Drunken thoughts on the contract!

[HubBub]

Teamcare isn't going anywhere. Ultimately, it's in the best interest of the IBT as a whole (not just UPS Teamsters) as well as the company to remove this liability form the books. If the TA is voted down, Teamcare won't go away. If we want it to be better, we'll need bigger contributions from the company.

We won't strike. The big high hauncos Hall/Hoffa and such have made that clear, and I don't blame them. If I thought there was any chance we would actually strike, I would have voted "yes". The contract will be extended if need be. Amazon and all other big shippers know this. They'll leverage our negotiations to get better rates, but that will be temporary until we have an agreement in place. Volume might drop slightly, but not much or for too long. The negative effects of a strike/lockout would farrrrrr outweigh any potential gains. It would be stupid on both our (Teamsters) and the the companies' part.

4 year progression won't be reduced either. This is ultimately why I voted "no" as it has the biggest effect on me as a hopefully soon-to-be driver. Starting pay won't be raised from the proposal, and progression likely won't be accelerated. Keeping the exact pay and progression as the current contract would get me to switch my vote immediately (lower start, faster to top rate).

PT starting pay is fine at $10 and hour. Frankly, they could make it minimum wage in whatever given state and I'd be fine. It's a marathon not a sprint. If you want long-term security, you've got to be willing to sacrifice in the short(ish) term.

Sooo, what does the company come back with if the TA is voted down? I said in another thread a signing bonus and slight increase in H&W contributions. That would work for me. Bring Teamcare up a bit (it will already be pretty damn good imo) and give me a little extra spending cash for the end of summer. Hell, give me a turkey and I might come around. Or beer, or malt liquor, or actual liquor. Idk, this has gone on too long for a drunken post, I'm almost sober now! GAHHHHH!

 

[PiedmontSteward]

Starting pay at $10/hour while keeping the $1 raise after 90 days, keeping the FT progression at 3 years, modifying the 22.3 language to require the company to maintain current combo jobs in the local they were first created in, and an extra $1/hour "catch-up" (an extra $0.20/year over 5 years on top of the GWIs, as was done in 1997) for PT'ers would have definitely earned a "yes" vote from me.

However, I'm also a part-timer and when/if I ever go FT, I would be in the CS H&W plan. Regardless of how you phrase it, PT'ers going into TeamCare and being required to pay a deductible (albeit not a large one) and having reduced benefits (which are still very solid) is a concession. However, we didn't get anything in exchange for taking this burden off of UPS' books -- a few language tweaks, par-for-the course wage increases, and half-way "fixing" one of the major concessions from the '08-'13 contract with new hires having insurance coverage for their dependents after 12 months instead of 18 months.

The entire healthcare battle was a smoke screen and put us on the defensive during negotiations; we shouldn't have been talking about what we were going to give up but what we were going to take when this company remained profitable during the Great Recession. The starting pay issue absolutely had to be addressed and really only netted new hires a $0.50 increases after 90 days; they're still stuck in an atrocious four year PT progression that I never had to go through.

This deal isn't as bad as TDU is making it out to be, but it sure as hell isn't what we deserve. I give it a 6/10.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

This deal isn't as bad as TDU is making it out to be, but it sure as hell isn't what we deserve. I give it a 6/10.

Yeah, it has a really good beat, but can you dance to it?

(Do you get the reference?)

 

[anonymous6]

i'll drink to that!