The first of two problems that face workers in America today; in my opinion, is the

treatment of whistleblowers. The examples to whistleblowers presented in the reading, the

workers were just doing their jobs; acting as quality control or offering positive criticism of a
product or program and they are punished for it Geary as well as, Boisjoly and Eberling offered
their views in an effort to save lives (7-8 Maltby). In the text Maltby offers that Devine in The
Whistleblowers Survival Guide. You almost surely will suffer some level of retribution
rightfully afraid of being fired. When fear triumphs over truth, public safety suffers and innocent
people are hurt. (8 Maltby). Even after there was a real effect was felt and reveled in a case in
Michigan when people were infected with a carcinogen carried in milk (9 Maltby), the text goes
on to state that Several states have responded to these abuses by passing whistle-blower
protection laws. Sadly these laws offer almost no real protection (9 Maltby).
Furthermore, in most of these cases, the worker is not even calling out their superiors to a
higher authority, such as the feds, but simply advising their bosses. During the Labor Forum, on
4/14/15, Dan Montgomery, president of the IFT related his opinions concerning the interactions
between the school board and teachers as well as tenure. Citing that tenure was an important
aspect of a teacher being able to critique school board polices, being that tenure ensures that they
cannot be fired without just cause. Most careers have no such protection. If it were possible I
would try to extend some form of tenure or other protection to workers that affords them the
ability to do their jobs in a safe way and communicate to their employer whether their product is
safe or effective. The necessity of this is especially pertinent when human lives are on the line.
The second problem I believe faces American workers is the workers right to freedom of
speech and expression in the workplace. As revealed by the practice test, there were many
amenities that I believed workers had, that they are in fact denied. The biggest one of those rights
was the freedom to freely express ones opinions and ideals. The fact that even sharing your
feelings outside of the workplace or in a completely non-confrontational manner can have an
effect on your employment status. Maltby examines this Stewart posted a Dilbert comic on the
company bulletin board his bosses were so angry they reviewed security tapes to find who
posted it he was fired (11 Maltby). It is well known that Dilbert is a very satirical workplace
comic, the management did not even have evidence showing that there was a correlation between
Stewarts thoughts and the content of the comic. It very well could have been just amused him;
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an impetus for him to share his mirth with his coworkers. The fact that an incident like this is
legally grounds for firing a worker is very sad.
Even ideas or expressions that have absolutely no bearing on the work place in any way
are grounds for firing. Maltby relates that Cameron Barrett liked to write short stories his
boss went to Barretts web page and found one of his stories offensive, Barrett was fired (11
Maltby). Just amazing, a man lost his job over a work of creative fiction that had absolutely
nothing to do with work acumen. At the very least; if I had power to influence the legal workings
in these instances, I would try to make the law dictate that the offensive ideas or opinions had to
be directed at the boss and constitute a personal attack, maintaining a sufficient level of threat
such working becomes impossible. Then perhaps some arbitration could take place or the worker
could be shifted to a different area in a work place of sufficient magnitude. Just my thoughts.