ABF | OK, my $2.00 worth on 2019 and beyond

6PakAbs

TB Veteran
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Folks, not a chance in Hades...nadda, notta, no...that there will be a strike.
Reasoning? The old timers will need the length of the new contract and will vote yes (the majority)..the "newbies" (as Minnie Pearl used to say).. "I'm just so happy to be here!" and will vote overwhelmingly "YES".
So, that is humble opinion. Also, look for a lot of national and regional accounts to "jump ship" to the non-union carriers because of the threat of a strike. The other carriers will tell the accounts "to come on board now so that we can plan our labor pool. If you wait until the treat of a strike, it will be too late". So, any thoughts.

I haven't been on the board for a while due to some military operations that I can't discuss..Nothing to with Hillary, Bill, Al Gore, Trump, Flynn, etc.

"
 
Folks, not a chance in Hades...nadda, notta, no...that there will be a strike.
Reasoning? The old timers will need the length of the new contract and will vote yes (the majority)..the "newbies" (as Minnie Pearl used to say).. "I'm just so happy to be here!" and will vote overwhelmingly "YES".
So, that is humble opinion. Also, look for a lot of national and regional accounts to "jump ship" to the non-union carriers because of the threat of a strike. The other carriers will tell the accounts "to come on board now so that we can plan our labor pool. If you wait until the treat of a strike, it will be too late". So, any thoughts.

I haven't been on the board for a while due to some military operations that I can't discuss..Nothing to with Hillary, Bill, Al Gore, Trump, Flynn, etc.

"
Our contract comes up in 2018 not 2019. Go fear monger on YRC's forum
 
I think a reasonably good contract will be offered first time around. To not fix the vacation problem and continue to get substandard wages below what the non-Union carriers are making is to invite a backlash of well justified anger that the Union can't control.

Sure, there will be subtle little grabs at seniority and working conditions,........ a sneaky and complicated way to increase subcontracting in the hope that our new Freight Director will throw his hands in the air and allow the company to do as they wish.......just like his disgraced predecessors.........

But,....... all in all, I think they would be brain-dead stupid to continue the charade that they are losing money and can't afford to pay as well,...... if not better,....... than their competitors......

Watch for them to ask for a 5,.... or even 7 year contract, just to quiet shareholder fears. If this,...... or any other Union company,..... was in hard economic times, they would logically only want a 1 or 2 year contract,........ and our Freight Director,.....having "acess" to their books, and seeing straitened finances, ....would demand a short contract,.... no more than 2 years.

This joke of pleading poverty, and then locking into a 5 year agreement,..... defies logic......
 
I think a reasonably good contract will be offered first time around. To not fix the vacation problem and continue to get substandard wages below what the non-Union carriers are making is to invite a backlash of well justified anger that the Union can't control.

Sure, there will be subtle little grabs at seniority and working conditions,........ a sneaky and complicated way to increase subcontracting in the hope that our new Freight Director will throw his hands in the air and allow the company to do as they wish.......just like his disgraced predecessors.........

But,....... all in all, I think they would be brain-dead stupid to continue the charade that they are losing money and can't afford to pay as well,...... if not better,....... than their competitors......

Watch for them to ask for a 5,.... or even 7 year contract, just to quiet shareholder fears. If this,...... or any other Union company,..... was in hard economic times, they would logically only want a 1 or 2 year contract,........ and our Freight Director,.....having "acess" to their books, and seeing straitened finances, ....would demand a short contract,.... no more than 2 years.

This joke of pleading poverty, and then locking into a 5 year agreement,..... defies logic......
Thank you for t his reply...pleading poverty and building up assets of ArcBest (I have heard it called ArcWorst) on this board
are just what the company is doing...assets and bonus for the fat cats.
 
I think a reasonably good contract will be offered first time around. To not fix the vacation problem and continue to get substandard wages below what the non-Union carriers are making is to invite a backlash of well justified anger that the Union can't control.

Sure, there will be subtle little grabs at seniority and working conditions,........ a sneaky and complicated way to increase subcontracting in the hope that our new Freight Director will throw his hands in the air and allow the company to do as they wish.......just like his disgraced predecessors.........

