Come on now, let’s be honest. There are far more members that won’t fight for much of anything. They just say “YES” and sign on the dotted line. They just don’t have nuts that our parents and grandparents had. Just the sad reality. I see the punk asses just accepting what’s given and crying about it until the next contract. Then doing it all over AGAIN!!!!
To be perfectly honest,......yes,.....there are regional parts of our country that seem to have problems understanding collective bargaining rights,.....let alone standing up to corporate malfeasance.....
I live in Western Pennnsylvania..........birthplace of militant Unionism....Battle of Homestead, Carnegie, Frick, Samuel Gompers, Rich Trumka.....Steel mills and coal mines are the legacy around here......The viability and necessity of Unions and Solidarity don't have to be explained around here.
Nor do we blindly follow our Union leaders.........there's a long tradition of butting heads with Local and National Labor leaders around here.
But,........even though there's head-butting,..........most everyone around here understands WHY Unions exist. If you're not sure,.....just ask your grandparents. My grandfather was a charter member of Teamsters Local #249.......Many of my uncles were USWA, UMW,.....and Teamsters.....Many of my forbears had their heads caved in by Coal and Iron Police on picket lines..........
The......."tricks".........that corporations use to sway votes and build an anti-Union atmosphere in other parts of our country,..........just don't fly around here......They're just too patently transparent to us around here,.......which makes it puzzling to us why people in other parts of our country seem to fall for these things that are so evidently ......company propaganda.........
ABF's contract got ratified last time by just about 850 votes nationwide. I'm proud to say that the Joint Council #40 area of 5 Locals with ABF members voted down the contract......by about 85%...AND a second vote on the Supplements......
It seems that ABF's "release" of a news article describing an offer by YRC CEO Zollars to....."buy" ....ABF,....in the middle of contract negotiations.......and the IBT's inability to.....STOP....negotiations until that rumor was tracked down and put to rest, one way or another............contributed to the timid waffling and uncertianty among ABF employees.....Thanks,...Fric and Frac......Enjoy your retirement, boys......
As much as it pains me,.....I'll have to agree with you that there are................sizeable pockets..........of ......people who are Union members inasmuch as they grudgingly pay dues,............but from that point out,......they would rather trust their dispatcher whispering to them through the window,........than show up at a Union meeting to stand up like a man, and ask penetrating questions......