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ABF | 2018 contract talks.

canaryinthemine

canaryinthemine

Retirement....The Job I Was Born To Have!
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Brothers and Sisters, it's time we started laying the groundwork for a good contract in 2018. We have no idea who will be negotiating for us on the International level. I hope that Mr. Hoffa recognizes the extreme level of dissatisfaction Tyson Johnson and Gordon Sweeton created with their cut-rate, lackadaisical, "who cares, they're just dumb truckdrivers" style of negotiations.

Since, at ABF's insistence,........ we are no longer in the NMFA, and that we now have a "stand-alone" contract.......... we should insist that there be actual ABF employees on the contract negotiation committee,..........And at least on the local Two-Man committies.

I know in our Joint Council, we only had one person on our Two-Man committee, ........and even though there were more than 40 proposals made for our local supplement,....... not a single proposal made it into the contract...........Until we voted it down, and they threw us a bone and allowed us to break up a second week of our ( reduced) vacation........

We all need to make a motion at the next few Local Union meetings that there be ACTUAL ABF Employees on the negotiation committies. It's not too early to start pushing for this,...... We all know there are many Joint Councils that would prefer the Good Ol'Boy club to do the negotiations........so be prepared for a pushback ........

But.........We have a right to determine who does our negotiating for us,.......As long as we SPEAK UP!.

Don't take it for granted that they care about ABF Employees..........If it takes a petition in your Local area,......Then get it together........If it takes Labor Board charges to insure we are properly represented.......So be it. We can not be taken advantage of again by disingenuous lies and lackadaisical representation............. Especially when they can't even find enough guys to fill the seats that are going begging because of a top-heavy retirement situation .......

Make a proposal at your next Local meeting that there should be ABF employees..........OF OUR CHOICE.....on all contract committies in the upcoming negotiations.
 
canaryinthemine said:
I hope that Mr. Hoffa recognizes the extreme level of dissatisfaction Tyson Johnson and Gordon Sweeton created with their cut-rate, lackadaisical, "who cares, they're just dumb truckdrivers" style of negotiations.
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He got the message alright but he sees it a bit differently than you do. He will do everything in his power to get even with us for what we did on that vote. We don't matter to him, he just doesn't care and if you didn't get that message last time around you will this time.
 
ABFer said:
He got the message alright but he sees it a bit differently than you do. He will do everything in his power to get even with us for what we did on that vote. We don't matter to him, he just doesn't care and if you didn't get that message last time around you will this time.
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Just what we need, .......a vengeful labor "leader". Don't we have enough vengeful people in management?

Seriously, .........If it takes Labor Board charges in each Supplemental area to insure we are properly represented,....... we've got to do it. Since we are no longer in the same contract as YRC,........I don't want a B.A. who only represents YRC people "negotiating" for me,...........especially since YRC upper management made an offer to buy us in the middle of our contract talks. Conflict of interest.

And.........This is not to denigrate any of my fellow Brother YRC employees. They should feel the same way, and insist that YRC employees sit on their committies. Both companies wanted separate contracts,.........And our so-called IBT "leadership".........in their infinite wisdom,.......agreed with the companies, and allowed the breakup of the NMFA. So........to get proper representation, employees from each company should be on their respective negotiating committees.......

Surely Mr. Hoffa foresaw the ramifications of breaking up the NMFA...........And, just as surely, we have a right to be represented by our peers,..........and not by some Local officer who knows nothing about freight, or our company,..........And is only chosen to be on a Two-Man committee because he........OR SHE.........Is one of the Good Ol'Boy toadies.......

That's not honest representation,........And we should all fight that tooth'n'nail,.......and with as many NLRB lawyers as it would take....
 
canaryinthemine said:
Just what we need, .......a vengeful labor "leader". Don't we have enough vengeful people in management?
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Vengeful and vindictive he is, I have seen what he did after that last election when a collection of people ran against him. I can't say it was a group of people because they were not together as one slate. He removed them from their appointed posts and replaced them with less competent candidates, ever hear of DV and ES in the freight division?

