The last 1/2 year of work DRAMA...

Long and dramatic but, nevertheless, my situation. Preface by saying, I am not an entitled brat millennial, I have worked very hard for 10 years already to get where I am.

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I (23F) was hired 4.5 yrs ago as a Cashier/Receptionist at a fair sized (for the area) utility company of 25 or so workers. The office culture was pretty crappy with all my co-workers being women of 50+. There was no one even relatively close to my age in office. Pretty much all of my co-workers, because they were there for 20+ years and old enough to be my parent/grandparents, did not respect me or my work. They (still) talk about how the younger generation is ruining everything, on their phones 24/7, BLAH BLAH BLAH. They generalize my generation, and seem to throw me into that grouping even though I haven't really done any of the things (at work) that pique their concerns.

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I have continued the job as the pay is good, and there is very slim pickings in the area, but the work was mind numbingly boring once you know it. In the beginning, after finding myself bored, our GM suggested I reach out to different departments to see if I could find something I enjoyed. She also would call me and be upset if she thought I was only doing duties within my job title and not branching out (framing it as "you have way more potential, use it." maybe part of it is she thinks this specific position doesn't have a large enough load. When I would say I have about 25% downtime, the rest working)... so I got in with our marketing department, and started using my background in graphic design, photography, and journalism to assist them. I loved working with them, passionate about it, but I didn't really get credit for my work, and I decided to attend college at the same time to pursue a Marketing Degree because of my enjoyment. Eventually (last year or 2) it was expected (by them and GM) that I just assist them all the time that I wasn't doing my normal job duties.

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My "boss" in the marketing department is a flustered man who is torn 3 different directions, and while generally nice, he can be very demanding or entitled to my time and talents, even though I have a normal job to do in which I was hired which did not include his duties. For example, on one occasion he dropped the ball, and I got blamed. (I left him a note and he did not follow through.) An ALL EMPLOYEE MEETING (caps because who deals with stuff this way) was called by GM who chewed my bum up and down on how terrible I was at taking notes in front of all my coworkers (who most already don't respect me). Called me into her office a week later and told me she was taking my annual raise because I was such a terrible employee, she gave me several nitpicky reasons as to why. (She also never mentioned this in this meeting, but has in other confrontations she doesn't like that fact that I recently began a relationship with a co-worker and that I have an occasional drink. She is very anti-alcohol, and thinks I'm some sort of drunk harlot, taking her crew members, and making the business look bad. Note: there is no policy against co workers having relationships and we work in different locations, conduct ourselves very professionally and only interact about business matters when needed.)

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I took it to the union. I was pissed. I do my job well enough to earn my annual step, and it was brought about in an unprofessional way. The union also said it wasn't right also, and GM was forced to re-evaluate after half a year.

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Fast forward 1/2 a yr and I earned my bachelors degree in Marketing and got my step raise. GM thought it was "such a good thing that they took it away initially and thinks it really benefited me greatly." (A condescending motherly comment, that really upset me to the core, but I just kept my lips sealed.) Truth be told, all I did to "earn" the raise was highlight what I already did before the punishment and make it more apparent to her. Examples: CCing her in the marketing strategy I created for our Marketing Department, sending her clips of graphic designs I did that pertained to her as a manager, writing some (really good) articles in our member magazine, which I was already doing, just not getting the credit for. (I forced her to see what I was doing on a daily basis, which was pretty pathetic to have to do.) But at least I got the increase, which as a single mother, I truly needed.

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Anyways, me as "just a cashier-receptionist" as GM has stated in prior negotiations doesn't deserve to make more than what other receptionists in our area make, so she keeps trying to shut down my raises on the basis that I am just a receptionist. But I'm really not.. if they hired me as a graphic design artist for the work I do I would make probably $30/hr independently at least, I manage our social media, web pages, and created an entire marketing strategy, plus do alot of other ad creation and public outreach.

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Now, as of yesterday, I was told that myself and the head of the marketing department are scheduled to go to Editors Training for 3 days. Which will be awesome they have some great speakers and don't send people very easily to. I am also planned to be on the radio, today, which was dropped last minute. Also, an awesome thing, I truly believe I will enjoy. But just because I enjoy it and it comes naturally to me doesn't mean I shouldn't be compensated properly for what I am actually doing which is marketing, graphic design and journalism. (I'm not bragging but I am creative and good at the work I do.)

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How do I bring this up to a GM who is sometimes on my side, sometimes against me? I would like to have the title Assistant Marketing Director (it used to be a position but it was never filled again after the last lady couldn't handle it.) and maybe a small raise associated with it. So my position would be Cashier/Receptionist/Assistant Marketing Director.

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Or do I just leave with all this drama and go somewhere they are willing to respect my work and pay me for what my job duties are, and that alone?? Like I said, jobs are few and far between, but I do have an interview with the federal govt (good compensation) but the duties sound mind numbingly boring. I can't be happy for too long unless I'm able to flex my creative muscles.

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HELP. A move isn't right for me right now either. Not going into details.