Friday, May 4, 2007

TO ALL FUTURE FEDEX TEAMSTERS FROM RUDY...

" TAKE THE FIRST STEP IN FAITH.YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE THE WHOLE STAIRCASE.JUST TAKE THE FIRST STEP."

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

BE WISE AND ORGANIZE!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

We need to start a full force committee in san fernando service center now!.On behalf of our drivers in sfv we are ready to be wise and organize.

Anonymous said...

CAN ANYBODY ANSWER IN FONTANA TERMINAL WHY REGGIE CANNON CAN'T GET HIRED AT FEDEX EAST? THE REAL REASON IS BECAUSE RUSS (SVC CTR MANAGER)STATED UP NORTH NOT TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR REHIRED AT ANY FEDEX FACILITY WEST OR EAST,WHICH THIS IS B/S WHEN REGGIE GAVE ENOUGH NOTICED WHEN QUITTING,SO THAT HE COULD MOVE BACK EAST, AND REGGIE ALSO QUIT WITH GOOD CONDUCTS AND THE MERITS OF HONESTY.WITH A MANAGER LIKE THIS IS WHY YOU GUYS NEED A UNION!

sansooman said...

The same thing happened at S.F.V.with Anton Jost, who transfered with the terminal mgr's o.k. and moved to Texas, and when he went for his job, they said sorry no job available.....Another tricky Fedex way of eliminating senior drivers....He has since passed away from a heart-attack,he was a very nice person.We all miss him and feel terrible about the way he was treated.

Anonymous said...

UPS Negotiations Update

May 10, 2007

The following is a statement from Ken Hall, Director of the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division and Co-Chairman of the National UPS Negotiating Committee

The Teamsters Union entered into early negotiations with UPS with the central objective of protecting our members’ pensions and health care.

The Negotiating Committee presented an economic proposal to UPS at the end of March, which included a demand for an increase in health and welfare and pension contributions by $2 per hour in the first year. Our proposal also included significant increases in wages and other economic conditions.

When National Master negotiations resumed after a break in which the supplemental committees met, United Parcel Service responded to our economic package with its own opening offer. What will capture the headlines is an offer to create a new, joint Teamsters-Company pension plan to cover full-time UPS employees who currently obtain their pension benefits from the Central States Fund.

In the past, the Company has attempted to create a Company plan that it would administer by itself. The current proposal would create a plan jointly administered by UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters with an equal number of Teamster-appointed and Company trustees.

The Company also proposed increases in pension and health and welfare contributions for other benefit funds covering UPS members. While smaller than the Union's demands, the Company proposal is greater than the amounts contained in the 2002-2008 contract.

The Company proposes to pay in a lump sum the withdrawal liability owed to the Central States pension fund, an amount subject to negotiation between the Company and that Fund. The Company contends that depositing a large amount of money into the Fund will improve its stability and protect the Fund from some of the requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and which will go into effect in 2008. These determinations require complicated economic calculations. The Teamsters Negotiating Committee has retained its own actuaries to examine the figures that have been received from Central States in order to independently determine the impact on the Fund if the Company withdrew.

I can assure you that the Negotiating Committee will not consider any plan that jeopardizes the benefits of members in Central States or members of any other Teamster fund. The Company’s proposal is not a negotiating tactic. It is a serious proposal that must be seriously evaluated and compared with the other options available for improving and protecting the pension benefits of our members.

The Company’s pension proposal is included in a wide range of contract changes which the Company wants to offset the cost of the new plan. These proposals are almost universally unacceptable. Most of them are too farfetched to even discuss at this point because the Negotiating Committee will never bring them back to the members or trade away these contract protections.

In summary, at this point in negotiations, we have made progress on a number of non-economic issues and still have significant non-economic issues open on the table. Each side has an opening economic proposal on the table. Each side has some serious aspects of its proposal that require consideration, and that is certainly what the proposal on the pension funds deserves. I urge Teamster members to not fall for unfounded rumors but to count on the communications you receive from your International Union as we move forward in these negotiations. We will be studying these issues and will keep you advised as we develop the information we need to determine whether some, or any, of these proposals help solve the problems that brought us to the table.

Anonymous said...

A NEW RULE FOR YOU GUYS AT FEDEX FRT,IF YOU ARE ON MEDICAL LEAVE,P&D,LINE DRIVER,DOCKWORKER,AND CLERICAL,DURING BID TIME YOU WILL LOSE BID RIGHTS AND FALL DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF LIST FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.

Anonymous said...

