Members Not Voting

Boywondr

The truth never changes.
Not denying that but... we still need these good stewards to volunteer. We can't force membership involvement.

All I'm saying is people like to blame 2 things. The local for voter apathy and the PT workers.

It's much much much more then just that.
The local is the face of the IBT to many members. The stewards can make or break it regardless of the local being weak or crooked. People want to know their representation will fight for them and if that happens members follow their lead.

Just like drivers are the "face" of the company stewards are the face of the union leadership.
Can you teach everyone? No, but you can reach many if you honestly try.

Our stewards don't escape paying union dues so there's no perks associated with being a steward. They just want to help others and down deep hate bullies. That makes a steward a good one...not just some prostitute out for their own gain.

With stewards like that people vote and get involved.
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
The local is the face of the IBT to many members. The stewards can make or break it regardless of the local being weak or crooked. People want to know their representation will fight for them and if that happens members follow their lead.
I feel like we can only comment about what we see at our locals.

You seem to hint about having a very corrupt local(or BA i'm not sure) usually.

Personally I find a majority of members have no idea who their local is other than their BA and sometimes not even that person. Yes I agree a Steward is the face of the local to many members but again... They still have to volunteer and we are talking about apathy.


Just like drivers are the "face" of the company stewards are the face of the union leadership.Can you teach everyone? No, but you can reach many if you honestly try..

Try how? How do we recruit the good stewards? And then how do we get people to vote? Yes a strong local helps but again I feel like we are just saying "to get people to vote we need a strong local and stewards" ok.. but only, I think 6 locals got over 60% and half of those had less than 30 members in their local. The other half voted a strong yes vote.

In my experience most members don't care about anything until it effects them. Most don't feel the contract does effect them as long as they got their raise.

Our stewards don't escape paying union dues so there's no perks associated with being a steward. They just want to help others and down deep hate bullies. That makes a steward a good one...not just some prostitute out for their own gain.

With stewards like that people vote and get involved.

Our stewards pay dues as well. How do you see there's no perks? Many people get on here saying how stewards get everything they want as long as they play ball.

I completely agree with you about what makes a good steward.


All I'm saying is it's way more complicated than people like to admit to get people to vote. Most just don't care.
 

zubenelgenubi

I'm a star
I feel like we can only comment about what we see at our locals.

You seem to hint about having a very corrupt local(or BA i'm not sure) usually.

Personally I find a majority of members have no idea who their local is other than their BA and sometimes not even that person. Yes I agree a Steward is the face of the local to many members but again... They still have to volunteer and we are talking about apathy.




Try how? How do we recruit the good stewards? And then how do we get people to vote? Yes a strong local helps but again I feel like we are just saying "to get people to vote we need a strong local and stewards" ok.. but only, I think 6 locals got over 60% and half of those had less than 30 members in their local. The other half voted a strong yes vote.

In my experience most members don't care about anything until it effects them. Most don't feel the contract does effect them as long as they got their raise.



Our stewards pay dues as well. How do you see there's no perks? Many people get on here saying how stewards get everything they want as long as they play ball.

I completely agree with you about what makes a good steward.


All I'm saying is it's way more complicated than people like to admit to get people to vote. Most just don't care.

I don't really feel like there is a game plan in our local. I signed up to be a steward, got a couple hour training class, that's been it. No strategizing or vision for the future. I finally feel like I have a grasp on the contract and what not, and have been more proactive lately. It's definitely easier to get the newbies more interested, as they are still scared and resentful of the way they've been treated by management. We should start a steward's corner thread to talk about this sort of stuff.
 

Boywondr

The truth never changes.
I feel like we can only comment about what we see at our locals.

You seem to hint about having a very corrupt local(or BA i'm not sure) usually.

Personally I find a majority of members have no idea who their local is other than their BA and sometimes not even that person. Yes I agree a Steward is the face of the local to many members but again... They still have to volunteer and we are talking about apathy.




Try how? How do we recruit the good stewards? And then how do we get people to vote? Yes a strong local helps but again I feel like we are just saying "to get people to vote we need a strong local and stewards" ok.. but only, I think 6 locals got over 60% and half of those had less than 30 members in their local. The other half voted a strong yes vote.

In my experience most members don't care about anything until it effects them. Most don't feel the contract does effect them as long as they got their raise.



Our stewards pay dues as well. How do you see there's no perks? Many people get on here saying how stewards get everything they want as long as they play ball.

I completely agree with you about what makes a good steward.


All I'm saying is it's way more complicated than people like to admit to get people to vote. Most just don't care.
There are no perks for an honest steward except that in their heart they know that they make a difference for many who dont have the spine to stand up for themselves alone.

I'm not alluding to anything about our local. We have strong stewards in our building and I'm proud of them and the influence and rapport they have amongst the hourly.

