I'm not sure if this forum is specifically for members of local 804, but I don't know where else to get advice. I'm a primary sorter in the teamsters 705 in Illinois, and if anybody can show me to the contract or where I can find it that would be really helpful.
Two months ago this week I went to a gas station down the street on break (I've done this before and gotten back in time) but I locked my keys in my car. My phone was in the car so I wasn't able to call my supervisor, and I used a payphone to call a friend who drove me home to get my spare set of keys. I was worried that if I left my car at a gas station, at a pump abandoned, that it would get towed. Obviously the smartest thing to keep my job would have been to walk back and notify them, but my supervisor would have kept me to the end of the shift and I really didnt want to pay a ridiculous towing fee (pretty dumb in hindsight, but I didn't expect to lose my job for a first time offense). After an hour or so of waiting and going all the way home and back the shift was over, so i decided to just go in the next day and hope for the best.
So I got discharged the next day. My part time supervisor clocked me in as soon as the shift started, which, as I've read on other posts on this site, saved my job. The first problem i had was that the union steward present who said he filed a grievance never notified the business agent. After emailing the local site a week later and waiting a week, 3 weeks to the day i finally got a hold of the business agent who said it was the first he heard about it. Now after five weeks of calling him every week or two he continues to tell me that he'll call me when he sets something up, but i'm getting worried it'll never happen. I don't want to bother him, but I feel like there's some feet dragging.
My first question is how long do arbitration hearings take to set up, and is there any way I can set up my own arbitration hearing?
Second is if they have grounds to fire me for a first time offense, even for something considered "workplace abandonment"? From what I understand you have to be given a verbal and written warning for everything besides being drunk and stealing.
Finally, if I did end up getting it back, is there any chance of back pay? Or is that extremely hard to fight for? I've now missed 2 months, and it's peak season so i'm missing so much more.
Sorry for the wall of text, but i've just lost a lot of sleep over this, not to mention a lot of money. Thank you, if anybody can help
Edit:: I have a non related question, but I've read here and a few other places that all part timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours each day, does that apply everywhere? I work on average 16 hours a week, sometimes less when they force people home.
Two months ago this week I went to a gas station down the street on break (I've done this before and gotten back in time) but I locked my keys in my car. My phone was in the car so I wasn't able to call my supervisor, and I used a payphone to call a friend who drove me home to get my spare set of keys. I was worried that if I left my car at a gas station, at a pump abandoned, that it would get towed. Obviously the smartest thing to keep my job would have been to walk back and notify them, but my supervisor would have kept me to the end of the shift and I really didnt want to pay a ridiculous towing fee (pretty dumb in hindsight, but I didn't expect to lose my job for a first time offense). After an hour or so of waiting and going all the way home and back the shift was over, so i decided to just go in the next day and hope for the best.
So I got discharged the next day. My part time supervisor clocked me in as soon as the shift started, which, as I've read on other posts on this site, saved my job. The first problem i had was that the union steward present who said he filed a grievance never notified the business agent. After emailing the local site a week later and waiting a week, 3 weeks to the day i finally got a hold of the business agent who said it was the first he heard about it. Now after five weeks of calling him every week or two he continues to tell me that he'll call me when he sets something up, but i'm getting worried it'll never happen. I don't want to bother him, but I feel like there's some feet dragging.
My first question is how long do arbitration hearings take to set up, and is there any way I can set up my own arbitration hearing?
Second is if they have grounds to fire me for a first time offense, even for something considered "workplace abandonment"? From what I understand you have to be given a verbal and written warning for everything besides being drunk and stealing.
Finally, if I did end up getting it back, is there any chance of back pay? Or is that extremely hard to fight for? I've now missed 2 months, and it's peak season so i'm missing so much more.
Sorry for the wall of text, but i've just lost a lot of sleep over this, not to mention a lot of money. Thank you, if anybody can help
Edit:: I have a non related question, but I've read here and a few other places that all part timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours each day, does that apply everywhere? I work on average 16 hours a week, sometimes less when they force people home.
Last edited: