InsideUPS
Well-Known Member
State of the "Union" Address:
To all my Union Brothers and Sisters. In this very important and critical year of contract negotiations, I would like to take a moment and outline several important facts that will help us ALL achieve our dreams and goals as employees of UPS. UPS has reported record earnings UPS Achieves Record Earnings Per Share for 2012 thanks to ALL of your hard work, efforts, and sacrifices. The time has come to address the serious concerns of bargaining unit employees which include forced overtime, harassment, guilty until proven innocent, and economic concerns such the implementation of healthcare co-pays, pension improvements, and equitable wages for part-time employees. With all of you joining together in this effort, we will succeed in our goals.
First, in order to know and build on our "strengths" as a Union, we must first acknowledge and correct our weaknesses:
WEAKNESSES
1) Division Amongst the Rank & File - UPS as well as ourselves have done an excellent job of dividing bargaining unit employees over the past 35 years. Never before have I seen such a divided Union. The posts on BrownCafe are proof of this fact.
First, UPS and it's team of negotiating experts take full advantage of human greed, fear, and intimidation. Every UPS employee (both management and hourly) deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compensated for the time and sacrifice that he or she puts into OUR company. The first step in achieving our goals is to heal and rebuild unity amongst all bargaining unit employees.
Solutions to Rebuilding Unity:
a) Unity does not mean that we have to agree with one another. We all have different opinions on various topics depending on our experiences, age, classification, etc. The most important aspect of rebuilding unity is to listen (read) to the concerns of others without lashing out or making judgement about one's solidarity. I'm confident that many people come to BrownCafe and never post comments because they fear retaliation. These "silent" employees vote..and unless we know what they are thinking.. we cannot address their individual concerns, wants, and needs. At UPS…. I have found that MOST employees DO NOT express or defend themselves for a variety of reasons.. However, many of these "silent" employees do vote.
b) Full-Time (Drivers, Feeder, Combo, Air, Etc.), Part-Time, Retirees. The divisive posts on BrownCafe come from a wide variety of classifications and seniority groups. The age of the employee and the number of years spent working at UPS play an extremely important role on how each of us feel about UPS. Younger employees (0-5 years seniority) feel very different from those employees that have spent 10-20 years with the company. Employees in the 20-35 year category also have different feeling and considerations.
Younger employees are often more bold and inexperienced when it comes to discussions on strike actions. This group of employees often does not have family concerns, etc.., The middle and older group of employees have worked through several contracts, have family obligations, or are getting ready for retirement. You cannot expect everyone to feel the same considering we all have different situations in our life. So, once again, I suggest that we all listen and understand what our goals are and how we can best achieve them. There are MANY OPTIONS other than strike to achieve a fair and equitable contract.
2) Overreacting to Early Negotiating Posturing - All of us "seasoned" employees know what to expect when the final draft of the contract is presented for a vote. Most of us know by now that early negotiations are simply an attempt to set extreme parameters and bargaining discussions on various issues. Early negotiations are meant to show that both the company and the Union are working for the stockholders and the bargaining unit employees respectively.
3) NOT Enforcing Existing Contract Language - IMHO, one of our greatest weaknesses is not enforcing existing contract language. I am always amazed on how much harassment goes on (Article 37), how many over 70lbs are lifted by one person, how SurePost ever came into existence with our current contract language, how drivers are working more overtime than ever, etc……without people becoming more vocal and engaged in Union affairs (grievances, etc.) .. What use is ANY contract if it's language is not enforced? Many people do not realize that the UNION is YOU…and YOU..and YOU… and all of US… The Union does not only consist of Jim Hoffa, hall, and your Local Union. There are NO production standards in the contract however many of us still believe in PPH, SPOH, etc…. even to the point of jeopardizing safety, and not following methods… We often allow ourselves to be set up for failure…. I suggest that more of you utilize the EXISTING language to ALL of OUR benefit….
Summary-
In these final months of "contract countdown", remember that there are a "variety of methods" to negotiating with UPS in order to achieve what we believe is fair and equitable. hall cannot do this himself. He relies on ALL of you for support. UNITY is the key to his and ultimately our "success" in these contract negotiations. I suggest we put aside the "old" tactic and/or talk of a strike until we have exhausted all possible non-strike options. It is extremely important to win the support of the general public in any type of possible work disruption. For those of you that remember, the 1997 strike was successful partially because the Union campaigned on the slogan, No More "Part-time America". Ron Carey did an excellent job in winning the understanding and sympathy of the general public at that time. Hopefully hall will do the same…
America's Victory: The 1997 UPS Strike - YouTube
To all my Union Brothers and Sisters. In this very important and critical year of contract negotiations, I would like to take a moment and outline several important facts that will help us ALL achieve our dreams and goals as employees of UPS. UPS has reported record earnings UPS Achieves Record Earnings Per Share for 2012 thanks to ALL of your hard work, efforts, and sacrifices. The time has come to address the serious concerns of bargaining unit employees which include forced overtime, harassment, guilty until proven innocent, and economic concerns such the implementation of healthcare co-pays, pension improvements, and equitable wages for part-time employees. With all of you joining together in this effort, we will succeed in our goals.
