Who does a union represent?
Last week I posed a question to both my union steward and the alternate steward. They agreed that my perspective was correct but we should consult people further up in the union hierarchy to see what, if anything, I might be missing. Since I have not received a satisfactory answer after a week, yesterday I emailed the 9 members of my unionized office hoping to gain any perspective that I am missing.
Knowing that I have a much more diverse group of people who check this blog I have decided to post the email I sent to my fellow AFSCME union members as well. The letter follows…
Since our last union meeting, I have been trying to understand something in regards to the most senior qualified person for a job versus the most qualified person for a job. I am hoping someone can help me. I have discussed this with a couple of people but haven’t really gotten an answer that disagrees with me.
What is wrong with the most qualified person within the office being awarded a position that is up for bid? What incentives are there for anyone to do the best job they can? If the most qualified person is awarded the job, doesn’t that encourage all of us to try to do the best we can and learn as much as we can? It seems to me this would make this a better, more efficient place. The way it is right now, there isn’t much of a reason to do any more that the minimum required.
If I am missing something, please let me know. If you agree with me, we should probably let our union representatives know that too. Thank you for helping me better understand this.
- Adam
I would appreciate any and all perspectives on this situation. I am simply trying to understand why a policy is in place, that from my perspective, isn’t in the best interest of the office, the taxpaying public or even the best interest of the majority of the members of the union.
Leave a comment or feel free to email me. I would love to hear your thoughts.
