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tom
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Your right wonderring problem is most employees threw theirs away and never read it ...let alone reading the booklet aand seeing the salary for top execs last year
wonderring99
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No.........
wonderring99
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Pup Driver
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Not necessarily true figure this way , what Con Way does can either make things better or not at a competitor company , say Con Way did go union that would help to make the union stronger in which would be better for all other union companies . Would add to the pension funds etc. also its good that Con Way guys hear more than what Con Way management is spinning . Plus it shows the Con Way guys that there is support out here for them keep an open dialog . BTW that is what this form in business for .
The question is what do I have to lose by us going union, here are a couple of reasons just off the top of my head.
1. The company is already running on tight profit margins now, unionizing the workforce would make us less competitive. The first contract may only involve pay and benefit increases and then next contract talk they start asking for work rules in addition to further pay raises, it never stops, the unions never stop asking for more and with each concession the company gives, our non-union competitors get a little larger piece of the LTL market as the company's profit margin shrinks more and more.
2. You guys can say what you will, but IMO, a guy who busts his butt day in and day out, moving freight and hustling on the dock is looked upon by management more favorably than a guy who is lazy. I don't brag about myself, but I what I'm about to say, I think others can relate. I come to work every day and kick ass. My numbers are consistently high as in stops per hour, mm per hour, and a small percentage of docked freight vs. loaded freight. I have higher numbers than 2/3 of the other guys and some day, I'm going to make a mistake where a manager will have to choose to give me a discussion letter or an LOI. I've already seen where my track record has helped to reduce the amount of negative paper going into my file. While this may not change with a union shop, the results of my effort does. Now, the slacker is on the same platform as I am and management is no longer able to consider things like productivity and attitude when disciplining a driver. I like feeling that my hard work counts for something. Unions encourage mediocre performance because of a reduced of fear of being disciplined or even fired, I don't want to be lumped in the mix with the slackers in my barn. I happen to think that it's important for the health of a company that there is a certain amount of fear amongst the workforce that someone could lose their job, it's an important tool that a company can use to get a slacker off his back and start working up to minimum acceptable standards. Go ahead and laugh at me cynics, I don't care.
3. It's no secret that those who hold power within the Teamsters leadership donate money collected from dues to the PAC's of political candidates. That's BS, I will decide which candidates I support and which ones I won't.
To sum it up, the risk of my company going out of business in the future goes higher, so I risk losing my job. I lose my pride to union mediocrity. I lose dues money to political candidates that I would never donate to given the choice.
I don't know exactly what you mean when you use the word "cares," but I think they do care as much as they can in today's tough marketplace. They are raising money right now for the Con-way families who were damaged in Joplin, MO after the storms came through. At our barn, the company always does something to comfort an employee who loses a loved one. An argument could be made that because we took a paycut and lost the 401k match, that the company doesn't care about us. To me that's a selfish and simplistic argument because non of us drivers have any clue as to the big picture the company has going forward. Some of you guys who have some time at this place have become insulated to the changes in the job market that have occured over the last few years. It's not like it was, where you quit one 20+ dollar/hr job and go find another one. The labor market is tight right now and employers know it, the timing for talking about organizing is bad.
When I hired in, I didn't expect the company to "care" about me as it's no secret that any large publicly traded company's first financial obligation is to it's shareholders and top money makers. The money works it's way down the chain to the labor force, as it should be, since the labor force has the least amount of financial risk involved with the company.
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Hey companyclown, you said the following in the "GPS in the Handhelds" thread and I quote.
So, am I to gather that you like the idea of GPS being used by the company to track drivers? Can I also take away the notion that you don't like seeing slackers getting away with stuff while you bust your ass? It seems to me that what you posted in this thread and in the GPS thread run counter to one another, so where do you really stand on this whole union business?
So, am I to gather that you like the idea of GPS being used by the company to track drivers? Can I also take away the notion that you don't like seeing slackers getting away with stuff while you bust your ass? It seems to me that what you posted in this thread and in the GPS thread run counter to one another, so where do you really stand on this whole union business?
companyclown
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I have absolutely no problem with them using the GPS and no problem harrassing a slacker. This is not the intent of wanting to see the Union involved. It has to do with mainly the treatment of the drivers. It has to do with totally ignorant supervisors getting in the way of taking care of customers. Like I said..DSR's used to be treated like gold and you had to "pay your dues" with some pretty nasty hand freight when I started. You either busted ur butt or you were sent home. You made your way up the ladder without stepping on someone else. You finally got a lanre to run, or an area to peddle, or a FAC to run to every night. I cant stand lazy. I dont see a union causing anymore laziness thenwhat is currently present.
It really went south when Tim came to town. I got a kick out of his wife puffing a smoke on company property.....but he was king! One would have thought the previous scm had everything messed up.....but he was actually running things quite smoothly. Overall he was very well liked. Tim is not the reason of needing a union though.
It very well may be different where you are at, but rest assured....I do not support a slacker. It is balls to the wall or you get talked about. I do not see drivers of this company using a union to be lazy. Maybe some who have drifted from other carriers to this one may support this type of work day, but the people I know enjoy a hard days work as well as promises kept. Of the union people I knew of and still know currently.....none were slackers. They may opposse pushing 14 skids down the dock at a time...you should not do that anyway.
