nov 4 ohfl bs
Just a few comments, and facts pointed out here.....
November 4,2008
Dear Oak Harbor Employee:
In recent weeks we are seeing materials that are untrue and could be construed as inflammatory. In this letter, we want to set the record straight.
(we don’t want any one to know how bad we screwed up, and we want every one to believe our lies, and not what you all have seen first hand.) Below is information we have sent, or are sending, to various people to help them understand what has happened and what is currently going on. You are receiving this letter so you have the same information.
(we are going to try to fill your heads with more propaganda, and company lies to try to get you to cross the lines to work under our crappy conditions that are, or will be worse than before the strike).
Oak Harbor Freight Lines is a less-than-truckload trucking company that has been in business since 1916 and is planning on offering premier transportation—service to our customers and good paying jobs for our employees beyond our 100thanniversary in 2016.
(unless we break the union! Then our wages will drop dramatically, as will our company medical, and we will abuse you in any way possible).
On September 22nd, 2008, the day the Teamsters called a strike against Oak Harbor Freight Lines, there were more than 500 employees represented by the Teamsters union and over 700 employees not represented by the Teamsters union. The union represents approximately 40% of or Oak Harbor employees.
(but we would rather see no union representation, and we will shut the doors before we bargain in good faith).
Oak Harbor has been negotiating with the Teamsters union since August 2007
(trying our best to take everything that we can away from our teamster members, so that we have complete control). In June of 2008 Oak Harbor asked the Federal Mediation Service to get involved in our negotiations.
(we couldn’t buy off the mediator so that hasn’t worked too well for us). The Federal Mediator has been a part of the negotiations since that time in an effort to achieve an agreement with the Teamsters. The Teamsters union requested that Oak Harbor give them a final offer. Oak Harbor presented to the union, on September 22nd, 2008, our 8th contract proposal since the negotiations started. That proposal contained a substantial wage increase
(but if you were to factor in all the things we were taking from you, and the items you would have to pay for it would actually be a pay cut), very good medical dental, and vision coverage, the current Teamster Pension Plan, and a provision that would have allowed the current Retiree Health and Welfare Plan to continue.
(if you compare it to nothing at all, and it was at the expense of the dock workers limiting them to pretty much $0.20 into their pension with assurance that they would not make the class of utility A ever). Oak Harbor offered to meet with the Teamsters union on September 24th, 2008 to review the offer with the union.
(on the November 7th meeting a union benefits specialist proposed a plan that was better than the company plan, and would cost the company less than their own plan, of which the company refused to even look at).
The Teamsters our employees the opportunity to vote on that "Doc #8" offer; instead they called a strike in the evening of September 22, 2008 just hours after receiving the document and without asking any more questions about it.
( The union strike is not over economic issues, but a UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE STRIKE. Therefore this paragraph is a poor attempt to cast the strike as a economic strike, when in fact is not).
Since the start of the strike, 124 Teamster represented employees have crossed the picket line
and returned to work. All represented '"cross- over" employees that have returned to work, and
have worked the minimum required hours each month, are receiving medical, dental, and vision
coverage as well as pension and retirees health & welfare contributions set aside for retirement
plans per an interim agreement with the union.
(It fails to mention that a large percentage of this figure is the fact that the corporate office, and Boise terminal (which is a right to work state) are a significant percentage of these figures).
Since the Teamsters called the strike on September 22nd, 2008, Oak Harbor has moved approximately
68,000 shipments for over 11,000 customers.
(which if you do the math is a little over 43 shipments per day, per terminal . Real impressive considering that Portland alone averaged between 800 and 1200 bills per day before the strike started). 31 out of 33 of our terminals are staffed
entirely with Oak Harbor employees. Of the 14 Teamster represented Terminals, 12 are staffed
with Oak Harbor employees, most of whom are Teamster represented employees from those terminals who have crossed the picket line.
(with the drastic reduction in freight levels the handful of employees that have crossed is all that are needed).
In the two remaining terminals we have hired a subcontractor to provide drivers for the work.
The subcontractor has kept most of the same drivers on the work over the entire course of the
last 6 weeks and those subcontractor drivers have the skills necessary to provide good service to
our customers.
( FALSE – go to youtube.com, and do a search for “oak harbor freight lines”, and see for your self). The subcontractor performed an audit of their employee's files and assures us
they are DOT compliant.
(is that why few, or none of these have had a drug screen, and inside sources tell us about a certain individual selling a drug screen mask)? There have been other ugly accusations made about this company and
its owner. Oak Harbor has been assured the statements made about our subcontractor are false.
Our current on time delivery percentage is 98% on time and we have actually reduced the percentage
of shipments we deliver with damage notations by 18% over last October.
(this is not to surprising when your freight levels have dropped approximately 70%)
We have been diligent to continue operations because we have made a commitment to the over 1300 employees, over 800 of which are non-striking employees, to continue providing work and future work opportunity for our employees and their families. We also have a commitment to over 11,000 customers to continue providing the high quality service we have committed to them.
(before the strike the company insisted on proving how much they did not care about their customers by missing pick ups, trying to run drivers with routes that were impossible to deliver because of routing, and not handing out deliveries until they were already late. But they some how do not factor those number into their “on time delivery” factors)
We are investigating allegations that some individuals are intimidating drivers and/or are engaging
in harassment.
(there has been no harassment, or intimidation that I have witness personally. Any picketing has been done peacefully, and legally with in the rights of the union employees. However there have been false police reports made by OHFL, as well as some of the drivers that have crossed the picket lines. I did witness however a member of the security team put his hand on a teamsters chest, and push him back. This is not with in their rights!) We, again, encourage all of our employees and all employees of our contract company to be safe and law-abiding citizens. We are proud to operate in a country where both the individual's right not to strike and their right to strike is protected. We believe both the person who chooses not to strike and the person who chooses to strike should be able to do so.
We hope you found this informative.
Ron Kieswether
Vice President of Operations