canaryinthemine
Retirement....The Job I Was Born To Have!
- Credits
- 0
Just at our Local Union meeting yesterday,...we have a big UPS presence here,...and the fear is that the IBT will simply implement the supplements that were voted down, without altering or even re-voting the supplement. We're all learning a big lesson here. The IBT is acting like an autonomous dictatorial entity, with no input from the rank-and-file.......the very antithesis of a Labor organization. They are grabbing power that any moral-based organization wouldn't dream of grabbing,....the right to unilaterally impose an unpopular Labor agreement without following NLRB guidelines, and without the voting consent of the membership. That would be how the non-Union company management would impose a wage and benefit package. The IBT "leadership" have proved themselves to be as disdainful of the rank-and-file as the worst ratball non-Union company out there. If the IBT unfairly ignores the guidelines set by Labor law, and unfairly imposes any agreement on any group they so-called "represent", I would hope that the affected affiliated Locals would file an injunction in court to halt implementation, and have the NLRB conduct a FAIR and IMPARTIAL re-vote of any agreement in question,....without subtle threats, lies, and rumors from EITHER the IBT or the company. A petition to remove the negotiating teams by a vote of "No Confidence" should be conducted, too. If ABF will have a "stand alone" contract, then ABF employees,....who have to live under the provisions of the contract they negotiate,....should be on the negotiating team. Same with UPSF, UPS, and YRC. The so-called "professional negotiators" provided by the IBT have fallen flat on their collective faces in every single one of the major contracts under the auspices of the Teamsters. The Teamsters leadership are now the laughingstock of organized Labor worldwide. It seems the SEIU has no problem putting their members on strike in San Francisco,...if only our current "leadership" had the same kind of spine that the SEIU people have, we would find out quickly whether or not ABF, UPS, and UPSF are serious about running trucking companies,...or are more concerned with the stock price to line their own pockets. Only 25% of truck drivers have the qualifications to work for an LTL company,...CDL-A, HAZ-MAT, Doubles-Triples, Tanker. There is a driver shortage across the board in all fields........THERE IS NO REASON WE SHOULD'VE TAKEN A PAY CUT!........If ABF employees would've gotten substantial pay raises, then the entire non-Union LTL section would've raised pay accordingly to prevent either drivers leaving or organizing. As it is, there are non-Union companies now giving pay raises just to keep existing drivers. Pitt Ohio just gave out TWO raises of 50 cents each within a year, for the first time ever. As it is now, our wages will be "locked" as lower than the non-Unions for 5 years,...allowing the non-Union companies to give raises at THEIR leisure, instead of being forced to compete with higher Union wages. That fact, in itself, ....has effectively ended any hope of potentially organizing ANY non-Union company,....probably forever. The "carrot on the stick" we have at ABF is what remains of our pensions,....that really is the ONLY reason most of us are going to hang around. Just exactly what was the IBT....."leadership"...... thinking? Once again,....in my opinion,....they are either criminally incompetent,....or criminally complicit.
