MEMBERS IN CRISIS
Behind every war story about a union member in crisis is a distress call for help that may go beyond a simple case of legal representation. The member is likely to be suffering from a treatable illness protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act. Our duty to fairly represent the member could include the need to help them access treatment as a condition of returning to work, restoring wages, saving a job or purging negative evaluations from a personnel file. In case after case it soon becomes obvious to experienced union representatives that members in crisis are often more than a job performance problem. Real people do suffer from a variety of treatable mental health, addiction and stress related illnesses.
A custodian accused of assault actually suffered from acute depression. Once the depression was treated, the employee return to work and from then on received outstanding evaluations. An apparently hopeless alcoholic - only able to get "revolving door treatment" on his own - was about to be dismissed after the employer decided that absenteeism, tardiness, temper tantrums, and co-worker complaints were enough to end a career. Instead, a planned intervention evolved into a treatment plan, case managed by a Members Assistance Professional. The union member is currently employed and the employer is grateful for the help received, which saved an outstanding employee. A maintenance worker accused of assault was actually suffering a post traumatic stress episode. After counseling and a court appearance, the judge found in favor of the member who had submitted to treatment, by giving the employee a light sentence and a recommendation for leniency considering the background. The employer dropped discipline pending treatment.
These and many other success stories do not happen every day in every case because access to the treatment is sometimes denied by insurance. Expedient discipline or dismissal is applied instead. Some cases of discipline are valid because the disabled member denies the problem and foolishly exhausts all remedies short of submitting to treatment. In such cases, we still feel satisfaction if we have helped the Due Process for the Union and Employer. Documentation shows that the offer was made and spurned. Therefore, the healthier alternative strategy sought could not be applied. Impaired members who balk at finding a solution are not only at risk on the job, they are also an excessive burden to the busy union representative.
Unable to find a solution to their employment problems, impaired members keep calling in and filling the schedules of their besieged union representatives. They take up time with their cases and they become well known to the organization as repeaters. A referral to a crisis intervention specialist or a member assistance program counselor and eventual treatment, short circuits the chronic cases by routing them to a remedial protocol under a Physicians care. The reluctant impaired member needs an intervention, often applied with “tough love” to get them on track. Otherwise, what is chronic illness can become a chronic representation problem for the union.
The gratitude of the recovering member is often exemplified by restored health, a job saved or a file full of reprimands expunged. Timing is everything in this business. Timing is important in getting help, restoring health before serious impairment prevents successful intervention and avoiding disciplinary actions that cannot be reversed. If we wait until brains are damaged, careers are ruined, reputations are destroyed and jobs are terminated, we not only fail to live up to the standards for fair representation, a member has also been lost.
It is hard to make a deal with the employer when we lack a viable alternative. Many cases are won because we are able to go before the employer with a wise solution. When you are negotiating on behalf of the person with whom you are in conflict, you are bound to get the remedy you seek for your members. This is not “wimp-wimp” bargaining. The deal is we will help you get the employee into treatment and back on the job fit for duty. In return, when the employee has proven that the treatment plan stands not only as proof of good faith, but the identified problems are improving as well, halt the discipline. It is as simple as that.
Get more information about member assistance programs. You do not have to do it alone. Access medical assistance. Have expert resources visit your office and work closely with you on actual cases. Let performance and results be the judge. If you have any doubt left, consider this one final case. A hospital employer in good standing, suffering with Lupus Disease, experienced a blackout while shopping. She wondered out of their store with retail items in her hands and was arrested for shoplifting. The employer read about this case and suspended her. Her representative was able to prove her illness and the symptoms that produced this situation. She was cleared by the courts and the employer. Her job and her reputation were restored. She is getting treatment for her illness. Behind every problem there is a solution if you know how to reach out and represent someone with effective tools at your disposal.
.