The Kinda-Strike Begins

Terribly sorry about my previous train wreck of a post. Anger + booze - sleep = some messed up writing.

Report from the Field, Friday
Things seem to be falling apart, here. Ever since the two new guys showed up on this project, the number and severity of complaints from the facility has risen. The infamous dentist-spooking fixture incident of 2010 was just the most extreme of a myriad of issues. The facility is pissed, our security escorts are pissed, the big-wigs are pissed, and TL is getting scared.

In his fear, TL is starting to fuck up. Last night, he called everyone into a meeting. The first topic he covered, naturally, was the subject of the falling lenses. During that night, a member of the facility cleaning crew told TL that he had noticed a hanging fixture on one of the floor my crew had covered. TL went to investigate, and found that the fixture in question was actually in the office of the Dean of Dental Operations. Yikes.

Because of this disturbing discovery, TL decided to inspect a few of the other rooms. Much to his displeasure, not only did he find several other fixtures to be improperly secured, but he also found that a lot of lights had been skipped, and not replaced.

Now TL knows who was working in these room, as does the rest of the crew. He even outright stated that he knew who was responsible, but was not about to name names. Despite that fact, TL still thought it would be appropriate for the entire crew to go back to all of the rooms they have worked on in the last three days, and double check that they were done fully.

Ok, fair enough. A little QC isn't a bad thing. Even though I pride myself on the quality of my work, and am very thorough about making sure that all of my fixtures are serviced, and fully secured, I understand that recent events have justified a quality control run. If nothing else, it will look good on paper to show that everyone took the time to assure their work is done right.

Then the subject of compensation came up. One of my teammates asked TL how we would be payed for this. I mean, he's asking us to inspect a large number of fixtures, so surely we'll be on hourly pay for this, right? Apparently TL doesn't think that way. According to him, we already have been payed for this work. Making sure that the fixtures are fully closed is included in  our one lime per lamp pay.

I can kinda see where TL is coming from. If I did a half-assed job with my relamping, but got payed for the full-assed job, then I still owe the company another ass worth of work. So to speak.

The problem here is that I have already done the full-assed job. I have already taken the time to assure that all of my fixtures are properly secured. If I had not been so careful, I could have put in a good number more lamps. I was careful however, so my numbers are lower, and I have fully earned all of the limes I have been awarded for my efforts. I am 100% confident that every fixture I have worked on will stay closed when tested.

So if your ask me to take my time and re-check my fixtures, to put in yet another half of an ass, then I had better be compensated for that extra work. I have done ~2000 limes worth of work, and have recieve ~2000 limes in compensation. Any extra work needs to have extra compensation associated with it, or else it is nothing but a donation on my behalf. Frankly, I am not too keen on the idea of donating work to my company, and neither are my crew members.

At this point, the whole team was starting to get visibly agitated. TL still had us, but only barely. You could tell that everyone was thinking "This is some bullshit", but at the same time, everyone was still willing to (grudgingly) do the task. Then, out of the blue, TL goes of on another line entirely.Dust. That's right. Once again, we're talkin' about dust.

A quick note, here: In the very first meeting of this project, the lead security escort (The suspected bi-polar werewolf) told stated that we are responsible for wiping the dust off of the inside of the fixtures. Everyone-favorite-project-devoloper John piped up and stated that that task was not in the contract. In so many words, the security escort told John that this was his facility, and that John could just sit down and shut up. John did just that, and after the meeting ran out and bought a bunch of swiffers for my crew. Classy. A real show of spine.

For the first few days of the project, everyone dusted the inside of the lenses. As time wore on, though, people got more and more lax about it. When the crew started getting complaints about the tables/chairs/etc. in our work areas being too dusty, everyone outright stopped. No matter how nice your cleaning rag is, dry-wiping the inside of a lens causes a lot of dust to get thrown into the air. Unless you cover the entire room with dropcloths, and leave the dropcloths there until everything has settled, that dust is going to end up on the tables/chair/whatever where we're working.

The security escorts seemed to realize this, and have not been harassing anyone for not wiping the fixtures. On of the guards often sits and watches me work, so I know that he knows I'm not wiping the fixtures. Despite that, the guard often complements me about how careful and thorough I am, and entrusts me with some of the most sensitive areas.

So when TL starts going off about how all of the fixtures he inspected were not wiped, he very quickly lost the crew. The security escorts (the guys really running this show) seem to be perfectly fine with us not dusting the lenses. There have been zero complaints from the facility about the inside of the lenses being dirty. Unless John was mistaken (or something has changed) dusting the lenses isn't even in our contract. Why on earth are you freaking out about this? Now, of all times, when your crew's confidence in you is hanging by a thread? Bad move, TL

One by one, several of the crew members voiced their concerns. Instead of keeping a level head and reasoning with us, TL instead takes everything personally and gets angry. "Not only will you guys have to go back and wipe all of the lenses from earlier this week (for no pay, mind you) but you will be required to wipe ever lens from this point forward. If you're not willing to wipe the lenses, then you may as well stay at the hotel.

Well, I am not willing to wipe lenses, and I am especially not willing to go back and wipe the lenses of the fixtures that I've already serviced. I am very much against the idea of throwing a bunch of dust in the air, when that dust is going to later settle and cause ire from the facility. I will not be held responsible for contaminating an experiment, all because TL thinks that the inside of these lenses is too dirty.

My crew feels the same way. Between the dust BS, and the idea of spending half the day working without pay, we all were pretty put off. We decided that we will not be going into work on Friday, until this business has been sorted out with the higher-ups. If it turns out that dusting actually is in the contract, then I will gladly comply, and even go back and clean my previously serviced fixtures. If it is not in the contract, then no, I will not be dusting. Until I can find out what that contract says, I can't do any work. Am I acting out of line? I don't think so. I would like to hear your opinions, though, as this thing could end up costing me my job.

I have tried to reach out to some of the people in charge, but have yet to get any real information. By the looks of it, this wont be able to be resolved until Monday rolls around. I hate having this sort of apprehension floating around, but thems the breaks. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated as new information rolls in.

Off the Clock
One thing about this whole disaster that's really eating at me, is that my crew seems to be looking to me for leadership. Normally I wouldn't mind this sort of treatment, but in this case it is causing me a lot of grief. I don't have that much experience in dealing with large corporations. I've had to deal with shitty business men before, but that was in a more personal, privately-owned store setting. All of the rules, regulation, and red tape of the world of big business have left me feeling very unsure of my actions. I think I am doing the right thing, but I can't help but wonder if there is some clause, paragraph, or fine print somewhere that states that I am acting completely out of line. There is a very real chance that I could lose my job, and that has me nervous.

When the rest of my crew turns to me, and ask what I think we should do, that nervousness is instantly compounded to a ridiculous scale. When the idea of even being a slight bother to someone is horrifying to you, the idea of causing someone to lose their job is downright catastrophic. Like I said, I feel like I'm making the right choices, but I'm simply not experienced or knowledgeable enough to lead a strike. Even if I don't actually tell anyone to do anything, the actions I personally take will still have an effect on their choices. I am terrified that I am leading (whether I want to or not) my crew to failure, and it has me so torn up that I feel physically ill. I thought I was just going to be changing lightbulbs...