Warning this is a rant.
Called my boss today and told her, "You know, I thought ya'll would appreciate having someone who is willing to work 14 hours every single Saturday, and shows up on time without fail. But, apparently, you don't."
And she answers most sarcastically, "Now, J--, what ever gave you that idea."
"Well, not getting paid, for one thing."
And then she begins to lecture about "your" paperwork, and getting "your" paperwork in on time.
And that is when the shit hit the fan. She got herself an ear full and yet another shift that will, most likely, go unfilled each week.
Ask me if I care. The idea of her on the phone, hopelessly trying to fill a Saturday shift, fills this rebel worker's heart with true satisfaction.
For more on half a paycheck, see below the squiggle.
Flex This
A little background: I work out in the field, and my boss works in the home office. The Powers That Be expect paperwork to be in the office at 5PM on Monday for a workweek which ends on Saturday. They fully expect me drive across the entire San Antonio metro area, in the wrong direction from my home, and deliver the paperwork by hand. They tell us that they have "a drop box conviently located outside the office."
So, here are my choices. I can drive over there late Saturday night, notwithstanding that I have to be up at 6:30 AM Sunday for another long shift. Or I can drive late Sunday night, never mind that I am exhausted by then, never mind that the office is in a huge industrial park, completely empty that time of night. Or, I can get up Monday morning, on my day off and brave the congested freeways.
No, matter, they can make no exceptions. Nope, absolutely no flexibility on their part, although they expect total fexibility from us. We must spend our own time, use our own cars, and pay for our own gas to accomplish what $1 in postage can accomplish just one day later.
The hourly wage agreement that they signed matters not one bit to them. Welcome to Texas, Land Of The Right To Work For Less. Way less, considering that not only don't we get paid courier wages, but we also must supply the car and the gas, and without so much as a thank you.
Which is why I began to shout, "That is not my paperwork, that paperwork is company property, if that paperwork were mine, I would keep it in my house. You have no respect for my time, my car, or my gas, not to mention, my life on San Antonio freeways."
She began to patronize, "Now, you know, J, that the mail is beyond our control."
"Yep, it's beyond my control also, but here is something I can control, I can drop that Saturday shift right now, and as of today, you can find some else to fill it."
Last Laugh
The Companies intransigence on this inflexible policy of theirs continues to astound me. If a shift doesn't get filled, they don't get paid. But they seem more concerned with maintaining control, even to the point of loosing business. My boss is the one who has to face the clients with the news that their service will be scetchy from now on, at least on Saturdays.
And, Fellow Workers, if you are reading this, and you know who you are, give the Boss a call, and tell her that you are tired of being used as an unpaid courier. Tell her to take her Saturday shift and shove it. Tell her that she should be happy, her late paperwork problem has been solved, once and for all.
The company is no longer allowed to call me about unfilled shifts, but their sad pleas for help to fill the empty shifts crowds my email. And now, when I see my former shift on that list, it will take every ounce of will power that I can muster not to hit the reply button with a big, "Fuck You!"
On Advise To Go aScabbing
Some folks are trying to be helpful by advising that I should go around scabbing on myself. Strange, that when I present a problem as being a demand for labor without pay, that anyone would think that the solution to the problem is to provide other labor at home without pay!!.
Go Figure!
I guess, I need to spell out. I don't need advise to solve this problem. This problem is solved. I am on strike, and will not be a scab. I am encouraging my fellow workers to join the strike. Some already refuse to work Saturdays for the same reason. This is called a Job Action.
Tabby gets the cream.