Local 355 not replying...please help

Little back story... I started Oct. 4th in Hunt Valley and went to the new Aberdeen hub Oct 25th. Since switching to the Aberdeen hub, we don't have a union steward due to illness. I have been calling our local and being told each time that no one is in the office to assist but to leave a voicemail or they will have someone call back...this been going on for over a week.

My issue is that every seasonal hire that was being kept on was told to meet with HR for our badges and to be terminated and re-hired as a non-seasonal. We were told we are being terminated for Tues Jan 14th but effective Sat Jan 11th and had to redo an application online resubmitting deposit info and w-2 info. Then rehire date also changes with this whole process.

HR stated this effectively resets our hire date as well as the seniority date so resetting our eligibility dates for any leave but wouldn't answer if that also reset our eligibility date for health benefits or the 3.5hr of guarantee pay.

I had paid all of my initiation dues for the union the week before Christmas. Since the beginning of the month I have had to ask for my 3.5hrs on the days when we only worked for 2.5hrs before sending us all home with supervisors saying I didn't qualify since I wasn't in the union until I showed them I have been in the union for a while. Pretty much all of Nov and Dec I was already having to go to supervisors every week showing that my time card is wrong since I wasn't getting paid for the correct start time so getting pay wrong has been an ongoing issue at this location.

The big question I have is due to this termination/rehire fiasco, does my date for health benefits restart and does the 3.5hr guaranteed pay restart? Also I have other people in the hub asking me if the 3.5hr is only after fully paying initiation dues or once they start paying them? Do voluntary Saturdays count for the 3.5hrs or even the mandatory ones?

Sorry for the length but not having a steward in the new hub is really making things harder considering the majority working there are new and the few that have been around for awhile don't have any answers since this hasn't happened before.
 
deleted...duplicate post.
I have been calling every day. Every day I either get transferred to a voicemail where I leave my call back info or they take a message from me with my info saying they will pass it on. Hence me trying here. I know reaching my actual local union is the best bet but they have yet to answer me....only take my name and number then it is silence. No one at the hub can seem to help as well.....
 

Boston25

Well-Known Member
Little back story... I started Oct. 4th in Hunt Valley and went to the new Aberdeen hub Oct 25th. Since switching to the Aberdeen hub, we don't have a union steward due to illness. I have been calling our local and being told each time that no one is in the office to assist but to leave a voicemail or they will have someone call back...this been going on for over a week.

My issue is that every seasonal hire that was being kept on was told to meet with HR for our badges and to be terminated and re-hired as a non-seasonal. We were told we are being terminated for Tues Jan 14th but effective Sat Jan 11th and had to redo an application online resubmitting deposit info and w-2 info. Then rehire date also changes with this whole process.

HR stated this effectively resets our hire date as well as the seniority date so resetting our eligibility dates for any leave but wouldn't answer if that also reset our eligibility date for health benefits or the 3.5hr of guarantee pay.

I had paid all of my initiation dues for the union the week before Christmas. Since the beginning of the month I have had to ask for my 3.5hrs on the days when we only worked for 2.5hrs before sending us all home with supervisors saying I didn't qualify since I wasn't in the union until I showed them I have been in the union for a while. Pretty much all of Nov and Dec I was already having to go to supervisors every week showing that my time card is wrong since I wasn't getting paid for the correct start time so getting pay wrong has been an ongoing issue at this location.

The big question I have is due to this termination/rehire fiasco, does my date for health benefits restart and does the 3.5hr guaranteed pay restart? Also I have other people in the hub asking me if the 3.5hr is only after fully paying initiation dues or once they start paying them? Do voluntary Saturdays count for the 3.5hrs or even the mandatory ones?

Sorry for the length but not having a steward in the new hub is really making things harder considering the majority working there are new and the few that have been around for awhile don't have any answers since this hasn't happened before.
Well Local 355’s president is Denis T so that might answer some of your questions.
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
Little back story... I started Oct. 4th in Hunt Valley and went to the new Aberdeen hub Oct 25th. Since switching to the Aberdeen hub, we don't have a union steward due to illness. I have been calling our local and being told each time that no one is in the office to assist but to leave a voicemail or they will have someone call back...this been going on for over a week.

My issue is that every seasonal hire that was being kept on was told to meet with HR for our badges and to be terminated and re-hired as a non-seasonal. We were told we are being terminated for Tues Jan 14th but effective Sat Jan 11th and had to redo an application online resubmitting deposit info and w-2 info. Then rehire date also changes with this whole process.

HR stated this effectively resets our hire date as well as the seniority date so resetting our eligibility dates for any leave but wouldn't answer if that also reset our eligibility date for health benefits or the 3.5hr of guarantee pay.

I had paid all of my initiation dues for the union the week before Christmas. Since the beginning of the month I have had to ask for my 3.5hrs on the days when we only worked for 2.5hrs before sending us all home with supervisors saying I didn't qualify since I wasn't in the union until I showed them I have been in the union for a while. Pretty much all of Nov and Dec I was already having to go to supervisors every week showing that my time card is wrong since I wasn't getting paid for the correct start time so getting pay wrong has been an ongoing issue at this location.

