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XPO | Xpo Union Thread.

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highspeeds said:
Hey, Hollywoodz. This guy says all you gotta do is vote and everything will be better. You guys voted. How is that working out ? Champagne and party streamers for everyone ? Everything completely changed overnight ?
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Last Teamster election, current hierarchy was nearly voted out. I've heard Canada saved their ass. No one knows if their replacement would have been any better, so, vote is where you begin. Of course, there must be a qualified candidate to vote for and, in American politics, this is where you and I disagree. I have no great regard for most politicians, but I think the greater of two evils in holding the office right now. But, to answer your second question, it's been 5 years and although we have the benefit of status quo, we still have a long way to go. As you know , we have 6 terminals certified and 294 left. So, the company isn't in any rush to offer a contract that anyone would want to sign.

Their goal is to offer a contract with not much more than we already have. Their take would be why pay dues to get pretty much what you already have and the campaign would die. We want a contract that would improve compensation and working conditions enough to justify the dues. That's where we stand today. It's like trying to push an elephant off a cliff. The son of a bitch is going to fight you every step of the way. 6 guys pushing isn't going to do it. With each additional man, your chances improve and one day, if you get enough guys, you can push the fat bastard over the cliff.

No one disputes the ::shit:: hole this company has become. Don't forget that Conway was bleeding out before 2010 and they found a way to survive. I don't have the answers, but I act on what I think will work. I might be wrong but in the end, if I go down, it won't be because I didn't try.

BTW, it's a no on the Champagne but we did get black and red party streamers.
 
The company has been very successful in capitalizing on the current political division in this country. Republicans vs, Democrats, Conservative vs. Liberal, Black vs. White, White vs. Latino, Latino vs. Everybody, Pro Life vs Pro Choice , 2nd amendment, immigration and on and on.

The real divide is now and has always been...CASH. Those that have it against those who want it. The divide is so intense that people, like all of us, who would otherwise be hanging at a Bar-B-Que, drinking beers and trading war stories, now actually HATE each other. Only when you really think about it, do you realize how insane it is.

Working men and women, like us, who share the same goals in life and who all want the same things are literally fighting with each other over issues that have absolutely nothing to do with our own self interests. Ask any one of us what you really want and our answers will be identical. We want a good paying job that we can enjoy going to every day. We want to earn enough money to have a certain quality of life, without having to work 60 hours a week to get it. How about a quality health care plan that gives us the peace of mind that a serious illness won't put us in bankruptcy and on the street living out of our cars. We all want a retirement plan that allows us to put our 40 years in and know that we will never have to work a supermarket check out line, so we don't outlive our money. We want enough income to give our kids a better life than we had or the ability to help a friend or relative in need. THESE ARE THE ISSUES WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT. Sooner or later, all those other hot button issues will resolve themselves. That's just how I see it anyway.
 
Hollywoodz said:
The most depressing part is that I see 1 have posted 1,016 times...confirmation that I no longer have a life.
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It's so easy. You have your " phone " ( they ain't even phones any more. Pocket sized computers. ) with you everywhere you go. And you are checking this and that on it any way. Next thing you know. You are sitting on the back porch staring at a tiny little screen.
 
Hollywoodz said:
Last Teamster election, current hierarchy was nearly voted out. I've heard Canada saved their ass. No one knows if their replacement would have been any better, so, vote is where you begin. Of course, there must be a qualified candidate to vote for and, in American politics, this is where you and I disagree. I have no great regard for most politicians, but I think the greater of two evils in holding the office right now. But, to answer your second question, it's been 5 years and although we have the benefit of status quo, we still have a long way to go. As you know , we have 6 terminals certified and 294 left. So, the company isn't in any rush to offer a contract that anyone would want to sign.

Their goal is to offer a contract with not much more than we already have. Their take would be why pay dues to get pretty much what you already have and the campaign would die. We want a contract that would improve compensation and working conditions enough to justify the dues. That's where we stand today. It's like trying to push an elephant off a cliff. The son of a bitch is going to fight you every step of the way. 6 guys pushing isn't going to do it. With each additional man, your chances improve and one day, if you get enough guys, you can push the fat bastard over the cliff.

No one disputes the :::shit::: hole this company has become. Don't forget that Conway was bleeding out before 2010 and they found a way to survive. I don't have the answers, but I act on what I think will work. I might be wrong but in the end, if I go down, it won't be because I didn't try.

