Supervisor Shuffle

It is February. Not yet the busy time of the year, yet management has determined that the 2nd watch is short a supervisor, an odd conclusion during this time of the year and with the current distribution of spcos throughout the watches. As a result, a 3rd watch spco is being reassigned to the 2nd watch, while a 1st watch spco is being transferred to the 3rd watch. Officially, the reason is "operational needs".

This would be unremarkable, in and of itself, except that the spco being assigned to days is going under duress. That is right, said supervisor allegedly does not want to be reassigned while the spco going to 3rd watch from 1st watch is said to be happy about the move. Unofficially, Blogmaster has learned the reasons for such moves are more complicated--and much more disturbing--than simple manpower needs. This move has personal overtones and appears to be a personal attack on said supervisor. The spco going to days has been the subject of some very specific--and completely unsubstantiated--allegations of a very personal nature. As a result, management has apparently over reacted and decided to move said spco to a different watch. To make it appear more legitimate, management has also moved the second spco from 1st to 3rd watch. Management did not solicit volunteers for such moves and the spco going to days is apparantly not even the least senior spco on afternoons. It is convenient that management discovered their shortage on days at the exact same time these allegations surfaced.

This little drama has huge implications for every employee at oemc. The supervisors are unionized teamsters--albeit without a contract. They are city employees and entitled to due process, fair and impartial investigations into any allegations, and to enjoy current standing while any such investigations are taking place. This is a blatant example of the city failing to follow its own polices and procedures and of tossing its employees into the wind simply because of an unsubstantiated allegation. Memo to pcos--be careful because if the suits can do it to them, they can do it us. Memo to the suits--next time try not to be so obvious and please at least make a show of supporting your employees by waiting to pass judgement until any investigations are completed.

FINAL NOTE: the city is again appealing the unionization for spco ruling. More to come on that in a later post