Beyond what we already have to deal with, reduced manpower and shrinking budgets, there is another element that is making our jobs (or at least my job) more difficult…Public Sector Unions.

I’ll tell you right from the start that I am not pro-union, but I am not anti-union either. Unions have their place in the workforce, and when properly managed, have a positive effect on productivity.  But lately, it seems as if the Unions are coddling problem employees to the extent that they embolden them to continue to test the limits of our authority and abuse the rights and privileges they were given. They not only defend those who are truly mistreated, but also blindly advocate for those employees who milk and abuse the system.

You know who I am talking about. It seems like every fleet agency has at least one problem child (or adult acting like a child) that thinks he/she is entitled to challenge every decision you make.  They file frivolous grievances, even though there is no published justification for their complaint. They needlessly force you into grievance hearings that take precious time away from managing your shop. If they don’t get their way, they go back to the shop and try to subvert the organization from within by spreading lies and rumors that affect the morale of others. Remember, it only takes one employee to completely undermine an organization.

We all state the need to run our shops like a business.  But it is when the Union’s interests in defending the indefensible conflict with the proper functions of management do we (and I) have a problem. Why do you think private maintenance companies are so efficient? It is because they have the right to hire and fire a will. They sort out the people who don’t want to be there long before they do irreparable damage to the organization. Simply put, their employees must produce in order to get paid.

At what point in time did our employees begin to believe that they are entitled to a paycheck! It now seems that mediocre performance is considered completely acceptable by the Unions as long as it does not directly violate an established Union rule. God forbid that you do something that will hurt an employee’s feelings!

I know some of you out there completely disagree with me and claim that without union representation, employees would have no rights at all and inevitably be treated unfairly. You may think I am an evil tyrant the runs his people into the ground in order to gain a faction of increased performance. I can assure you I am neither. I value my employees who come into work every day with the intention to do their personal best. All but one, are happy with their job and the way I manage the department. But it is that one which causes so much discontent and disruption.

There are extremes on both ends of the labor relations scale. But it seems the problem we face is finding a balance between workers’ rights and the rights of the taxpayers (and management) to expect from our employees an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. One thing is for sure, there is a growing wave of anti-public union sentiment amongst the taxpayers of this Nation. If the Unions don’t begin to bend and compromise, the taxpayers of this country will force change upon them, and we will all loose in the end.