HR Undercover

I was at a joint Management Union meeting prior to negotiations. At this point in the relations with the union, things were quite contentious and there was significant talk of a strike being the preferred course of action by the Union. From a company standpoint, there were significant changes that local management was demanding of the negotiating committee which my boss and I chaired. The dinner was scheduled to start at 7pm with formal discussions to take place throughout the evening. Since I had some other commitments, I arrived separately around 6pm. Not finding anyone at the meeting room, I went to check out the bar. To my dismay, I saw my boss, “Curt” (who had been recently hired to take a hard line with the Union) and the Union Business Manager “Van” sitting at a table drinking. And it was immediately apparent that Curt was drunk. After repeated attempts to get Curt to forget the meeting, we proceeded to dinner. And given the intensity of feelings that were already present, it didn’t take long for things to deteriorate. At the apex of the trouble, I was corralling the local management group in a futile attempt to contain the damage. After taking them to another room to cool off, I heard an explosion of noise, tables being knocked over, chairs being hurled at walls, voices screaming at each other. So I run back to the meeting room and before I get there I see all the Union guys running out of the room. I eventually get to the room and see Curt, head of HR, standing by himself with a chair in his hands, waiting to hurl it at someone. Eventually, I got Curt out of the place and to a motel to sleep it off. Later that evening, I called our President and informed him of the night’s activities which of course led to Curt’s firing. Later, the next day, I got together with Van to find out what had happened. Van told me on the qt that he had set up a meeting at the bar with Curt at 2pm, prior to the 7pm dinner. After the first round of drinks, Van switched to tonic water without Curt knowing. Curt who was drinking vodka martinis, was not going to be outdone by some union guy. So he kept up with Van, drink for drink and by the time the meeting started, he was a mess. When Van finished the story, he just winked at me and walked away.