Contract Book for Management
- Thread starter Catatonic
- Start date
ol'browneye
Well-Known Member
Apparently not!
brownrodster
Well-Known Member
I've had newly minted part time sups who did not even know what a union contract was.
Our office has a copy of the contract in a file cabinet. One PT sup of mine started reading it after a year as a supervisor. He was sick of the old steward barking at him and started studying the contract.
hurricanegunner
UPSPoop
Why would they bother to learn something they don't honor?
I'm not operations management, but I have read the IAM agreement in its entirety. I've also read Teamster contract portions relavant to mechanics and porters who are Teamsters. Believe it or not, I also read the Teamsters 705's when Red posted it during the negotiations.
I wouldn't doubt that Managers eyes would glaze over just the thought of studying the contract book in its entirety. It would be up to the shop steward to point out the violation in question in order to get their attention.
It's not unusual for management to think that any valid grieve is a petty inconvenience.
It's not unusual for management to think that any valid grieve is a petty inconvenience.
Yes, I have a copy of it. Actually quite a few I believe. My copy is a small tan book that goes through the entire contract. I didn't know anything in the contract until I eventually realized that if you don't know it... the higher seniority people will walk all over you with contract mumbo jumbo. So i found that it is better to know the contract. After reading it through it, the biggest impression that I got was this... "I will not be responsible for anything but service, and even then I shall be granted 9 lives." Talk about accountability huh!
Catatonic
Nine Lives
That makes sense in the larger scope of their job.
But shouldn't all management people have a copy of the contract? Shouldn't they have to read it?
It is an agreement between the company and the union. I would think that any management person who deals with union employees would want to know what the company has agreed to.
It is an agreement between the company and the union. I would think that any management person who deals with union employees would want to know what the company has agreed to.
brownmonster
Man of Great Wisdom
If mgmnt knew what the Union and the Company agreed to then they couldn't get away with doing the things they do under the guise of lack of knowledge. I think it's called playing dumb.
If it was not for the union steward in my department I would not have one. Our labor department does not want mgmt to have one because we might interpret it incorrectly. I think that is a BS answer and they do not want us interpreting the contract differently then their "agreements" with the local BA (i.e. Feeder Driver Bump and Roll).
Catatonic
Nine Lives
It's really not that important in the grand scope of running an operation.
Perhaps not in the grand scope. But how about front line management?
I think it would at least interest a management person who deals with union employees. I would think that a professional would want to know what the company has agreed to. I would think it directly affects his operation.
There you go using that thinking word again. That word is not allowed to be by either side when running an operation like ours.
Good point, my bad.
ol'browneye
Well-Known Member
And service should be the main thing we are responsible for! After all, that used to be our last name. If we could get management to focus on service as much as most drivers do, we wouldn't need as much in that contract as there is!
And as I recall from one of your other posts on a different thread, it was safety, then service, that you focused on in your position! Kind of hypocritical to gig us for wanting the same thing isn't it?
Catatonic
Nine Lives
Most of what comes into play is "word of mouth" ... I supervised front-line union employees and there were only 10 or so rules that I had to keep in mind. Of course, that was in Georgia (not Chicago) and pre-1997 - I understand it probably is more important now (more adversarial) and depending on where you are.
MC4YOU2
Wherever I see Trump, it smells like he's Putin.
I'd agree that it depends on where you are too, although not drawn by any state boundaries. It seems more like word of mouth rules where there is little belief that there is a source for the actual language (the book) and that the word being represented by anyone in authority is the contract language.
UPS unintentionally makes good Teamsters out of those who finally question the authenticity of what they are told is the reason for a particular course of action that they find questionable. Sometimes it is the result of management contract unfamiliarity, sometimes it's the result of management contract familiarity and a desire to circumvent it.
