Contract meetings with OUR Union... Comments? And poll......

Lousy contract?

  • Couldn't be worse

    Votes: 1 11.1%
  • Best ever

    Votes: 1 11.1%
  • Who friggin' cares anymore

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Let's take it back to the table and hammer out the differences...

    Votes: 7 77.8%

  • Total voters
    9

maxicoze

Well-Known Member
i feel it's best to be honest, on my part, and put it on the table so we can really discuss the matter intelligently.

Despite what i'm about to say, this DOES NOT mean i'm going to vote yes.

From what i've seen and heard, i don't think it's THAT bad BECAUSE:

1) .72 cpm. Who makes .72 cpm? i understand that by the end of the contract, 5 yrs. later, the pay will only go up to .73 cpm. But will all the other carriers catch up and also be paying anywhere near that?

2) Subcontracting: i can't comment on IF there are indeed road drivers sitting while contractors take loads out. i CAN say with authority that myself and all other road drivers at my terminal and the 3 nearest terminals to mine ARE working regularly and could run their a@#$es off if they wanted to. i think my paychecks in the ups diary thread prove this.

i have sat out due to no loads maybe 3 times so far and for me personally, it was welcomed so i could have a break. Some rest. Only 3 times in the past 6 months. (i should note that i have an NG----non-guaranteed xtra board run)

The bottom line is that the company needs to move the freight and we don't have enough company drivers to do it, based on my observations. Now, if there are indeed company drivers sitting by the phone while subcontractors take out loads, then that is a problem that needs to be addressed.

3) hourly pay will only go up $2ish to $30 by the end of the contract. Again, who pays $30 dollars? Would we be making $30 if we we're still non-union Overnite?

For #1 and #3, the company cannot reasonably pay too much more and still be profitable. Companies such as Old dominion, Saia, estes etc. ARE eating our lunch and ARE up and coming and ARE poised to overtake us AND they need to be reckoned with.

Forget about the union and the contract for a minute and pretend that it doesn't exist. Is .72 cpm and $28.65 good pay irregardless of anything else?


4) One good thing is the 11 hour rule: That is you can't be forced to work more than 11 hours a day, unless your the bottom man/woman. OR you happen to get back to the terminal last and there's no one else below you left. This is big, i think.

Again, all of this does not mean i'm voting yes. This is my first contract re-negotiation. And, as far as LTL freight, my ONLY contract i've ever had.

There is much more to discuss, i'm sure, but i'm very tired at the moment.
 

maxicoze

Well-Known Member
i will be very busy today so i probably will not be able to discuss until maybe tomorrow.

But i want to say that this is my first contract re-negotiation and maybe it stinks and i don't know any better?

Like i said, i am not automatically voting yes, no, or at all at this point.
 

Crumudgeon

POW-MIA.. never forget...
OK, I'm a definite NO vote, for a few reasons.
1- The raises are poor, it's never been about money for me, but the raises are SPLIT, one half every 6 months. "oh we argued against that", "your the highest paid in the LTL industry" again not exactly true, but I won't rail too much on that.
2- Capping new hires pay, NO WAY, this deal sells out our future brothers and sisters, just the creation of a two-tiered pay scale gives the Company an incentive to "disengage" the senior drivers.
3- No change to progression of new hires, 4 years at sub-standard pay for the same job? New hires are held to production standards the same as full-rate drivers. Pick up any trucking trade publication and it's full of, "driver shortage", "how to get quality help", ya gotta pay em'. This should have been a no brainer for both sides. Quality help deserves quality pay.
4- My deal breaker issue, the change to 182 reports or 1800 hours to qualify for full vacation or full pension benefits for the year, that works out to 34.61 hours per week, doesn't sound bad, but have an accident at home, break an ankle or something, go on our pitiful "short term" disability and see how fast you are affected, doesn't take long. Or be an extra board driver and we hit a slow patch. NO, NO, NO....
5- What really yanked my banana, "If we vote it down they might not go back to the table", " you authorized a strike vote, they might not allow you to go back and renegotiate". Who won't allow us, the company or OUR Union? No answer. crickets... If so, make the company lock us out!!!!
6- Contractors, sad, sad, sad, read it yourself and try and figure it out, good luck..
There are some good things, language that clarifies some earlier grey areas, ex., Describing what an "accident" is, penalty pay, some steward language, the 11 hour rule, to name a few.
Lastly "The company is losing money, they will shut the doors", BUll$@!t, UPS does NOT fail, that's the company attitude, can you imagine the P R disaster they would get if they failed at operating a trucking company? The only thing UPS values more than cash, is their beloved name, and their reputation as the biggest, best, trucking operation in the world. They won't risk it.
It is not my fault they "lose" money, all my brothers and sisters are the BEST at what we do, with what we have available to do it with. period!!!! If they want to make money, all they need to do is focus on the management side of this, hire freight people not what they got, you need to hire people who understand the business, not your part-time low paid idiots that populate our terminals now, It's up to you UPS.
 

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Crumudgeon

POW-MIA.. never forget...
The raises aren't split this time.
They certainly are, Article 26, section a, "2 equal installments, one half should be implemented in the first pay period of January and the second half implemented in the first pay period after July 1 of each year"...
 

1989

Well-Known Member
They certainly are, Article 26, section a, "2 equal installments, one half should be implemented in the first pay period of January and the second half implemented in the first pay period after July 1 of each year"...
You must be looking at the 2013 contract
 
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