She is on the same pay level as me, she has no kids, she rents a house out of town (cheaper rent) yet she thinks that a fortnightly fee of less than $20.00 is too expensive.

I have 3 kids and loads of debt (that we are gradually getting out of), but when I spoke to my wife about deciding to join the union, it was a no brainer. The cost is minimal to us.

Yet this "Hippie" who does not like large corporations or organistions, did not think it a priority to join an organisation that has the interests of the workers as it's core beliefs.

Fine...I never like the Hippie that much in the first place, but her value has just taken a plunge.

Yet, that was not all.

The Hippie likes to try and pass herself off as a self confident, mature woman. She has told me before that she does not play office games.

This afternoon our team managed to get ahead of our work allocation. For a good portion of the afternoon, the hippie was huddled in her cubicle corner whispering to another of our team mates. Everyone around knew that they were gossiping, and I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone gossiping in this office before. It just smacked of immaturity.

After the Hippie and her friend had their gossip fest, she told me that she was now all caught up on the office goss. I flippantly replied "what, who is sleeping with who?" She said "Yeah". I didn't want to know, and I stopped her by saying to her "Before you say anything to me, ask yourself if it will do any good. Will it make a difference to anything?"

That sort of stopper her in her tracks, but she really wanted to tell me the really juicy bit of gossip. She wanted to tell me that she knew who in our office has slept with everyone else. She wanted me to guess who it was, but I wouldn't play her little game. I can proudly say that I took the moral high ground, and boy did it feel good. She started saying names, telling me who it was not. Again, I stopped her and said, "Who cares? What difference will it make knowing that? Will it do any good knowing it?" She eventually realised that I was not going to give her the satisfaction of playing her game, and she shut up about it.

Man, did that feel good. You see, the Hippie is one of those self righteous bitches who have a belief that they are always right, to the point of self delusion, and that they can not be tricked. They make these kinds of statements with cheery smiles and believe that everyone thinks that they are nice. Unfortunately there are enough people that do not see past the smiles, and cheery voice, that people like the Hippie manage to get away with it. While she will profess one thing, she will do another.

The Hippie claims not to play office games, yet here she is trying to spread gossip.

I found it very easy to take the moral high ground in this matter. The fact that I do not like the Hippie aided me in this matter. Because the gossip was being offered by the Hippie, it was extremely easy to reject it.

I stopped her, and I would like to think that I made her think about if it was a good idea to keep gossiping.

Mind you, I am also fully aware that if it was anyone else, I do not know if my resolve would have been so strong. Part of me does want to know who has been sleeping with who, but at the moment my feel good, moral high ground, centre is winning.

DPS

DPS is a Unionist!

Ok...it has been a while since I last posted. I've gone through a period where I have found time to be very short. Have I been doing more than usual? No. Have the days shrunk? No. It just seemed to be a phase in life where no matter what you do, you never have enough time to do everything you want to do.

Anyway, enough of my winging.

I am now a Union member. Yes, I have joined the ranks of the great unwashed. I can proudly stand next to my fellow worker, and call them "Comrade". I have never been a Union member before. It is a totally new experience for me. I have never before really cared that much to bother joining a workplace union.

What has prompted me to do this? Three simple letters: AWA

These letters have struck fear into the hearts of many workers in Australia. They have existed for many years before, but they have never been that much of a threat. However, since Howard and his cronies introduced the current IR laws, AWAs have become a real threat to workers.

The public service organisation I work for, is trying to encourage all of its employees to sign AWAs. How is it doing this?

Well, I was recently in a meeting where one of our higher up managers explained to us the organisation's take on the available AWA model. He went to great lengths to explain that employees who are on the AWA will receive a significant pay rise straight away, with another pay rise on the year anniversary of signing the AWA, subject to performance standards (more on that below). Many people will see the immediate pay rise, and be lured by that alone. To me, this sets alarm bells ringing. If any organisation is offering a significant pay rise immediately, then you have to look at what the pay off is.

If, for example, a company is offering an immediate 10% extra to anyone who signs an AWA, then you can bet you ass that the AWA will remove or modify conditions, so that the organisation gains more than 10% worth of benefit for it. It may be difficult to identify exactly where the benefit to the organisation is, but trust me...it is there in one form or another.

This manager also went on to explain that the AWA is only really of benefit to those people who are good performers. The incentives, and pay increases are ony applicable to those employees who have performed to a specific standard (a standard that is not specifically outlined in the AWA). The implication here is that only poor performers, or bludgers would want to stay away from an AWA. Therefore, if you don't sign an AWA, then you are not a good worker.

There are many points that our manager tried to make about the AWA, but the one that really had me concerned was the provision that if you are signed onto an AWA, then you do not have the right to take industrial action. You can not strike.

Now I have never taken industrial action in my life. But, if there is one thing that will ever incite me to do it, it will be a large organisation trying to get me to sign a contract that will tell me that I can not do it. This is one of the main reasons behind my signing up to join our worker's Union.

In the past I have also had a fair amount of faith in the industrial relations of this country, and state. But now that Howard has continued to strip away the rights of workers, I feel that the government is not interested in protecting the interests of the common man. I am now of the opinion that the only people who will stick up for us is the Union, and I feel compelled take action to help have some say in the security of my working future.

So, am I becoming a Lefty Union Scumbag? Or am I just clinging to a last shred of hope, and trying to stick up for myself?