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Antiwork

The best way to demotivate staff? Tell them they seem unmotivated and need to try harder.

I work for a grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest. It is a union store, and since it does not offer hazard pay for the pandemic, it is grossly understaffed. For the past few months, I have closed both my department and another department, solo, 3 nights a week. This includes dishes, trash, and serving customers for both departments for a good two hours, at two separate counters. Today, when I arrived at work, I was told by my manager that we need to talk and that I appear unmotivated to Corporate. And that I am not accomplishing enough each night in addition to closing two departments. My immediate first response was ” I am doing two jobs already, and would I be relieved of one or the other to concentrate on the tasks that needed to be done?” The answer was no. I just needed to work harder, and…


I work for a grocery chain in the Pacific Northwest. It is a union store, and since it does not offer hazard pay for the pandemic, it is grossly understaffed. For the past few months, I have closed both my department and another department, solo, 3 nights a week. This includes dishes, trash, and serving customers for both departments for a good two hours, at two separate counters.

Today, when I arrived at work, I was told by my manager that we need to talk and that I appear unmotivated to Corporate. And that I am not accomplishing enough each night in addition to closing two departments. My immediate first response was ” I am doing two jobs already, and would I be relieved of one or the other to concentrate on the tasks that needed to be done?” The answer was no. I just needed to work harder, and be more motivated.

So now, on my first break, I'm job searching and reviewing my job duties as per my union contract, knowing that I will only be doing the duties listed, and no more. I will never understand why management has that mentality.

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