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Yellow | Why most of America’s 2 million long-haul truck drivers aren’t unionized

Puff Driver said:
My how things have changed. Now non union drivers earn more than their union counterparts, drive better equipment & have more job security?
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I honestly don't understand what the confusion is about.
If trucking unions were effective, they'd be,,,,, EFFECTIVE.

I know it's hard to admit defeat when your hard earned money has garnered you LESS PAY AND BENEFITS than non union drivers.
Yet, here we are.

Also, why is it that union drivers blame everyone BUT the union?
You're paying for a product and result. The entity that promises this doesn't deliver and the driver blames someone else.

Wft? That's the equivalent of going to get new tires on your vehicle. You agree on a model and size. The tire shop then installs a lower quality model, and the wrong size. To remedy this, you leave and go complain to a highway worker that is laying asphalt.
 
Union members are there own worst enemy , with 40% or more not even taking time to VOTE or voting YES to everything and by Unions not having Local meetings and by Upper Union management agreeing to pay cuts & relaxed work rules & etc crap ! And then there is the Pay Scale issue too ! Hopefully the new Leadership will turn things around ???
 
wongway said:
Union members are there own worst enemy , with 40% or more not even taking time to VOTE or voting YES to everything and by Unions not having Local meetings and by Upper Union management agreeing to pay cuts & relaxed work rules & etc crap ! And then there is the Pay Scale issue too ! Hopefully the new Leadership will turn things around ???
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And what work rules do non union carriers have to deal with? Do as told, or terminated at will.
 
slavenomore said:
Since contract may be opened....find out the HR and Safety budgets...and other departments....find the waste and have Yellow cit the fat which has nothing to do with hauling freight. And they are extremely obese in that. A heart attack waiting to happen.

And those cameras go. Out of the truck.
Put them on top or something not inside.
If they are recording and selling our data represent us like musicians.....we are the artist of the trade....we get a cut...if they are selling it to automated companies or even jsi it for another departments gain.
We want to know where the data goes and if any money is being made from our data.
And is so...we want some.
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I would think forward facing cameras are not big deal. If it can help a driver, I'd consider it an asset. But it is a 2 way street.
Yellow issues are deep, no decent manager will work there, so they get what they have. Non freight people. Why, because of the constant bickering that unions bring. Why manage in that environment when it is much simpler to work elsewhere and get something accomplished in a successful organization.
 
Chiefs 2020 said:
And what work rules do non union carriers have to deal with? Do as told, or terminated at will.
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It is not easy, most non union carrier have drivers on the job for decades. Between a driver shortage and Federal, state and local labor laws you must be discharged from a job with cause. Or suffer any consequences.
 
Puff Driver said:
I would think forward facing cameras are not big deal. If it can help a driver, I'd consider it an asset. But it is a 2 way street.
Yellow issues are deep, no decent manager will work there, so they get what they have. Non freight people. Why, because of the constant bickering that unions bring. Why manage in that environment when it is much simpler to work elsewhere and get something accomplished in a successful organization.
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You cannot blame the union solely for Yellows problems. ABF seems to be doing pretty darn well fully funded pension etc.
 
Chiefs 2020 said:
And what work rules do non union carriers have to deal with? Do as told, or terminated at will.
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What work rules does the Union have left after being voted away ??? Shiny wheels pulling loads & City guys running linehaul and Linehaul guys running city & supervisors running forklifts & opening dock doors & guys skipping lunch daily to get points with the Boss !!
 
Puff Driver said:
It is not easy, most non union carrier have drivers on the job for decades. Between a driver shortage and Federal, state and local labor laws you must be discharged from a job with cause. Or suffer any consequences.
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I worked for Roadway/YRC and the top half of the list all had 15 years or more, top guy at my old terminal has almost 40 years now...at my terminal at ABF top 2 guys have over 20 years and even our bottom guy has 5 years...you can get discharged from a job for any reason other than a protected reason....race, sex, religion and probably one or two others that I might be forgetting....other than that there are no "consequences"...here you can brush up on at will employment......

At-will employment - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
Puff Driver said:
My how things have changed. Now non union drivers earn more than their union counterparts, drive better equipment & have more job security?
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Wrong again Puffy. Where I work, our pay and benefits are higher than any of the non-union freight companies as our health care and pension contributions are made by the company at a rate of just over $20.00 per hour. My employer adds new equipment to the fleet every year. And, with a Union contract, I have better job security than any non-union job. My job is safe as long as I follow the language of the contract I work under.
 
wongway said:
What work rules does the Union have left after being voted away ??? Shiny wheels pulling loads & City guys running linehaul and Linehaul guys running city & supervisors running forklifts & opening dock doors & guys skipping lunch daily to get points with the Boss !!
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Here at the Rock (ABF), we still file a grievance and win (monetary) all the things you mentioned with the exception of the Shiny Wheels (Purchase Transport). And, if the company violates the percentage allowed by the contract (5%), our Road Stewards have filed (monetary) and won that one as well.
 
I would guess that more than 30% of the employees at the non union companies were once Teamsters. 30% is the number of signature cards required to force a vote to unionize. Why don't they sign the cards? Why isn't the union sending them cards in the mail? The IBT has their info.
 
ABF381 said:
You were an organizer, why didn't you?
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Organizing is rarely about pay and benefits. The calls are almost always about the employee's perception of how they are treated. They don't feel that their efforts are appreciated. They want to know that if they need time off, it will not be an issue and the boss will understand and empathize with family issues they might have. They want respect.
Of course, they expect to be fairly paid and have reasonable expectations about paid time off and healthcare. Most employers understand that turnover is expensive and do what is necessary to retain workers.
 
Razorblade said:
Organizing is rarely about pay and benefits. The calls are almost always about the employee's perception of how they are treated. They don't feel that their efforts are appreciated. They want to know that if they need time off, it will not be an issue and the boss will understand and empathize with family issues they might have. They want respect.
Of course, they expect to be fairly paid and have reasonable expectations about paid time off and healthcare. Most employers understand that turnover is expensive and do what is necessary to retain workers.
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Nice long winded answer...your reading comprehension at times is lacking....that isn't what I asked.....
 
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