But,....... all in all, I think they would be brain-dead stupid to continue the charade that they are losing money and can't afford to pay as well,...... if not better,....... than their competitors......

Watch for them to ask for a 5,.... or even 7 year contract, just to quiet shareholder fears. If this,...... or any other Union company,..... was in hard economic times, they would logically only want a 1 or 2 year contract,........ and our Freight Director,.....having "acess" to their books, and seeing straitened finances, ....would demand a short contract,.... no more than 2 years.

This joke of pleading poverty, and then locking into a 5 year agreement,..... defies logic......
I like the three-year idea. Seems right. All other CBA's that I've worked under have been 3 years. Not sure why freight is 5.
 
Not sure why freight is 5.
It is because our 'union leaders' got lazy, that's why and it is not a good idea, except maybe right now while the economy is doing better, then maybe we can lock in fatter wage increases than we could get during a slower economy. I know of a concrete company that the owner insisted on a five year contract against the will of the union and before the contract was up he was crying for relief. Ha, fat chance.
 
Lazy IBT Leaders! Say it Ain't So!

Actually ,I thought that since ABF was so intent on breaking up the NMFA, ......let's carry that to extremes, and have each region negotiate their own Agreement. I think we could do better than the IBT in this area,.....with a few minor changes on our Joint Council Executive board.........Couple of pieces of..........."deadwood".........who believe they are anointed...........and have completely lost touch as to what it is to actually....work....

Other than those couple of "obstructions",......I would have confidence in our J.C. officers to negotiate better than the National negotiating committee. After all,......they have to look at us on a daily basis,......we vote them in and out more often than the IBT official elections....

Yup........ Let's have a National Initiative to make the ABF NMFA all Regional agreements............To Heck with the argument that it means "more work" for the company attorneys.........that's what they're getting paid for.......

And the IBT? They can just sit back and allow the Regions to do all the heavy work. Think of the money the IBT would save! Think of the responsibility they could avoid! ALL grievances could be decided at a Local level,...instead of having to go to International Panels like the Eastern Regional snakepit, .....to hear some complete stranger of an IBT officer pronounce a purely political and company-friendly decision on your grievance........

Why Not? I ask......Why Not?
 
Lazy IBT Leaders! Say it Ain't So!

Actually ,I thought that since ABF was so intent on breaking up the NMFA, ......let's carry that to extremes, and have each region negotiate their own Agreement. I think we could do better than the IBT in this area,.....with a few minor changes on our Joint Council Executive board.........Couple of pieces of..........."deadwood".........who believe they are anointed...........and have completely lost touch as to what it is to actually....work....

Other than those couple of "obstructions",......I would have confidence in our J.C. officers to negotiate better than the National negotiating committee. After all,......they have to look at us on a daily basis,......we vote them in and out more often than the IBT official elections....

Yup........ Let's have a National Initiative to make the ABF NMFA all Regional agreements............To Heck with the argument that it means "more work" for the company attorneys.........that's what they're getting paid for.......

And the IBT? They can just sit back and allow the Regions to do all the heavy work. Think of the money the IBT would save! Think of the responsibility they could avoid! ALL grievances could be decided at a Local level,...instead of having to go to International Panels like the Eastern Regional snakepit, .....to hear some complete stranger of an IBT officer pronounce a purely political and company-friendly decision on your grievance........

Why Not? I ask......Why Not?
All sounds good to me but changing a couple faces on JC isn't going to be so easy, we don't get to vote for them and those worthy of keeping won't rise up against them. Once again we're left in checkmate by our own 'union'.
 
Lazy IBT Leaders! Say it Ain't So!

Actually ,I thought that since ABF was so intent on breaking up the NMFA, ......let's carry that to extremes, and have each region negotiate their own Agreement. I think we could do better than the IBT in this area,.....with a few minor changes on our Joint Council Executive board.........Couple of pieces of..........."deadwood".........who believe they are anointed...........and have completely lost touch as to what it is to actually....work....

