I (F26) work with a lot of foreign coworkers at a landfill. We pick recycling off a conveyor belt and are expected to do a certian amount a minute, or “pick speed”. Theirs are regularly low. Additionally, they had a habit of flushing paper towel and making a mess. This plugged the toilet, and the women’s restroom has been locked. We need special permission to use it like gradeschool. That all being said, I’ve had issues with them for more petty reasons. They would demand I sweep some certian part of the plant at the end of the day instead of whetever I was, they have no actual authority. They rush me in the bathroom, knocking on the doors. They generally are difficult. I am autistic, so I don’t deal with this well, and tend to yell. Every time, they make a point to all laugh in unison.
My boss’s boss was talking about meetings before work today. The subject of pick speeds came up, as one of the foremen has to bring it up during the meeting again. I complained as the boss was out the door that they really should be talking to these foreign workers, who among the above, have low pick speeds, make excuses not to switch stations as we normally would, and so on. The boss’s boss gets mad at me, tells me “Everyone deserves a chance to work here” and all but accuses me of racism. It’s worth noting, my pick speeds are usually well above average. AITAH?
Categorizing them by country of origin isn’t great. Focus on their actions, not their identities. If they did different actions, they wouldn’t be a problem. If some of them act differently, then they don’t deserve to be grouped together.
When coworkers (with no authority over you) do stuff like this, here’s the steps to end their behavior:
- Document everything. If you can (legally in your area, and are allowed by any employment contracts) surreptitiously audio record, video record, or photograph them, do it. If you can’t, a written log is usually sufficient.
- Don’t ever follow their instructions when they try to be your boss. Tell them you’ll just check real quick with your supervisor first to make sure that’s what he/she wants. Or just pretend they’re not talking.
- Go to your immediate supervisor. Don’t reveal about the recordings, but do read at least part of your list.
- If your supervisor doesn’t make them stop, go to their supervisor (or as high as you’re comfortable). If your company has an HR department, include them.
- If it still doesn’t stop, start polishing your resume and getting interviews. No point wasting your time where they allow this.
- if you don’t like #5, you could try legal action.
It sounds like they may have learned something that you might not yet grasp. Being good at work isn’t very important, save your energy for being happy in life. Just do enough. The only people who benefit from more is the boss and the owners.
It doesn’t sound like your criticism comes from racism, though. And the bathroom issue really sucks.
ESH (I think)
It seems like you’re lumping them all together in a way that can feel prejudiced. Maybe it’s the case that they’re purposely trying to take advantage of that perception to get away with being worse employees, or maybe there’s some cultural differences that could be addressed. (Not saying they should fully assimilate but there are definitely some practices that any immigrant should adopt based on wherever they move to.) I think you could address the concerns you’re having in a way that isn’t “the immigrants are bad at their jobs”. I know (hope) that’s not exactly what you said nor how you are thinking about it, but if it really is that group that’s the problem, you definitely need to throw in a lot of caveats in your complaining about them. I.e. “I know this seems bad because I’m singling out my coworkers who are immigrants and I fully support them and their right to immigrate here. I just have these specific issues that are affecting my ability to do my job.”
All that being said, the real solution is probably to take your job less seriously. If you want to be proud of a high pick speed, good for you, but it’s not your job to worry about their pick speeds. If they’re telling you to do something that isn’t your job, tell them that, or just don’t do it. If someone is bothering you about your bathroom time, tell them to fuck off. And if they don’t, then is the time to escalate to your supervisor about the specific person(s). Also is it really all of them? Is there no one in that group that you could try to befriend?
And in general, having a big reaction to things encourages bullies to try to get that reaction again.
