In sight of victory

It has been a clash I would have preferred to avoid but I had no choice, I could either quit my job, put up with the undermining and the snideness that had embroiled my work or fight the forces conspiring against me. Fortunately, I am up for the challenge and although it was a fight I could win, why not just negotiate in good faith to work through the issue? Ok, if you engage in deceptive, unethical and deliberately misleading behaviour then I have your measure.

I was forced to take my employer to the Industrial Magistrate's Court to put an end to middle and senior management riding roughshod over me. These days they call it workplace bullying, it's not a term I prefer but I can work within the guidelines of such terminology. I despise the term bullying, it makes you look weak; instead what I lacked was leverage. I am not weak, nor am I a push-over and I am not a person who gives in easily.

So after extensive research, failed attempts to organise a meeting to sort out the issue for I marched into the offices of the Industrial Relations Commission in Perth and proceeded to complete the necessary forms and file a complaint. For two years I had been intentionally denied the opportunity to apply for positions I was experienced in, qualified for and was already performing the role. Instead, the management had taken my work and claimed it as their own organising the very people I have worked with to do their dirty work for them, the mistake they made was to become greedy and paid themselves for work they had not performed - not a clever move in a state government department.

I bargained on a nasty fight and after two years of trying, I was finally allowed to meet with senior management to discuss why my employer was knowingly and willingly in breach of an employment agreement formally registered in the Industrial Relations Commission. I certainly had no fear of meeting with three directors for what turned out to be a meeting with no agenda, no minutes, a whole bunch of talk, no implementation plan and no outcomes. So just a normal meeting for these guys but what they didn't expect was for me to put up such a strong showing,

I shot down every argument they made and left them bewildered, I brought my evidence with me and when they argued I just produced their own policies and correspondence. Even funnier, in the days after the meeting I sent them a whole load of material to ponder and they haven't responded. Naturally I am keeping copies of the correspondence I have sent and this won't look good in front of the magistrate.  

What I didn't know at the time of the meeting was that my employer had failed to respond to the court and I could apply for a default ruling in my favour. I had never considered this as I had contacted them via email to remind them of the date and even resent the forms they had lost so they could respond. Apparently they have treated the court with the same disrespect and disdain they have afforded me and now I just have to appear before the magistrate for the default decision. You can bet I will be there.