Being Let Go
Title
Being Let Go
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"I believe Philip Roth wrote a book called Letting Go."
Date
2015-02-10
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
BEING_LET_GO
Text
BEING LET GO
I believe Phillip Roth wrote a book called Letting Go. The phrase “letting go” suggests that the subject has been holding on to something, and will no longer be holding on. He (or she) will be letting go. If two parties are involved, one or the other will let go and they will separate.
However, “being let go” is another story entirely. The term is usually used in connection with employment, and is a gentler or more diplomatic term than “being fired.” There is a difference. Being let go may come about because there is not enough work, or your performance may not be up to the standard expected, whether that expectation is realistic or not. Being fired usually comes about if you really screw up, or deliberately violate the employer’s rules. I should know the difference, because I was once a member of the Board of Review of the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training, and whether a worker received unemployment benefits was determined by this distinction. By the way, that was the second job from which I was let go.
I have worked since I was 14 years old, and have never been fired, but I have been “let go” three times. On those other jobs, I let go. It was part of the process of “onward and upward,” (until my last job as Inspector with the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, which was onward and downward.) That was my very last job, and I was fortunate to have been hired I retired from it, having put in 10 years with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It enabled me to get a State pension and health insurance.
About the first job from which I was “let go:” In 1964, I was the Education Director of the Amalgamated Laundry Workers Joint Board. I had been with them for two years, and felt good about the work I was doing. That summer, I happened to run into Jerry Wurf whom I had gotten to know when I worked at the Jewish Labor Committee. He had just been elected President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME). He scoffed at my position with the laundry workers, because he felt their leadership did not do the kind of job needed to effectively represent their membership.
A few months later, I received a call from AFSCME’s “Assistant to the President,” Bob Hastings, asking me if I would be interested in the position of Education Director of AFSCME in Washington, DC. It came out of the blue. I thought about it. I talked it over with Sylvia. I called Bob back and asked about salary, benefits etc. I thought about it some more. Being education director of a national union in the public sector would be an exciting challenge. I said yes, and we worked out the details.
In January 1965, I had rented a house in Washington, the kids started school, and I was hard at work learning my new job. It was challenging, but just as I was beginning to get a handle on it, Jerry decided to make changes. He hired someone whom he designated Director of Education and Research, and I became Assistant Director of Education and Research. The former longtime Research Director also became Assistant Director of Education and Research. This is not what I had expected. Within a few months, tensions developed between the new director and me. I was being given menial assignments. Programs that I had developed were scrapped. The job had changed. I had to conform to the demands of the new director. I spoke with Jerry, explaining that this is not the arrangement I had been promised. He said that this is the way it is going to be. I asked if there is another role I can play within AFSCME. He said no.
I returned to doing the job of Assistant Director of Education and Research. It became clear to me that I would no longer have a future with AFSCME. My friend Jerry was no longer my friend. His loyalty (and friendship?) was to his newly hired Director of Education and Research. I can stay in my new, diminished position, or I can find something else. I can let go (quit), or eventually I would be let go (fired).
I started to look for another job. Jerry told me that he would give me an excellent reference. As the weeks passed, I found myself spending half my time at work, and the other half, looking for work. This is about the best arrangement one can have if they are being let go. I was still on the payroll of AFSCME. Jerry soon made it clear that the arrangement cannot continue for too much longer. Fortunately, through a friend, I heard about an opening at the US Commission on Civil Rights, and I did not need a reference from Jerry. I was hired by the Field Services Division of the Commission and worked there for the next 21 years, until the agency’s budget was cut and my office was eliminated, which was the second time that I was “being let go,” but that is another story.
2-10-15
I believe Phillip Roth wrote a book called Letting Go. The phrase “letting go” suggests that the subject has been holding on to something, and will no longer be holding on. He (or she) will be letting go. If two parties are involved, one or the other will let go and they will separate.
However, “being let go” is another story entirely. The term is usually used in connection with employment, and is a gentler or more diplomatic term than “being fired.” There is a difference. Being let go may come about because there is not enough work, or your performance may not be up to the standard expected, whether that expectation is realistic or not. Being fired usually comes about if you really screw up, or deliberately violate the employer’s rules. I should know the difference, because I was once a member of the Board of Review of the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training, and whether a worker received unemployment benefits was determined by this distinction. By the way, that was the second job from which I was let go.
I have worked since I was 14 years old, and have never been fired, but I have been “let go” three times. On those other jobs, I let go. It was part of the process of “onward and upward,” (until my last job as Inspector with the Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division, which was onward and downward.) That was my very last job, and I was fortunate to have been hired I retired from it, having put in 10 years with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It enabled me to get a State pension and health insurance.
About the first job from which I was “let go:” In 1964, I was the Education Director of the Amalgamated Laundry Workers Joint Board. I had been with them for two years, and felt good about the work I was doing. That summer, I happened to run into Jerry Wurf whom I had gotten to know when I worked at the Jewish Labor Committee. He had just been elected President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME). He scoffed at my position with the laundry workers, because he felt their leadership did not do the kind of job needed to effectively represent their membership.
A few months later, I received a call from AFSCME’s “Assistant to the President,” Bob Hastings, asking me if I would be interested in the position of Education Director of AFSCME in Washington, DC. It came out of the blue. I thought about it. I talked it over with Sylvia. I called Bob back and asked about salary, benefits etc. I thought about it some more. Being education director of a national union in the public sector would be an exciting challenge. I said yes, and we worked out the details.
In January 1965, I had rented a house in Washington, the kids started school, and I was hard at work learning my new job. It was challenging, but just as I was beginning to get a handle on it, Jerry decided to make changes. He hired someone whom he designated Director of Education and Research, and I became Assistant Director of Education and Research. The former longtime Research Director also became Assistant Director of Education and Research. This is not what I had expected. Within a few months, tensions developed between the new director and me. I was being given menial assignments. Programs that I had developed were scrapped. The job had changed. I had to conform to the demands of the new director. I spoke with Jerry, explaining that this is not the arrangement I had been promised. He said that this is the way it is going to be. I asked if there is another role I can play within AFSCME. He said no.
I returned to doing the job of Assistant Director of Education and Research. It became clear to me that I would no longer have a future with AFSCME. My friend Jerry was no longer my friend. His loyalty (and friendship?) was to his newly hired Director of Education and Research. I can stay in my new, diminished position, or I can find something else. I can let go (quit), or eventually I would be let go (fired).
I started to look for another job. Jerry told me that he would give me an excellent reference. As the weeks passed, I found myself spending half my time at work, and the other half, looking for work. This is about the best arrangement one can have if they are being let go. I was still on the payroll of AFSCME. Jerry soon made it clear that the arrangement cannot continue for too much longer. Fortunately, through a friend, I heard about an opening at the US Commission on Civil Rights, and I did not need a reference from Jerry. I was hired by the Field Services Division of the Commission and worked there for the next 21 years, until the agency’s budget was cut and my office was eliminated, which was the second time that I was “being let go,” but that is another story.
2-10-15
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Being Let Go,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 20, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/305.