Article 40

Char

Well-Known Member
How will this new contract affect me? My seniority date is 6-99. I have been an EAM driver doin exception air for about 6 months. When this new agreement takes effect what can I expect my pay to be? Currently it is $12.50/hr and no one can seem to tell me when I will get a raise. This is frustrating because I was making $15.32/hr inside the building before I was conned into taking the air driver job. It is even more frustrating that I am an 8 year employee and I make less money than a two year sorter. I was assured up and down I would stay at $15.32/hr until progression caught up. 2-3 months later after complaing about check shortages, they told me oh no you actually make $12.50/hr and I would not be receiving back pay. "Sorry we mislead to you for so long." They say! Obviously it was too late to go back to my inside job and file a grievence.
I was perfectly fine with not getting a raise if I were making the $15.32 amount till progression caught up but now that I only make $12.50 it has put a strain on my families economic situation. When can I expect to make about $15.00/hr again?

Does anyone think I have any recourse on HR for telling me I would make $15.32? When it was offered to me I asked the girl in HR "what will my pay rate be?" She said "I THINK you make the same as you do now until progression catches up". I told her I needed her to confirm this before I accept. She called me the next day and said "I talked to other HR people and Center Managers and they said you would stay at the same rate."

Is there anything in the contract dealing with employee relations having to do with giving false information or coersion?

Also what I am I supposed to pay in union dues? They take $48/month out of my check and I have no idea why I should continue to pay it as I live in the Right to Work state of Arizona.

Thanks
 

RockyRogue

Agent of Change
Also what I am I supposed to pay in union dues? They take $48/month out of my check and I have no idea why I should continue to pay it as I live in the Right to Work state of Arizona.

If you were screwed like you say you were, I wouldn't keep paying that kind of money. I joined the union in Denver and routinely wondered why I did. My steward certainly didn't help my opinion of the IBT :cursing:. -Rocky
 

Damok

Well-Known Member
Also what I am I supposed to pay in union dues? They take $48/month out of my check and I have no idea why I should continue to pay it as I live in the Right to Work state of Arizona.

Thanks


Are you saying that you want to stop paying dues but still deserve Union "coverage" because you live under Right To Work rules? I'm not sure why you brought up the RTW stuff unless that was your thinking. I want to clarify before I lash out :)
 
J

JonFrum

Guest
Char,
The bad news is spelled out in Article 40, Section 6:
http://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/ups-teamsters-national-master-agreement.335360/

(a.) Part-time air drivers, including exception air drivers, will be paid as follows:

Start: $11.50
Seniority: $12.50
Seniority plus twelve (12) months: $13.00
Seniority plus eighteen (18) months: $13.50
Seniority plus twenty-four (24) months: Top Rate [currently $20.62]

(1) The twenty-four (24) month (top) rate will change August 1st of each year of the Agreement as follows:

August 1, 2002: $16.25
August 1, 2003: $17.00
August 1, 2004: $17.80
August 1, 2005: $18.60
August 1, 2006: $19.50 [plus 12 cent COLA]
August 1, 2007: $20.50 [plus 12 cent COLA]

(g.) Employees on the exception air driver list shall continue to be slotted into the part-time air driver progression in paragraph (a.) above based upon the length of time the employee has been performing air exception work. Seniority employees who begin performing air exception work will start at the seniority rate [$12.50]. New part-time employees signing up to perform air exception work will receive the start rate in paragraph (a.) above until they gain seniority.

- - - - -
If the new proposed Contract passes, the August 1, 2007 Top Rate of $20.62 (note I'm including that 12 cent cost-of-living raise we got in 2006) will raise August 1, 2008 and each August 1 and February 1 thereafter as the new twice-yearly General Wage Increases kick in.
 

blue efficacy

Well-Known Member
How will this new contract affect me? My seniority date is 6-99. I have been an EAM driver doin exception air for about 6 months. When this new agreement takes effect what can I expect my pay to be? Currently it is $12.50/hr and no one can seem to tell me when I will get a raise. This is frustrating because I was making $15.32/hr inside the building before I was conned into taking the air driver job. It is even more frustrating that I am an 8 year employee and I make less money than a two year sorter. I was assured up and down I would stay at $15.32/hr until progression caught up. 2-3 months later after complaing about check shortages, they told me oh no you actually make $12.50/hr and I would not be receiving back pay. "Sorry we mislead to you for so long." They say! Obviously it was too late to go back to my inside job and file a grievence.
I was perfectly fine with not getting a raise if I were making the $15.32 amount till progression caught up but now that I only make $12.50 it has put a strain on my families economic situation. When can I expect to make about $15.00/hr again?

