Comments

1
I don't work retail (or do any customer service), but isn't "getting people to cover your shifts" a really normal thing to do when you go on vacation? Or... is the complaint that they would rather have the managers take care of this scheduling stuff, rather than the vacationer?
2
Not saying that a union wouldn't be to their benefit and yeah, retail generally sucks ass -- but these "grievances" sound about par for the course.
3
As a customer of Dosha I am saddend by the way this company treats its employees and after reading about what has been going on I have decided I can no longer support their actions with my business.
4
Giving someone five days vacation and making it contingent on finding coverage is essentially a way of granting the benefit while discouraging its use. Presumably those five days will be taken in succession, leaving a considerable onus on the employee. It's a legitimate grievance for a full time employee.
5
Maybe I've been lucky but I've never worked somewhere that forced me to find someone willing to cover my 5 days of vacation on top of their own work schedule. Ovidius is right.
6
The managers don't have time to do any scheduling work; they're really busy writing up all the poor LMTs, estheticians, and stylists who are good at massage therapy, esthetics, and styling instead of being good at shoving overpriced products down the "guest's" throats.

If you get sick strep throat, you have to find someone to cover for you?! They'd rather have you come in sick? Christ.
7
Blazers tickets? I don't think that's gonna do it. Sounds like it's time to unionize.
8
I can understand the position of the Pro-Unioners...however, I have to say, I grew up with a father who owned his own multi-million dollar business and he took 5 sick days in his entire career for 45 years. That's dedication. And I guarantee a large majority of that success is due to DEDICATION.

When you want something, you work for it. If you want a career, you have to work for it. No one will hold your hand and put you in bed when your sick and spoon you chicken noodle...and you want to know why? YOU'RE AN ADULT. Adults have responsibilities and obligations which includes working a job, sometimes one you aren't happy with, and dealing with situations that aren't ideal which includes finding coverage when your sick. I am all for employees being treated....well like adults....but it's time they start acting like it.

You will never make it at any salon because you are focusing on 'how I am screwed over and who will fix it for me' I imagine most of these employees never even brought their issues to the attention of people that can make a change. Work = $$. This is America after all.

And I'm sorry but for the people on commission...it sounds like you should be thankful because it sounds like, ref. to http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2011/0318/3-18-11CWA.html para 7, bullet 8, that Dosha is the only reason you are making money. Given clients.....GIVEN. Something to think about, out of all the commission you made off of clients....how many of those clients did you bring, PERSONALLY, into the salon?

I've read both parts and frankly I think it's turned into a playground facebook war and it's childish. Unioners, I think you have some good points, but not all are just. I think you are individuals who can speak and think for themselves versus paying someone else to do it for you. Be an adult and respect yourself by actually voicing your own opinions ON YOUR OWN. ( But hey, then again...it is America, you can buy anything.)
9
Get real, these people work in a spa. There's pools, tubs and food being handled. As an ex employee I can tell you there is no sanitizer in the building. When pro union people ask for sick days they do it simply to protect their co-workers, their families and the customers.
10
Congrats on pulling together! The community is with you! I know that I would be more willing to go to a Union shop for my salon treatments than a nonunion one!!!
11
Eff Dosha.
12
I think cinqetcinq raises some of the better points in that a lot of the people involved need to grow up and realize that nothing in life is free. (My paraphrasing).

As a former Dosha employee, I can tell you management has always done things like give out Blazers tickets (or tix for other events) and other little things for employees. The nwlabor article fails to mention all of the advertising Dosha corporate provides at no expense to the tech that brings in customers for employees to have work in the first place, or the fact that it's generally par for the course in retail to require reps to provide shift coverage. The current Dosha model isn't inflexible--I know for a fact that an LMT at one location recently had a family tragedy and management called around to cover the member's shift that day. Fun fact: management contacted all of the available technicians to cover said shift, and only one person responded in the affirmative.

I'm a union member and I see the value of unions in organizations with enormous profit margins. The Dosha pro-union camp are a small group of selfish, manipulative people who just want their own way and a larger group of confused people who think Dosha going union will do anything other than manufacture needless bureaucracy and drive their profit margin even lower. I'm offended that people who make more money than I do, working less hours in work that carries nowhere near the amount of liability and risk as mine (I drive a school bus, among many other things) are using the labor movement as an excuse to make petulant demands.
13
I'm sorry darrylzero but you trying to state that you are a former employee and that you proves you know how dosha runs things is complete bs. You were hired as a spa host only based on the fact that you live with one of the managers. Then you were fired after barely even being there a few days because you trapped another female spa host in the building and basically verbally assaulted her. She complained to management about you, and they basically told her that is was her own problem and to just handle it on he own. Luckily that person went to hr and got your ass canned. Not to mention another time management tried to forcefully write an employee up for something that they knew YOU did, to try and cover your ass.
Your a complete tool and the fact that you call the hardworking people who are involved with the DWU lazy and selfish just shows how much of a tool you are. These people work their asses off and just want things to be better.
14
To add to the last comment. Management is supposed to have the back of their team especially in an emergency. And you are the roommate of that same manager.
15
Its not like employees want a paid day off because they have the sniffles. I am a former employee of Dosha and I had the lovely experience of being denied sick days. I couldnt afford the health insurance they "provided"--I believe it was around $150 per month? I was making $9 per hour after working there for a year as a fairly successful junior hair stylist and was only working on average 30 or so hours a week due to being called out all the time. With all my bills, there is no way I could afford that.

