Union unhappiness

[pgraening]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has felt like the union has been letting us down lately, either PT or FT UPSers.

We had a health care plan change a month ago. Everyone complained to the union - we wanted them to get back the coverage we had, because the new insurance covered absolutely nothing in our area. They never did a thing. Only the PT's had this changed - the center drivers still have the same plan, and better coverage.

They started taking back dues out of my paycheck, and no one ever told me. I had to call them to find out how much was being taken out. After surviving, barely, through my initiation fees (only one overdraft) they were still taking out money, and didn't tell me. Gotta love it.

I guess the thing about it that bothers me the most is that the union office, for us, is about three hours away. We're kinda distanced, so we don't feel as important, but we're the big cash cow, and they can't lose us.

People at my hub are badmouthing the Teamsters left and right. I'm proud to be a UPS employee, but a union member... the jury is still out.

 

[browncollar]

You do have the option of withdrawing. http://www.nrtw.org

 

[proups]

browncollar: only if he is in a right to work state. Some PTers do not have that option.

pgraening - the union tells UPS Payroll what to take out of your check. They send them a spreadsheet every week by employee with the amount to withhold. If they take too much, you have to go to the union to get it back.

Good luck!

 

[my2cents]

Any bargaining unit employee can resign one's membership at any time whether one works in a right to work state or not. In non right to work states, Beck applies. In effect, the nonmember pays for expenses related to representational activities.

 

[my2cents]

Any bargaining unit employee can resign one's membership at any time whether one works in a right to work state or not. In non right to work states, Beck applies. In effect, the nonmember pays for expenses related to representational activities.

 

[local804]

Pg,
If everone at your hub is bad mouthing the teamsters,boot them out. Have the talker(ones bad mouthing)the union, run against them.If you guys can do a better job then so be it.You are the ones who pay their salaries and you guys have the power to boot them out.This is not the first time a business agents have been canned and it wont be the last.If the Union is clearly messing up and not representing you, call the nlrb(national labor relation board) and file a complaint. The union HATES it when the nlrb gets involved.As for dropping the union and having none, remember who you work for and really think about that one.

 

[tranham]

Here are some thoughts. Over the years I have only seen the Union have concern for the full time drivers. The entire contract revolves around them. This is why the union can't get part timers to stay in the union. Meanwhile, have you seen what kind of cars your Union rep drives? Here it's a new Lexus and BMW! Based on what I have seen UPS kickbacks paid the down payment on those cars. And how much money do they waste, trips, parties, non-business expenses? Where is the itemized budget sheet for the members to review? And the stories you hear(admittly unconfirmed). It sounds like a regular soap opera at the Union Hall (sex, backstabbing, payoffs). I want the union to not only survive, but prosper. Any problems they have, they made. They can't blame the company. They got thier "Strike Fund" before the contract. The "good ole boys" network needs to be purged. No more fiddling while Rome burns! Clean up your house or we will all take our chances with the company.

Robert

 

[browncollar]

Confirming my2cents, I am PT in a non-right-to-work state. I'm also non-union. Teamsters continue to withdraw most of the dues (over 90%) weekly, but I'm not morally behind them.

For those interested and who have not yet seen it, the $100,000 club lists all Teamsters officials making over a 100 grand. It's at tdu.org

As for going without Union protection, if management does mistreat me, I figure I'm better off somewhere else anyway. If they don't want me, I don't want them. They don't owe me anything I don't earn with my own two hands, and I don't owe them anything they don't pay for. If our opinions of fair reciprocity rift, so be it. There are other companies willing to employ industrious workers. But for now and the foreseeable future, I'm happy to be brown.

 

[my2cents]

That makes two of us browncollar. I'm a Beck objector as well and share your perspective. The Carey money laundering scandal was the final straw for me. My conscience simply couldn't stand it any longer. So you still have payroll deduction of your agency fee. In my case, I revoked check-off and mail them a check every month.

 

[proups]

You may not be members, but you are paying dues. That was my point.

