304

recorded tuesday, july 24th:



"k, so, basically what happened, she told me yesterday what transpired and probably what started it was that the girl from floral had left at three o'clock which--"

"--correct."

"--which i instructed them to do which was scheduled, ok, and obviously when they left they didnt communicate it to, uh, the farmstand department."

"correct."

"so there was a fourth call, so anna got ticked off, and she, did she call you on the intercom or something?"

"she didnt call me. she said farmstand dial 3-4-0."

"ok. and then what happened then?"

"then she started berating me. she said i had an attitude problem for not responding to a floral call. i told her i dont know their schedule. its not my job to know their schedule. i didnt hear a fourth call."

"k."

"i dont think that happened. i wrote down what she said. at 3:50 she told me i had an attitude problem for not responding to a floral call."

"k."

"i explained theres no way i could know their schedule. sally doesnt speak english so she didnt tell me anything. theres no way i could know she was gone. all she does is utter these one word commands like "load, load, cancel, cancel."

"k."

"i was completely disgusted. it was totally unprofessional for her to just start digging into me for no reason. then mary told me when she got here that anna started yelling at her too."

"mary who?"

"mary in floral."

"oh, okay."

"the four o' clock person...and for what? it not mary's fault."

"ok...lemme me ask you this. now im gonna ask you a question so dont be offended or anything. do you feel it was that big of a deal, cuz, the reason why i say this, youve been around for a long time, youre a veteran, youre been through everything, ok, youve been in this store for a while and youve had different managers, probably really nice people and some not really so nice people, so youve survived and youve been all through this. do you really, do you really feel that it was that bad, are you that thin-skinned? now im just asking you."

"let me put it this way. in fourteen years ive never complained about a supervisor."

"really?"

"and i found that disgusting, yes. i go way above and beyond what i have to do here. i write orders as a part timer--"

"--sure."

"-- i work a lot of hours--"

"--sure."

"--and you know i work as hard as i can."

"sure."

"and to speak to me like that is totally uncalled for and i wont tolerate it."

"ok."

"its not becoming of a manager."

"ok. alright."

"thats how i feel--"

"ok, well alright--"

"-- its not being thin-skinned. its a matter of showing respect for employees."

"ok. ummm, what do we need to do to right this?"

"id like an apology from her."

"k."

"and she should also apologize to mary cuz mary was upset too. she had absolutely nothing to do with this. she just came in at her scheduled time."

"see thats part of the thing, you know, and again im not downplaying your anger and your concern. i dont think having an hour gap between one person leaving and one person coming in is a big deal. however, it should have been communicated to whoever that there was going to be a gap."

"correct. my issue is not the gap. my issue is that i wasnt told, i didnt know, its not my job to know and she just started digging into me. thats not right."

"ok."

"then i called the union and she told me i had to do that on my own time and thats not right either. if i have to file a grievance thats on company time."

"that i dont know about to be very honest with you."

"my union steward seems to think so."

"ok."

"thats why i pay union dues. so i can file grievances."

"k."

"then my other issue is that we are all regular clerks...frozen, dairy, grocery. theyre in the next aisle from floral. how come theyre not getting the calls?"

"well usually in every store ive ever been at its always been the farmstand's responsibility to take the floral calls whether youre on the other side of the store or not. thats just how its always been. theres always been a partnership between floral and farmstand."

"if theres a partnership how come theyre not getting our calls?"

"i dont know."

"who do i ask, then? youre in charge. who do i call for that?"

"i would say to you, well um, well see theres never a problem with them getting your calls because theres always somebody in farmstand."

"thats not true. when i go on break and im by myself and i get a call i have to come down from my break. but im expected to get all their calls."

"well yeah youre right. youre right. i would say, i would say call whoevers in floral and say hey guess what, im on break, could you help me out and get my calls..or somebody..i mean yeah hey c'mon you know its its--"

"--youve been around a long time too and you know that doesnt happen in reality. we can say it but its not enforced--"

"--well--"

"let me ask you a question. if farmstand had gotten a fourth call, do you think anna wouldve called floral and talked to mary the way she talked to me?"

"i dont...youre asking me to make an assumption i cant."

"its a reasonable question. do you think she wouldve called floral and asked how come youre not getting the farmstand calls? thats a reasonable question."

"i cant answer that cuz youre asking me to make uh, an assumption on something that i dont know. i dont know, i cant, i cant, me i wouldnt have said anything i wouldve found out who was supposed to be getting calls so--"

"thats what i told anna. i told her i dont know the schedule. i dont work in floral. she was standing in floral cuz i called 340. the schedule is there."

"ok. alright. were you gonna talk to me about this or what?"

"i wanted to talk to my union rep first to find out the proper way to handle this."

"is kathy your union steward?"

"yes. thats why i was discussing this with her."

"okay. alright. i didnt mean to butt in i just happened to walk up."

"thats fine. this just bothered me."

"does it still bother you?"

"yeah. im angry about it. im angry about a lot of things but that was totally uncalled for. iver never been treated that way for no reason."

"really?"

"yes."

"im not downplaying you, im just, im, im just, youre, youre pretty upset."

"yeah. i was disgusted. the best thing i could do was walk away and take a breather."

"thats smart. thats good."

"ive never had this problem with management before."

"has it always been a problem with her and you, you and her?"

"no. when she came in i said welcome back from vacation anna."

"okay so youve never had a problem with her or anything like that?"

"nope. ive never filed a grievance. ever. fourteen years."

"ok."

"so youre going to file a grievance then?"

"if she apologizes sincerely it might change but if she doesnt im going to follow through."

"ok."

"thank you for listening."

"not a problem, not a problem. doors always open. and i and i and i understand your concern and i understand how you feel. unfortunately i wasnt there. i didnt hear how the tone of her voice was so the tone mustve been something where it really set you off, really upset you. was it a sarcastic tone?"

"it was condescending and demeaning."

"ok."

"thats the best way i can describe it."

"can i can i can i maybe, like, say how she wouldve said it. what did she say to you? she said you have a--"

"--she said i have an attitude problem for not responding."

"did she say, jeff, do you have an attitude problem?"

"no, she didnt ask a question. she told me."

"ok. jeff, you have an attitude problem."

"yes."

"kinda like that?"

"yes, exactly like that."

"ok."

"so is it because i cant read their minds? why do i have an attitude problem. what did she tell you?"

"she, she told me that she said she asked you why there was a fourth call."

"thats a lie."

"she said that she called you and wanted to know why you werent getting calls for price checks or something like that. to be very honest with you, the exact wordage, i dont remember. but she did say that she got, she said that she asked you and that you got mad because of how she spoke to you. and she said that you were going to call the union. so is that pretty much--"

"--so she admitted--"

"well she admitted to me that you were upset. you were upset on the way she spoke to you."

"she could have handled it by asking if i could please get the floral calls. thats all it would have taken. just ask me."

"ok."

"cuz theres no way i can know, joe."

"i know, i know."

"i cant know eveything thats going on all the time."

"i, i, i jeff i understand. that part i got no problem with. yeah. no problem at all."



transcribed sunday, july 29th.