Mr. Hoffa. Get Off Your Ass Right Now

[overflowed]

When talking to co-workers about why we should organize and join the union NOW, I feel it's also important to mention the following facts, which are mentioned in the IBT website International Brotherhood of Teamsters | International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) facts that come directly from the U.S. Department of Labor. I think these numbers speak for themselves:
Wages of union members are, on average, 27 percent higher than those of workers without union representation.

• Women in unions earn an extra $170 a week – $9,000 more a year.
• African Americans in unions earn an extra $150 a week – $8,000 more a year.
• Latinos in unions earn an extra $225 a week – $11,650 more a year.

88 percent of union workers have job-related health coverage while only 69 percent of non-union workers do.
More than two out of three union jobs offer a dental plan; only 44 percent of non-union workers receive dental coverage.
More than half all union jobs offer vision coverage; only about one-quarter of non-union jobs provide vision care.
85 percent of union jobs offer prescription drug coverage; only 66 percent of non-union jobs provide prescription drug coverage.
Union workers pay an average of 8 percent of the total monthly premium (employer pays 92 percent) for single coverage; non-union workers pay 20 percent. Union households pay an average of 12 percent of the monthly premium for family coverage while non-union families pay 32 percent.
72 percent of union workers have a guaranteed defined-benefit pension compared to 15 percent of non-union workers.

Also, the IBT website has a "ORGANIZE" tab that I urge everyone use, in addition to calling-in and following Ricochets' excellent advice as to how to pull it off.

This takes exactly one minute, do it.

 

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

This takes exactly one minute, do it.

Just did it myself, come one people do it!!
And get those cards printed...

 

[FedExcrement]

This takes exactly one minute, do it.

Also for people having trouble navigating their site, here is a direct link to the organizing assistance request form....

Organizing Assistance Request Form | International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)

 

[fred can shove it]

UNION

 

[fred can shove it]

What makes you guys think your actions won't lead towards express volume being diverted sooner? Talk of unionizing would just push volume to ground quicker and you'd lose more jobs.

organize those boys too!

 

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

It would also help draw major attention to the Ground model, and how tens of thousands of Fedex employees themselves think its a sham.
It's not about a better future anymore, it's about exposing the truth about this unethical company and its leaders.

 

[InsideUPS]

The time to act is now Mr. Hoffa. You have a highly motivated majority of FedEx Express employees who have seen the dark side of Frederick W. Smith. We call your offices, and we get nothing but the runaround. Your reps won't talk to us and they won't provide literature we can use to inform and rally the uninformed.

You say you want to grow the Teamsters in a time when belonging to a union has become a "crime" and membership has dropped to the lowest levels since 1932. Perhaps you need to dust-off your history book and see that 1932 was the time when oppressed workers took the power back from their corporate plantation masters. Maybe you need to remember your Dad, and that he didn't take crap from anyone, especially a preppy rich Southern brat who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth and has a nasty penchant for using his money to get his way.

Fred S is the antithesis of what America should be. He buys and sells politicians like apples at the grocery store, and then has them do his bidding while honest, hard-working FedEx employees have their careers stripped-away so he can make even more money. We've lost our pension and profit-sharing and watched our healthcare costs shoot through the ceiling just because Mr. Smith wines and dines the right people aboard his corporate jets. He is killing the middle-class, which was largely created through the unions. You should probably know that.

If you want a strong IBT, now is the time to actually do something about it. If you and the IBT continue to stand-by and do nothing, eventually Smith is going to take down UPS. He already has his sites on the Post Office, and he's got the GOP working for him in Congress to bring them down too.

Soon, he'll be too powerful to fight. That means doing something now instead of just talking about it.

As a Union steward at UPS....I have posted your call for assistance to our forum. I will do all that I can do to help and guide you in the right direction.... PiedmontSteward is also an excellent resource of information.

 

[MrFedEx]

As a Union steward at UPS....I have posted your call for assistance to our forum. I will do all that I can do to help and guide you in the right direction.... PiedmontSteward is also an excellent resource of information.

PiedmontSteward is a frequent vistor and is aware of the situation. Thanks for your support.

 

[irudedog]

How about this patch on our uniforms.

 

[SmithBarney]

How about this patch on our uniforms.