Does anyone think I have any recourse on HR for telling me I would make $15.32? When it was offered to me I asked the girl in HR "what will my pay rate be?" She said "I THINK you make the same as you do now until progression catches up". I told her I needed her to confirm this before I accept. She called me the next day and said "I talked to other HR people and Center Managers and they said you would stay at the same rate."

Is there anything in the contract dealing with employee relations having to do with giving false information or coersion?

Also what I am I supposed to pay in union dues? They take $48/month out of my check and I have no idea why I should continue to pay it as I live in the Right to Work state of Arizona.

Thanks
1. You make more than a 4 year sorter. A two year sorter doesn't make more than you. Don't distort the facts.

2. You should have known that you would be making less as an Air driver. It's a raw deal, but you have noone to blame but yourself. Management lies. Read the contract, never take management's word at face value, especially if they don't sound ABSOLUTELY positive. "I think it should be the same pay" would make me want to do more research.

3. Is there any way you can get back into the hub? Try bidding to get back there. You should make what you were making before.

4. You might as well not pay union dues. They allowed that nonsense with air drivers making less, etc. They sold us out further with this recent contract. If I could, I would not pay union dues. Union officers get enough money with their multiple salaries and pensions. Hoffa is no Carey, I couldn't imagine him voluntarily lowering his salary!

Edit: I just realized you're paying almost four hours pay in union dues a month! Ridiculous.
 

Char

Well-Known Member
Are you saying that you want to stop paying dues but still deserve Union "coverage" because you live under Right To Work rules? I'm not sure why you brought up the RTW stuff unless that was your thinking. I want to clarify before I lash out :)


The state of Arizona says I can. In 8 years I have had a union rep sit in on my behalf one time. And what do these dues go to? Recorded messsages telling me I should vote a certain way on the contract, paying union reps their full salaries if we the laborer were to strike and take our so called strike fund pay, sending money to politicians and a single political party that do not represent my views? What else do these dues pay for I would like to know. While I would not get union representation without dues, I do not get it anyways. UPS would still have to give whatever the union negotiates, but who says what the union negotiates is a good deal. So why should I pay them? At least I have choice to join or not in Arizona, at least here you are not forced to join the crooks that run the damn thing. I do not see what I would lose if I were to ditch the union except that once I were to get fired I would stay fired. Other than that, the union is just another $48/month bill.

Char
 

blue efficacy

Well-Known Member
Actually they're still supposed to represent you if you don't pay dues. They'll probably do an even worse job though...

The only drawback I can think of is you can't vote on anything. And it would take away from the labor movement. But Hoffa has harmed the labor movement enough, not like a few people not paying dues will hurt anything really.
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
... Obviously it was too late to go back to my inside job and file a grievence...

Not obvious to me. You have a written contract, and no reason to believe anyone you spoke to was authorized to override it, so either a suit or a grievance sounds iffy, particularly in the absence of documents, but you should be able to return to your old job. Then you can't bid out of it again for six or nine months or something. It's in the contract.

And I think under the proposed contract your Air wage will be unchanged. Tough luck. Or vote no. That's one thing being in the union gets you, I think. You can vote no.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
Char,
Why are your union dues $48.00 a month? Our dues are calculated at two and a half of what our hourly rate of pay is. At $12.50, yours should now be $31.25. Your inside pay at $15.32 would mean dues of $38.30. Your Local has some explaining to do.......................:confused:1
 

tieguy

Banned
I beleive that Hoffa is in the process of turning the labor movement into what they call corporate America!:scared:


Considering the decline of union membership and the poor financial condition of mult employer pension plans he may need a little corporate help to get the unions healthy again.

You're not naive enough to think status quo is good for unions are you?
 
J

JonFrum

Guest
Char,
Won't you be making Top Rate of about $22 an hour in a year and a half if you stick it out as an air driver? Doesn't make the part-time and air progressions fair or just. But it is something to think about.