Other than those couple of "obstructions",......I would have confidence in our J.C. officers to negotiate better than the National negotiating committee. After all,......they have to look at us on a daily basis,......we vote them in and out more often than the IBT official elections....

Yup........ Let's have a National Initiative to make the ABF NMFA all Regional agreements............To Heck with the argument that it means "more work" for the company attorneys.........that's what they're getting paid for.......

And the IBT? They can just sit back and allow the Regions to do all the heavy work. Think of the money the IBT would save! Think of the responsibility they could avoid! ALL grievances could be decided at a Local level,...instead of having to go to International Panels like the Eastern Regional snakepit, .....to hear some complete stranger of an IBT officer pronounce a purely political and company-friendly decision on your grievance........

Why Not? I ask......Why Not?
Why not? You Brother are forgetting the supreme sacrifice they make every contract where they go to some nasty, remote, god forsaken, location like Orlando Florida to do the awful business of negotiating for us lowly workers.
 
Why not? You Brother are forgetting the supreme sacrifice they make every contract where they go to some nasty, remote, god forsaken, location like Orlando Florida to do the awful business of negotiating for us lowly workers.

How could I have been so callus to disregard the ....... personal sacrifice........ our IBT officers have to go through during negotiations.....

And what's even worse is that 4 times a year, they have to go to some godforsaken backwater,...... like Myrtle Beach, S.C...... for regional grievance hearings.......

I remember being at the King's Plantation resort,...... and bursting into tears at the starkness of my room once the bellhop showed me to my room........

How awful! And we had to be there 3 days because they were only hearing 2 cases a day........and in July yet!
 
How could I have been so callus to disregard the ....... personal sacrifice........ our IBT officers have to go through during negotiations.....

And what's even worse is that 4 times a year, they have to go to some godforsaken backwater,...... like Myrtle Beach, S.C...... for regional grievance hearings.......

I remember being at the King's Plantation resort,...... and bursting into tears at the starkness of my room once the bellhop showed me to my room........

How awful! And we had to be there 3 days because they were only hearing 2 cases a day........and in July yet!
I cant even imagine how you got through it.
 
I cant even imagine how you got through it.

Hah!......I think we're both ladling on the sarcasm with shovels, ...... instead of artfully dribbling it on with the literary teaspoon.....No matter,....the situation calls for massive amounts of sarcasm, to offset the massive amounts of Union dues money wasted to provide "working" vacations,.......usually to no avail to us poor working schlobs....(I'm thinking of several VERY GOOD grievances, where the IBT IGNORED ACTUAL PRINTED LANGUAGE, and ruled against us........).


Let's end this farce of Regional grievance panels,.......... dues money wasted in luxury hotels,............ and start hearing these important grievances in some rented American Legion hall in the appropriate Joint Council area,......where there is no sun, surf, and sand distraction,........no cloying, rotten smell of bloated expense accounts, and no chance of IBT officials rubbing elbows with their chummy counterparts from the company at a poolside lounge,........... and looking at some rank-and-file worker,......pale and pasty from spending his life on a nighttime dock,......like they are part of the wait staff at the hotel, and to be treated with obvious disdain.......
 
Hah!......I think we're both ladling on the sarcasm with shovels, ...... instead of artfully dribbling it on with the literary teaspoon.....No matter,....the situation calls for massive amounts of sarcasm, to offset the massive amounts of Union dues money wasted to provide "working" vacations,.......usually to no avail to us poor working schlobs....(I'm thinking of several VERY GOOD grievances, where the IBT IGNORED ACTUAL PRINTED LANGUAGE, and ruled against us........).


Let's end this farce of Regional grievance panels,.......... dues money wasted in luxury hotels,............ and start hearing these important grievances in some rented American Legion hall in the appropriate Joint Council area,......where there is no sun, surf, and sand distraction,........no cloying, rotten smell of bloated expense accounts, and no chance of IBT officials rubbing elbows with their chummy counterparts from the company at a poolside lounge,........... and looking at some rank-and-file worker,......pale and pasty from spending his life on a nighttime dock,......like they are part of the wait staff at the hotel, and to be treated with obvious disdain.......
Ya put in those restrictions & nobody will want to be a Business Agent. The amount of salary for a BA might entice a few, but take away the 5 star motels, ladies of the evening, & no cigar store in the hotel lobby, well that is to much to lose. Oh, don't forget the $80,000 Yukon or Denali. They gotta have a big enough ride to store all those cigars. von.
 
