Bigger Fish to Fry

A sure sign of a leader who doesn’t know how to manage people is an overreaching set of policies and rules that deal with one-off problems. 

Think of the yellowed note taped to the office microwave, listing all the things you’re not allowed to heat up. How much shorter would that list be if the boss had just asked the person who burned popcorn once to watch the timer more closely, instead of passive-aggressively adding “no popcorn” to the note? How often has a supervisor told you about a hard and fast rule for everyone in the workplace, which only exists because they didn’t feel like addressing a one-off problem caused by a single employee?

As frustrating as it is to see this in our individual workplaces, it’s even more so when we see OHSU do the same thing at the bargaining table. So far, OHSU has proposed changes to the following areas of the contract — changes that we believe result from problems faced by just a few managers:

  • Meal periods

  • Preferred hire list

  • Vacation and holiday requests

With the challenges we’ve faced over the last few years, it’s especially disappointing to see OHSU focus on adding language to a contract for 7,300 people to solve problems that could be addressed by individual managers (a) using the consensus process to tweak the contract to better serve their work unit, (b) disciplining employees per existing contract language and (c) communicating better with their employees. We’re surviving a pandemic. We’re short-staffed. We’re facing burnout on an unprecedented scale. Instead of addressing these serious issues, OHSU’s team is updating the note on the microwave by crossing out “FISH” and writing in all the specific types of seafood they can think of.

Our union is trying to bring financial security to our members, address inequities and safety issues in the workplace and improve our members’ quality of life, while OHSU is bringing the equivalent of a note that reads:

DO NOT MICROWAVE:

  • POPCORN

  • FISH

  • SALMON

  • TUNA

  • TILAPIA

  • COD 

Step up, OHSU. We have bigger fish to fry.

Before commenting, please read our guidelines here.

Jesse Miller7 Comments