With Covid being rampant the last 2 years the company I work for has put in strict Covid protocols to keep us from getting others sick. The protocol has been that if anyone is feeling sick or showing any related symptoms then we have to call a third party called “Medcor” and from whatever they recommend our company follows the policy and I have to notify all the right channels of the situation.
We accrue 1 sick day for every year, so this year I started off with 3 sick days but very quickly had 0 because in January we all caught Covid and then in February we all got the stomach flu which I mixed with unpaid sick time and my paid sick time off.
Two weeks ago i worked in the rain which in turn got me really sick and I lost my voice over the weekend. I called my supervisor 1 hour before my scheduled shift(which is company policy) and let him know that I could barely breath and was coughing a lot and throwing up, so he told me to call Medcor. After calling medcor I was contacted by HR and even the HR rep told me I didn’t have to go back to work till the following Tuesday and he hopes I feel better. It’s already the next week and today my supervisor tried serving me “suspension without pay” papers with a formal hearing in 2 weeks out for “excessive absences without sick time”. They didnt offer me a 3rd right up or even ask if I wanted to use vacation time(which I have all of). They literally went straight to wanting to suspend me for this bullshit.
I have all the proof I need that I was told to not come in from my supervisor and from HR so I didn’t think I deserved a write up which would have been my second option if I didn’t take the suspension without pay. I didn’t understand the lingo so before my supervisor made me sign papers I told him I need my Union rep because I wasn’t understanding any of this and it was confusing to me because I’ve just been following protocol and even if I had sick days I shouldn’t have to give them up when the company is mandating me to stay home.
My union rep was mad, he told me in the whole country this is the first time they are trying to penalize a worker for following protocols and to not take the hearing because from everything he’s seen, that they fire you without even being able to present your evidence and that they are baiting me. I told him I didn’t deserve a write up & if I take the write up I was told I couldn’t grievance it and my union rep also told me that was a lie and that my supervisor is just instructed to say that but with the right proof we can have any write up erased.
My union rep also thinks this is retaliation in regards to me reporting a previous (ex) supervisor who had a bad track record for sexually discriminating against me and others and our zone supervisor tried to cover it up until I contacted the head of legal and told them I’ve been trying to get this settled but all my supervisors aren’t doing anything about this. With the proof that HR was telling me to stay home, my union rep thinks we can finally target our shitty zone supervisor for retaliation because they’ve been trying to get him for years for a lot of unfair practices and various other things.
Initially I was going to take the unpaid suspension and come to the hearing with my proof, but after hearing how twisted things are and that not just HR can call for suspensions, it made me scared for my job, but also it’s making me vindictive because this company has some pretty twisted policies and I’ve already taken one for the team in terms of putting myself out there to get my previous supervisor fired, so I’m going to have to do it again to bring light to what is happening with us.
If it’s company policy, then we should not get penalized for it. If it’s company policy, our personal sick time should not be used. If something doesn’t feel right and you have union representation then please use it. Don’t let them play with you. This is my livelihood and I have children to take care of and provide for. I’m done being a sheep for this company and taking everything and not fighting back. This zone manager has rised through the ranks and has fired 100’s of employees across different states and him coming to our zone has already put everyone on edge and every one sees how he escalates things dramatically. He literally made someone call medcor and go home when they got a stomach ache from drinking their soda too fast.
Even these billion dollar railroad companies have shitty and twisted protocols and guidelines and even though I love the work and love the benefits, how is anyone supposed to have a healthy workplace when we can literally be penalized for every single thing even while following protocol. Why would I keep doing what’s right if all it’s doing is getting me in trouble.
Apologies to all my coworkers in advance, but you best believe I am no longer notifying management if I’m sick because it’s only April and I have a long year ahead of me with this shit.