BTW, it's a no on the Champagne but we did get black and red party streamers.
Click to expand...

The only problem with this analogy is that, you need the elephant to be strong and healthy for you to benefit. Making it a complex decision to push it off the cliff.
 
Hollywoodz said:
The company has been very successful in capitalizing on the current political division in this country. Republicans vs, Democrats, Conservative vs. Liberal, Black vs. White, White vs. Latino, Latino vs. Everybody, Pro Life vs Pro Choice , 2nd amendment, immigration and on and on.

The real divide is now and has always been...CASH. Those that have it against those who want it. The divide is so intense that people, like all of us, who would otherwise be hanging at a Bar-B-Que, drinking beers and trading war stories, now actually HATE each other. Only when you really think about it, do you realize how insane it is.

Working men and women, like us, who share the same goals in life and who all want the same things are literally fighting with each other over issues that have absolutely nothing to do with our own self interests. Ask any one of us what you really want and our answers will be identical. We want a good paying job that we can enjoy going to every day. We want to earn enough money to have a certain quality of life, without having to work 60 hours a week to get it. How about a quality health care plan that gives us the peace of mind that a serious illness won't put us in bankruptcy and on the street living out of our cars. We all want a retirement plan that allows us to put our 40 years in and know that we will never have to work a supermarket check out line, so we don't outlive our money. We want enough income to give our kids a better life than we had or the ability to help a friend or relative in need. THESE ARE THE ISSUES WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT. Sooner or later, all those other hot button issues will resolve themselves. That's just how I see it anyway.
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True story. The haves vs the have nots. And there are some people brain washed into believing that not being completely dead broke is enough to qualify for " have " status. And those same people will turn around and complain about talk of raising the minimum wage. When did it become okay to punish people for coming to work ? And if zero benefits and minimum wage is all the more we can expect for our time, why not live off the system ? Economic slavery is what they call it. Either way you look at it.
 
mysticobra said:
That's all I can do is vote.
I was just a dumb ass dock worker for over 30 years. Pluggin through life not arguing politics or unions. Just keeping up with the bills raising kids. Going to work. No point in arguing. No two people agree on one thing.
So I vote. I don't argue it. I just vote.
It's what I expect you to to do too.
I don't care who you vote for. Just vote. That's where you start.
I won't argue it. But I will say I didn't vote for whats in there now.
White house or union. But I live with it. And move on.
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Sure wish we had something worth voting for. That would be cool.
 
highspeeds said:
True story. The haves vs the have nots. And there are some people brain washed into believing that not being completely dead broke is enough to qualify for " have " status. And those same people will turn around and complain about talk of raising the minimum wage. When did it become okay to punish people for coming to work ? And if zero benefits and minimum wage is all the more we can expect for our time, why not live off the system ? Economic slavery is what they call it. Either way you look at it.
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Last discussion I had with an old friend...He was a bank teller making 15.00 per hour. He was livid that a fast food worker should make the same salary and I couldn't get him to see that it wasn't the fast food worker that would be overpaid...it was him that was underpaid. He's still miserable.
 
highspeeds said:
Sure wish we had something worth voting for. That would be cool.
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I hate polltics.
Unfortunately polltics affects all of us one way or another.
As of right now there is not one person that presents themselves as a candidate I would vote for.
But. We have a long ways to go. So anything brought up right now I don't even listen to.
When it gets down to the nuts and bolts I'll pay attention.
As of now.
Like I said.
I don't like polltics.
 
mysticobra said:
I hate polltics.
Unfortunately polltics affects all of us one way or another.
As of right now there is not one person that presents themselves as a candidate I would vote for.
But. We have a long ways to go. So anything brought up right now I don't even listen to.
When it gets down to the nuts and bolts I'll pay attention.
As of now.
Like I said.
I don't like polltics.
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Yeah, this is a fact for sure. I won't even watch a debate until the herd in thinned out. Although, I do have a favorite.
 
