Vote count.

[35years]

I The only ones to exclude are safety committee wannabe management types.

Can't stand them.

I joined the safety committee just to read them the riot act when they rat out other drivers or perform management functions.

I have no illusions about accomplishing anything significant in regards to safety. I am there to make sure management does not use safety as a weapon, and union members don't rat on others or pretend to be supervisors.

I could not agree more that Union members need to band together. Management pits runners against slower drivers. If I hear a driver bad-mouthing another driver for not working as fast, or needing help, I do not let it go unchallenged. I absolutely hate gossip and the superior attitude some runners have.

Hate him or admire him, Ronald Reagan had it right... "Never speak I'll of another Republican." My motto is never speak ill of another Union brother.

 

[MyTripisCut]

These people are a menace

Yes





















You MOTHER!!!!!

 

[UPSER1987]

Can't stand them.

I joined the safety committee just to read them the riot act when they rat out other drivers or perform management functions.

I have no illusions about accomplishing anything significant in regards to safety. I am there to make sure management does not use safety as a weapon, and union members don't rat on others or pretend to be supervisors.

I could not agree more that Union members need to band together. Management pits runners against slower drivers. If I hear a driver bad-mouthing another driver for not working as fast, or needing help, I do not let it go unchallenged. I absolutely hate gossip and the superior attitude some runners have.

Hate him or admire him, Ronald Reagan had it right... "Never speak I'll of another Republican." My motto is never speak ill of another Union brother.

You sir, are quite the bad ass aren’t you?

Mind your own business

 

[35years]

You sir, are quite the bad ass aren’t you?

Mind your own business

Ok, sorry mommy.

 

[542thruNthru]

Ok, sorry mommy.

He's mad at you because you were describing him.

 

[Integrity]

I also believe that the company creates an environment that harbors Teamster vs. Teamster. And they ultimately win when that happens. Members have to embrace each other, runner gunners, slugs, Diad holster wearers, PT, FT, feeders and so on, or we all lose. The only ones to exclude are safety committee wannabe management types.

I agree except for the part about the safety committee members.

With our contract there should always be union approved members on all committees to represent the plight of the working man at UPS. No manage suck ups should be able to remain.
Contractually at least.

 

[zubenelgenubi]

“[The modern] individual focuses too narrowly on his own short lifespan… and wants to pluck the fruit himself from the tree he plants, and so no longer likes to plant those trees that demand a century of constant tending and are intended to provide shade for long successions of generations.” (Fredrick Nietzsche, Human All Too Human)

 

[Integrity]

“[The modern] individual focuses too narrowly on his own short lifespan… and wants to pluck the fruit himself from the tree he plants, and so no longer likes to plant those trees that demand a century of constant tending and are intended to provide shade for long successions of generations.” (Fredrick Nietzsche, Human All Too Human)

Self centeredness is the cause of many human troubles.

 

[Inthegame]

I agree except for the part about the safety committee members.

With our contract there should always be union approved members on all committees to represent the plight of the working man at UPS. No manage suck ups should be able to remain.
Contractually at least.

What language would you write to determine who a "management suck up" is?

Our local dirests stewards to get involved in every safety committee to remind some over zealous members not to take the bait. Most committees are chaired by stewards who regularly report goings on back to their BA's.

Kinda stops the foolishness before it starts.

 

[Integrity]

What language would you write to determine who a "management suck up" is?

Our local dirests stewards to get involved in every safety committee to remind some over zealous members not to take the bait. Most committees are chaired by stewards who regularly report goings on back to their BA's.

Kinda stops the foolishness before it starts.

Not sure of language, will think on that a little.

Having Shop Stewards Co-Chair and get involved in the Committees is a good start to keeping individuals who don’t belong off.

Nice post.

 

[BigUnionGuy]

Not sure of language, will think on that a little.

I understand the point @Inthegame is making.


Trying to classify certain members, as company suck-ups....

is a form of discrimination. It might just be a situation of "blissful ignorance".


Every Local has a say, in who the Union members are on the committee.

The contract supports that.


Having a level headed Steward.... as the Union chair, combats that.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

I understand the point @Inthegame is making.


Trying to classify certain members, as company suck-ups....

is a form of discrimination. It might just be a situation of "blissful ignorance".


Every Local has a say, in who the Union members are on the committee.

The contract supports that.


Having a level headed Steward.... as the Union chair, combats that.

Lol.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Lol.

Gone to the point that it's an embarrassment.

 

[Thoroughbred Teamster]

Been toying around with the idea of making a quick reference guide/index/concordance to make it easier to find language in the contract. It would also include explanations on the interpretations of the language, hopefully with references to applicable panel and arbitration decisions. This is something I think would be cool to organize and divvy up different sections to anyone interested in helping. If anyone likes the idea and wants to help, let me know.

I've had similar thoughts and ideas, just not enough time in a day to begin in a task like this but I'm definitely interested in seeing if I can help. Tried starting an electronic contract study group with my steward alternates via but it didn't last long. I think I might try to get that going again with this new contract.

 

[Thoroughbred Teamster]

And in a regulatory sense, basically most of the things that working stiffs have ever done to improve their (our) lives have fallen, at best, into gray areas ... if they haven't been openly illegal and met with violent force (the National Guard, police, pinkertons, scab militias, etc) ...

