Warning To All Employees, Discipline at All Time High:

By: Richard R. Poulette, President

Disciplinary action is at an all time high in Palm Beach County and St. Lucie County School District.  Over the past several months management has been disciplining more and more employees.  Why?  We think that this is happening to try and reduce the work force and save money, and to get rid of what management considers to be deadwood, or undesirable workers.

If this is not a good enough reason to be a Union Member then I don’t know what is.  Non-Members should also learn from this and should not hesitate to become a member of the union as they are not exempt from disciplinary actions.  As a matter of fact, without union protection they are much more vulnerable to discipline up to and including termination, than union members, as non-members will not be represented by the union.  They would be on their own fighting the employer.  So talk to the non-members and let them know what is going on out there.  Tell them, if they are smart they will join the union.  Management are looking for any reason to discipline employees, now more than ever. 

Our grievance load has increased by three time from this time last year.  We are warning you because everyone needs a job and you need to be especially vigilant.  Do your job to the best of your ability and try your best not to give management the reason or opportunity to write you up.  Talk with your fellow members and let them know what is happening out there.  Union members need to stick together now more than ever before.

I would also remind union members that if called into the office by management and asked any questions that could lead to possible disciplinary action, you should tell them that you have nothing to say to them without your union representative.  Then you should call the union and report it immediately.

 

 In My Opinion...

By: Mark Merlucci, Executive Vice President

I would like express my sincere gratitude to the Palm Beach County Commissioners.  Nobody has to be told the story of how Palm Beach County Government earned the title of “corruption capital.” This crisis of trust in government prompted the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) to form an Office of Inspector General (OIG), whose function it is to be an “independent oversight of county operations (direct quote from the website).” 

And you also know that immediately after this moral and ethical crisis, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression hit us (and everyone else). The BCC responded courageously again, and rightfully so, by bucking the knee-jerk reaction to needlessly lay off hundreds of employees. They understood that throwing fuel on the fire was not the answer, and that real people, real families, and crucial services provided to the public were involved in their actions. Their own high ethical and moral behavior clearly demonstrated their motives. Bravo for the Commissioners! What a refreshing demonstration of courage and sensibility in some of the most troubling times in Palm Beach County history. Perhaps Winston Churchill’s words will be applied to this Board: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”

But the work of rebuilding public trust is not over. What a contrast that quite a few of the unelected leaders of county government, in my opinion, are held to very little if any, moral or ethical standards whatsoever.  How could they be, when the documented record, in my opinion clearly demonstrates huge lapses in moral and ethical business practices regarding employee relations? Certain Departments seem to have a license to regularly abuse employees without any accountability for their bad actions.

Sure the county’s website and published materials boldly claim that the county’s policies and practices are of the highest standards, intolerant of unethical and immoral practices.  But, almost any unfortunate employee that had to put these claims to the test will tell you; it’s a cruel hoax.

In my opinion, many unjust discipline and termination situations are more concerned with “good ol’ boy” relations, instead of true and just, employee relations practices. And it seems to me that often times, only a pretense of justice exists in the form of empty, hollow web page proclamations, and  “fair” employee policies, that when put to the test, are more of a cynical insult than a reality. How many more union arbitrations, and United Stated Government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) decisions must the unelected leaders lose before they start to treat people the right way?  Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying that all of the unelected leaders in Palm Beach County are bad.  But it is clear that some of them stand out, and for some reason they are not called on the carpet for their behavior.  Why?  When regular County employees do these kinds of things they are disciplined and even terminated.  Double Standard?  I think so.

For example, in the most recent EEOC loss handed to the unelected leaders in January 2010, I believe the same types of violations are continuing to persist. Many Palm Beach County Employees regularly ask themselves; “is this because they (unelected leaders) are cruel, or they don’t know any better (incompetent)?”

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the “Tea Party” movement. Well, maybe now the employees of Palm Beach County have a “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee” movement. The message of this movement could be that the BCC’s employees are tired of being treated immorally and unethically, on a regular basis by certain, unelected leaders. And they want the BCC to force the same standards that scrutinize the elected leaders, to scrutinize the unelected leaders who run the day-to-day operations.