Just Because You Can Is It a Good Idea To Do It?

In the last two days I have heard stories of supervisors making sweeping changes in their employee's work duties.

Just because you can is it a good idea to do it?

Our Contract is clear that the Employer (represented by your Supervisor) has specific rights under Article 9. Management rights which are:

1. Direct employees
2. Hire, promote, transfer, assign, and retain employees
3. Suspend, discharge, or take other proper disciplinary action against employees
4. Reassign employees
5. Relieve employees from duty because of lack of work or other reasons
6. Schedule work
7. Determine methods, means, and personnel by which operations are to be conducted

As a represented employee it is not so much that these rights are implemented but rather how they are implemented.  There is nothing in our Contract that talks about advance notice of these changes (except work schedules), but to have a change made without prior notice just does not seem to value the employee and the contributions they can make to the Department.  I don’t know if what I have heard about are isolated instances limited to one or two supervisors or something more systemic.

That is the purpose of this post to ask if there are more employees who have had complete changes to their work duties and how these changes were implemented.  Generally I believe there has been discussion, where employees can share their strengths and interests and what they can bring to the Department.  If this is the start of a change how we do things I would like to know, for possible inclusion at Labor/ Management.  The L/M agenda is jointly developed and depending on what I hear it would be a good idea to talk about it.