union mess

Let me say first, that in general, I think unions are a good thing. When the U was forming a TA/RA union, I supported it, and even went out to do some picketing. Once the union was in place, I never really thought about it, nor did I ever try and learn the rules or anything.

However, now that I am a supervisor, I have to know the rules (and I'm just learning some of them). And let me tell you, there are so many grey areas in the contract that I 'd just as much prefer not to have it. I was trying to learn a little about it today, but it is so confusing. The expectations are not clear at all. And we are pretty lackadaisical around here at work, so we don't always make the expectations crystal clear either. I don't keep track of my RA's hours to make sure they are putting in the right amount of hours. As long as I know when they are going to be here and when they aren't that is really all I need. I trust that they are keeping track and will let me know when they have gone over their maximum union dictated # of hours per quarter.

I am having a hard time reconciling the two sides. The supervisor side that is supposed to know the rules and the regular person side that trusts the people she works with to be ethical. I guess they don't have to be totally separate, but I really don't want to be that person who checks in on things, but I also feel like my role as a supervisor is to do just that. Arghh..I'm definitely learning some new skill in trying to figure this mess out.