Re: Sociologist enthralled with AA

[Guest guest]

Hi --

Sorry, I wasn't clear. No, it wasn't that anyone was " blackballed " -- of

course we could just say " F**k you " to the EAP and quit. But jobs

(decent-paying, with benefits!) don't grow on trees. I work on a railroad.

Many if not most employees do not have marketable skills -- maybe they could get

factory jobs, or delivery van driving, etc.-- very uncertain employment -- get

the picture? In my own case, I had 17 years toward a pension on the job -- I'd

have been nuts to throw it away -- and jobs really are not plentiful around

here. I followed the only reasonable course open to me to protect my son and

keep our little family intact.

But the point is that, while under suspension and in the " treatment " , some

of the guys were getting graveyard-shift jobs loading vans, or night clerking in

a 7-11, etc. -- if they started to get drowsy in the treatment sessions, and the

counselors got wind of the fact that they had taken night jobs, they were

reported to the EAP (how's that for a therapeutic atmosphere -- the tx

counselors were constantly threatening to " report " us to the EAP, who had the

power to extend the suspension) and the EAP's rule was, we were to concentrate

ONLY on " recovery. " One woman was denied permission to miss two days (and make

them up later) to go to a funeral of a close relative in another state. She was

told " Your recovery must come first. " She went anyway, and was " sentenced " to

an entire extra month of suspension and treatment.

I used to think our EAP was extreme in their perversion of the supposed

concept of what an EAP should be -- but I've heard other horror stories, and now

I just think it's part of the larger picture -- that 12-step philosophy lends

itself very easily into worker oppression, and may very well have been

deliberately spread to the workplace with such an agenda.

~Rita

> Rita tells us something that gives me the absolute willies, " In our EAP

program guidelines

> it specifically says that employees mandated to their " treatment " must have

their

> activities outside of the tx " curtailed " -- people are, in other words, not

permitted to

> take on substitute work, even part-time work -- yet while in the tx they are

suspended

> without pay for a minimum of 5 months. This is SPECIFICALLY designed to

maximize

> " powerlessness " -- the EAP director has actually laughed at people who have

been forced to

> go on Welfare or give up their homes and move back in with their parents

because of his

> mandate to be without income. "

>

> This is a horror! Rita, this really blows me away! These clowns have the

right to forbid

> you to earn a living?

>

> I do get that you wanted to keep your job, that particular job. And not

working was what

> you had to do to keep that particular job.

>

> But what happens to people who leave that job rather than go into treatment?

What happens

> to someone who says, " If that's what it take, then to hell with the job. I'll

go and look

> for work elsewhere, " and simply quits?

>

> Does the EAP at one particular job have the power to follow a person around

prevent that

> person from finding work somewhere else? Can the EAP insure that a person

will never get

> work anywhere else until that person has capitulated?

>

> Regards,

>

> nz

>

> Are such people blackballed?

[Guest guest]

Hi Rita,

As ever your story fills me with horror and disguted outrage. One

would have thought these restrictive practices alone would be illegal

regardless of the religious issues. Good God, they wont even allow

yourself to work? What on earth good can it do for someone to be

forced to loaf around doing nothing with no money coming in? All the

evidence is that ppl's health is better, including overcoming

alcohol/drug problems, when they are employed and are free of

financial worries - yet they are deliberately creating the very

problems that exacerbate them!

Also presumably " recovering " is about being able to function

successfully in life, doing a job well if working away from home and

supporting yourself and dependents, and they are prteventing you from

doing the very thing they are supposed to be helping you achieve!

Absolutely out of sight.

P.

>

> > Rita tells us something that gives me the absolute willies, " In

our EAP program guidelines

> > it specifically says that employees mandated to their " treatment "

must have their

> > activities outside of the tx " curtailed " -- people are, in other

words, not permitted to

> > take on substitute work, even part-time work -- yet while in the

tx they are suspended

> > without pay for a minimum of 5 months. This is SPECIFICALLY

designed to maximize

> > " powerlessness " -- the EAP director has actually laughed at people

who have been forced to

> > go on Welfare or give up their homes and move back in with their

parents because of his

> > mandate to be without income. "

> >

> > This is a horror! Rita, this really blows me away! These clowns

have the right to forbid

> > you to earn a living?

> >

> > I do get that you wanted to keep your job, that particular job.

And not working was what

> > you had to do to keep that particular job.

> >

> > But what happens to people who leave that job rather than go into

treatment? What happens

> > to someone who says, " If that's what it take, then to hell with

the job. I'll go and look

> > for work elsewhere, " and simply quits?

> >

> > Does the EAP at one particular job have the power to follow a

person around prevent that

> > person from finding work somewhere else? Can the EAP insure that

a person will never get

> > work anywhere else until that person has capitulated?

> >

> > Regards,

> >

> > nz

> >

> > Are such people blackballed?