nospinzone said:I don’t see the comparison here. Its like apples and...oldsmobiles. The APWA charter and rules require that all officers must have been UPS employees for at least ten years. Hence, its reasonable to make the statement that this is a self-governed/self-represented union. You will actually know your business agent because he/she has been working with you for ten+ years. If you don’t like the performance of your elected officers, then you and your co-workers AT UPSF can vote them out. You don’t need approval of workers at five other companies to change the leadership. You and your co-workers votes are the only voices that matter.
What a coincidence....
All the elected officials in my local came off the jobs that they currently represent. I know them all personally from working with them everday before they took office. It didn't matter what job they worked on, we all worked on the same streets. Now, if I am not mistaken, when officers are selected for various positions such as on joint councils or the International itself, most, not all, have worked their way up from behind a wheel at some point in their careers.
As far as changing the officials (for whatever reason), this would take place under a nomination or petition started at a union meeting. Whether one company or 100 companies, this procedure would have to be adhered to. So basically, your point of the amount of approval by represented workers is moot. You still would need a majority vote no matter how many companies are involved.
Just like it is now.You and your co-workers votes are the only voices that matter.
Currently the APWA is not a collective bargaining agent for any employee. I’ve never made the claim to the contrary. But you want to talk about experience. Hoffa had zero experience at running a union…let alone knowing first hand how the contract affected the voting members. When APWA officers sit at the negotiating table, they will have the 50+ years of UPS experience to assist them in the process. Fifty years of knowledge telling them what does need to be in the contract language and what doesnt belong there. Not even to mention the lawyers lined up by the APWA who have successfully negotiated contracts with numerous other companies and unions. Now, I can see that the idea of truck drivers representing truck drivers at the negotiating table with Buster alarms you a bit. It also alarms the Teamsters because they continue to send IBT international vice-presidents on the Teamsters dime to all of the APWA meetings.
Currently not a collective bargaining agent = zero experience. Hoffa may not have had actual experience when he took office, but the organization had been around for decades. He was however a lawyer, brought in with him or retained other lawyers that had a working knowledge of the Teamsters, advisors and supporters that did indeed work their way up through the ranks. While APWA agents may have 50??? years experience working at UPS, they aren't necessarily privy to all the mechanics behind the BIG BROWN MACHINE!! While they may have lawyers that have successfully negotiated contracts before, they have no experience negotiating with UPS....which by the way, the Teamsters do. One other thing APWA doesn't have is the backing of the remaining 1.2million Teamsters nationwide.