Hah!......I think we're both ladling on the sarcasm with shovels, ...... instead of artfully dribbling it on with the literary teaspoon.....No matter,....the situation calls for massive amounts of sarcasm, to offset the massive amounts of Union dues money wasted to provide "working" vacations,.......usually to no avail to us poor working schlobs....(I'm thinking of several VERY GOOD grievances, where the IBT IGNORED ACTUAL PRINTED LANGUAGE, and ruled against us........).


Let's end this farce of Regional grievance panels,.......... dues money wasted in luxury hotels,............ and start hearing these important grievances in some rented American Legion hall in the appropriate Joint Council area,......where there is no sun, surf, and sand distraction,........no cloying, rotten smell of bloated expense accounts, and no chance of IBT officials rubbing elbows with their chummy counterparts from the company at a poolside lounge,........... and looking at some rank-and-file worker,......pale and pasty from spending his life on a nighttime dock,......like they are part of the wait staff at the hotel, and to be treated with obvious disdain.......

That's a good idea that will probably never happen.
And I was thinking the amount of sarcasm involved required heavy equipment.
 
How could I have been so callus to disregard the ....... personal sacrifice........ our IBT officers have to go through during negotiations.....

And what's even worse is that 4 times a year, they have to go to some godforsaken backwater,...... like Myrtle Beach, S.C...... for regional grievance hearings.......

I remember being at the King's Plantation resort,...... and bursting into tears at the starkness of my room once the bellhop showed me to my room........

How awful! And we had to be there 3 days because they were only hearing 2 cases a day........and in July yet!
Your right our state panel eastern region and joint council is all in at the beach next month.
 
Ya put in those restrictions & nobody will want to be a Business Agent. The amount of salary for a BA might entice a few, but take away the 5 star motels, ladies of the evening, & no cigar store in the hotel lobby, well that is to much to lose. Oh, don't forget the $80,000 Yukon or Denali. They gotta have a big enough ride to store all those cigars. von.
Only thing they gave me was an Impala all new cars are malibu.
 
Folks, not a chance in Hades...nadda, notta, no...that there will be a strike.
Reasoning? The old timers will need the length of the new contract and will vote yes (the majority)..the "newbies" (as Minnie Pearl used to say).. "I'm just so happy to be here!" and will vote overwhelmingly "YES".
So, that is humble opinion. Also, look for a lot of national and regional accounts to "jump ship" to the non-union carriers because of the threat of a strike. The other carriers will tell the accounts "to come on board now so that we can plan our labor pool. If you wait until the treat of a strike, it will be too late". So, any thoughts.

I haven't been on the board for a while due to some military operations that I can't discuss..Nothing to with Hillary, Bill, Al Gore, Trump, Flynn, etc.

"
As an old timer, as you call us. Let me say this, I voted no the first time and was very vocal about it. I'm here to tell you, I will vote no again. The offer must include a pay raise, restore vacations, no copay on ins, and no changes to the pension, unless they guarantee we will get what we would get right now or more. The new hires, from what I've seen, most are gone as soon as they find something else. So save up, cause us old timers are fed up and ready to walk.
 
As an old timer, as you call us. Let me say this, I voted no the first time and was very vocal about it. I'm here to tell you, I will vote no again. The offer must include a pay raise, restore vacations, no copay on ins, and no changes to the pension, unless they guarantee we will get what we would get right now or more. The new hires, from what I've seen, most are gone as soon as they find something else. So save up, cause us old timers are fed up and ready to walk.
I wasn't even an old timer, but...managed to vote 'no' on a couple things in my five years.

But...hey. They're just destroying a once-great company, right?

(Am I doing this sarcasm thing right?)
 
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