date has been set, for nov 3, as my step three greivence, to get my job of 12 years back. to be honest, i'm worried. yes, the first two steps always fail, and its only at third, and above, things have a chance of happening. but the kroger stradegy has somewhat worked. after two very embarressing meetings, where i was personally insulted, and basically fired all over again, it,s hard to go into this with anything but dread. now, the union, is for the first time, being blunt, and upfront, and treating it as a battle. not only is my rep there, but his higher up. my reps words were'this a bull**** case, they have played enough games, and their case can't stand up, and they know it, thats why they have drug it out, to get you to give up" sounds good, and he says he's very confident this will end and go our way. maybe i worry for nothing, but hell, i worked there for 12 years ! i was good at it , i stayed out of trouble, yet a bullseye was painted on my forhead, and the trigger pulled. plus, i'm no kid, i'm a 41 year old man. sitting there, and taking smart mouth from some punk kid, half my age, that never worked with me a day, insulting me, was hard to stomach. union said, that was his goal to make me so disgusted, i wouldn't fight anymore. thing is, they don't understand. this isn't about a job anymore, it's about i did not deserve to be fired.and i will NEVER accept that i should. i will fight them, untill there is no fights left. just hope, with TWO union people there, they will at least be proffessional this time, and keep it from a mudslinging show
hey good for you and dont give up. Next time your there you tell them "Hey dont get personal with me and I wont with you" I would like to know what happend the whole story as Iam a Union steward and a very good one.
Kroger Management don't like to admit they are wrong, the peons or higher ups. I was removed from the deli because 2 people in the deli didn't like me and they said I was being harsh to another employee and trying to get her to leave.
They never asked the employee that I was accused of being harsh to, because they knew the answer, they removed me from the deli for 2 weeks.
After a union meeting I was told that there was no way for me to go back into the deli. That their decision was final.
Well, I'm now the back up deli manager, been there for little over a year.
thank you everyone the whole story, ? oy, i'll try to keep it short. i worked the kitchen . there, we had 4 logs, we had to keep up with. In jan, i missed a temp check, running behind. my fault, diddn;t fight it, got wrote up. second time, may. diddn't miss anything, but the temp i wrote down, was one line under the product, they said, that was a miss. i explained simply, my eyes are not what they once were, and i vissually missed the spot. three day suspension, i asked to be transfered to another dept, away from these logs, because i wasn't willing to risk a 12 year carreer, over bad eyes. i was flatly refused, and reminded, next time, i was gone. late june, hot holding log. it has 8:00 line, but we shut down at 8;00. so there was NO FOOD to temp !still, they in sist, something be there, so we just write either na, d, or our initial, on the lines. on one line, on this trash line, i missed a initial. terninated. the union was'you have to be kiding me ?' and set up a first meeting . went bad. the unit manager never liked me anyway, and denied to reinstate me. went to step two.brian owens, the zone manager, starts off, with a 'why are we here ?'with a pissed attitude "umm, i missed a initial, on a log." he pulls upen my file, starts rifeling throu, and pulls out a write up, from TWO years ago, for a customer complaint, that the union declared false, and was suppossed to been removed from my file,.owens began waving it around, saying i should have been fired then. next, he pulls out a employee evaluation, from 4 years ago. "these numbers, your lucky your ass diddn't get fired for this !" even the union rep, said'what has this to do with the issue at hand ? "because he is obvious a disgrace to this company, that should have been fired long ago" it went like that for over a hour. never was the actual write up, i was fired for even discussed.i was acussed of suppossed drug use, because of mood swings. never once, had this ever been brought to MY attention, nor was ever checked, yet he was pulling out papers. i was accussesd of being a thief, a dead beat, a trouble maker, a slob, a poor represenative of the company . finally, the union put a stop to his accusations, saying" either we discuss the matter at hand, or meeting over' so owens says "fine, he failed the log, case closed. " the union responded, "he requested a transfer out of the dept, because of trouble with the logs, why wasn,t that considered? owens response," because he's lieing about his eye problems. i have a statement from unit manager wheeler, that says she has witnesses him reading on his break. if he can see to read, he can see to do logs." thats when i casually reached in my pocket, and pulled out both my glasses, and my eye doctor,s report, that my vision was terrible. owens ended the meeting on that note, saying he nothing more to say. union rep told me, "it;s going to go to third stage, but we have this, they have nothing. just relax, and wait' so, thats where i am. waiting untill nov 3, hoping i don't have my time wasted with ridicolous accusations, that the union rep, afterwards told me, were intended to make me loose my temper, and walk out. just don't know if i can take another bout of that. there will two members of the unio there this time, one a big cheese. i'm hoping that will keep things under control. union keeps insisting we will win, it's just a time game. but after two embarrissing shows like that, my hopes are sagging a little. got to have faith in God, that this will work out, and go with that
let them drag thier feet , you will get your job back and with back pay! Then request at the meeting to transfer to a store of your choice or a store that both you and management will agree on. You want to go do to the mistreatment of that store manager also try to go to a differant department. Managers here do look at the file of an employee but most dont look at thoings more then a year old and after a year they are supposed to be removed from your file period! Oh at the meeting request anything over a year old be removed from the file and have it done right away.
This should be the point where this is settled and you should be made WHOLE. Now if Kroger`s HR and KMA leaders are set on trying to make an example then there is that possibility that you would have to go to Arbitration. But then unless Kroger is sure they are right, every T crossed, I dotted and no contract violations and presidents are set in their favor, it will not go that far because it then starts to get into a lot of money to go to arbitration and loose. could cost thousands of Dollars to the looser and nothing to the winner.
i sure hope so. my union rep seems sure it will end , because they are just pulling a bluff job, uptill know, with no solid stand. I know 14 weeks has been long enough, my nerves are shot by the waiting
