photo by Beverly Peterson
Monday night an ominous OEM alert, “shelter in place,” flashed onto my cellphone and our neighborhood’s power flickered out. It was comforting to hear emergency sirens piercing the dark as Hurricane Sandy began pushing the Hudson River up our street. A few blocks away an oil tanker washed ashore. Transformers
exploded lighting the sky with strange alien flashes. The smell of Continue reading
The Hartford News publishes a regular column on racism and homophobia by the Community Party. They are currently focusing on claims of abuse at Connecticut Valley Hospital and note that “Rep. Matt Ritter has agreed to meet with CP and CVH employees next month to discuss abusive workplace conduct at the facility.” The CP is hoping that workplace bullying legislation would strengthen protections for CVH employees. With permission, here’s an excerpt from the Community Party’s latest article: Continue reading
Workplace bullying is a hot media topic and a growing number of organizations, cities, and communities have folded bullying into existing harassment policies. But, independent surveys keep reflecting a rise in abusive work relationships. Why? A survey conducted by Leadership, Employment and Direction (L.E.A.D) may shed some light on what’s going on here in the U.S. Here’s an excerpt from an article in Hospitality Magazine on the survey’s result: Continue reading
Years ago when I made my first documentary on the topic of workplace bullying & harassment I found the old training film for secretarial schools posted below. In it a young-ish woman is about to take her first clerical position. No one bothered to mention to her that she’d probably be called “girl” “sweetie” “honey” or that her bosses would make rude insinuations she’d have to ignore in order to keep her job. That enlightenment was still decades away. Here’s a link to a great resource with thorough information on sexual harassment laws today. I send a big warm hug to all of the women who worked so hard over the decades to fight for our rights. Continue reading
BACK OFF! is a remarkably useful and engaging survival guide that can help millions of targets, bystanders, and bullies that want to change their vile ways. I was especially impressed with the practical and powerful guidelines for battling against bullies without becoming one yourself. – Robert Sutton, Author of No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss Continue reading
For years advocates for the Healthy Workplace Bill have remained loyal to their legislative template and argued that options like Ontario’s Bill 168 aren’t adequate to address workplace bullying. They also prefer an approach that discourages large lawsuits. Looks like it’s time for legislators to take another look at alternative approaches — enforcement of Bill 168 may have fallen short — but large lawsuits equal change: Continue reading
OUR BULLY PULPIT 