.: AMISRAEL :. The Messenger of Peace - How to prevent crisis from affecting labor peace

When one goes to the doctor seeking a cure for a common cold, he will prescribe three days of rest or some medication, and soon it will be over. Hence the crisis is considered a short term situation, with which one shouldn’t be concerned to a point of affecting one’s behavior. However, if a cold is not treated properly, it can evolve to a more serious condition, such as pulmonary emphysema – and this we call critical condition - which can even lead to death. The same happens when the working conditions inside a company generate, reluctance and laziness. From there, numerous disagreeable situations can arise, which make the environment at work uneasy. The solution would be to impose rules in order to reestablish the order. The critical conditions, however, take a lot longer solution process, to which a number of conditions need to be implemented, such as:

• Team work – we thus succeed in creating a trustful environment where everybody is responsible for the achievements in every activity which is programmed.
Give the personnel real and simple stimulus, such as a dinner with the families.
Be visionary together. For instance, you can give them a paper and a pencil and ask them to write how they see themselves together with their families. What is this for? This simple assignment allows the interaction of dreams that often aren’t easy to reconcile.
Offer the security of belonging so that this balance allows projecting the company along with its mission or reason for existing.

A culture based on solidarity, sharing the APTHAPI*

In our western towns in Bolivia, the schools, universities and institutions, spare some time, typically a whole day, to visit touristic sites, such as Tiwanacu, and one of the most awaited moments is the APTHAPI*. That is a shared meal where each person takes something that will be placed on a cloth laid on the ground (aguayos). Several different foods is shared, such as potatoes, cereal, tortillas, boiled eggs, cooked bananas and many others. Everything is very tasty and accompanied by fresh barley juice and fruit.

The main goal of the apthapi is to share the food among each other, where everybody eats, in this great feast.

This tradition is very ancient, and has been passed from generation to generation. It has survived because it represents a very important value: fraternal unity and solidarity, once some have a lot of food and others don’t.

Coming back to our first subject, how about a day in which the executives of a company bring food to share with the workers in a giving ceremony, once in a while? Would they be letting go of their authority? Not in any way. What would come from this is an environment of mutual trust, which we lack so much.

Finally, as Baltazar Gracián said in the XVII century, “if you have a good interior, show an excellent exterior”

* APTHAPI is a typical native Bolivian shared meal, similar to the western picnic, which is aimed at strengthening the ties within the community and also to mitigate social differences, as those who have more means to provide for themselves, share their provisions with less fortunate ones.