I have to disagree about the profit margins. First off......claims are an issue brought on by how many part timers? They dont care. Secondly, they blame rising insurance cost on the 3rd or 4th quarter. This was after they raised everyones weekly deduction. How much of a group rate is actually paid? I would imagine it is not that bad......more money is wasted on Keeping the dream alive week then what I would imaginee the insurance premiums. I would be willing to bet if yrc went bust......you would still not get anything back as promised. What about the pricing on the freight? How is it other carriers are not in the same boat with this profit margin claim. For all you know....money can be moved from this budget to that budget in order to "show" a tight profit margin. Hell.....the year of the rebranding.......they blamed that as a reason for a "tight budget". It was all part of the plan....they over paid themselves along with all those phantom stock awards.
I guess you still have it made in your terminal. I would say you have some years in based on the committment you presented. I did too........never thought of bring in a 3rd party. It was this company who kept taking and taking while they lose nothing.
I have spoke to employees at XCO and I do know this is not any type of rumor. Next meeting is the 4th......where ever they are holding it.
I respect your opinion and I am jealous. You are living in the world I remember as CCX. Trust me...I feel the same way about laziness and slackers. It was the very thing I was kind of accused of.....loading freight and signing someone elsees name. Didnt do it.....but what ever. I like those handhend trackers.
Hope I didnt type in circles.....been up all night.
T
tom
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Let's straight the record straight. This has nothing to do with Tim. Most drivers disliked him but respected him. He was a ***** with you just as he was 2ith me. You knew where he stood every time.. I. Even saw him write up his own lap dog he had there............ this started when corporate greed replaced family values.......when drivers became a hired expense instead of the back bone of the company.... when customers became a burdden instead of the goal....when fos becam all knowing instead of seein knowledge from those that built conway....when mangement saw no problem asking for a raise for the board but telling drivers maybe with a little harder work you could have a chance to get a little...... when company ask us to make sacrafice for them but pay 7 million to the leader.... this is a few of the places this all began
it is not just the north and northeast wanting to possibly organize.There are a lot of sc's in the south southwest that feel the same to. ldgarrit, you work the dock and make excellent production along with p&d numbers, but what happens to your service rank when guys with more service rank come off line haul because their runs are continously being cut;you move down, that would be a blow to my and possibly your morale. Con-Way's second star stands for commitment. Commitment is a two way street. You to Con-Way, Con-Way to you! We need to haul our own freight, not sub-service.
companyclown
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I failed to mention how easy it is to get fired over upsetting a pup. Although I do agree it is unacceptable.........straight up fired is not acceptable to me. IMO....Thiss comppany used to be top notch.....restore the faith to the workers and it will again.
nobodyinparticular
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I know I am new to this board, but felt I had to post something. I heard about this thread at work at XCO. I want to set the record straight about whats going on at XCO. I am the one who made contact with the teamsters and set up these initial meetings. We are indeed talking to the teamsters about representing us. I am NOT a 20 year senior guy. Not even close. We are not doing this to hurt Conway or put them out of business. We just want whats ours. We are doing this to not lose anything else. We didn't do anything to deserve losing everything we lost. They used a bad situation to take advantage of us and keep doing so. We don't expect the union to get more money or our 401 back. We don't even want a union ,but its picking the lesser of 2 evils. We want a say in what happens to us. We have no say in anything and can do nothing when something does happen. We are tired of being asked to take one for the team and in the same week being asked to vote to give the board a raise. We have been screwed on vacation twice. The list goes on and on. Someone at work said " Its like the schoolyard bully taking your lunch money. He'll keep doing it until you punch him in the mouth and tell him no more" We all have wives and kids. Car and house payments. None of us want to lose our jobs, but when is enough enough. When is someone going to stand up and say "No more". We know all the repercussions of what we are attempting. We know about YRC's problems, but there is also UPS. Yes, we would love for other terminals to do this with us, but everybody has their opinion on the subject. Just read this thread. I am not trying to convince anyone that what we are trying is right or wrong. Most of you have decided we are stupid. But ask your self the next Monday you come to work and have to see a video explaining why you're losing something and being told that its not open for discussion, Are we really that stupid?
Thats pure speculation.
Pup Driver
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Actually I had 44 years most of it with Yellow Freight and retired for 2 years now.{ Do I still get a thata boy ?} A lot of what is posted here to me looks like the new bread of drivers . I probably have more miles backing in stops than some here have going forward .
It would appear from the poll numbers that an overwhelming majority would support a union at Conway. That is assuming that only Conway drivers are voting which I am sure is not the case. It does not matter though. The spark that ignites a revolution seems to have happend. I for one am going to make some phone calls and talk to some drivers that I trust and see what people in my part of the world think about this. I am willing to bet that a majority of drivers in my part of the world mis-trust the teamsters. I am also willing to bet that a majority mis-trust the folks running this company even more than they mis-trust the teamsters.