ABF | EDR

ABF381

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There is a lot to this story that I don't plan to post here but here goes. I have filed three grievances so far this year. The last one being for retaliation by my manager. Needless to say he is angry. I got an EDR (employee discussion report) yesterday. Of course he had the afternoon supervisor do it. The content of the EDR is that I didn't call after being delayed at a customer for more than fifteen minutes. I did call after being there about a half hour or so. One question I have is have others heard of this policy or is this just for my terminal? The EDR states that since I didn't call within 15 minutes that that is "abuse of company time", and that further disregard of this rule will result in progressive discipline. I didn't sign it yet, but I did write up something up for employee comments section as follows. "My work philosophy is to promote an awareness to our customers that their business is important to our business. Using a cellphone while on a customer dock is both unprofessional and bad business. Despite this, incident noted with the exception of 'abuse of company time'. We are all employees of ABF Freight, and should be held to the same standard. With that, I ask, who can be consulted for an Employee Discussion Report for management sleeping at their desk on company time?" Yes my manager has a bad habit of sleeping at his desk. He has even been so blatant that he has put his head down on his desk. There are actually a few pictures that guys have taken floating around. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope this wasn't too long winded.
 
There is a lot to this story that I don't plan to post here but here goes. I have filed three grievances so far this year. The last one being for retaliation by my manager. Needless to say he is angry. I got an EDR (employee discussion report) yesterday. Of course he had the afternoon supervisor do it. The content of the EDR is that I didn't call after being delayed at a customer for more than fifteen minutes. I did call after being there about a half hour or so. One question I have is have others heard of this policy or is this just for my terminal? The EDR states that since I didn't call within 15 minutes that that is "abuse of company time", and that further disregard of this rule will result in progressive discipline. I didn't sign it yet, but I did write up something up for employee comments section as follows. "My work philosophy is to promote an awareness to our customers that their business is important to our business. Using a cellphone while on a customer dock is both unprofessional and bad business. Despite this, incident noted with the exception of 'abuse of company time'. We are all employees of ABF Freight, and should be held to the same standard. With that, I ask, who can be consulted for an Employee Discussion Report for management sleeping at their desk on company time?" Yes my manager has a bad habit of sleeping at his desk. He has even been so blatant that he has put his head down on his desk. There are actually a few pictures that guys have taken floating around. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope this wasn't too long winded.

"Do As I Say , Not As I Do"

Take that caption and copy'n'paste that on one of those pictures floating around of him closely studying the wood grains on his desk.........

Now,.....Take the "high ground",.....and write a real good rebuttal about how management was remiss in clearly stating their company policy about how often to alert dispatch in the event of...."delays"....

Ask them whether that policy is in the company handbook,...and whether you can see a copy of it. Ask them why you,.....and your fellow employees weren't made aware of that company policy,.....and whether that policy is applied UNILATERALLY to all employees,......or just the ones currently in disfavor with management.

Get management to post a copy of that "work rule",...so that it is clear to EVERYONE,....that you will be disciplined if you don't call in every 15 minutes you spend on a dock ,...not behind the wheel......

After a week or so, of everyone calling dispatch every 15 minutes to give a status report,...."as per company policy"......I bet they relax that rule....

Make sure you document the times one of your fellow employees didn't get disciplined for failure to call in every 15 minutes,........and then file a Harrassment complaint if he holds you to a higher standard than the other employees........

At all times conduct yourself with the utmost professionalism,.....and be PUNCTUAL about calling in,...."as per company policy"......After all,.....they are paying you by the hour,....and if you have to quit loading your truck,.....walk out to find cell service in the customer parking lot,........and then walk back in to ....resume what you were doing,.....don't forget to explain to the customer that you are Following Your Employer's Directives,......which,...apparently,...supersede the customer's needs.

Actually, they are paying you by the....minute. And quite well,...as we all know. Make sure your TM knows you are aware of that.....

Now,.....as far as that....picture....with the cut'n'paste caption,.........You're too good of a person to "threaten" to send that picture anywhere.........Just be careful it doesn't....ahh....."fall" out of your pocket somewhere near the TM's office door......
 
