Sorry if this is jumbled, I'm writing this after a night shift and 2 hours of sleep, running on anger alone at this point. This is probably going to be a long post, so bear with me.
Problem 1: So I just started working at a fairly big grocery chain here in the US, and I'm already trying to find a way out. I had applied and interviewed for the night crew stocking position, because my partner also works night shift there and I want to make sure we get to see each other outside of working hours. That, and so we could walk to work together for our safety (no car and no friends to give a ride, no bus that time of night).
During the interview, I was asked if I'd want to do file maintenance/tags instead, which is just printing and hanging tags around the store. They did not tell me which shift that would be, and so I agreed. I assumed it was also night shift, and I'm a good fit for that position. Only AFTER being fully hired and completing all the orientation videos, was I told that it is actually an early morning shift starting at 3am. As a very small, non-passing trans man, I do not feel safe walking to work alone in this neighborhood at that time of night. I wasn't given much notice before my first shift and second shift, so against my gut I still walked to work alone. I've told them since that that shift doesn't work for me, and they're saying I'm the one going back on promises to work that shift, as that job can apparently only be done then
Problem 2: last night was my 3rd total shift, and they put me on night shift to get me more hours. I was told that I would be trained on night crew, but that was not communicated to everyone. The supervisor on that felt extremely sexist towards me and got me out of there halfway into my shift. He tried to help me or get others to help me when I tried to lift more than 15-20lbs (I'm more than capable of lifting twice that), wouldn't let me push u-boats if they were more than 1/4 full, and avoided talking to me or training me as much as possible. I feel it was sexist bc I was the ONLY man there that wasn't cis, and I was doing better than the new guy who had been there for a whole month already, despite the lack of training I received. They also did not tell me how to ring up food for myself on lunch and made themselves scarce, so I did not get to eat. I literally did a lap around the store, and you would've thought it was deserted. After lunch, they tried tossing me to any other dept they could find, arguing with each of them about “well I don't want him, you take him!!”. They eventually tossed me to the dairy fridge to restock ALONE, and only gave about a minute's worth of instruction. I was happy to be alone at that point, but I'm livid at how they treated me.
Problem 3: apparently, my supervisor on tags was told that I was supposed to be working that position last night, and absolutely no one told me until I ran into her after lunch, and she told me. I'm still confused, because management told me that that shift strictly starts at 3, and they would not make an exception to start at 11. I'm also scheduled tonight at 11 again, and I clarified with management that they want me on tags tonight. I'm still confused, because I'm nowhere near trained enough to do that alone.
I'm calling our union rep when their office is back from lunch, because I don't know what else to do. I needed this job so badly (we were literally homeless before this), but I know that I'm worth more than this shit. I'm exhausted and I don't know what to do at this point. Do I just leave? Are there any grounds to file a complaint? Idk.