As most know I’m extremely anti-union but for once I agreed with this statement. It’s time to make a stand. You guys must call ABF’s bluff and make no mistake that will bluff. You do have leverage because if you strike they will lose millions in market share to the competition. It’s a double edged sword that has risk. But IMO it’s a risk worth taking this time. You have sacrificed enough. And enough is enough.
There's no need to be anti-Union, Brother.....The right of collective bargaining was legally and successfully argued as having a basis in First Amendment rights. That's why even the Robber Barons of the early 20th century couldn't just outlaw union organization and membership.........And,...believe me, they tried.....
Judging from your post, I believe you know that just the existence of a Union benefits everyone in that particular industry,......Union and non-Union. Sometimes industry-wide benchmarks of wages, benefits, and conditions are established through years of collective bargaining,........and certainly not out of the benificence of the employers. All we need to do, is look at the near 100% turnover rate, lack of meaningful pensions and benefits, and brutal conditions family-wise, in the just about completely non-Union Truckload sector of our industry,.......to give us an idea of how trucking company owners would treat all of us if there were no Unions........
The leverage we have now,....is only a double-edged sword if ArcBest wants to get out of LTL trucking. That will be the "bluff" game ABF is playing. Whether they use lies and deceit to trick their workforce once again into concessions should be watched very closely by all of the non-Union carriers. That would mark a new era of companies deciding that dishonesty is the new norm in treating with their employees.
Instead of honest negotiation, a policy of disinformation and distrust would make short work of solidarity in Union employees.....
And,.....if it works so well with the Union employees,.......think how well it would work in a non-Union setting. "Fake news", indeed.......
I don't know who your employer is,......but they are probably members of the American Trucking Association. I keep on making the point that there are non-Union and Union drivers and employees in trucking,......but just about ALL trucking companies are members of the ATA and various other groups.
THEY are far more "organized" than WE are..............And,.....they all discuss their employee "problems" together.......Managing US,....you and me,....Union and non-Union,.....is the biggest topic whenever trucking executives convene at their......Association("Union").....meeting......
You may have a good, cushy, private deal where you work, where you don't want any Union...."interference"....to mess it up.....Well,.....that's good,......But,........what if your fellow co-workers don't have those same advantages? And,.....what if your company decides your cushy deal is a little too ....expensive,.......?
I've worked non-Union,......and I saw what companies can do with a little intramural jealousy to ruin conditions.
( Actually,.....that was the reason Unions were started a century or so ago....)
Remember,....the Union employee is not your enemy,.......Neither are you our enemy, Brother. The enemy is the one who want us to work harder for less under unsafe conditions,......and then lie to us to tell us how....lucky....we are to have a job........
(...As if they could do without us.....)