"Do As I Say , Not As I Do"

Take that caption and copy'n'paste that on one of those pictures floating around of him closely studying the wood grains on his desk.........

Now,.....Take the "high ground",.....and write a real good rebuttal about how management was remiss in clearly stating their company policy about how often to alert dispatch in the event of...."delays"....

Ask them whether that policy is in the company handbook,...and whether you can see a copy of it. Ask them why you,.....and your fellow employees weren't made aware of that company policy,.....and whether that policy is applied UNILATERALLY to all employees,......or just the ones currently in disfavor with management.

Get management to post a copy of that "work rule",...so that it is clear to EVERYONE,....that you will be disciplined if you don't call in every 15 minutes you spend on a dock ,...not behind the wheel......

After a week or so, of everyone calling dispatch every 15 minutes to give a status report,...."as per company policy"......I bet they relax that rule....

Make sure you document the times one of your fellow employees didn't get disciplined for failure to call in every 15 minutes,........and then file a Harrassment complaint if he holds you to a higher standard than the other employees........

At all times conduct yourself with the utmost professionalism,.....and be PUNCTUAL about calling in,...."as per company policy"......After all,.....they are paying you by the hour,....and if you have to quit loading your truck,.....walk out to find cell service in the customer parking lot,........and then walk back in to ....resume what you were doing,.....don't forget to explain to the customer that you are Following Your Employer's Directives,......which,...apparently,...supersede the customer's needs.

Actually, they are paying you by the....minute. And quite well,...as we all know. Make sure your TM knows you are aware of that.....

Now,.....as far as that....picture....with the cut'n'paste caption,.........You're too good of a person to "threaten" to send that picture anywhere.........Just be careful it doesn't....ahh....."fall" out of your pocket somewhere near the TM's office door......
 
Thank you for the advice brother. I have already done some of what you said. The problem with everyone calling though.....is........about half the guys wouldn't do it due to being "buddies" with the tm.
 
Thank you for the advice brother. I have already done some of what you said. The problem with everyone calling though.....is........about half the guys wouldn't do it due to being "buddies" with the tm.


Ahh.....The perennial problem.........

Actually, it works in your favor. If they won't call, and they're on a dock in excess of 15 minutes,.....and the TM won't discipline them,.......that proves that you are being singled out.

The TM,...knowing that,.....would have to "discipline" one or more of his..."buddies".....merely to keep from appearing partial.

That's bound to anger one of his Fair-Haired boys,...when they get an EDR about not calling.....

Make him post the...."company policy",....that is, if there is one. He HAS to apply it unilaterally,..........unless he is making up a ..."company policy".....merely to punish you for speaking out.

Good luck, Brother....
 
Ahh.....The perennial problem.........

Actually, it works in your favor. If they won't call, and they're on a dock in excess of 15 minutes,.....and the TM won't discipline them,.......that proves that you are being singled out.

The TM,...knowing that,.....would have to "discipline" one or more of his..."buddies".....merely to keep from appearing partial.

That's bound to anger one of his Fair-Haired boys,...when they get an EDR about not calling.....

Make him post the...."company policy",....that is, if there is one. He HAS to apply it unilaterally,..........unless he is making up a ..."company policy".....merely to punish you for speaking out.

Good luck, Brother....
Yes...the perennial problem of favoritism. I’ve experienced it so many times I’ve lost count. Lots of ‘two sets of rules’ jobs I’ve had over the years. You see, I’m very...uh...’outspoken’ at work. I call a spade a spade, etc. Plus, I have a very good memory. So, when I bring up little incidents from the past, I get the ‘raised eyebrow’ look from the TM and the guys who assign routes. Apparently I was ‘wrong’ to think that seniority works for everyone who HAS seniority. Silly me!
 
Yes...the perennial problem of favoritism. I’ve experienced it so many times I’ve lost count. Lots of ‘two sets of rules’ jobs I’ve had over the years. You see, I’m very...uh...’outspoken’ at work. I call a spade a spade, etc. Plus, I have a very good memory. So, when I bring up little incidents from the past, I get the ‘raised eyebrow’ look from the TM and the guys who assign routes. Apparently I was ‘wrong’ to think that seniority works for everyone who HAS seniority. Silly me!

