Seniority

[CommMan]

I have been with the department I work for, for right at 7 years. We have a seniority policy in place that states the following: Department seniority will consist of all paid employment in any capacity with this fire district.

Here is my problem: One of my co-workers has been employed here for about 5 years. She recently asked to be moved from night shift to day shift. She has been on nights since she started here.

The battalion chief over dispatch has decided to move me to nights, and her to days. I find that since we do go by seniority, this is in no way fair to me. I like being on day shift and shouldn't be moved because one person thinks she has been on nights long enough. In my opinion, when we both started this job, we would be on nights until a daytime slot opened up. Or, if someone with more seniority agreed to swap shifts.

What are your thoughts on this? Does it seem fair to you?

Thanks in advance!

[NY911Bowhunter]

No, it is not fair at all, and I hope you got your Union involved prior to posting it here.

If your job isnt Union, well, then, you learned a valuable lesson. Organize now, before this happens again.

[Bostondude]

I work nights and I am also part of the union at my dept. That being said, my supervisor told me right from the beginning that if nights started to wear on me or I had any difficulty he would rotate me on days with the guy who is my daytime opposite. The seniority thing does make sense as the low person should get whatever shift opens up in the beginning. However, in this kind of job I think if both people want the same shift rotation is the only possible way to keep people satisfied overall.

[peak85]

I agree that seniority does stand for something like shifts and vacations and I don’t think what is happening to you is fair. I am union and have negotiated certain items that have to do with scheduling, but In Public Safety there is a grey area where management has a right to schedule. If you have these scheduling items spelled out in a contract, then proceed to step one in the grievance process.
If not get some dark blinds and good luck

[DeputyMarshal]

NY911 summed it up. If you don't have a contract that addresses issues like this, now you know why you should.

[Rodney15]

When I moved into Dispatch from the field, my seniority points suddenly were cut in half; in the field, the field points were worth the full value, but transfer to another section, and WHAM you lose half of the seniority you have earned over the years.

It wasn't fair, but then a lot of things aren't fair, but it spite of my seniority being halved, it was enough to let me bid and occupy a day shift, no more nights for me!