If you withdraw from the Union, they still have to represent you, just as if you were a dues-paying member. But you can't vote on Contracts or in Union elections. You would not be a so-called Free Rider. That's union propaganda. The Unions themselves agreed to represent all bargaining unit members, in exchange for being allowed to be the exclusive labor representative of the unit. Normally, no one can establish a monoply, and exclude the competition. It's illegal. But the Government allows unions to be the exclusive bargaining agent of an entire unit, in exchange for the Union's agreeing to represent everyone, member and non-member alike. It's a kind of devil's pact, which the Unions often forget they entered into voluntatily, and would never think of giving up. It's a bit like UPS' Common Carrier status. They are allowed to ship people's packages, but they can't normally refuse packages. They have to take all packages tendered, (unless it is an unsafe or illegal shipment.)

Scratch,
The International Constitution has a dues formula for the Locals to use but it is only a mininum. Locals are allowed to charge higher dues rates if they want, (meaning if they can get away with it.) Here in Local 42, part-timers hired prior to May 1982 paid full-time dues and initiation fees all along. Currently that's $81 dues and $500 initiation fee. Recently, this was extended to even more part-timers. The rest of the part-timers pay $39 dues and $200 initiation fee, regardless of their actual hourly rate! It's based on some formula that averages all the part-timers' wage rates not included above. In effect, it hurts the newest guys the most and gives the middle- seniority guys a bit of a break.

Not defending it for a minute, just giving an example of how the system works in this instance. Some Locals also charge fees for local Strike Funds, Sick Funds and such.
 

sawdusttv

Well-Known Member
Considering the decline of union membership and the poor financial condition of mult employer pension plans he may need a little corporate help to get the unions healthy again.

You're not naive enough to think status quo is good for unions are you?

No, status quo is definitely not working at this point.
But, I think the logical first step would be to go to the rank and file and inform them of a problem and ask them what there wishes are on the matter, and them do what the rank and file says. Not keep them in the dark and cut deals behind their backs.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
Scratch,
The International Constitution has a dues formula for the Locals to use but it is only a mininum. Locals are allowed to charge higher dues rates if they want, (meaning if they can get away with it.) Here in Local 42, part-timers hired prior to May 1982 paid full-time dues and initiation fees all along. Currently that's $81 dues and $500 initiation fee. Recently, this was extended to even more part-timers. The rest of the part-timers pay $39 dues and $200 initiation fee, regardless of their actual hourly rate! It's based on some formula that averages all the part-timers' wage rates not included above. In effect, it hurts the newest guys the most and gives the middle- seniority guys a bit of a break.

Not defending it for a minute, just giving an example of how the system works in this instance. Some Locals also charge fees for local Strike Funds, Sick Funds and such.

Good point Jon, I was just posting from experience in my Local. I think that Locals would get more members if they lowered their Dues and Initiation Fees for part timers. I can understand a small fee like $25 for processing, but hundreds of dollars in is too prohibitve with these ridiculous starting pay rates. I joined back in the late seventies in a Right To Work state, but I don't remember what the Initiation Fee was. It had to be low.
 

Damok

Well-Known Member
The state of Arizona says I can. In 8 years I have had a union rep sit in on my behalf one time. And what do these dues go to? Recorded messsages telling me I should vote a certain way on the contract, paying union reps their full salaries if we the laborer were to strike and take our so called strike fund pay, sending money to politicians and a single political party that do not represent my views? What else do these dues pay for I would like to know. While I would not get union representation without dues, I do not get it anyways. UPS would still have to give whatever the union negotiates, but who says what the union negotiates is a good deal. So why should I pay them? At least I have choice to join or not in Arizona, at least here you are not forced to join the crooks that run the damn thing. I do not see what I would lose if I were to ditch the union except that once I were to get fired I would stay fired. Other than that, the union is just another $48/month bill.

Char

I guess I would look at it this way... If you believe a Union is a good thing and can help employees, in general, then I would think you would want try to stay involved and get things changed. If, however, you no longer think a Union is a beneficial "thing" and don't think it will or can change then I understand your statement.

I should have read your post a bit more thoroughly to begin with.
 

outamyway

Well-Known Member
The pay rates for air drivers isn't any different from the current contract to the new contract. So, in another 6 months you will get a .50 cent raise. After 6 more months you'll get another .50 cent raise. After 2 years of air driving you will top out at $20.62 + .35 cents for the first half of the general wage increase for part-timers. (assuming the new contract passes).

Yes, you were BSed. I would have talked to as many union stewarts or reps I could have before I made a decision. I would look in to trying to work saturdays, if you don't already. And always check for extra work lists. If you can try to make it work for a year and a half then you'll be making pretty decent money, without breaking your back.

If you decide to leave the union, I assume you can always rejoin later if you want to.
 
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