ATTENTION:Young bloods at Fedex dont be a fool and fall in the hole,I once said we did'nt need a union back then when it was Viking Freight,and I was wrong,I retired 14 years ago and got a pension of $275 dollars plus SS of $620 dollars,plus no medical benefit.Luckily I served in the military long enough to received veterans medical hospital care,becuase without it I would have been screw and be forming those long line in sec 8.Now if I could go back in time I would choose Teamsters,and young blood dont be naive and gullible think now not later,or else you'll ended up like me.

sansooman said...

I'm a 24 year veteran of Viking Freight now FedEx freight, My story is: while being encouraged and endorsed to work through lunch and breaks, and never have been suspended in my life, this mgmt team of FedEx ( SFV or SS Germany ) shriveled me for weeks on end, and could not find anything then, decided to go back 7 years which is on my suspension notice, and mgmt wrote: "they gave me a verbal in the year 2000,and a written in 2000," so they suspended me on 3/12/07 with no return date on my suspension notice. What happened to the 6 month?
Verbal, written, suspension, then termination, I will tell you what happened," NO UNION” that's what happened. There is so much cheese-whiz on this it's sicking, this is a WITCH HUNT, and No one even had the balls to tell me I was terminated,
They just sent me a notice on May 11, 2007 to see if I wanted to enroll in cobra, (“a medical benefits program for no longer with us employees "). The other thing they are not telling you is this new and improved pension, is at the minimum going to take 20% plus from every veteran employee, Here is the facts, if you work for FedEx for 30 years, under the old system you get a whole defined pension 6/6th, since they are terminating this old defined pension, that still was below par. Now if you have say 25 years in June 08, when this system will cease to exist, you are at 25/30th or 5/6th which is translated to 80% of the total, now you are loosing 20% at a minimum at 25 years, what do you think you are loosing if you are there 10 years, I will tell you, it's 33 1/3%, so if your are lucky enough to receive 700.00 after 30 long hard years, in actuality they will minus 337.50 from that 700.00 dollars, that gives you a whopping 362.50 because, they have another tricky little penalty feature built into it, that they don't think anyone can figure out, here is the devil in the details, there is a 22.5 % penalty FedEx deducts, that says whatever social security gives you say it's 1500.00 dollars, FedEx is going to penalize you 22.5 % of that total, they don't word it so bluntly, I’m just the translator, in this example let's say you will receive 1500.00 from social security, then a minus of 22.5% ( FedEx penalty ) or 337.50 dollars, they then deduct the 337.50 from your 700.00 total because they care so much, that is where your new adjusted pension amount comes from," THAT IS YOUR PENSION," 362.50, Then there is an inflation factor of 3% compounded over that time period, that will eat up a little more, probably most of it, So the question now is where is that 20 % - 60 % plus money going, probably to fund that P.O.S--T new so called thing they want to call a pension. The hard numbers there are you will need to work 25 plus years, and be in your fifties, to make the top contribution of 6%, what do you make 50,000 plus or so ? That equates to 3000.00 dollars a year for what, if you can make it to sixty, after 10 years is 30,000 dollars? Do you think this will support you for the rest of your life? If you can't make it on 50,000 plus a year now, how will you do it on 30,000 for you and your family, for the rest of your life? Oh and what about medical? I hope no-one gets sick, because there will be no medical to help you. I wonder if upper mgmt has the same great plan as us. Ask U.P.S. what they will get, that is where the cuts in the old pension are going, and they KNOW IT, FedEx is not shelling out nothing, although they would like you to believe otherwise. FedEx knows by the time your sixty, and start receiving these so called benefits, you won't have the energy to try and change things, they count on that, but that is when you will figure it out, when the check arrives at the door, I challenge anyone to ask any manager in FedEx, to tell them how much of a pension they will get, they know it's garbage, but ask any U.P.S. driver because they have someone watching their back, and keeps them informed, because all they have to do is pick up a phone and ask, and they will receive a breakdown in the mail. My friends this letter has the sole and only intent of saying WAKE UP FOR YOUR OWN FUTURE,I have nothing else to gain, I’m gone, they wanted me out because of my always polite and concerning position, and honest advice, and help I gave to my fellow drivers, They don't like people like me around, I’m a so-called trouble maker because, I ask the questions they don't want to answer, I spent more than half of my life working here, this is the truth and anyone who knows me, will attest to this. I could go on an on, about unjust circumstances that I helped broker, to help a comrade driver, dockhand or anyone who asked, that is why they HUNTED ME. They would rather deal in constant threats and intimidation tactics, they know they can get away with it, This is all in legal now, just Google FedEx and look at all the cases of age discrimination,harrassment,intimidation, and un-necessary and illegal over surveillance of employees, I will never give up, not for me, but for all of you who are stuck with these thugs, I will from time to time, write of all the instances to which I speak but, I don't want to use up any more space, I want to leave you with a line that in 1983 when I started, was said to me by a pro-union driver, at the terminal who was eventually singled out and terminated, He said " Brother today it was him, Tomorow it will probably be me, and trust me when I say, They will eventually work their way to you". So I say to you, today it was me, and trust me when I say, tomorow it will be you, if nothing changes". Drive safe and watch your back..........

