amen i hope you are right.whats the the word down south.Im sure APWA all the way.
Ups Freight You Have A Choice!
- Thread starter any122
- Start date
UPS Freight Relocator
Active Member
We at EX-Overnite, went thru threaths of CLOSING US DOWN, telling cust. don't use overnite, our drivers being SHOT at, Two seriously injuried,following drivers to there homes, threathing our famliy's ETC.ETC.ETC. from TEAMSTERS. NOW is that the way to treat the drivers your telling to join up and we will look after you, and take care of you.
Every driver I have spoke with swears we will never sign in TEXAS, the RIGHT to WORK state, the biggest majority will stay NON_UNION
Every driver I have spoke with swears we will never sign in TEXAS, the RIGHT to WORK state, the biggest majority will stay NON_UNION
Reality check here, you guys in freight better start seeing what is happening to Middle America. Benefit and retirement packages are being gutted, corporations have found a loophole and will eliminate any expense to increase the profits for the upper echelon. It will a matter of time before every retirement package will be replaced by the employee contribution system of 401Ks', and forget about health benefits. How are you going the retire if you have to pay for your health insurance considering the rocketing increases that have and will occur in the upcoming years. You will be stupid not to have a collective barginning unit to represent you, look at some of the professional occupations that have selected collective bargaining, city and state employees, teachers, nurses, police officers and firefighters, pilots, etc. By the nature of their work these are not uneducated people, if they find value in being union organized how can you argue that you will be better off with the trust of your companies concern for you as an individual against the bottom line. Understand unions are not perfect, had problems in the past and will have them in the future, but isn't it will worth it to invest 60 dollars a month for another line of defense against any corporate profit making decisions. Are you that naive to believe that corporations really value you over the profit line, wake up, get your head out of the sand and look what is happening out there.
Exactly cezane totally agree with you a bargaining unit is a must in these days, the right way to go is to join the APWA, a union just for UPS employees, together we can stand strong against the company, we will be a stronger union being consolidated together and without outside interference as is the current situation with the teamsters
see apwa or Parcelworkers - A NEW LOOK!? WHAT MAKES THIS UNION LOOK DIFFERENT''? there is a better way the APWA is not the corrupt and evil empire as the teamsters are, they have integrity and honor, something lacking in business these days,go to the web site and you can get the numbers to call the APWA leaders to schedule a meeting in your area, see the difference a new union can make
as long as the members keep up with it, see any position with the APWA is overlooked by the founding charter members of each state, those members can have any officer from steward all the way up to president taken out of office for dishonesty, taking payoffs , tradeoffs ,immorality or anything along those lines, so it's up to all of us to keep it that way everyone will have a voice
705red
Browncafe Steward
Mittam i take it theres no drug testing in your neck of the woods, because you have to be stoned to think the apwa would ever take over!!!!!
705red
Browncafe Steward
not a chance my friend! The teamsters may not be perfect,but what bargaining power would we have without their support none!!! guys lets not forget all the support we got in 97 from every union and other teamster freight brothers. without that support we would not be here right now, do the right thing and vote out hoffa and elect leedham.
UPS Freight Relocator
Active Member
I guess you like having no money when you retire, you have Tunnel Vision, please check your options
The funniest thing is that some of you are actually counting on the pension when you retire. I am making my own personal investments to make sure I have something to sit on when I retire. If the pension is there then so be it. If not, oh well I have prepeared myself. I like the idea of the APWA, but as far as bargaining power goes, I am going to have to stay with the teamsters. If we vote in the APWA, and end up going on strike, do you think the teamsters are going to support a competing union?? We can make the changes needed within the teamsters. Same with our federal government. When these people don't do as they should, vote em out.
No the funny thing is you paid for the pension along with all other members but you are so sure its not going to be there you made other investments to fall back on,instead of making changes that you and every other member could make.Its real simple.Its time for a change in the right direction.GO APWA ALL THE WAY.And by the way If you go out on strike Ican almost bet yellow frieght won't be standing by your side.
nospinzone
Well-Known Member
This line of thinking puzzles me. A union with divided interest only weakens their position at the bargaining table. When UPS and IBT start negotiations, the phrase We need your pension money is going to be written on the foreheads of the IBT lawyers. The need to protect the interests of the non-UPS members will only make the negotiators weak. So, could you please explain where this strength comes from and how it translates into negotiating power?
They just put there money on the three leg blind horse.they (UPS CLERKS)are hopeing that the horse will place but sadly he won't even finish the race. APWA the better way,the UPS only union.
Forming an independent association could create more problems than it solves. Look at what happened to the Northwest Flight Attendants.
Before 2003, NWA flight attendants were represented by the Teamsters and had the third best contract in the industry -- the only contracts that were better were also Teamster contracts. But the flight attendants thought they could do better. They said the Teamsters didn't understand them. And they decided to form their own association, the Professional Flight Attendants Association. It was a start-up single-employer association, just like APWA is proposing.
So what happened?
