TForce | 2023 Contract negotiations.

Ive got that plus, but ive also got some time in Union foodservice. When i first got hired in the foodservice company, the stewards had a meeting with me after the hiring interview.

They laid out exactly what was expected of a closed shop union employee. i got the Rat talk, the brotherhood talk, and the before you talk to management talk. As far as i have seen, at three terminals, no steward has any type of talk or initiation into a Union position.

Maybe thats where we need to start.
1000%…..too little too late now unfortunately! This is the least union -union company I have ever seen! Nothing but Rats and I’ve got mine type workers! This is something that takes a decade or more to change!
 
1000%…..too little too late now unfortunately! This is the least union -union company I have ever seen! Nothing but Rats and I’ve got mine type workers! This is something that takes a decade or more to change!
Unfortunately, in a "Right to work", {for less} world you can have your cake and eat it too.
The head knockin, he tripped in the trailer, workplace is over.
 
There's a flipside to everything......in a classification barn you pass on a job opportunity 20 times when asked first per your seniority, accruing zero service time on said job with 20 junior guys taking said job accruing service time and driving thru weather and now Mr. senior empty nester or whatever is going on in there life should be able to take it away and disrupt 20 guys life who did the job? Sorry I totally disagree. I am a senior guy and would never think to jump guys on something I passed on when asked first. This is what union seniority gives you....a choice with no mulligan to jump guys down the road on whatever you passed on. Seniority is not a entitlement to change your mind and start at the top of different classifications you so desire and IMHO good union brothers understand that's how the cookie crumbles and don't bitch over it while the ME FIRST crowd constantly does and want to change the rules now. Borderline non-union mentality to me.
Estes is not union and they bid every run once a year in march and the run you have now if no seniority can be taken from you. It takes years to build up enough to were you hopefully wont get bumped. They also allow other drivers from other terminals to come in and knock during that time if they have joined the terminal 90 days prior.
 
Estes is not union and they bid every run once a year in march and the run you have now if no seniority can be taken from you. It takes years to build up enough to were you hopefully wont get bumped. They also allow other drivers from other terminals to come in and knock during that time if they have joined the terminal 90 days prior.
Exactly what I would expect from a single list company time bid barn, but once you start classification seniority you can't or shouldn't eliminate it because some guys want to try a new classification and cherry pick to the top.
 
Does anybody know if negotiations started yet?
Nothing formal at this point.
I'm certain they are informally meeting, kind of feeling each side out. If I recall correctly, the last contract started around March.
 
Nothing formal at this point.
I'm certain they are informally meeting, kind of feeling each side out. If I recall correctly, the last contract started around March.
The new union leadership has stated that there will be no negotiating past a contract expectation date on an initial agreement. So I suspect TFI will want this next contract in the rearview mirror ASAP. They aren't ups, they don't have the market leverage to do what ups did in 2018.
 
Unfortunately, in a "Right to work", {for less} world you can have your cake and eat it too.
The head knockin, he tripped in the trailer, workplace is over.
Yes too often that was the only way for the unions to grow. It was fine until someone beat your child to a pulp because they were not interested in joining a union. Then it was different.
Hence why most unions have outlived their usefulness. Without the threat of violence they have little to offer. Most times they are outsmarted by their employing companies.
 
The new union leadership has stated that there will be no negotiating past a contract expectation date on an initial agreement. So I suspect TFI will want this next contract in the rearview mirror ASAP. They aren't ups, they don't have the market leverage to do what ups did in 2018.
If I remember correctly, the last UPS Freight contract was handled brilliantly by UPS. The strike threat existed, so if I remember correctly the company began winding down operations by longest transit time lanes first. Then backtracked. Starting with 5 day lanes, then 4 day lanes then 3 and so on.
The union buckled before they got to 2 day lanes and customer defections were massive.
I would not be surprised to see the same tactics on any upcoming contract.
besides there are too many better LTL carriers out there looking for business.....
 
Yes too often that was the only way for the unions to grow. It was fine until someone beat your child to a pulp because they were not interested in joining a union. Then it was different.
Hence why most unions have outlived their usefulness. Without the threat of violence they have little to offer. Most times they are outsmarted by their employing companies.
Funny, if you read the Teamster Magazine, each month there organizing different industries, doesn't appear anyone is getting knocked in the head to join, just saying
 
Yes too often that was the only way for the unions to grow. It was fine until someone beat your child to a pulp because they were not interested in joining a union. Then it was different.
Hence why most unions have outlived their usefulness. Without the threat of violence they have little to offer. Most times they are outsmarted by their employing companies.
You mean other than a pension and health-care plan paid for by the employer?
You mean other than a grievance process that keeps the employer from being able to violate your seniority without paying for it?
You mean other than a grievance process that gets your job back with full back pay when you are wrongfully discharged?
You mean other than contract language that protects you from “economic termination” instead of a layoff that allows you to return to your job with your seniority intact?
And that is just a few of many examples there Puffy!!!
 