And have you forgotten what he did to those indigent UPS members in Kentucky? And those freight workers in the Chicago area when they refused to acquiesce? I like your optimism but I cannot ignore the reality of it all.
 
ABFer said:
Vengeful and vindictive he is, I have seen what he did after that last election when a collection of people ran against him. I can't say it was a group of people because they were not together as one slate. He removed them from their appointed posts and replaced them with less competent candidates, ever hear of DV and ES in the freight division?

And have you forgotten what he did to those indigent UPS members in Kentucky? And those freight workers in the Chicago area when they refused to acquiesce? I like your optimism but I cannot ignore the reality of it all.
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Let's see......... "ES"........Hmm......Is his name "Easily Stumped"?............A man who can recognize a period in a contract paragraph two tries out of three?

Sorry,........... have to be deliberately obfusticative here,............ can't name actual names,......... might hurt someone's feelings..........Contracts might be ruined, conditions and benefits might be bargained away, wages might be lost, and families economically crippled,............... but we can't hurt someone's feelings.......

Exactly my point, Brother...........We may have to turn to outside legal counsel to get fair representation in the next contract...........And because of the breakup of the NMFA and the creation of stand-alone freight contracts,.... we now have the best chance going to get someone other than the IBT hand-picked toadies on our negotiating committies.......

ABF wants to expand subcontracting to the point where there may be......Oh.....400 or 500 ABF employees nationwide,... . and 10,000 subcontractors bumping our city docks and taking away our private home deliveries, our volume work, U-Packs, humper loads,........Anything the company deems is labor-intensive or costly.......That will be their answer to the driver shortage.....

We either stop that this contract..........Or the company will gut out the Union side of ABF ...........And the IBT will let them...
 
ABFer said:
He got the message alright but he sees it a bit differently than you do. He will do everything in his power to get even with us for what we did on that vote. We don't matter to him, he just doesn't care and if you didn't get that message last time around you will this time.
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That vote as you speak is not official as of today.
 
canaryinthemine said:
Just what we need, .......a vengeful labor "leader". Don't we have enough vengeful people in management?

Seriously, .........If it takes Labor Board charges in each Supplemental area to insure we are properly represented,....... we've got to do it. Since we are no longer in the same contract as YRC,........I don't want a B.A. who only represents YRC people "negotiating" for me,...........especially since YRC upper management made an offer to buy us in the middle of our contract talks. Conflict of interest.

And.........This is not to denigrate any of my fellow Brother YRC employees. They should feel the same way, and insist that YRC employees sit on their committies. Both companies wanted separate contracts,.........And our so-called IBT "leadership".........in their infinite wisdom,.......agreed with the companies, and allowed the breakup of the NMFA. So........to get proper representation, employees from each company should be on their respective negotiating committees.......

Surely Mr. Hoffa foresaw the ramifications of breaking up the NMFA...........And, just as surely, we have a right to be represented by our peers,..........and not by some Local officer who knows nothing about freight, or our company,..........And is only chosen to be on a Two-Man committee because he........OR SHE.........Is one of the Good Ol'Boy toadies.......

That's not honest representation,........And we should all fight that tooth'n'nail,.......and with as many NLRB lawyers as it would take....
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I agree with your post & like it. But, we only had 16% bother to stuff the envelope @ election time. And I am with you on filing with the NLRB. And you don't need your Local to file wth the NLRB, but having the Local behind you will make your sailing the waters of the NLRB a whole lot smoother. The problem with most Locals is they support their paycheck & not the members. You & Muler are all to well aware of the lack of IBT officers @ any level supporting the rank & file. von.
 
I think there should be a plan of action.First let's see what the government comes up with in the way of charges against some of the union officials.Secondly if those officers are replaced with the opponent.Then the next action would be to scrap the MOU at YRCW and get all of us on the same contract if agreeable by the members involved.This two part contract whereas one company is on something completely different than the other nmfa company is for the birds.Yes the MOU at YRC can be nixed.After all this is what Fred was campaigning on.Bad contracts,give backs and a suffering pension fund.
 