I believe the vote percentage during the last cba was higher than most. Far better than your local election percentages if I remember correctly? So I get your frustration. Apathy is also spawned by perceived corruption in the leadership from the top. You can only affect your piece of the pie and we are liable for what we can and should do, not for what we cant affect. The rest is up to a membership who has the wheel on their hand but often fails to start the car.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
There are no perks for an honest steward except that in their heart they know that they make a difference for many who dont have the spine to stand up for themselves alone.

I'm not alluding to anything about our local. We have strong stewards in our building and I'm proud of them and the influence and rapport they have amongst the hourly.

I believe the vote percentage during the last cba was higher than most. Far better than your local election percentages if I remember correctly? So I get your frustration. Apathy is also spawned by perceived corruption in the leadership from the top. You can only affect your piece of the pie and we are liable for what we can and should do, not for what we cant affect. The rest is up to a membership who has the wheel on their hand but often fails to start the car.
I come from a local that has an Executive Board that has a reputation for being one of the best.

Stewards are nominated and voted in.

Stewards receive a small salary. Doesn’t cover dues but almost.

I always emphasize the importance of voting and I really emphasized the importance of the vote for the contract.

It did not have much effect, my work group still was poorly represented in the vote.

I asked and what I found is that it was those who are most dissatisfied and critical of the Union that we’re mostly the ones who didn’t vote.

Go figure.

I hope the non-voters who don’t think that their vote counts realize how much their vote actually does count.

Their vote is so important to the type of majority vote that is needed for important decisions.

The non voters really made the biggest statement and impact to the ratified contract.
 

Boywondr

The truth never changes.
I come from a local that has an Executive Board that has a reputation for being one of the best.

Stewards are nominated and voted in.

Stewards receive a small salary. Doesn’t cover dues but almost.

I always emphasize the importance of voting and I really emphasized the importance of the vote for the contract.

It did not have much effect, my work group still was poorly represented in the vote.

I asked and what I found is that it was those who are most dissatisfied and critical of the Union that we’re mostly the ones who didn’t vote.

Go figure.

I hope the non-voters who don’t think that their vote counts realize how much their vote actually does count.

Their vote is so important to the type of majority vote that is needed for important decisions.

The non voters really made the biggest statement and impact to the ratified contract.
The last cba voting percentage overall were approximately double the average. Our building voted with a good percentage well over the percent needed to pass or fail the cba. People are more connected in buildings that arent of hub size. Extended centers dont normally have the turnover hubs do in larger cities.

Out of curiosity, what is the average percentage of members who vote in steward's elections? That, to me, is a pretty good indicator of the participation you'll expect in the rest of the local's elections and the participation in voting on contracts.
 

Integrity

Binge Poster
The last cba voting percentage overall were approximately double the average. Our building voted with a good percentage well over the percent needed to pass or fail the cba. People are more connected in buildings that arent of hub size. Extended centers dont normally have the turnover hubs do in larger cities.

Out of curiosity, what is the average percentage of members who vote in steward's elections? That, to me, is a pretty good indicator of the participation you'll expect in the rest of the local's elections and the participation in voting on contracts.
In my area I believe all members voted in the SS Election.
 

Whither

Scofflaw
I've suggested to my stew that the local host a 'know your rights'/intro to being a Teamster discussion forum for all the new hires. He said they've done this before. Would be great to get a summary of common tactics mgmt has pulled at our building. Will have to follow up now that peak's over. There's a lot to learn. And plenty of legalese in the national and regional supplement to sort through.

On a related note: got my on-car's approval to wait on a pickup yesterday and spent half an hour getting paid to study the contract.
 

brownelf

Well-Known Member
As a retired former PT and FT steward I believe the focus should be to engage every new employee on the importance of being an active member of their local union by attending membership meetings. UPS has always based contract negotiations on attendance at local membership meetings especially in the years prior to contract expiration. Poor attendance gives UPS an immediate advantage in negotiations as its shown in the past the level of commitment by the membership to strike to get or keep the benefits they are asking for. In 1997 we went on strike IMA because of the commitment and participation of both the PT and FT membership in the local meetings leading up to the contract negotiations. Still remember going to the contract demands and strike vote meetings and not having a empty seat in the largest hall the local had access to. Also remember being told by the district manager that if we walked off the job at 1201 none of us would ever be back. The next few weeks were the both the worst and best of times in my years at UPS. Never before or since 1997 did I feel the commitment and willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of all. Since then the mentality among many teamsters has been to place blame upon everyone but themselves for the failures in contract negotiations or enforcement of them. The teamsters union will rise or fall by the commitment of each and every one of its members.
 

zubenelgenubi

I'm a star
The company is supposed to inform the locals of times and dates of orientations for new hires so they can have a steward or BA attend to talk about the union. Our center, and it sounds like many other locations as well, weasel out of this requirement by not holding orientations.
 
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