If I remember correctly, the last UPS Freight contract was handled brilliantly by UPS. The strike threat existed, so if I remember correctly the company began winding down operations by longest transit time lanes first. Then backtracked. Starting with 5 day lanes, then 4 day lanes then 3 and so on.
The union buckled before they got to 2 day lanes and customer defections were massive.
I would not be surprised to see the same tactics on any upcoming contract.
besides there are too many better LTL carriers out there looking for business.....
The Union didn't "buckle", it was, as in how it should be, the members voted their best interests as they saw fit. it was a "last, best" and it was one minute to midnight, and it was what it was. UPS wanted out of the LTL game, and it was clear that it was move on or move out. UPS did give in on a few sticking points, it was not a total futile exercise, but the well was dry.
UPS played their hand well, we kept healthcare costs at 2018 levels, still remained top pay till the last few years when an unforeseen virus scare sent the whole industry on a new path.
At least we had a voice and a choice.
 
You mean other than a pension and health-care plan paid for by the employer?
You mean other than a grievance process that keeps the employer from being able to violate your seniority without paying for it?
You mean other than a grievance process that gets your job back with full back pay when you are wrongfully discharged?
You mean other than contract language that protects you from “economic termination” instead of a layoff that allows you to return to your job with your seniority intact?
And that is just a few of many examples there Puffy!!!
Im an example of your second point. Without the union i could have been looking for work thru the holidays.
 
Before the 2018 contract, Tome, (on the board since the beginning) Had her mind made up. She was going to get UPS out of the LTL Business one way or another. We did the right thing, the only thing to keep us employed. As a few said on here, they would have closed it up. Its History.

Alain Doesn't want a black eye while he is trying to build the TFI brand in the US. The smartest thing he can do is to negotiate fairly, and make T Force a Trailblazer in the LTL industry.
 
If I remember correctly, the last UPS Freight contract was handled brilliantly by UPS. The strike threat existed, so if I remember correctly the company began winding down operations by longest transit time lanes first. Then backtracked. Starting with 5 day lanes, then 4 day lanes then 3 and so on.
The union buckled before they got to 2 day lanes and customer defections were massive.
I would not be surprised to see the same tactics on any upcoming contract.
besides there are too many better LTL carriers out there looking for business.....
You are correct on the winding down of operations. UPS Freight did the right thing by the customer by ensuring them they would not "trap" their freight for days/weeks had a strike occurred. Business defections were very low, business volumes came back quickly because most customers had better rates with UPS Freight than they did with their competitors. With business slowing and a looming recession into mid 2023, the timing could not be worse for contract negotiations for the teamsters. Bedard is going to raise wages but demand reasonable concessions on healthcare. He will get it too. The market ( over the long haul, no pun intended) determines wages and benefit packages, not the unions. Yellow is a mess, a complete disaster. Without another gubbamint bailout they won't be here in ten years. ABF has played it well, they are a premier freight handler and get paid accordingly. TForce/UPS Freight bought their business through cheap rates, they are now trying to become an ABF and an OD but it isn't going to work with the current mgmt in place and a union that hates and fights mgmt like it does.
 
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You are correct on the winding down of operations. UPS Freight did the right thing by the customer by ensuring them they would not "trap" their freight for days/weeks had a strike occurred. Business defections were very low, business volumes came back quickly because most customers had better rates with UPS Freight than they did with their competitors. With business slowing and a looming recession into mid 2023, the timing could not be worse for contract negotiations for the teamsters. Bedard is going to raise wages but demand reasonable concessions on healthcare. He will get it too. The market ( over the long haul, no pun intended) determines wages and benefit packages, not the unions. Yellow is a mess, a complete disaster. Without another gubbamint bailout they won't be here in ten years. ABF has played it well, they are a premier freight handler and get paid accordingly. TForce/UPS Freight bought their business through cheap rates, they are now trying to become an ABF and an OD but it isn't going to work with the current mgmt in place and a union that hates and fights mgmt like it does.
Another one with a crystal ball...
 
Comparing UPS and TFI ? Ups freight was 3% of ups business. TForce freight is 40% of TFI. Last time I checked 40 was a hell of a lot more than 3.
The truth on how ups was running freight all came out after the sale. Ups purposefully ran ups freight as a loss, giving their best small pack shippers basically free freight shipments.
The 2018 contract debacle was all on the teamsters leadership. They allowed the negotiations to remain secret and the contract to expire, extending it until almost thanksgiving.
There was never a strike plan, not that it was even an option. The IBT didn't even file the paperwork with the NLRB . They forced the ups contract through with the 2/3 rule and left us in a lurch. It was the plan all along. Luckily the vast majority of freight employees saw this, and voted in the last best offer.
Thankfully Hoffa is gone and there will be no shady backdoor deals.
 
Comparing UPS and TFI ? Ups freight was 3% of ups business. TForce freight is 40% of TFI. Last time I checked 40 was a hell of a lot more than 3.
The truth on how ups was running freight all came out after the sale. Ups purposefully ran ups freight as a loss, giving their best small pack shippers basically free freight shipments.
The 2018 contract debacle was all on the teamsters leadership. They allowed the negotiations to remain secret and the contract to expire, extending it until almost thanksgiving.
There was never a strike plan, not that it was even an option. The IBT didn't even file the paperwork with the NLRB . They forced the ups contract through with the 2/3 rule and left us in a lurch. It was the plan all along. Luckily the vast majority of freight employees saw this, and voted in the last best offer.
Thankfully Hoffa is gone and there will be no shady backdoor deals.
" Ups purposefully ran ups freight as a loss, giving their best small pack shippers basically free freight shipments." That is the biggest bunch of BS nonsense I've ever heard. No truth to this statement whatsoever, that is a fact.
 
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