Yes just put the patch on anyway, scare the heck out of management..

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

To be blunt, Express is not a concern for us here on the Brown side. The last time our center manager mentioned Express is when the buyouts were first announced; however, Ground is mentioned nearly every day and is a major concern.

To those who say that organizing Express would benefit UPS---I just don't follow that logic. Organizing Express would simply expedite the transfer of work over to Ground and quicken the pace of transforming Express in to a part-time opco.

Ground is the major player and will continue to transform the delivery industry as we know it today.

 

[MrFedEx]

To be blunt, Express is not a concern for us here on the Brown side. The last time our center manager mentioned Express is when the buyouts were first announced; however, Ground is mentioned nearly every day and is a major concern.

To those who say that organizing Express would benefit UPS---I just don't follow that logic. Organizing Express would simply expedite the transfer of work over to Ground and quicken the pace of transforming Express in to a part-time opco.

Ground is the major player and will continue to transform the delivery industry as we know it today.

Organizing Express would benefit UPS in several ways. Here are just a few:

1. Reduce expansion of the Ground network. Fred has been building his Ground empire for years off Express profits. All of those new terminals and sort facilities cost big money. Bringing FedEx to the bargaining table would divert resources away from Ground and to Express, a major benefit for UPS.

2. UPS would become more competitive in the NDA market, since FedEx would have to raise prices with a union workforce.

3. Less money available for political "action". Mr. Smith has greased a lot of palms and purchased many politicians over the years, mainly with Express profits. This began far before Ground was even a glimmer in Fred's eye.

4. More members means a stronger IBT. What if UPS strikes and a unionized Express decides to walkout as a show of support?

5. A check on the power of FedEx to basically do whatever it wants, a major blow to Fred S's business model(s). Again, diverting resources weakens the ability of FedEx to expand Ground market share.

6. Opening the possibility of organizing other FedEx opcos. FedEx Freight is already under the NLRA, and is ripe for an IBT drive.

While I agree that organizing Express would drive work over to Ground, that is already the plan, so it's basically a moot point. Most of us already know that Ground will be getting XS, and eventually E2.

I say it benefits UPS overall. Even as a Libertarian, you should be able to recognize our right as employees to bargain for the best wages and benefits we can get from FedEx, just like you have at UPS.

 

[bbsam]

Maybe Express is a lost cause and UPS would look to organize contractors.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Maybe Express is a lost cause and UPS would look to organize contractors.

You would be out on your ass so fast it wouldn't be funny. Didn't a group in Massachusetts try?

 

[bbsam]

No. That was Ground terminal employees. And as I have posted before, a group of contractors in Redmond Michigan did successfully unionize when Ground was still RPS.

 

[MAKAVELI]

No. That was Ground terminal employees. And as I have posted before, a group of contractors in Redmond Michigan did successfully unionize when Ground was still RPS.

And what happened to those ground terminal employees? RPS was in no way the anti union busting company FedEx is.

 

[bbsam]

I think you know little to nothing of RPS. The Ground terminal employees got the "You don't want or need a union. Here's a $.50/hr raise." treatment.

 

[bbsam]

Teamster Leadership Betrays Union Drive at FedEx Ground: Interview with a FedEx Worker

 

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

To be blunt, Express is not a concern for us here on the Brown side. The last time our center manager mentioned Express is when the buyouts were first announced; however, Ground is mentioned nearly every day and is a major concern.

To those who say that organizing Express would benefit UPS---I just don't follow that logic. Organizing Express would simply expedite the transfer of work over to Ground and quicken the pace of transforming Express in to a part-time opco.

Ground is the major player and will continue to transform the delivery industry as we know it today.

It would help by putting Express workers in the media and us pointing out what this Ground model has done to us, and will do to everyone else in the industry.
The media still thinks of Ground like Express employees, with worker protections and benefits .
The simple fact of publicly trying to organize Express will show the huge sham being pulled with the Ground model.

 

[bbsam]

You will have a hard time proving a "sham". Fedex has tried and true cases in which they have either won or changed the model to comply with the law. They will put out eloquent spokespeople to say as much and you will be left standing there screaming, "But...but...it's no fair! It's not right, and it shouldn't be like that!" All opinion by whom? Folks who admittedly have an axe to grind.