At one point, I had developed a bad case of Bronchitis that lasted about 6 weeks--where I would literally cough uncontrollably WHILE DOING PEOPLE'S HAIR. Thats totally disgusting. Stylists are in the business of touching people and with no hand sanitizer, hand soap, or any sanitizer to clean our stations, thats completely inappropriate to make a technician work while sick. My Bronchitis was just a cough... which is why I continued to work. Eventually, I started getting sharp pains in my chest when I would cough. This quickly became so severe that I couldnt lay down to sleep because the pain was so intense and I couldnt get up by myself. I've never been stabbed but I am positive thats what it feels like to have a knife in your chest. The pain was so incredible that I stopped coughing--not because my Bronchitis magically healed itself, but because it hurt so bad to cough I would tear up and almost black out from the pain. Riding the bus was AGONY because every tiny little bump would hurt. I couldnt move or walk or laugh or sit without INTENSE pain. When it reached the point of being unbearable, I went to "Outside In" which is a clinic in Portland that is a first come, first serve non-profit that provides care mainly for homeless youth. They took me right away even though there were about 20 people in line ahead of me because I had severe chest pain.

They told me I had developed Costochondritis which is a severe inflammation of the connective tissue in the rib cage--due to the coughing. My provider looked horrified when I told her how long it had been since I started having these symptoms and was still going to work. Well, I had a lot of return clients scheduled on my appointment books so what was I supposed to do? I told management about it but they were hardly concerned with my ailment and the General Manager told me, "If you're not dying, we need you to come in."

"Wow, I cant believe you handled it that long. Most people confuse this pain with having a heart attack. It can be just as, if not more painful than breaking your collar bone."

She had to pick me up off the exam table when we were finished because I couldnt move without assistance and gave me steroids and an inhaler but unfortunately no pain killers besides Ibuprofen because that clinic cant give out medication stronger than that. She gave me a doctors note to give to management at Dosha to explain my situation and that because of my condition, I should be allowed any sick days needed.

I tried to call in sick the next day and they told me I couldnt without a doctor's note and I had to find someone to cover my shift. With nobody available to fill in for me that day, I had to go to work. With no car, I used to walk about half a mile to get to Dosha while carrying a 50lb shoulder bag with all my tools in it which took me about 30 mins to walk because each step was excruciating. When I got to work I handed them the note excusing me from work but it made no difference to them. I asked that, at the very least, could I please please please have a break blocked out between each appointment? No. Not even that. I was made to work a 10 hour day standing on concrete all day with my arms in the air. This pain lasted months. I was never allowed to miss work because of it.

Its obvious they dont care about their employees. This wasnt the first time this happened to me with similar, if not more severe, situations.
16
A better question would be "why would someone who got fired from a company come to its defense?"
17
I'm sorry, if i was that sick, I'd tell any job that wouldn't let me call out to fuck off. Just sayin'. My life and my health is 110% more important than any stupid job. especially in a career like hair. um... for $9 an hour and no commission, you could work at super cuts. You're a moron.
18
I feel like it was a safe choice. I had just graduated from the Aveda Institute--which is owned by the same people that own dosha. They came to career fairs at my school and recruited students who were interested in a job there. I needed money and they were the first ones to call me so I took the job. They promised continued education and opportunities for advancing in the company but this never happened. I didnt know anything about what it would be like working in a salon and had nothing to compare this experience to. It would sound good on a resume as my first job so I just tried to stick things out and make it better. Now I dont think I would ever work in a salon again. I've lost my passion completely which is unfortunate but I've accepted it.
19
darrylzero you are coming to the companys defense because you are trying to get in said manager who you live with's pants
20
To all: you're absolutely right about all of my motivations.

It couldn't possibly be because it doesn't take a genius to notice that Dosha Clackamas hasn't opened yet, more than six months behind schedule.

It couldn't possibly be because I've been a member of the union you'd be using for collective bargaining and have some insight into what happens after a company goes union.

It couldn't possibly be because I recognize Dosha employees work in an industry that provides NON-ESSENTIAL SERVICES IN A TOWN WITH MORE MASSAGE SCHOOLS THAN ANYWHERE ON THE WEST COAST ("flooded market" is the term, I believe) and, having worked for the company, I never once saw anyone working as hard on bringing in customers as they seem to have been working on going union.