 

[dammor]

proups,

Are you retired? I can't tell from your profile.
If you are not, then you are in the middle of this as we are. Your last statement was interesting. What do you suggest? I think most of us care and are trying to get where we need to be while doing our best for UPS. Many of us are concerned at this point with recent issues from CS, but are still not sure that we would be in a better place if the past was changed. Point is, it will not be changed. Any suggestions without the common "told you so" as to how we can move forward from this point would be helpful.





(Message edited by dammor on November 29, 2003)

 

[over9five]

"My conscience simply couldn't stand it any longer."

I bet your conscience has no problem with the wage the Union negotiated for you....

 

[proups]

dammor: I am not retired. I don't know the answer.

Decertification is a long, hard process. I don't know if that is the answer. The Teamsters have made UPS drivers financially better off than similarly situated employees in our industry.

But I have to ask, at what sacrifice? The mismanaged pension seems to be the answer. How do we combat that? Maybe support for the UPS 1997 proposal would have been the right thing to do, and if it comes up in 2008, then drivers need to tell the Teamsters to give it up. The Teamsters only give up the UPS contributions to Central States - not representation of UPS employees.

The Teamsters probably can't afford to do that.

I don't know the answer!

 

[my2cents]

over9five,

Freedom of contract simply does not exist under the doctrine of exclusive representation. I'm tired of these so-called "free rider" arguments, which were created by the patently unconstitutional NLRA. If a free choice did exist, I would have taken the company offer back in '97 for example, and probably would be a happier employee. Money is not everything. Having a set of moral values is important to me and I have no regrets whatsoever about my decision to resign over 6 years ago. The Teamsters IMO, is a rotting hulk upheld by a pipeline of forced-dues cash. Take away the pipeline and it crashes on its own weight.

 

[deliver_man]

<font color="ff0000">If a free choice did exist, I would have taken the company offer back in '97 for example, and probably would be a happier employee.</font>
<font color="000000">But a free choice does exist, you can choose to work at Fedex, DHL, or Airborne which are all non-union. Oh wait, those guys don't pay quite so well, do they? No matter, I'm sure you </font>will be able to use your "right of free association" to negotiate a contract comparable to UPS's final offer in '97. Or has it occured to you that only reason the company made that offer was because they were negotiating with a union?
<font color="ff0000">Money is not everything. Having a set of moral values is important to me and I have no regrets whatsoever about my decision to resign over 6 years ago. </font>
Apparently your moral values are not strong enough to prevent you from accepting a union wage and benefit package that is the highest in the industry.

 

[my2cents]

Here we go again. The NLRA is based on coercion. The law should follow the New Zealand model where employees have the right to have a union represent them, or have an independent agent represent them, or they can represent themselves. What's so hard about that?

Once again, here's The Economics of Unionism for your reading pleasure. Unions in their present form are nothing more than government-sanctioned cartels.

 

[kidlogic]

What is stupid about that is it wouldnt work here. The work force would be divided. Any smart company would cater to one group. And as far as the cartel...well with every high paying manufacturing job heading out of the country I can live with the cartel quite nicely. If we dont My2cents will be asking you all " would you like to super size that".

 

[my2cents]

First, if a company wants to close a plant for whatever reason, they will, regardless if the employees are unionized or not. I've read enough newspaper stories over the years to know that this is true. Secondly, yeah, its totally impossible for co-workers to get along with each other.

(Message edited by my2cents on November 30, 2003)

 

[kidlogic]

What voice in congress do these manufacturing jobs have??? None...Would it help??? couldnt hurt.You can hear the states starting to rumble about protecting our jobs now. Too bad it's too late for alot of hard working people. Too bad they didnt have a CARTEL looking out for them. Dont you think that if there were no union for transportation fighting to keep out the cheap Mexican worker we would all be replaced by now?? On that point only one would stop throw trash about the Union and start trying to help it and UPS. In the end all the anti-union talk in the world means nothing if you dont have a job or becuase of a weak Union your best friend is unemployed because there was nobody in congress to protect his intrest.. You dont have to support it, but you dont need to tear it down either.

 

[my2cents]

Okay, explain this one for me: Doing the Work of America: Food and Commercial Workers Mobilize for Immigrant Worker Rights