I just viewed a video that not only attacks a contract the Vander pols singed and accepted but it threatens the union members with replacement workers. NOW THATS BARGANING!!!! I would bet the union employees are beside themselves with anger.I know enough about Oak Harbor to say this.David and Ed you ARE NOT OAK HARBOR!!! Henry and the employees are!! Bad move guys I think your asking for a fight you will get and it will be your undoing.I cant believe The Vander Pols would produce and distribute a video to its union employees that threatens their jobs but they did it!!!
It's one thing to haul freight over the road from point to point, if they think that they can operate in a even somewhat efficient fashion with replacements at the wheel they are sadly mistaken. Unless they have trained city drivers on standby, that know the city, they are really in for a hurting.
They aren't stupid, they know damn well that a strike will unravel years of painstaking efforts on their part. I think they think that their employees are afraid to do it. I think they want you to think about your families and your financial commitments they know all their workers don't all have fat savings accounts waiting. I bet a strike wouldn't last one week, and they will be praying the union puts the same offer back on the table. Its a crossroads for the union employees, do it and more than likely you will see better benefits, and I seriously doubt they would try this again of course you could lose your job. Give in and they are going to keep taking until there is nothing left to give, no more MOB, selling out your retirees, out of the Teamsters pension.
Its not me, so I wouldn't tell anyone what to do its a terrible situation any way you cut it. What happened to caring for your people? Why would they put you in this position? The contract they already have is chalked full of concessions as it is. I have to say that attendance policy is harsher than any big box stores. They wont even consider the unions proposals, they don't want to deal they don't care that about you, your family, or the loyalty you have displayed for years to these greedy SOB's.
Maybe its not about benefits or pay, or efficiency, possibly its about making the company marketable for sale, they figure if they can shake the union or cut the contract to less than union levels the company is much more valuable in a selloff.
I don't know, its a hellova situation, and I was hesitant to even chime in because I know how serious the decision is. Its easy for me to sit on my *** and type "strike em", and I will be on the line every spare minute I have, but you are the ones that will be making the real sacrifices.
Best of luck!
In solidarity,
silvertooth
You are wrong. You just want to stir the pot and cause trouble like back in 1600's you would be leading the mob burn the witches.
Almost, except these witches are trying to take away your health care and retirement, dolt.
You guys honestly don't know how good you've got it....most companies make the employees pay HALF the cost of medical benefits and don't have very good pensions.
You can't really compare ltl to otr the companies that I know of such as overnite, fed ex, con way, yellow, roadway, abf, and USF. Together those companies haul probably 90 percent of ltl tonnage and they all pay better than ohfl, they all have little or no medical co-pay.
From reading these boards I know that Conway makes their drivers pay 1%, Overnite and Fed-Ex I don't really know I know their wages are up in the $22 range making up for the medical compared to OHFL. Unless you worked for USF in a non-union barn, like Tacoma, in Fife you medical would have been paid in full. No Teamster LTL in Washington or Oregon that I know of pays their own medical.
Whats your point anyway, they should start paying for their medical because everyone else in the non-union sector does? Thats kind of the point, thats why everyone has it so good because the union guys sacrifice while the rest of LTL world gets to pretend to live in ignorance its always been that way, the more union employers there are in our industry, the better wages, benefits, and work rules become, unfortunately the opposite is true of union decline. So unless you are working at organizing your workplace and trying to bring yourself and your co-workers up, you are simply dragging us all down.
If you think the companies will treat you fairly and take care of you out of the goodness of their hearts, look at the OTR sector. Compare pay and benefits adjusted for inflation from the mid to late seventies (when they were almost all Teamsters) to todays standards than compare that to the economy as a whole Swift, Schinider and other sweatshops on wheels 30cents a mile, is that where you wanna go? Should they give in and let their pensions disappear? Should they trust the company to administer their medical plan? Remember they are a Tobacco-Free company sorry smokers hired after 1997, no medical coverage for your smoking related illness kinda heard to pay for cancer treatment out of pocket..
Bottom line is you don't know sh%& about solidarity. You apparently have no regard for the sacrifices that have been made, and will continue be made to maintain solid benefits, wages, and respect, for LTL drivers industry-wide.
"Don't let any man into your cab, your home, or your heart, unless he's a friend of labor." ~ Jimmy Hoffa"