'Union Dues' Question(New England area?)

700 PPH

Member
I have a question about Union Dues. I have been working at UPS for about 5 months now. I recently got done paying the $500 Int. Fee to join the union up here in Massachusetts(Not sure if it is the same everywhere but w/e). Anyway what they did was take out $32 a week until it was paid. So after it was all paid I looked at my first check and they are now taking out $49 a week for Union Dues(Which seems high to me). I make 10.50/hour I am actually making less on a paycheck now than I was before. I went from making about $120 a week, to $175 a week now back down to $140ish a week. I guess I am just wondering what exactly union fees are all about, and if I can expect to see mine drop anytime soon.



Also this might be unrelated but it is my understanding that up here you have to work for 500 hours before you start receiving benefits. I am at about 340 right now but I am already getting stuff in the mail asking me stuff about which insurance I want or something like that(I skimmed through the mail). Do benefits in any way relate to union dues?


Thanks for the help.
 

happybob

Feeders
what local are you in ? as far as dues go they are 3 times your hourly rate.
Unless things have changed, it is not 3x YOUR hourly wage. It is 3x the average hourly wage of those members covered under the collective bargaining agreement. Take the wage of the highest payed part timer and the lowest payed part timer, add them together, devide by 2, then times that amount by 3. Just a little twist at UPS, if you are local 25. You will be paying that amount you are now paying until you have cought up on your dues. Each month you have worked at UPS your dues were put on payment hold, until you payed off your initiation fee. Now that that fee has been payed off they will start collecting your past due dues amount. Once you have payed off the arears portion then you will only pay that dues amount once per month. See your area steward and Im sure he can explain to you what your dues money is used for. The fact that we have a union to represent us and get us decent wages and benefits makes paying the dues well worth it, IMHO.
 

jimstud

Banned
in local 653 union dues are 3x your hourly rate and new members once they hit 500 hours they get their bennes. when you are paying your initiation the 1st week of the month are your regular monthly dues the next 3 weeks go towards the initiation fees. again this is in my local i don't know what they in local 25. and your dues have nothing to do with your bennes , unless you get more than 3 months behind.
 

happybob

Feeders
700 pph, go back and check your pay stubs for the five months you have been in CHEMA. I think you will see that while they were taking out the 32 per week for the initiation fee they never took out your monthly union dues. They would have been deducted once per month, at the rate Local 25 has you set at. It is NOT based on your hourly wage, Local 25 uses a scale of the average hourly wage of all the parttimers. That formula was instituted back when CHEMA opened in 87. If you notice that you did not have that $49 fee taken out of your pay once per month then you owe 5 months of dues. They will deduct that amount each week, only until you have payed the dues arrears. Then that amount will only be deducted once per month thereafter. If you notice they did take that amount out each month then see your supervisor and let him know they souldn't be taking it out. You most likely will find they didn't take it out each month.
 

700 PPH

Member
700 pph, go back and check your pay stubs for the five months you have been in CHEMA. I think you will see that while they were taking out the 32 per week for the initiation fee they never took out your monthly union dues. They would have been deducted once per month, at the rate Local 25 has you set at. It is NOT based on your hourly wage, Local 25 uses a scale of the average hourly wage of all the parttimers. That formula was instituted back when CHEMA opened in 87. If you notice that you did not have that $49 fee taken out of your pay once per month then you owe 5 months of dues. They will deduct that amount each week, only until you have payed the dues arrears. Then that amount will only be deducted once per month thereafter. If you notice they did take that amount out each month then see your supervisor and let him know they souldn't be taking it out. You most likely will find they didn't take it out each month.


Thanks for all the help guys.

Although I didnt check my stubs I am pretty sure you are right about that since I have only noticed the $32 being taken out for the int. fee each month.

Anyway I have another quick question. Let's say this is the case and I will only be charged the $49 once per month. Does that mean that 3 out of my 4 paychecks each month with have NO 'Union Dues' fees?


Also while I am asking about money being taken out of each check..how much can I expect to be taken out for benefits when I start receiving them a couple of months or so from now.


thanks for the help guys.
 

JonFrum

Member
700PPH,

Dues are set by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Constitution at two-and-a-half times your hourly rate. That is a minimum. Each Local is allowed to charge more, and many, including mine and yours, do.

Your dues goes mostly to pay the salary and benefits of the officers and staff of the Local, and the cost of operating the Local and negotiating your Contract.

Your benefits and wages are negotiated by the Union. UPS contributes money into your Health & Welfare fund as required by the Contract, but the money is really your money. It's part of your total compensation.

