slabpatrol
TB Lurker
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Everybody in management from Welch to the dock supervisors need to work for our hourly wage ($21) for the duration of the extension!
I can't just let this pass. I'm one of those 'stupidvisors' many of you seem to think are doing so great wage-wise.
So here are the facts from MY seat.
How about YOU pay $752 a month for health insurance? That's me and my wife, no kids. I have $20-35 copays, pay $10-70 per prescription.
I get NO sick paid days, if I'm gonna be sick, I have to use vacation days. No vacation days left? Unpaid illness, and subject to discharge.
Wanna work with no grievance procedure? Supv on opposite shift got fired for not placarding a trailer. His fault, he admitted it. Dockman that DIDN'T write up haz mat? Got a warning letter and laughed about it.
My pay cut was PERMANENT, no stock deposit in trust to offset the lost wages. Used to get profit sharing, pension and 401-k. No more. Pension froze, cost me over $100k if I make it to retirement. My $1950/month won't pay my insurance. Checking on Obamacare, maybe I can qualify as poor and get subsidies.
You guys got a promise of return to full wage. No promise for me, just plain told it ain't coming back.
50+ hours a week, walking the rock, no overtime, called in early for meetings. If I don't go along, I'm not a team player, have a bad attitude and subject to discharge.
I don't load a pound of freight, but its my fault if some knucklehead stacks the load bad, and gets a poor load report.
Company is gonna pay $40 million in claims, all loaded by professional dock handlers. Most of my guys are decent, but I can't watch 40 doors at once. But some guys don't care, and might do it on purpose. Just to play games. And those guys? Many brag about screwing the company out of their 15% lost wages. And its managements fault. Yea, sure.
No lunch breaks, lucky to get to pee, know everything about my area at all times. I catch a guy sleeping in a trailer, he gets a warning letter. Switcher sleeps in tractor, my dock gets all backed up, he gets a letter.ME? I get fired.
Few guys complaining about absenteeism. There is no issue with guys using vacation and paid sick days. Its the no-call, no-show guys. How do I move my freight on time, when 5 guys don't show up? How do I make up 40 hours in the next shift?
FMLA is a right protected by law. But what are the odds that Joe Sixpack needs FMLA on ONLY Fridays and/or Mondays? I gotta find someone else to work OT because the guys is off. Oh, and the company? Gotta keep extra guys on the payroll, paying bennies just to work wen when others call off. If ONLY we had to schedule around vacations and sick days. Life would be grand! No one faults someone who needs it and uses it. Others leave the house late, and to avoid wanring letter for absenteeism, claims 'migraines, can't work today'
How about the guy who is taking mom to doctor, funny thing is he took funeral leave for mom in the spring?
There are people that abuse everything, mgmt. and labor alike. Most folks are honest, hard working guys, trying to service the customer. The guy that moves 1 bill on hour and is insulted when 'watched' doesn't deserve being protected. Yet his 'brothers' protect the slacker along with the good guys. Thieves are protected too, 'everyone' knows who is stealing, But don't finger your 'brother', let the stupidvisor catch it.
Sorry, I had to rant. I'm sure there are plenty of big-wigs both in Overland Park, and the IBT that get WAY overpaid. Gee, even TDU writes about all the $150k members. You Teamsters can exercise a vote and vote them out. Me? I'm over 50 and hard to hire on somewhere else. I can only walk away.
One last thing, if you see supv or manager abusing their job, taking the 'company pickup' to lunch, taking supplies from work, running their personal business from YRC, using 'company gas' call it in to the hotline on the bulletin board. It pisses me off. I wasn't raised to abuse anything or take something that doesn't belong to me. I work hard, I sleep well at night. Oh, and I issue you a warning letter because you deserve it, doesn't mean I don't like you, or I'm picking on you. My shift is treated the same, as well as I can see. Can't be everywhere at once, so some things get missed.
But really, we are all a bunch of middle class workers, in the midst of a company in trouble. Doesn't do any good to try to re-write history. It is today, what it is. Stockholders and board of directors could have stopped it, but didn't. So what? Issue is whats facing the company TODAY.
At least YOU will have a chance to vote. I won't, but I gotta live with your decisions. And I will.
Thanks for what you do.