I personally wouldn't mind if we did not have a holiday bank in our next contract. I would be willing in light of the current economic situations to make some other concessions. However, in all fairness to both the employees in our union and the company, maybe a sliding payscale percentage according to the economic downturn over each year could be acceptable. Like a 5% raise for the first year (when the economy was okay and the company made a huge profit); 4% the second year; 3% the next and 2% for this year. I know that Local 89 does not pay for health care under thier new contract so I don't know why the company would be so insistant on us paying. As far as outsourcing goes, this is a global economy now and Alot of U.S. companies are outsourcing. There will be more of this happening because people in other countries are willing to work hard for less money. With the NAFTA Trade agreement and China being a member in the WTO, we as americans will see more of this type of cost savings in the future by American companies. Look around you to notice the shift of wealth, We are not really the economic giant America used to be before NAFTA was enacted! Mexico, China, India are growing
economically by the numbers. We have to look beyond our own selfish desires to see how our political leaders & big business are destroying this country's economy. I think we will need to be fair in what we ask for from UPS, not greedy; just fair. We do make good money but the company agreed to it in the last contract, so don't feel like they don't owe you a raise for the last 3 years. But be fair by working for the money that you are making and think about what YOU would want YOUR employee to do for you in exchange for upward of 43 dollars an hour if you owned a business, would you hire yourself? Just think about it......
