Staff vigil focuses on safe workplaces
Event marks one year since report found one in five employees affected
One year after it emerged that at least one in five city employees said they have experienced harassment, one employee says more still needs to be done to fix what many have described as a toxic work environment.
At a candlelight vigil held at Churchill Square Saturday evening that she helped organize, Cecily Poohkay said the anniversary was the perfect time to reflect on what has been learned and what still needs to happen.
“There is a lot more work to be done but I think we get there by talking about it together and working on it together, so that’s the hope of tonight,” she said.
“The unfortunate thing is that when we talk about one in five employees, that’s not entirely or necessarily the whole picture. We know that people under-report harassment and discrimination along with violence and assaults at work.”
Poohkay said many who have been victims of harassment or discrimination lack the faith that their concerns will be taken seriously or will be properly addressed.
“People don’t come forward because even when they do so anonymously, there is still a fear of retaliation where, even if they are anonymous, people are concerned that the details they provide will still identify them.”
Deputy city manager employee services Kimberly Armstrong, who attended the vigil along with another deputy manager and a chaplain, said the event was an “excellent opportunity” for people who work at the city to come and share their stories and meet with and talk with other people who potentially have had similar experiences.
Armstrong, who heads up the newly minted employee services department, said she asked organizers for permission to attend the event.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work even in the couple of months from re-examining our diversity and inclusion framework to looking at the recommendations that came from Deloitte’s review early this year,” she said.
She said they are “actively working on implementing those recommendations.”
“There is a tremendous amount of time and energy and passion and enthusiasm being put into this work,” she said.
“I’m encouraged that there is opportunity for us to continue to work at building the vibrant, healthy workplace culture that everyone is entitled to and there is real commitment on the part of our leadership team to make that happen.”
Armstrong said her office had created a Workforce Restoration Unit whose job it is to go into a workplace where there are problems and challenges “to try to understand what the problems and issues are and work toward a constructive resolution.”
“It’s a really positive step in the right direction,” she said.