As I'm going to retire in two months , I gave up the steward's position I had for 16 years, and one of the biggest future problems that me and the new steward had talked about was our UE run going to 5 days.
Now that it is 5 days, the work week is about 55 - 57 hours. Of course, the company has no problem paying overtime after 8. The problem isn't the money....... it's the time.
If you're divorced or single, and have no home or family life, then of course you want this run. However, not everyone fits that description, and as some of the older guys who have these runs retire....... ( or other...),.... then these runs will be forced on the bottom of the board, as per language in Art. 3. sec. 7. State of Penna. currently does not deny Unemployment Compensation to anyone who refuses a job where they are required to work crossing state lines. The money is......"nice"....... but there are many guys who only want to run the city and won't/can't run the road at night.
Sooner or later, one of these jobs are going to be forced on a guy and cause a divorce. These are road runs, plain and simple, and should not be forced off the bottom of the city board.
I haven't heard of any current UE guy complaining about the excessive overtime, even though they are setting up run conditions that other, junior employees are going to get jammed down their throats.
I know I don't want to work an extra 15 hours a week......... I don't even want an extra 5 or 6 hours,...... but sometimes it's inevitable..,... This is trucking, ........
But I regard a bid that's designed to produce an extra 15 hours of overtime a week as an abuse of overtime......( In my opinion, a penalty your employer pays for keeping your CDL license at risk longer than eight hours..)
........And, an abuse of what should be a road bid......
Hey, guys voted yes for this........Only in trucking ......I don't see train engineers or airline pilots accepting excessive overtime like this...