Hah!,......You've got to learn to call a Spade..... a Manually-Driven Blunt Force Agricultural Instrument,....especially when dealing with management. They're impressed with Multi-Syllable Obfustication of Purpose Language Techniques.....

.......(....us truck drivers simplify the method as : "Baffling them with B.S."......).........(......anyone dealing with management, nowadays knows the method,....and the taste and smell....)..........

The one thing that works in our favor is the Unilateralism of Collective Bargaining. In response to the Company recognizing the Union as the Agent for ALL the employees,.....the Company has to apply all procedures, policies, discipline and Labor decisions........Unilaterally......and without prejudice,........regardless of whether the employee is Prince Valiant,...in management's eyes,...........or a warty, smelly, dirty toad,........again,...in management's eyes.

This is unlike companies who only operate under "Employment-At-Will" rules.......There a "toad" can be castigated , ostracized, and fired, merely for being a...."toad",......in management's eyes......

And the company's designated..."Prince Valiant"....can be coddled,...held up to the rest of the employees as a..."good example",.....favored with favorable assignments, blessed with better equipment, and sanctified with simpler work rules than anyone else............regardless of any sort of....."seniority".

By the way,......"Seniority" at an Employment-At-Will facility,....only exists because it works in the companies' interests. When it doesn't, it goes out the window........Nothing in "writing", you see.........

Seniority,....as codified by a collective bargaining agreement,.....can be your best tool in the toolbox of Labor rights. Unlike the military,.......Seniority DOES NOT imply ....rank. As the members in a Union all pay the same amount for Union dues,.....then it is presumed that the SAME AMOUNT of collective bargaining rights are applied,....from the top of the seniority board, on down to the bottom.

As codified by Labor law, no less......

If you're being treated unfairly,....and held to a DISTINCTLY different set of standards than the other employees,.....then that TM is treading in a legal minefield,....in oversize combat boots......

ONLY if you have a collective bargaining agreement..........If you're ..."Employment-At-Will",........you lost your rights of "fairness" when you punched the timeclock,........They can fire you for parting your hair on the wrong side,....or for being a..."toad".....in management's eyes..........You're a...."contestant".... in the daily Management Popularity contest, until the day you retire,...or get fired.......

Hold management to the Unilateral Fairness Standard, Brother,.........NLRB law is on your side......
 

Thank you , Sir. However,....I'd like to comment on how the attorneys for several Unions and I, had a discussion on how Employment-At-Will laws,....were written SPECIFICALLY to "get around" Federally prescripted discrimination criteria.

Basically,.....a lawyer told me that....."Say you didn't like a certain ethnic employee,.........regardless of his performance or competency.......Under Employment-At-Will,....if you ...fire a White male employee,...for any reason,......and then you use that grounds for firing as the SAME reason to fire the.....ethnic employee,.....the firing will be upheld , under Employment-At-Will......"

My sputtering and gasping made the lawyer laugh.....He said: " That's right! The potential for...White male employees to be the enabling factor for a new wave of racial discrimination in the workforce ....is immesureable,....and subject to how much each company's HR department will allow local manager's racism to be the...."driving factor" in firing employees."

Fascinating,....don't you think?
 
There is a lot to this story that I don't plan to post here but here goes. I have filed three grievances so far this year. The last one being for retaliation by my manager. Needless to say he is angry. I got an EDR (employee discussion report) yesterday. Of course he had the afternoon supervisor do it. The content of the EDR is that I didn't call after being delayed at a customer for more than fifteen minutes. I did call after being there about a half hour or so. One question I have is have others heard of this policy or is this just for my terminal? The EDR states that since I didn't call within 15 minutes that that is "abuse of company time", and that further disregard of this rule will result in progressive discipline. I didn't sign it yet, but I did write up something up for employee comments section as follows. "My work philosophy is to promote an awareness to our customers that their business is important to our business. Using a cellphone while on a customer dock is both unprofessional and bad business. Despite this, incident noted with the exception of 'abuse of company time'. We are all employees of ABF Freight, and should be held to the same standard. With that, I ask, who can be consulted for an Employee Discussion Report for management sleeping at their desk on company time?" Yes my manager has a bad habit of sleeping at his desk. He has even been so blatant that he has put his head down on his desk. There are actually a few pictures that guys have taken floating around. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope this wasn't too long winded.
One, they can't force you yo use youe cell phone. They must have working radios.
 
