Lets talk about- “At Will Employment”
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Reason number 83 for needing a Union- “At Will Employment”
Have a look at your new hire paperwork- you will notice a phase there “At Will Employment”; you’ll see that same phase listed in a few other places too. What, exactly, does that phase mean? In short, the company can ‘release’ you for any reason, at any time, and you have no recourse.
I know the counter-argument is “yeah, but they don’t do that. As long as I’ve been here they’ve never fired anyone without cause, or at least done it during a RIF.” But I want you to dig deeper and think about guys that were fired for really flimsy reasons- guys that got fired because someone heard that someone heard that someone saw them text something inappropriate, or cases where guys were fired for ‘drug paraphernalia’ in incredibly weak circumstances…”they found a urine defeat kit in his room”.... His room? You mean the room he shares with at least one other person? That has housekeepers in and out of it all day long? That he has no way of locking? That room? Was he given a drug test? Did he exhibit ANY indications of a drug problem? These are all questions that should be asked before a person is fired, but they’re not being asked. Why? Because you have no voice- HR says you’re guilty, then you’re guilty- fuck you, pack your shit… better yet, we’ll mail it to you. If you’re newer here, I can understand the tendency to think "that's a ridiculous scenario… that would never happen.” Ask around a bit, these aren’t ‘wildly impossible what-if scenarios’- these are things that actually happened to guys that used to have your bedroom.
What about ‘insubordination’? Is it ‘insubordinate’ to get pissed off when an internal vessel inspection that’s almost a decade overdue is getting pushed out ANOTHER decade? If you accuse a field manager of putting profits over safety by cutting asset integrity or pipeline replacements are you being insubordinate? As an ‘at will employee’, you can be fired in a heartbeat for this. Safety concerns that need to get raised don’t get raised because doing so can be classified as insubordination… a fireable offense. And as an ‘at will employee’ the very person you’re being ‘insubordinate’ to is your judge, jury and executioner.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Something that will be negotiated in a Collective Bargaining Agreement is “just cause” termination. What does ‘just cause’ mean? It means that in union settings, the employer must have a reason to act in disciplining an employee and the reason must be just and fair.
This has many aspects including:
1. Notice. Was the employee adequately warned of the consequences of his/her conduct?2. Reasonable Rule or Order. Was the employer’s rule or order reasonably related to efficient and safe operations?
3. Investigation. Did management investigate before administering the discipline?
4. Fair Investigation. Was the investigation fair and objective?
5. Proof. Did the investigation produce substantial evidence or proof of guilt?
6. Equal Treatment. Were the rules, orders, and penalties applied evenhandedly and without discrimination?
7. Appropriate Discipline/Penalty. Was the penalty reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense and the past record?
And most importantly it’s not just YOU facing the company alone. You have a coworker who has been given formal training as a union steward, making sure you’re treated fairly by the company if you’ve been accused of doing wrong.
In short- it’s the difference between a Stalinist regime where you can be dragged out and shot without a single word of your defense being heard, versus a somewhat fair and just court system where you’re entitled to a hearing and have a trained advocate helping you.
What work environment would you feel more comfortable telling a field manager- “No this isn’t OK, we can’t start up this plant without another day of critical shutdown testing.”? Which system would you prefer if you have a ‘vape pen’ in your travel backpack that our airport screeners decide is ‘drug paraphernalia’ (even if no THC is present)? Would you be willing to complain to a superintendent that constant hallway noise is affecting your night shift work knowing that a coworker almost got fired for a similar complaint? Again, these aren't crazy 'what ifs', these are situations that have happened.
A union doesn’t just defend our pay, or our benefits, it defends us from unreasonable managers that don’t want opposing voices. “Just Cause” protects us from bosses that “have it out for you”, and allows you to voice legitimate safety concerns without fear of retaliation. You would never want to live in a society where you have no right to defend yourself, so why are you OK with a workplace where you exist ‘at the will’ of your unseen masters?
Visit our Fact and Myths page to learn more or see these links for some details on Just Cause vs At Will.
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