Anonymous said...

We should organize! Honestly I thought you guys were full of crap! I hated the fact you were trying to organize but now I'm feeling really dumb. With this new speed policy that FedEx is discriminatly applying to some drivers there is no representation of the driver! There is no way to fight an 'observation' of speeding, all you get is a phone call you are being suspended for a violation because someone that the company hired 'observed' you. When I asked "Who represents the driver?" the answer was "No One!" You just have to take the punishment? That's wrong! At least with a union we would have someone to represent the employee and have some way to fight any punishment the company tries to enforce. I am a line driver and I've talked to drivers from Californina, Arizona, Nevada and Utah and they feel the same way! The call for a union HAS NEVER BEEN STRONGER especially among all the line drivers I've talked to. There's got to be a way to get every service center to organize. I've gotten one of those union business cards from another line driver and I've shown it to every driver I've come in contact with and they are for it! This union call is very popular now and that's the truth. We've got to do something! I know for a fact that at least 90% of line drivers would join, we are all of the same feeling, that the company is leaving us no choice!

sansooman said...

Hey guys,I have a type-oh....On the sansooman blog re: Pension Ect..ater the SS
Germany part it says shrivelled,don't ask me where that came from,it should say SURVEILLED....sorry

Anonymous said...

California Cemex Workers Join the Teamsters

May 21, 2007

On April 12, workers at the Cemex plant in Merced, California voted by a 3-1 margin for Teamster representation. The bargaining unit includes drivers, relief batch men, yard equipment operators and yardmen at the facility.

The Merced employees sought the union after the ready-mix company began unilaterally changing the working conditions, eliminating wage guarantees and reneging on other promises.

Workers at Meced received the encouragement they needed to pursue union representation after talking to their counterparts who were already Teamster members at other Cemex plants.

The Teamsters Union represents more than 500 Cemex workers throughout the U.S.

"Cemex workers from other yards, who benefited from a Teamster contract, came out to the Merced yard and provided a great measure of support for the workers before the election took place on April 12," said Stu Helfer, a business representative with Local 853 in San Leandro, California. "It just goes to show you what has been determined all along: 'When Teamster members talk to others doing the same type of work, it is easier to demonstrate the merits of joining the union.'"

Negotiations are expected to begin shortly.

Anonymous said...

Machete said...

Sansooman, I will keep the fire burning at SFV Term.

I got your back.

sansooman said...

Machete,

Thanks, we much appreciate it..

We need as many e-mail addresses as possible, Communication and accurate rebutals to their propaganda and rediculous rhetoric, will absolutely shut them down, and show them for what they are, a bunch of weenies, the one's you use to kick in high school,and now they are our bosses and excersise their temporary power to threaten,retaliate, and make a hostile work place, and trust me when I say, upper tier management will only put up and protect these mgrs for so long, eventually they will be put to pasture, because they will be the focus of these terminal problems,this is how top brass at the company operates, need to remove mgmt at terminals? start a movement and they will be held responsible for that movement. How could a union be bad for FedEx Employees? Is this a question for a FedEx Mgr ? Would you put a fox in charge of the chicken coup ? At least the fox is honest about his intentions.It's the same thing,they have no interest in your best interest,only their best interest. Is it just a coincidence that if you google FedEx Lawsuits,the list is so long it takes up hundreds of pages...Oh yeh, thats a company who has it's employees best interest at heart. Read some of them to get an acurate profile of what they don't want you to see and read, My point is simple,if you band together as many,you out number them what 300 to 1, I don't know, but last time I checked, with those kind of odds, you can call your own deals and they know this, while your are out working,they sit up in those ivory towers in their think tanks, and figure out everything against you,they are ready with the standard cliche response to any driver questions,so don't drink the koolaid,just put yourself in their situation, and learn to think like them, ask yourself if I were in charge here, how would my best interest be served? then they will never get away with their B.S. My friends, you know who you can, and can't trust,your millions of years, refined old instints will tell you this,don't doubt them, if it walks and talks like a FedEx Mgr, or anyone trying to smootch the rump of one ( and you know who they are )turn your backs to them, and let them feel the isolation they so deserve, is this someone you want at your barbeque? MAYBE IN THE BARBEQUE.....