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They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

But that's one view on this situation. The other view is your company's. There's one chair which needs to be moved once in a month and there are those young employees who surely have no problem in doing this task.

Am I over-reacting?

I agree with you that this decision is very unprofessional and it's absolutely valid to feel disrespected. If you don't take consequences, there's no over reaction. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract (e.g. shopping on Amazon). This will make life easier.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. It might very likely be that your manager's intention has nothing to do with respect. Those extra tasks might happen so rarely that you'll enjoy them plus there will no further situation happen where you feel disrespected.

They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

But that's one view on this situation. The other view is your company's. There's one chair which needs to be moved once in a month and there are those young employees who surely have no problem in doing this task.

Am I over-reacting?

I agree with you that this decision is very unprofessional and it's absolutely valid to feel disrespected. If you don't take consequences, there's no over reaction. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract (e.g. shopping on Amazon). This will make life easier.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. It might very likely be that your manager's intention has nothing to do with respect. Those extra tasks might happen so rarely that you'll enjoy them plus there will no further situation happen where you feel disrespected. If the future comes differently and you still feel bad you then should seek communication with your director.

They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

But that's one view on this situation. The other view is your company's. There's a chair which needs to be move once in a month and there are those young employees you surely have no problem in doing this task.

Am I over-reacting?

If you don't take consequences, no. It's probably only your feelings hurt. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract. This will make life easier at work.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. It might very likely be that your manager's intention has nothing to do with respect. Those extra tasks might happen so rarely that you'll enjoy them plus there will no further situation happen where you feel disrespected.

They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

But that's one view on this situation. The other view is your company's. There's one chair which needs to be moved once in a month and there are those young employees who surely have no problem in doing this task.

Am I over-reacting?

I agree with you that this decision is very unprofessional and it's absolutely valid to feel disrespected. If you don't take consequences, there's no over reaction. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract (e.g. shopping on Amazon). This will make life easier.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. It might very likely be that your manager's intention has nothing to do with respect. Those extra tasks might happen so rarely that you'll enjoy them plus there will no further situation happen where you feel disrespected.

I don't share the broad opinion that you have to accept that situation silently. You clearly stated doing favours is out of the scope for this question. What me bothers is this:

They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right. It's not about doing favours it became a matter of course. What really bothers me is that your director decided this without having a word with you. Furthermore the employees won't be treated equally. He decided that those tasks should be assignable to a limited set of employees.

As most people seem to find this acceptable I can't join that club. I imagine my boss saying this: "Hey, our toilets aren't that dirty at all. It's not justifying the costs for a cleaner. I've decided that our experienced women have to clean the toilets once in a while". Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong in cleaning toilets.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

Am I over-reacting?

If you don't take consequences, no. It's probably only your feelings hurt. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract. This will make life easier at work.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. If you continue to experience disrespectful situations you should take consequences.

They were going to hire an assistant for this position, but they decided it does not come up often enough to justify the cost.[..] They [..] ask my department's director - he was OK with it

Although I personally would appreciate a nice diversification of my work, I can perfectly understand why this doesn't feel right.

I feel that it is bordering on disrespectful

You're treated differently than others. People are deciding about your labour beyond the scope of your contract without your integration. There's not much space for respect in this.

But that's one view on this situation. The other view is your company's. There's a chair which needs to be move once in a month and there are those young employees you surely have no problem in doing this task.

Am I over-reacting?

If you don't take consequences, no. It's probably only your feelings hurt. Get over it and enjoy the overpayed workout time.

Should someone in my position consider manual labor to be an expected part of their job?

You should always consider doing things which are not stated in your contract. This will make life easier at work.

I your case I would simply see how things turn out. It might very likely be that your manager's intention has nothing to do with respect. Those extra tasks might happen so rarely that you'll enjoy them plus there will no further situation happen where you feel disrespected.