18 April 2019
“MYOB M—– F—–“
Thank you very much sir or madam. I will do that.
Do you see though where it is my business? AT THE WORK PLACE. It becomes my business when somebody insults my mother or all mothers for the entire building to hear. One person hearing that grotesque mother slur is one too many.
That phrase is as offensive to me and my mother as the N-word is to African Americans and the C-word is to women. We all have given names. Use them to communicate with each other.
Yesterday I heard variations of that mother slur thirty-two times. I counted them. That includes guests, security officers and other employees.
It’s rude; it’s ugly; it’s contagious. And it’s loud. One says it, then next thing you know, everybody’s saying it. It must stop. It’s not professional.
Look…our casino won’t even allow a customer to wear a T-shirt that says ‘PUCK FITTSBURGH”. What makes you think saying M—– F—– is okay?
We are a UNION of PROFESSIONALS. It is expected.
Look Like A Professional.
I see myself SELLING YOUR ATTRIBUTES to Marc and Dan at the 23rd hour of negotiations. I’m making the point that ‘you get what you pay for’. I’m arguing that because we are professionals we should be paid like professionals.
We are the Green Berets of casino security. We are the New England Patriots. We are Cadillac. And then we walk into OUR security office. It’s ours. It’s not Garry’s office. It’s not the coaches office. It’s OUR office. I don’t care what time of day or night you come into our office, it reeks junior varsity locker room.
It stinks. It’s dirty. There are dirty dishes everywhere. Our clothes are everywhere. It’s our 8th grade room when mom and dad were away. It’s a pig pen. Name one professional office anywhere that looks and smells like ours. I know you can’t. Your office is an extension of you. Enough said?
I could say the same about our section of the TDR. Enough said?
What if Marc, Dan and I come to your podium? Do you look like a professional?
I know that I have not always been in uniform compliance. How about you?
I know that sometimes my uniform was not as clean as it should have been. How about you?
I know that on occasion I came to work looking like I slept on a park bench. How about you?
For the next 162 days people are going to be watching us. Talk’s cheap. We need action.
Talk Like A Professional.
I don’t know about you, but I really wanted this job. I did everything that I could to sell myself.
I talked to my interviewers like I used to talk to my teachers in school, to my bosses at my previous jobs. With sincerity, with respect.
I didn’t scream or beat my chest. I spoke proper English. No vulgarities, no profanities, no slang. I was a professional. And I got the job. Obviously you did too, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So I know you know how to do it.
So we all know how to talk at the work place. Enough said?
For the next 162 days people are going to be listening to us. Let’s make a really good impression.
Act Like a Professional.
All you have to do is YOUR job. But you’ve got to do it really well. If you want to be a part of the very best casino security team anywhere, we all have to do our jobs really well. Eight hours a day, five days a week.
After all, you’re being paid eight hours a day, five days a week.
Treat Jack the way you want to be treated.
I know you want to be treated like a professional, paid like a professional. SO ACT LIKE ONE. When you punch in, that’s when you turn it on. When you punch out, you’re on your own. Hopefully you’ll carry that professionalism everywhere you go.
Don’t embarrass yourself, or sell yourself short by acting less than you are.
You are special. And so are we. And we can go a long way together.
When you CHOOSE NOT to be professional in the work place, it reflects badly on YOU FIRST, then on the casino, the security department and our locaL union of professionals.
It reflects badly on Dan Gilbert, the owner. He’s the one who hired you for this job. His people saw in you something they liked – maybe it was your professionalism when you interviewed.
Professionalism is what gets you in the door. Lose the professionalism and the way out is just as easy.
PROFESSIONALISM. IT’S CONTAGIOUS. IT’S HABIT-FORMING. IT FEELS GOOD. IT’S DEPENDABLE. TRY IT.
Professionalism is all about organizing yourself.
When you look, talk and act like a professional, you facilitate your own success.
PROFESSIONALISM IS CONTAGIOUS.
I hope you catch it.
Thank you.
Officer Steve Davies-Tight, President, Local Union 141
LOCAL UNION 141 