I have been a chief shop steward and union delegate for over ten years. As a steward, I have encountered several men who said they might come back with a gun.

I told these men they would not accomplish anything by shooting someone and would only wind up in prison and their families would suffer, and they immediately backed down and never followed through with their threats. They were just frustrated over the constant abuse they received from their superiors and thought violence was the only way to get revenge.

I will never forget an incident I had with my plant manager a few years ago. I was sitting alone outside on my break when he approached me and asked what I was thinking about. I told him I was daydreaming about my trip back home and my daughter's wedding. He got in my face and his eyes got big, he gave me a dirty look, and said, "I could still cancel your vacation if I want to," smirked at me and walked away.

After he said that to me, I just wanted to explode on him. I felt humiliated and thought, he's a father of two daughters. He must know how important and proud I feel to give my daughter's hand in marriage, and his wanting to take that away from any father is crazy.

But my greatest fear was that my daughter would never speak to me again if I missed the most important day of her life. You may have read my About the Author and are aware that I was separated from my daughter against my will when she was only two years old. She was convinced that I abandoned her so I needed to regain her trust and keep my promise to make it to her wedding, and I was sure that if I missed it I would have severed our relationship forever.

There has never been a shooting at my plant, but talking of threats is the first step, next is killing. The threats I dealt with could have been prevented if the men were shown respect and fair communication, which is key to maintaining a high level of morale and avoiding violence in the workplace.

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