WILD!!

What does that have to do with the union? 

I recently attended the “Western Mass WILD in the Winter” workshop hosted by the UMass Labor Center.   WILD stands for “Women’s Institute for Leadership Development.   It was great workshop and I’d like to share with you a few of the things that I’ve learned. 

The morning started out with a session presented by Quabbin Mediation from Orange, MA.  It was entitled:  Standing Up to the Workplace Bully. Quabbin Mediation is a community-based nonprofit organization that uses mediation as an effective way to resolve disputes. Mediators are trained volunteers from the community or are organization staff.  These presenters were very well trained and kept the audience engaged at all times.  Everyone shared their stories and we learned many new terms that pertain to bullying.

For the second half of the workshop I decided to participate in a session titled “How Unions Can Combat Bullying”.  This part of the workshop was presented by Dale Melcher of the UMass Labor Center.  Here I worked with other UMass Union members and leaders, members from the Postal Workers Unions and other Educational Union members (K-12) from other parts of the state.  It was quite interesting to hear their stories and how their unions are trying to deal with workplace bullying. 

So here is what I would like to share with you.  Please think about these questions first.

• Are you bullied in the workplace?  Were you bullied as a kid or in school?  
• Are you a “Victim”?
• Perhaps you a “Bystander”?
• Or are you a “Harm doer”?
• Or maybe you are a “Target”?
• Do you have “Moral Courage”?
• Or are you a “Coward”?
• Are you embarrassed?  Or threatened?  Lost your self esteem?

So many questions and so many answers.  Each and every one of us falls into one or more of the above categories.   Which one do you fall into?

Simple but powerful questions.   Bullying is intentional peer abuse, plain and simple.  It’s repeated psychological and/or physical intimidation.  Bullying in the workplace may come from the hands of a manipulative boss(s) or you could be victimized by a workmate(s). 

Let’s briefly go over each one:

If you are a “Victim” then you are the one to whom the bullying is directed.  That was pretty easy.

Perhaps you are a “Bystander”.  A bystander is someone who is in a position to know what is happening and able to take action.  There are two types of “Bystanders”:  a “Passive Bystander” and an “Active Bystander”.  The Passive Bystander accepts what is happening, or may even join in, and gives the impression that he/she accepts what is going on.  The “Active Bystander” stops the harm doing.

This brings us to define what is a “Harm doer”?  As you probably guessed, it’s the person doing the harm (or bullying).  This may include: name calling, hitting or abuse, uncomfortable touching, teasing, harassing,  taking money or possessions, excluding and getting others to exclude, inciting fear, intimidations, causing fear and using force to name a few.

Another easy one to define is the “Target”.  The person who is being harmed and to whom the bullying is direct upon.

Finally this brings us to define “Moral Courage” vs. “Coward”.   Moral Courage means doing what you believe is right even when you are acting contrary to the values, beliefs or expectations of those around you.  And on the reverse side is the “Coward” who does nothing and runs away even though they know it’s not right.

Did you know that bullying by a group is called “Mobbing”?   Either way, bullying is a growing concern not only in schools but in the workplace.

“One in four bullied workers had suffered misery in the workplace at the hands of a manipulative colleague with the majority of offensive taunts focusing on looks, ability to do the job and clothing. Gender, personal interests and age also ranked among the highest topics to insult and undermine colleagues. Manipulative and inappropriate behaviour from colleagues has led one in five to quit their jobs, a considerable staff retention problem for employers. A further 23% of employed people have raised complaints of bullying in the workplace but two out of three cases issues were still left unresolved or failed to affect the bullying campaigns at all. The study reveals that in the last year 48% of workers have wanted to quit their current job but fear they would not be able to find another job due to recession.”  - (Free-Press-Release.com, Feb 17, 2010)

USA was fortunate to bargain new contract language directly related to workplace bullying (see Article 7, section 6:  Respectful Workplace and Principles of Employee Conduct).    This new language, in combination with recent legislation, will allow us to grieve and assist members who are being bullied in the work place.

So now you know the definitions and have read some of what I learned.  So I’d like to know ---- Which type of person are you?

Submitted by:       Leslie Marsland, Grievance Officer