I would like to add to all the great advice here and say that if your EDR is the same as our EDR, it is literaly not worth the paper it is printed on. It can't be used for anything else against you. That's what my local tells me and I'm just waiting....Just.....ff... ggrrrr......waiting.... for one to be brought up in a grievance hearing so I can then grieve all that are given from the past 10 days and then on. Our ops manager likes to give them out like candy and it understandably pisses guys off...they only see a letter...some arbitrary sounding letters attached to it mean nothing in the moment. So far... and they have been giving them out the past few years... there hasn't been an issue where they brought one up.
 
I would like to add to all the great advice here and say that if your EDR is the same as our EDR, it is literaly not worth the paper it is printed on. It can't be used for anything else against you. That's what my local tells me and I'm just waiting....Just.....ff... ggrrrr......waiting.... for one to be brought up in a grievance hearing so I can then grieve all that are given from the past 10 days and then on. Our ops manager likes to give them out like candy and it understandably pisses guys off...they only see a letter...some arbitrary sounding letters attached to it mean nothing in the moment. So far... and they have been giving them out the past few years... there hasn't been an issue where they brought one up.

Hah!,....Brother,.....as a former Steward,.....I have an armload of EDR's. I am saving them for when I run out of fire-starters,...or toilet paper,.....or birdcage liners......

I would imagine my former TMs have an....exactly equal amount of rebuttal letters. They can use them as spill wipes, .....dipstick cleaners,....and earwax repositories.......

An EDR is merely the companies way of making snarky, insulting remarks on your judgement and competence,....without rising to the level of a warning letter.

One way of putting those.....EDRs... into perspective, is to remind management that....THEY are the "temporary" ones,....and YOU are the "permanent" employee. You're expected to be there 20, 25, 30, or more years......There is NO TM that will be there longer than a couple of years, at best. Management people are either moving up in the organization,..or they're being moved...out.

For a TM to initiate an EDR on an employee whose been at the same terminal for 20, 25 years,.......by a TM whose been there for, say,....3 or 4 years,......is rather incongrouous,...to say the least......

Either you've violated the contract,...thereby warranting a warning letter,........or you haven't.....

But,.....if you've hurt the TM's "feelings",.....or inadvertantly violated his personal set of..."standards"........then the company has created the EDR,.......a way to gripe, carp, insult, and comment......without invoking contractual discipline steps.

A warning letter can't be used beyond 90 days, in a disciplinary procedure,.......An EDR should be thrown out the minute the company brings it up as "progressive" discipline.....
 
I'm with Canary, I have many EDR and Warning letters. And I do mean many. But I have never been given time off. I worried about it 15 yrs ago (or so) but I quickly discovered this is just ABF's way of getting your attention.
 
I was given a few of those to add a comment to if I’d like and sign and return. Needless to say they ended up in the trash and I was never asked for them back either....
 
ALWAYS REBUT THEM! By issuing an EDR,........they are providing you a platform to sound off about the......fairness/unfairness/pettiness of the...."discussion" at hand. I NEVER passed up a chance to respond to an EDR,...or a warning letter, for that matter.

You notice they don't have a "suggestion" box outside the TM's office? Well,......an EDR is your chance to sound off, and give your opinion on how foolish and juvenile the EDR is........

If they didn't give you an EDR,......you'd just be writing an unsolicited complaint,....and you'd be regarded as a crank, and a troublemaker.........

BUT!,........When they give you an EDR,.........you have EVERY RIGHT to work yourself into high dudgeon, and eloquently explain in a thousand words or less,.....(or more...)....how you feel you're being singled out, slighted and insulted by management's merest hint of a suggestion that you don't know what you're doing.............

Break out the Thesaurus! Use words of eight syllables! Find synonyms for "idiot", and "degenerate"!

When they realize how much fun you're having,......responding to their petty EDRs,..........They'll quit issuing them.....
 
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