You mean we are waiting for the pending charges to be heard on Mr. Hall and some of the other IBT "leadership"......

I think that if we wait for the government, we may be waiting for a long, long time.......... especially with this new Labor Secretary, Mr.Pudzner,.......... who is absolutely no friend of working people at all.

If he decides to gut out the Labor Dept., and de-fund the NLRB,........ and, as Mr. Bush did, refuse to fully staff the NLRB,.....Labor charges may take a lifetime to get heard. It took the Obama administration almost 5 years to clean up the backlog left by Elaine Chao during her tenure as Mr. Bush's Labor Secretary..............Oops! Looks like Mr. Trump has nominated her for Secretary of Transportation.........( I get the feeling that those of us who are in trucking are going to get a double screwing......)

No, I think our plan of action has to start at the bottom,.........With each individual Local pushing for the Labor right to have a contract negotiated by our fellow employees,..... our peers,....... instead of some outsider who represents say.....Nurses..... or parking lot attendents..... and has no real clue as to what's going on in freight...... or trucking in general.
 
canaryinthemine said:
You mean we are waiting for the pending charges to be heard on Mr. Hall and some of the other IBT "leadership"......

I think that if we wait for the government, we may be waiting for a long, long time.......... especially with this new Labor Secretary, Mr.Pudzner,.......... who is absolutely no friend of working people at all.

If he decides to gut out the Labor Dept., and de-fund the NLRB,........ and, as Mr. Bush did, refuse to fully staff the NLRB,.....Labor charges may take a lifetime to get heard. It took the Obama administration almost 5 years to clean up the backlog left by Elaine Chao during her tenure as Mr. Bush's Labor Secretary..............Oops! Looks like Mr. Trump has nominated her for Secretary of Transportation.........( I get the feeling that those of us who are in trucking are going to get a double screwing......)

No, I think our plan of action has to start at the bottom,.........With each individual Local pushing for the Labor right to have a contract negotiated by our fellow employees,..... our peers,....... instead of some outsider who represents say.....Nurses..... or parking lot attendents..... and has no real clue as to what's going on in freight...... or trucking in general.
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Well stated,couldn't agree more,
 
canaryinthemine said:
You mean we are waiting for the pending charges to be heard on Mr. Hall and some of the other IBT "leadership"......

I think that if we wait for the government, we may be waiting for a long, long time.......... especially with this new Labor Secretary, Mr.Pudzner,.......... who is absolutely no friend of working people at all.

If he decides to gut out the Labor Dept., and de-fund the NLRB,........ and, as Mr. Bush did, refuse to fully staff the NLRB,.....Labor charges may take a lifetime to get heard. It took the Obama administration almost 5 years to clean up the backlog left by Elaine Chao during her tenure as Mr. Bush's Labor Secretary..............Oops! Looks like Mr. Trump has nominated her for Secretary of Transportation.........( I get the feeling that those of us who are in trucking are going to get a double screwing......)

No, I think our plan of action has to start at the bottom,.........With each individual Local pushing for the Labor right to have a contract negotiated by our fellow employees,..... our peers,....... instead of some outsider who represents say.....Nurses..... or parking lot attendents..... and has no real clue as to what's going on in freight...... or trucking in general.
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I understand what you're saying and I partly agree with you.We don't have any control over the rule of law concerning what has already allegedly occurred.A couple of our leaders have allegedly done something wrong and has created a conundrum.Once everything is sorted out and the law has ascertained what if any law has been broken.We will have to keep our grass roots movement going.It's already stated that the two who managed to put together a horrendous contract together for those at ABF and the MOU at YRC will not retain their positions when all this is said and over with.So there is hope either way.
 
bigtruk_us said:
It's already stated that the two who managed to put together a horrendous contract together for those at ABF and the MOU at YRC will not retain their positions when all this is said and over with.
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I hadn't heard this part before, what's the scoop? Is TJ going away? Just because he's no longer a VP doesn't mean that he can't keep his position as chief executive freight man screwer.
 
