UAW Strike
One thing I keep thinking about with the recent strikes and especially the Auto workers is about shared investment in success and profits for organizations. Also once you give up profits, you rarely see that come back around in your favor. The UAW years back (I know this is a complex issue) agreed to take cuts and adjustments to their pay as well as benefits to help save the company, but have never had this adjusted to make right those cuts that were done for the betterment of the business. They were 'company men and women' and have less to show for it. All while their parents company are seeing historic profits from their literal blood, sweat and tears. The message I take is that the workers just want to be made right for their sacrifices.
Creator: Paul Sancya | Credit: AP
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It reminds me of back in the day in my Client Services / Programming role we would get our quarterly bonus pulled for not hitting the proper revenue target while Sales was still receiving theirs with each paycheck. Our role was to deliver and not to sell, so it was a situation where we didn’t have direct impact and were penalized for it. It's one reason why the dynamic between Operations and Sales is so important, it is a shared success. Around the time of this initial adjustment to the auto workers, online sample took a massive hit in our industry, this was in conjunction with the economic crisis around 2008. We have never seen that turn around and now there are folks who want the same sample for even cheaper while championing quality. It gets a little messy.
Everyone has to make sacrifices and adjustments at times for the greater good, but this should be a shared pain within an organization. Often as we have seen with recent layoffs, those who 'make the cut' and are saved are kept on staff and asked to do exponentially more work for the same or less while being made to feel like they are lucky to still have a job. And while we never want anyone to lose their job, because we know the pain and hardship that can have on the individual as well as their family, there needs to be an assessment of those at the top who let it get to that point. There is a quote about trying to do the same thing over and over again and hoping for different results.
There is no easy way to handle this, but part of this is often forgot is respect. This seems like a basic piece, but people take pride in their work and work hard to be good employees, colleagues, and humans, especially within their organization. When they feel they are being manipulated or taken advantage of, you lose the culture and community that is what made you successful in the first place.