Your dues is completely seperate from the H&W benefit. You don't (normally) pay anything for H&W coverage, but you will have to pay co-pays and deductibles as you use the benefit.

The Health & Welfare Fund is located here . . .
http://www.teamsterscare.com
[Ah . . . That's Teamsters Care, not Teamster Scare.]:wink2:
Click on Benefits Answerbooks and read the Summary Plan Description (SPD) for Active Members, especially the begining that explains about UPS part-timer eligibility and coverage.

The New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension Fund is here . . .
http://www.nettipf.com

Several posters are from Local 25. They may have something to add.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
in local 653 union dues are 3x your hourly rate and new members once they hit 500 hours they get their bennes. when you are paying your initiation the 1st week of the month are your regular monthly dues the next 3 weeks go towards the initiation fees. again this is in my local i don't know what they in local 25. and your dues have nothing to do with your bennes , unless you get more than 3 months behind.

It does not work this way anymore.

The new national agreement overrides any supplement that has the same information regarding benefits. New-hires after Oct 1st 2008 (iirc) do not get benefits until 1 year of employment, period. That is what a higher up rep in Local 25 told me and that is what the contract says.
 

jimstud

Banned
It does not work this way anymore.

The new national agreement overrides any supplement that has the same information regarding benefits. New-hires after Oct 1st 2008 (iirc) do not get benefits until 1 year of employment, period. That is what a higher up rep in Local 25 told me and that is what the contract says.
again i am only talking about 653. i asked my ba about the 500 hours when this question came up in a thread about a month ago and he said that when a new employee hit 500 hours he / she got their bennes , again that is in 653.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
again i am only talking about 653. i asked my ba about the 500 hours when this question came up in a thread about a month ago and he said that when a new employee hit 500 hours he / she got their bennes , again that is in 653.

So you are telling me Article 22 section 7, which supercedes any provision in any supplement rider or addenda, does not apply to your local only, but every other local? OK, I am not going to argue this.
 

grgrcr88

No It's not green grocer!
So you are telling me Article 22 section 7, which supercedes any provision in any supplement rider or addenda, does not apply to your local only, but every other local? OK, I am not going to argue this.


you need to read the whole article sleeve:
part time employees hired after August 1, 2008 will receive holidays, personal days, and option days provided by any applicable Supplement, Rider, or Addendum no earlier than after one(1) year of active employement.
This provision supersedes any provision on the same subject in any supplement, rider, or addendum TO THE EXTENT THE PROVISION MAKES HOLIDAYS, PERSONAL DAYS OR OPTION DAYS AVAILABLE EARLIER THAN AFTER ONE(1) YEAR OR SERVICE
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
you need to read the whole article sleeve:
part time employees hired after August 1, 2008 will receive holidays, personal days, and option days provided by any applicable Supplement, Rider, or Addendum no earlier than after one(1) year of active employement.
This provision supersedes any provision on the same subject in any supplement, rider, or addendum TO THE EXTENT THE PROVISION MAKES HOLIDAYS, PERSONAL DAYS OR OPTION DAYS AVAILABLE EARLIER THAN AFTER ONE(1) YEAR OR SERVICE

You just made my point...no employees have those entitlements until AFTER 1 year service, regardless whether our supplement (New England) says otherwise! Which it does..

Apparently his local has a special deal worked out though!
 

jimstud

Banned
i have just read article 22 it does not say anything about health benefits. if i missed anything please feel free to point what section of that article that i missed. the section you keep going to only talks of holidays , optional days and things of that nature. do you think that ups would pay for benefits and let the teamsters just pocket the money?
 

Stavemist316

Active Member
How do you find the status of all your benefits? Like where can you go and look how much vacation time you have, how your 401k is, etc.? I haven't received any of them yet since I have not been an employee for a year yet, but it just confuses me because I don't get where you look to see that you're actually getting these benefits.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
i have just read article 22 it does not say anything about health benefits. if i missed anything please feel free to point what section of that article that i missed. the section you keep going to only talks of holidays , optional days and things of that nature. do you think that ups would pay for benefits and let the teamsters just pocket the money?

Article 22 Section 7 BENEFITS

Read the headline
those are all benefits (Paid holidays, optional holdays, sick days).
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
How do you find the status of all your benefits? Like where can you go and look how much vacation time you have, how your 401k is, etc.? I haven't received any of them yet since I have not been an employee for a year yet, but it just confuses me because I don't get where you look to see that you're actually getting these benefits.

The bottom of your paystub should have Vac: sick: opt:
 
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