Hello fellow anti workers. I'm curious about how Labor Law would apply in my situation. A few of us at my job are meeting with a union rep (healthcare) and doing mapping in preparation for one on ones and getting a petition signed to file. We are early in the process– it's a big place.
So we are in the time where we need to be pretty secretive to keep from being undermined by the admins. In the meantime, I just got called into my supervisor's office and told that I should not air any complaints at staff meetings or discuss concerns about management with the others.
This is because of a complaint I made at a large meeting where admins were supposedly “listening” to our concerns– I got a lot of agreement from my coworkers and the admins didn't like it. My complaint wasn't personal– it was about policies that affect all of us, and I did it partly to see how others reacted. To help figure out who to approach next.
I got told I can only contact my supervisor or the VP medical director with any complaints.
I lied that I was agreeing to this. Obviously following that order isn't possible while organizing– we are agitating covertly now. I dislike lying intensely but I didn't want to risk my job.
So far as we know, management doesn't realize we are organizing. But is it still an unfair work practice to give me a restriction like that, even if they don't know what we are up to? I wondered if it falls under the concerted activity area even though we haven't filed yet.
This is my first time organizing.