The big question I have is due to this termination/rehire fiasco, does my date for health benefits restart and does the 3.5hr guaranteed pay restart? Also I have other people in the hub asking me if the 3.5hr is only after fully paying initiation dues or once they start paying them? Do voluntary Saturdays count for the 3.5hrs or even the mandatory ones?

Sorry for the length but not having a steward in the new hub is really making things harder considering the majority working there are new and the few that have been around for awhile don't have any answers since this hasn't happened before.

1st you need to keep your head down and do your job. Depending on your supplmental contract you have not passed probation. The company could let you go at any moment for making waves.

2nd. Until you pass that probation the union can not doing anything for you. Yes you paid initiation fees but you are not technically a employee yet. You're a probationary hire.
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
I don't know what supplmental contract you are under but I would assume as a seasonal helper you can not gain seniority and that time working does not go towards earning your benefits. So yes I believe the time starts from your new hire date.
 

DrivingInDE

New Member
Despite sounding like you are and would be a devoted union member and Teamster, I’m afraid you are getting the run around from both the company and the union. You have paid the initiation fee for entering the union but that doesn’t actually make you a union member. You must first complete 30 working days prior to November 1 in order to gain seniority. Without seniority you have no begin date before you earn benefits. However, you have given the union some of your hard earned money already so they owe you the minimum of a courtesy return call. Do not give up until they do. As already suggested, you can call the Union HQ if you need to.

I hope that you haven’t been feed some bull:censored2: promises by the company but they have been known to do that in the past. They tell people that they will be hired permanently after peak after a short lay-off when they have no obligation to do so.

Good luck with this. When you finally hear a voice at the other end of your call to the union hall and they can’t do anything for you at the least request to have your initiation fee returned to you. It’s my understanding that a portion of it, if not all, will be returned at your request
 

BrownMonk

Old fart Package Car Driver
Despite sounding like you are and would be a devoted union member and Teamster, I’m afraid you are getting the run around from both the company and the union. You have paid the initiation fee for entering the union but that doesn’t actually make you a union member. You must first complete 30 working days prior to November 1 in order to gain seniority. Without seniority you have no begin date before you earn benefits. However, you have given the union some of your hard earned money already so they owe you the minimum of a courtesy return call. Do not give up until they do. As already suggested, you can call the Union HQ if you need to.

I hope that you haven’t been feed some bull:censored2: promises by the company but they have been known to do that in the past. They tell people that they will be hired permanently after peak after a short lay-off when they have no obligation to do so.

Good luck with this. When you finally hear a voice at the other end of your call to the union hall and they can’t do anything for you at the least request to have your initiation fee returned to you. It’s my understanding that a portion of it, if not all, will be returned at your request


He/she wouldn't have paid initiation unless he was in the process of getting his/her 30 days toward seniority. Many locals charge a service fee for seasonals depending on the State law and their by laws. The fee entitles that person to limited things. If you look in the acquisition of seniority and health and welfare articles in the Atlantic Supplement, it should tell you all of that. I believe that 355 may have its own H&W so it goes by their rules to when it starts but should say in the supplement. Many of them say that when you get your 30 days, your date reverts back to the first date worked.
 
M

MenInBrown

Guest
Little back story... I started Oct. 4th in Hunt Valley and went to the new Aberdeen hub Oct 25th. Since switching to the Aberdeen hub, we don't have a union steward due to illness. I have been calling our local and being told each time that no one is in the office to assist but to leave a voicemail or they will have someone call back...this been going on for over a week.

My issue is that every seasonal hire that was being kept on was told to meet with HR for our badges and to be terminated and re-hired as a non-seasonal. We were told we are being terminated for Tues Jan 14th but effective Sat Jan 11th and had to redo an application online resubmitting deposit info and w-2 info. Then rehire date also changes with this whole process.

HR stated this effectively resets our hire date as well as the seniority date so resetting our eligibility dates for any leave but wouldn't answer if that also reset our eligibility date for health benefits or the 3.5hr of guarantee pay.

I had paid all of my initiation dues for the union the week before Christmas. Since the beginning of the month I have had to ask for my 3.5hrs on the days when we only worked for 2.5hrs before sending us all home with supervisors saying I didn't qualify since I wasn't in the union until I showed them I have been in the union for a while. Pretty much all of Nov and Dec I was already having to go to supervisors every week showing that my time card is wrong since I wasn't getting paid for the correct start time so getting pay wrong has been an ongoing issue at this location.

The big question I have is due to this termination/rehire fiasco, does my date for health benefits restart and does the 3.5hr guaranteed pay restart? Also I have other people in the hub asking me if the 3.5hr is only after fully paying initiation dues or once they start paying them? Do voluntary Saturdays count for the 3.5hrs or even the mandatory ones?

Sorry for the length but not having a steward in the new hub is really making things harder considering the majority working there are new and the few that have been around for awhile don't have any answers since this hasn't happened before.
Welcome to the teamsters brothers. Get use to it. Don’t worry, we will make sure your dues are paid every week.
 
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