Friday, November 20, 2009

"This Could Get Messy"

CD in Play: The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds.

I don't like to blog about things centered around work, it us usually an unwise thing to do. So being as unspecific as I can be I would like to get something off of my chest. I applied for a position at work that I am more than qualified to do. I trained for the job successfully and have worked it on a casual basis. It isn't easy work and it pays less than what most people would expect - however, it is interesting and I actually feel satisfied on the job when I do it. I have only had that feeling on a couple of jobs and they paid significantly less. (bouncer and record store employee)
The posting was up for a week and they are looking over applications. One of the people who trained me was telling me today that there are two people with seniority in the queue ahead of me. He and the other people who trained me also want me to get the job. They like me, I am more than competent, they don't have to spend the next three months training someone new and I am always eager to take their call on evenings they want off. What my former trainer heard from management is that there are two people ahead of me and, "this could get messy."
How could this get messy? There are two reasons we can think of. One reason would be they are planning to hire me anyway, ignoring seniority and getting into a fight with the union over this. The second reason could be because of another applicant.
The position I am applying for was posted six months ago. At that time there were around seven or eight people ahead of me in seniority. The top four dropped out because they didn't realise the pay wasn't what they imagined it to be or they saw what they would be doing and decided it wasn't as cool or "romantic" as they had been led to be by television. The fifth applicant, whom I shall refer to as "Pokey" took the job. It is what he has dreamed of doing and he may have told me that he was born to do this. He is a nice enough guy, but still quite young and not responsible enough for the job. He is also quite slow, hence why I call him "Pokey". (and yes I have witnessed his laggardly manner for myself) It takes him a long time to do most tasks and most complaints stated that he worked far to slowly.
The training is three months. When my three months were up they were quite satisfied with me. When "Pokey's" three months were up he was given another three months. When those three months were up "Pokey" was told that he had not passed his probation and that there were reasons for it - which "Pokey" is told me about himself. I did try to encourage "Pokey" and help him out as best as I could, but I can see why he didn't pass. He refuses to see it and has placed a grieance with the union.
Did "Pokey" apply again? Are the union going to force management to accept him into the position? Or do I have the job and am facing a fight? For my part I think that experience and ability do need to be taken into consideration and weighed against seniority. I understand the necessity of seniority and would say that someone who was as qualified as I am should be hired ahead of me, but not someone from a completely different department even if they meet the same education requirements that I do.
Anyhow, just had to get this off my chest. We'll see how it goes.

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