Nope. None of that. It's all entirely personal. That's why I've not presented a single coherent, logical argument--only personal attacks.
21
So far, the only thing I've seen from the union supports is a bunch of slander and angry 'twitters'. Not everyone supporting non-unions are workers for Dosha, roommates or whatnot. Think back to another time in your life, when you really wanted something, but your parents said no because they knew ultimately what was best or they knew better options. If you hate the company, grab some dignity and get a new job. No one FORCED anyone to come to work on death's bed...so if you don't like the treatment, you go somewhere else. You don't jump on the bandwagon and try to flip upside down something that people have invested their lives in. Although you may not realize it, unioners are attempting to FORCE non-unioners into following their rules. How is that equal? How is that fair? How is that treating all employees with respect?
22
I agree with previous comments. Don't these grievances sound like every other retail job out there? Get over it.
23
The salon has only made $100, 000 in profit each year the last 2 years with 250 employees. Sick days would take the company under. Know the facts
24
I'm not sure if a union is the answer... but I think it would be a change and a change is needed. I worked at Dosha for about 2 years and never in my life felt so under appreciated at a job! The turnover was INSANE and why? Because we were treated like shit. My job was threatened if I didn't sell enough product. As a massage therapist. What was I supposed to sell!? Every few clients would buy a bottle of oil, but that was it. After confiding in a manager at one point, I was completely humiliated when she decided to spread it around. I contemplated at one point filing a law suit. They forced me to quit my job by making my life hell. They did this to many people while I was there, they'd torture you until you quit, therefore not having to give you unemployment benefits. The most fucked up place I have ever worked, hands down.
25
I worked in the beauty industry for many years and conditions have always been deplorable as far as expecting the sales pitch to be more important than the service provided, such as facials, manicures, hair etc. Management always pressured staff to do exactly. However, mine was a small shop and never was I asked to cover for vacation, but then again, never was I offered ANY paid days off. We worked strictly commission - dog eat dog. If you were off sick, oh well, no pay. When I entered the industry it was a rude awakening and one reason I left - no guaranteed pay, no paid time off, no benefits. The union seems to be a fine idea - as long as management treats workers like this, they can expect efforts to organize etc. I work at a union retail business now - we are pressured to sell sell sell too - not the case when I started 7 years ago but they claim to be losing money so now we are expected to provide the missing link. Good for Dosha employees - proud of those workers for standing up for their rights!!
26
Hey Zero~
Quite an appropriate name BTW! Because that is exactly how much you know about the abuse ones body takes to perform one 60 minute massage let alone as many as 8! Which is a requirement of Dosha's, basicly no employee gets to choose their own shedule or even how many hours of massage,esthetics, or styling that they are willing or able to do in a day. Dosha's policy: NEVER turn away a client! Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that they should turn clients away because sure thats bad for business. Although that is what Mgmt. throws up in your face, along with the threat of your job if you feel your body is done after 8 hours, becuase the truth is there are a dozen other L.M.T.'s available and dying to pick up your last hour or two but god forbid Dosha Manegers give any measly extra hours to Pro-union employees. The truth is; if you are openly pro-union your hours get drasticly cut and given to a new hire at full time until they burn out from the abuse on their bodies. So if ya wanna talk sh*t about someone that got in this line of work because they care about others health and longevity; also considering the 700+ hours of schooling( mainly anatomy & kinesiology both pre-recs. of a nursing or doctorate degree) ya should go back to your little short bus because you are obviously ignorant to the whole industry. What, you had to read a 150 page book at the DMV then take a mulitple choice test to get the License for your job? Yeah I have $12,000 in school loans to pay off and I and every other L.M.T./Esthe can at least say we have a valuable trade to show for it. Know what your speakin bout before ya speak ZERO!
27
I worked at Dosha years ago in a position that allowed me to see what really goes on in the office with the owner and other "higher ups" there. I'm sitting here laughing because what all these workers describe is EXACTLY what went on there. I did a very important job for very little pay and when I asked in a nice letter if I could have a raise, I had a meeting with someone who I guess was my superior and was sent home. As if that wasn't bad enough, I had this meeting with an employee that made significantly more than me for doing about a third of the work I did, who had only been there for 6 months. She was in charge of customer service, I was in charge of making sure employees got paid and the lights stayed on. Anywho, when I told them I wasn't coming back the owner offered me a ten cent raise, which was basically meant to be a slap in the face. Needless to say I decided to sever my ties with Dosha. They play favorites BIG time with employees, their payscale is all over the place and really unfair and subjective. There are no boundaries, no set rules, and employees walk on eggshells. One front desk person makes $9 bucks an hour, another one makes $12. Why? Because the owner likes the other one better. Period. So before you bash these people for standing up for themselves, think about whether or not this behavior is something that YOU would put up with from your employer?

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