Harassment From Management
When you are mocked, belittled, berated or threatened by a manager (coordinators included), that is harassment. No matter how small it may seem, if members do not do something about it, it always gets worse. At the CTA, harassment is a serious problem that has gotten out of control.
Sexual harassment, religious harassment, bigotry and bullying about what you do at work and what goes on outside of work is unacceptable.
Stopping it starts with you. Get help from a trusted union steward/officer as soon as you suspect harassment.
Below are suggested steps you can take to ensure you—and others—get justice. The more steps you follow, the more powerful the effect of your complaint will become.
1. Notate the date, time and what was said or done in your own private diary. Find out if any other coworkers are having the same problem with the same person. Stay in touch with them. You might be able to organize direct action about the issue.
2. Add to your notes something with information that supports your case. Some examples:
CTA Safety Rules
Collective Bargaining Agreement
CTA Corrective Action Guidelines
Illinois Public Labor Relations Act
3. Notify us at the Chicago Transit Justice Coalition through our online Manager Observation Report.
4. Complete a concise Report To Manager. Include a remedy or solution. Avoid self-incriminating information or names of other coworkers if possible. Make a copy for yourself.
5. For the union side, complete a Workplace Complaint (Local 308 members only) or Grievance (Local 241 members only). Give additional details about the incident that you do not want managers to know if you want. Include a remedy or solution. Attach the Report To Manager copy.
6. Complete a CTA EEO Complaint. If you have a related grievance from an unjust writeup that you believe is related to the incident(s), include a copy of that grievance with the complaint.
7. File an Unfair Labor Practice Charge against the CTA (Charge Against an Employer). Include copies of the EEO Complaint and Report To Manager. Also include grievances that are related to writeups and stolen wages.
8. File an Equal Opportunity Commission charge (Federal agency; not the CTA EEO). If it has merit according to their requirements, they may give you a recommendation to sue the employer.