Hollywoodz said:
Yeah, this is a fact for sure. I won't even watch a debate until the herd in thinned out. Although, I do have a favorite.
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My wife keeps close tabs on all the goings on.
Not that she sits there in front of the TV all day.
But she listens. Radio too. I would say she is obsessed.
Ya. Obsessed.
I can't talk polltics even with her.
But I tell her the people she likes so far are not gonna be anywhere near a candidate. At least my common sense tells me that.
She is a very down to earth very opinionated woman. Smart.
Smarter than I am. I'll admit that. But that's only because her capacity to remember even small things haunt me. Ya. Even the stuff I do and can't remember I did. Lol.
But she follows it pretty close even now. Which I can't do. Because even what's there can't unite and get along. And they are in the same party. That's one thing either side has to do to win. Unite. Even if it means one's candidacy is at stake.
Did I mention I don't like politics?
No two are ever gonna agree.
And one can't convince the other.
I try and like to keep my opinions on it to myself.
Only because of the aforementioned.
And I won't try and convince anyone to.my thinking.
Nobody cares what I think anyway.
So. I just use my vote.
And that includes voting on union issues.
I think that the last contract had the or had the largest vote turnout in a very long time.
It was important. And it's hard to believe people don't vote on union issues.
If it does come to that with xpo I would hope for a large turnout for votes.
 
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mysticobra said:
My wife keeps close tabs on all the goings on.
Not that she sits there in front of the TV all day.
But she listens. Radio too. I would say she is obsessed.
Ya. Obsessed.
I can't talk polltics even with her.
But I tell her the people she likes so far are not gonna be anywhere near a candidate. At least my common sense tells me that.
She is a very down to earth very opinionated woman. Smart.
Smarter than I am. I'll admit that. But that's only because her capacity to remember even small things haunt me. Ya. Even the stuff I do and can't remember I did. Lol.
But she follows it pretty close even now. Which I can't do. Because even what's there can't unite and get along. And they are in the same party. That's one thing either side has to do to win. Unite. Even if it means one's candidacy is at stake.
Did I mention I don't like politics?
No two are ever gonna agree.
And one can't convince the other.
I try and like to keep my opinions on it to myself.
Only because of the aforementioned.
And I won't try and convince anyone to.my thinking.
Nobody cares what I think anyway.
So. I just use my vote.
And that includes voting on union issues.
I think that the last contract had the or had the largest vote turnout in a very long time.
It was important. And it's hard to believe people don't vote on union issues.
If it does come to that with xpo I would hope for a large turnout for votes.
Click to expand...

Not that I'm so smart, but your wife and I would get along great.
 
Good discussion going on here so let me throw in my 2 cents. A couple of guys hit on the 2 wage earner family being today's status quo, the question is why has that become so? Without reviewing any data, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark, but here is my best guess. The apex of union power in the country was after WWII through the early 1970's. Where did that strength come from? The easy answer is numbers, but I think it runs deeper than that. Union strength came from a large availability of money in the private sector, money that isn't so available now. But there's more. Buying power was greater then than it is now, by far. I remember when I was a kid in 1973, my father bought a new 3/4 ton Chevy window van for, if I remember right....$3700.00. How much would that same van cost today? What's a 3/4 ton pick up truck cost today? What happened to the value of our currency from then to now? Let's look at cars again, this time moving up 10 years. The late seventies ushered in the era of unleaded gasoline, why did we need it? Because of new emissions standards that required catalytic converters. And this wasn't isolated to just cars, oh no, the government started mandating all kinds of new rules and regulations pertaining to everything from pollution, to water conservation, to workplace safety, and tort law which makes it way easier for frivolous law suits to be viable. Along with the new regulations came compliance costs in the form of fines, fees, permits, and expenditures, just like the latest expenditure our company is about to fork out for the new mandated ELD software. Now I'm not saying I'm against all govt intervention, but there is no denying the cumulative effect of all this bull:::shit::: occurring over time, not to mention the new taxes we've had to fork out as the federal govt expands, eventually pulls money out of the private sector, both from businesses and individuals. What else has changed for the worse? Oh the new global economy, that's what. I think one of the worst things that ever happened to our country was Nixon giving China access to the United States. Look at what an economic monster China has evolved into. Over the decades Congresses and Presidents since Nixon have made trade deals with China and then stood by and watched them take our good paying jobs. As a kid, my best friend's dad drove truck for Zenith, the company that used to make television sets right here in the USA, it was Teamster job and he made damn good money. Zenith went away and so did his job, like so many other solid manufacturing jobs of durable goods. Bringing it up to today. Looking back after the 18 months or so, as to how our company has reacted to a slowing economy and depressed freight levels, I am open to hearing about what the Teamsters can do for the drivers. But at the same time, I also must realize that while our company has relatively deep pockets, they aren't the same deep pockets of decades gone by and that it's no longer possible that today's union benefits ever equate to those of years gone by.
 
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