9,300 flight attendants got screwed. First, Northwest refused to collect members' dues through payroll deduction. Many members fell behind in their dues, and others refused to pay at all. The PFAA struggled financially and couldn't afford researchers, economists or a legal staff.
The contract that they negotiated was worse than what the Teamsters got for them and from 2003-2006 PFAA couldn't even manage to get the contract ratified.
There were constant internal struggles between members who wanted to return to the Teamsters and others who wanted to join other unions.
But what really bit them in the ass was their flight-attendants-only attitude. When Northwest's machinists went out on strike, the flight attendants scabbed on them. The machinists got the last laugh, though. When NWA filed for bankruptcy, both the national machinists union, and the pilots union took what they could get, but left the attendants swinging in the wind.
NWA sought to dissolve their collective bargaining agreement with PFAA. In November, the PFAA agreed to "temporary concessions," which reduced the average flight attendant's hourly pay to 21% and total compensation by nearly 30%.
In July, the PFAA members voted to join the AFA.
"The members really never had a voice," said Mollie Reiley, a flight attendant who led the drive to bring in the AFA, and who was named acting president of the Master Executive Council of the AFA's new Northwest branch. "PFAA didn't end up to be what many people had hoped it could be."
Sure, there's little risk that UPS will go bankrupt in the next few years, but the fact remains that if APWA doesn't require employees to join or pay dues, how much money is it going to have to stand up to a global giant like UPS? Complaining about a smaller pension is one thing, but losing a pension altogether because UPS refuses to set one up is another.
APWAns would have you believe that UPS would take the money it is giving to the Teamsters pension fund and out of the goodness of its heart create its own, or give it to APWA. Why should they? Don't you think Eskew would rather pocket those millions or freeze the pension in a few years like IBM and so many others have done to make their companies "more competitive?"
What would APWA do then? Strike? And then what would all you APWAns live on? You have no strike fund, no paycheck and no pension.
That's what happens with single-employer associations. They either end up joining other national unions or they become too closely tied to the one employer they deal with.
The bottom line: Sooner or later, lengthy and financially draining crises inevitably confront every labor organization, and a union that lacks the financial backing of a large international parent is incapable of the sustained cash flow needed to fight such battles successfully.
Before 2003, NWA flight attendants were represented by the Teamsters and had the third best contract in the industry -- the only contracts that were better were also Teamster contracts. But the flight attendants thought they could do better. They said the Teamsters didn't understand them. And they decided to form their own association, the Professional Flight Attendants Association. It was a start-up single-employer association, just like APWA is proposing.
So what happened?
9,300 flight attendants got screwed. First, Northwest refused to collect members' dues through payroll deduction. Many members fell behind in their dues, and others refused to pay at all. The PFAA struggled financially and couldn't afford researchers, economists or a legal staff.
The contract that they negotiated was worse than what the Teamsters got for them and from 2003-2006 PFAA couldn't even manage to get the contract ratified.
There were constant internal struggles between members who wanted to return to the Teamsters and others who wanted to join other unions.
But what really bit them in the ass was their flight-attendants-only attitude. When Northwest's machinists went out on strike, the flight attendants scabbed on them. The machinists got the last laugh, though. When NWA filed for bankruptcy, both the national machinists union, and the pilots union took what they could get, but left the attendants swinging in the wind.
NWA sought to dissolve their collective bargaining agreement with PFAA. In November, the PFAA agreed to "temporary concessions," which reduced the average flight attendant's hourly pay to 21% and total compensation by nearly 30%.
In July, the PFAA members voted to join the AFA.
"The members really never had a voice," said Mollie Reiley, a flight attendant who led the drive to bring in the AFA, and who was named acting president of the Master Executive Council of the AFA's new Northwest branch. "PFAA didn't end up to be what many people had hoped it could be."
Sure, there's little risk that UPS will go bankrupt in the next few years, but the fact remains that if APWA doesn't require employees to join or pay dues, how much money is it going to have to stand up to a global giant like UPS? Complaining about a smaller pension is one thing, but losing a pension altogether because UPS refuses to set one up is another.
APWAns would have you believe that UPS would take the money it is giving to the Teamsters pension fund and out of the goodness of its heart create its own, or give it to APWA. Why should they? Don't you think Eskew would rather pocket those millions or freeze the pension in a few years like IBM and so many others have done to make their companies "more competitive?"
What would APWA do then? Strike? And then what would all you APWAns live on? You have no strike fund, no paycheck and no pension.
That's what happens with single-employer associations. They either end up joining other national unions or they become too closely tied to the one employer they deal with.
The bottom line: Sooner or later, lengthy and financially draining crises inevitably confront every labor organization, and a union that lacks the financial backing of a large international parent is incapable of the sustained cash flow needed to fight such battles successfully.
southerngrits
UPSFreight Greenville SC
I agree with your last statement only..... UPS is the teamsters cashcow..teamsters are terrified if we vote apwa they know they will have no resources to survive very long... I'll take my chances with the APWA
