Any diversion of work currently performed by bargaining unit members is a violation of Art. 32. However, if the initial collection of that work is at an ArcBest office , such as the U-Pack division, that division can subcontract "new" work out to anyone, including it's direct competitors.
This is where Ernie Soehl needs to step up and demand to see the cumulative totals for the U-Pack work being ...."bid out"....to other.....uhh..."vendors". The U-Pack division has been very profitable, and should be a growing part of ABF's business...........Therefore, if ABF's actual totals for U-Pack moves has gone down, and "sub-contracting" of U-Packs through non-Union...."vendors"....has gone up,........there's your de-facto case of an Article 32 violation.....
The last year I worked for ABF, the company made the "local" decision to remove our Relo-Cube trailer, and not do any Relo-Cube work in the four Western Penna. counties we covered. As steward, I informed the Labor man for the company that if I saw a single Relo-Cube anywhere in the area we ran, I would file an Art. 32 grievance.....His response was: "And you should!". He indicated to me that removal of work currently performed by our seniority board would preclude any subcontracting of such work and would be indefensible at a grievance hearing.
Good luck with Mr. Soehl agreeing with any Art. 32 issue. His track record with me and Local #30 isn't so good. Pittsburgh terminal ran a U-Pack load 100 miles south,......right through the heart of our coverage area in Greensburg ,........and the Pgh. steward called me immediately because we both thought it was a jurisdictional violation. Not so Mr. Soehl! He said there are no "jurisdictions"......only zip codes, ......and ABF had the right to use any terminal it wished to deliver and pick up a U-Pack,..........even if it was a zip code RIGHT NEXT DOOR to another terminal,...as long as that zip code wasn't a direct point. And,...........ABF had the ...."right"......to lose as much money as they wanted on unprofitable deadhead and stem times, even though logistically, it made better business sense to dispatch a U-Pack out of a much closer terminal........
And,......don't forget the Article 12 "Uniforms" decision his Eastern Regional panel ruled on. Read Art. 12, and then reflect on why ABF insisted on using the worst Union-busting uniform vendor in the nation to push the mandatory uniforms. ABF said they couldn't "find" a Union vendor,or manufacturer............and Ernie"s panel agreed. Funny,...........all the Union apparel I buy at the Union hall is "Made In America" by Union vendors. I believe our Locals here provided the Regional Panel about 10 Union vendors that would cover Art. 12 requirements........
Nope,......that Panel said it was fine for ABF to subcontract out to the worst anti-Union , Union-busting vendor in America..........Thank You! Made me Proud to wear that uniform!
You guys are going into contract talks soon. You've got to put pressure on Mr. Soehl so he can keep the non-Union ArcBest overlord of ABF from bleeding off and subcontracting work out , merely because the separate non-Union divisions are saying this is "new" work , created by that division. Messr's Johnson and Sweeton,.......Fric and Frac.........made a HUGE error by allowing U-Pack and TimeKeeper,......work that the bargaining unit had done.....FOR YEARS,......to be moved away from ABF and set up as a different....."branch".....of ArcBest.
Was that error Stupidity?.......OR Complicity? We'll have to call the country club up and find out what their tee time was so we can track them down and ask them,......in the hopes of getting an honest answer.........