First, in order to know and build on our "strengths" as a Union, we must first acknowledge and correct our weaknesses:
WEAKNESSES
1) Division Amongst the Rank & File - UPS as well as ourselves have done an excellent job of dividing bargaining unit employees over the past 35 years. Never before have I seen such a divided Union. The posts on BrownCafe are proof of this fact.
First, UPS and it's team of negotiating experts take full advantage of human greed, fear, and intimidation. Every UPS employee (both management and hourly) deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and compensated for the time and sacrifice that he or she puts into OUR company. The first step in achieving our goals is to heal and rebuild unity amongst all bargaining unit employees.
Solutions to Rebuilding Unity:
a) Unity does not mean that we have to agree with one another. We all have different opinions on various topics depending on our experiences, age, classification, etc. The most important aspect of rebuilding unity is to listen (read) to the concerns of others without lashing out or making judgement about one's solidarity. I'm confident that many people come to BrownCafe and never post comments because they fear retaliation. These "silent" employees vote..and unless we know what they are thinking.. we cannot address their individual concerns, wants, and needs. At UPS…. I have found that MOST employees DO NOT express or defend themselves for a variety of reasons.. However, many of these "silent" employees do vote.
b) Full-Time (Drivers, Feeder, Combo, Air, Etc.), Part-Time, Retirees. The divisive posts on BrownCafe come from a wide variety of classifications and seniority groups. The age of the employee and the number of years spent working at UPS play an extremely important role on how each of us feel about UPS. Younger employees (0-5 years seniority) feel very different from those employees that have spent 10-20 years with the company. Employees in the 20-35 year category also have different feeling and considerations.
Younger employees are often more bold and inexperienced when it comes to discussions on strike actions. This group of employees often does not have family concerns, etc.., The middle and older group of employees have worked through several contracts, have family obligations, or are getting ready for retirement. You cannot expect everyone to feel the same considering we all have different situations in our life. So, once again, I suggest that we all listen and understand what our goals are and how we can best achieve them. There are MANY OPTIONS other than strike to achieve a fair and equitable contract.
2) Overreacting to Early Negotiating Posturing - All of us "seasoned" employees know what to expect when the final draft of the contract is presented for a vote. Most of us know by now that early negotiations are simply an attempt to set extreme parameters and bargaining discussions on various issues. Early negotiations are meant to show that both the company and the Union are working for the stockholders and the bargaining unit employees respectively.
3) NOT Enforcing Existing Contract Language - IMHO, one of our greatest weaknesses is not enforcing existing contract language. I am always amazed on how much harassment goes on (Article 37), how many over 70lbs are lifted by one person, how SurePost ever came into existence with our current contract language, how drivers are working more overtime than ever, etc……without people becoming more vocal and engaged in Union affairs (grievances, etc.) .. What use is ANY contract if it's language is not enforced? Many people do not realize that the UNION is YOU…and YOU..and YOU… and all of US… The Union does not only consist of Jim Hoffa, hall, and your Local Union. There are NO production standards in the contract however many of us still believe in PPH, SPOH, etc…. even to the point of jeopardizing safety, and not following methods… We often allow ourselves to be set up for failure…. I suggest that more of you utilize the EXISTING language to ALL of OUR benefit….
Summary-
In these final months of "contract countdown", remember that there are a "variety of methods" to negotiating with UPS in order to achieve what we believe is fair and equitable. hall cannot do this himself. He relies on ALL of you for support. UNITY is the key to his and ultimately our "success" in these contract negotiations. I suggest we put aside the "old" tactic and/or talk of a strike until we have exhausted all possible non-strike options. It is extremely important to win the support of the general public in any type of possible work disruption. For those of you that remember, the 1997 strike was successful partially because the Union campaigned on the slogan, No More "Part-time America". Ron Carey did an excellent job in winning the understanding and sympathy of the general public at that time. Hopefully hall will do the same…
America's Victory: The 1997 UPS Strike - YouTube