ABFer said:
I hadn't heard this part before, what's the scoop? Is TJ going away? Just because he's no longer a VP doesn't mean that he can't keep his position as chief executive freight man screwer.
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I believe Bro. ABFer is right. Mr. Hoffa can appoint anyone he wants.......All the way down to a rank-and-filer .....Or a failed VP.... to negotiate contracts. It all depends on how arrogant,........ or indifferent.... he is to the people whose contract is getting negotiated.

Even though Mr. Sweeton and Mr. Johnson had lost their re-election bids,...... Mr. Hoffa could completely ignore the rank-and-file's wishes and, on the basis of their ......... ( Good Lord!) ...... "experience"....... reappoint them......

That would be an ignorant and monumentally vengeful slap in the face.....Do you think Mr. Hoffa is above that?

At that point, the recourse would be for each Supplemental area,..... and maybe each Local.......... to file a complaint with the NLRB , and request to negotiate separately. We already have several Locals with " white paper" agreements, notably the Chicago Locals. So......It can be done. All we have to do is to fight back from the IBT trying to jam another foul cut-rate contract in collusion with the companies' wishes, down our throats....... instead of just shrugging our shoulders and accepting the "inevitable"...

Regardless of who Mr. Hoffa appoints to negotiate our contracts,...... we need to insure, at a Local or Supplemental area,...... that we have actual ABF employees on the Two-Man committies. If it takes Labor Board charges for fair representation,..... then we ought to be ready to take on that fight.
 
canaryinthemine said:
I believe Bro. ABFer is right. Mr. Hoffa can appoint anyone he wants.......All the way down to a rank-and-filer .....Or a failed VP.... to negotiate contracts. It all depends on how arrogant,........ or indifferent.... he is to the people whose contract is getting negotiated.
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IIRC TJ was tossed out of office in and IRB decision when Hoffa gave him that job as chief executive freight man screwer. That decision is not hard to find. Additionally, it has been proven to me that the IBT can do anything they want, and Hoffa is the one who has proven it to me. If you don't like something that they do, which is in violation of the Constitution or Bylaws, where do you go with it? The answer is...there is nowhere to go. It's so pathetic that one has to wonder why they even have those ruling documents.
 
Cab Lizzard said:
I know its a long shot people but the NMFA needs to cover ALL of freight Teamsters again.
Form a new union to represent the LTLs with a product you can sell to the non's ?
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I'm with you on this, it would be the only way for us to recoup or dignity as freight men. Dignity for us as Teamsters is long gone and shall never return. However, don't underestimate the wrath of Jimmy the Great should you become a dissident and join such a revolution, much less what he'd do should you try to lead it.
 
I've already had a company official tell me how........"irritating" ........ it is to have multiple Supplements across the nation....... and that we should have just one Master Supplement along with the Master Agreement.......... Really?.......... Well then, why did ABF propose........ and get...... a stand-alone contract?

I don't care how......." convenient" ....... it is to have their own contract........ it certainly doesn't serve the membership to have our bargaining power split up Into the ABF/YRC/ UPS Freight contracts. .........

Why doesn't Mr. Hoffa see this? Why did he allow this? Who is he serving?

So..........If this is what the companies want,......Then let's make them sorry they asked for it. First.......put ABF Employees on the negotiating panels.........No more IBT company toadies.........Second....... Let's do some hard negotiating......Say, right into the YRC MOU end,... where they start re-negotiating...... Another couple of months, and we'll be into UPS Freight negotiations......, And while the IBT is thrashing around with three separate, distinct ....... and expensive....... negotiating teams......... maybe, just maybe...... it'll dawn on them that if all the contracts were........ UNIFIED........


.
 
canaryinthemine said:
I've already had a company official tell me how........"irritating" ........ it is to have multiple Supplements across the nation.
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Yes, that one's been around for a while and I've heard it too. And we'd all be good with it except for one stumbling block...ABF wants to make the national 'supplement' the worst out of each of the supplements. I'd be good with it if it was a compilation of the best out of each supplement all wrapped up into one.
 
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