HR / The new employees fear of reprisal from older, long time employees

A common concern for new employees in unionized work environments is the fear of reprisal from older, long time employees.  This is often due to the perceived “threat” that new, energetic employees pose to the status quo performance of the long time employees.  New employees have been told to “slow down” to not make the rest of the workers look bad “or else”.  This form of workplace bullying puts the new employee between a rock and a hard place because on the one hand, they don’t want to slow down and perform at a level not acceptable to their work ethic.  On the other hand, they don’t want to make enemies of their new coworkers.  So, what is the answer?

It must first be pointed out that I am speaking of the 2% of long time unionized workers here, not the majority.  Despite the protection a union can provide, I believe most unionized workers still truly want to do a good job, perform well, and feel good about the contribution their work effort makes.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Here’s how you can coach new UNION employees | END WORKPLACE BULLYING.