Took a Labor History course earlier this year. Became absolutely fascinated by the historic strikes such as Pullman, Ludlow, Haymarket Riot, and so on. Even did an episode on Haymarket. Studying thecWobblies right now. Many of the issues and obstacles for us remain the same as they were over 100 years ago, but the laws become more restrictive each passing year.

 

[Thoroughbred Teamster]

Was it the Kentucky Coal Miners who were forced back to work by the Sherrif's department through violence? Situations like that were examples of abuses of power by both government and business owners alike. The actions taken by the workers in fighting back were morally and legally correct.

We don't face dire circumstances like those these days. On the one hand we should be happy that we don't, on the other hand we need to remain vigilant to prevent a slow backward slide. The conundrum we face is that contentment with circumstances is a, if not the, goal, but contentment breeds complacency. If a majority are content with circumstances, who are any of us to challenge that? The key to motivating action in the majority is to make them uncomfortable, or at least convince them that they should be discontent, but should we want to be responsible for that?

Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona... if not by the Sheriff, then by either a private militia or US military.

 

[zubenelgenubi]

I've had similar thoughts and ideas, just not enough time in a day to begin in a task like this but I'm definitely interested in seeing if I can help. Tried starting an electronic contract study group with my steward alternates via but it didn't last long. I think I might try to get that going again with this new contract.

I did receive a steward's guide to enforcing the contract, but I found it wanting. I think I'll start with a list of the most common issues that pop up, and listing the appropriate articles. I don't think that will take too long.

The table of contents in the master is better than nothing, but it is far from intuitive. The subjects in the TOC aren't tied to article numbers, just page numbers, and some are the titles of the articles, some are not. Some articles have titles, some don't. Some of the titles of the articles don't tell you everything listed in the article. For example, It's not obvious that the 9/5 and 8 hr request language is in article 37 titled "Management-Employee Relations".

 

[Thoroughbred Teamster]

Just read this thread and have a few questions:

• After glancing over the voter turnout % only (not yes or no) for the contract, what percentage would be considered a great turnout?
• My experience with encouraging part-timers to participate in anything has produced minimal results, with the exception of producing a few solid stewards, but much of what has been said in here about it I can agree with. Has anyone had ANY success getting these folks to vote, and if so, how?
• I believe there has to be some thinking-out-the-box type action to get people involved. Has anyone witnessed anything like that and thought, "Hm, that's different and it just might work,"?

I believe the union in general has definitely been slow to utitilize technology to our advantage. Companies are figuring out how to afford/implement autonomous vehicles and automate jobs, but there's still a ton of locals and union organizations that don't even have social media accounts. I'm not saying social media is the answer, just using as an example at our lack of using technology.

 

[Thoroughbred Teamster]

I did receive a steward's guide to enforcing the contract, but I found it wanting. I think I'll start with a list of the most common issues that pop up, and listing the appropriate articles. I don't think that will take too long.

The table of contents in the master is better than nothing, but it is far from intuitive. The subjects in the TOC aren't tied to article numbers, just page numbers, and some are the titles of the articles, some are not. Some articles have titles, some don't. Some of the titles of the articles don't tell you everything listed in the article. For example, It's not obvious that the 9/5 and 8 hr request language is in article 37 titled "Management-Employee Relations".

I offered the P/Ters on the 22.4 list to print out the 22.4 language. One replied, "Can you just make it cliff notes?" Smdh, so I highlighted the stuff I felt they were concerned with most.

Now that I think about it, I actually did something like this last year for the part-timers. Put together a small binder full of information I believed every newly attained seniority part-timer would need. Basic contract info, basic union info/concepts, FAQs, important phone numbers, even a couple historic Teamsters strikes. I even presented it to the Local to produce copies, which they were on board with, but it just didn't fly with the part-timers.

Had quite a few pages but I did my best to keep it minimal. I started handing them out to all the 20-somethings and one of the replies was "Wtf? We got homework??" I learned later it would be best to work with the stewards on it, who were usually inexperienced but at least willing.

That's when I got the concept for the podcast. My first few episodes were pretty much what was in that binder. My intention was to go over contract language each episode but then people who listen started reaching out from other unions and locals, so I began broadening the topic. I touch on the contract occasionally. Discussed Article 37, paragraph 1 and got good feedback on that too.

 

[Whither]

Took a Labor History course earlier this year. Became absolutely fascinated by the historic strikes such as Pullman, Ludlow, Haymarket Riot, and so on. Even did an episode on Haymarket. Studying thecWobblies right now. Many of the issues and obstacles for us remain the same as they were over 100 years ago, but the laws become more restrictive each passing year.

Love it. Yes, the laws are awful, and were so at the outset of the so-called 'golden age' of American capitalism, e.g., legitimate strikes are always worth 1000 times more than votes. Taft-Hartley passed in, what, 1947?

A Wobblie-esque side-note to the Janus v AFSCME decision which paves the way for a national 'right-to-work' law: if the unions didn't see this moment as the one to drop anchor, then I'm afraid they've already thrown in the towel. The same rationale the court used undermines the sacred 'no taxation without representation' principle. Basically the decision invoked free speech to nullify unchosen representation (for people who would still enjoy the said benefits of union representation). All right, fine. Rather than b**ch about it, why not turn this around on the government? If it's a free speech issue for public sector unions to collect dues from non-members, why isn't it a free speech issue for the government to collect taxes from those of us who haven't signed off on its rights to 'represent' us? (Haven't all our signatures been falsified?)