Sunday, July 31, 2011

Anti Union Meetings Starting Last Week



There have been anti union meetings so far in Gardena, Bandini and Whitier terminals lately. No surprises since the Teamsters have announced, at their Convention last month, that there will be a campaign to organize FedEx Freight now.

So the usual rap from managers, who are the tools of well paid union busters that hide behind the managers who could be the ones who are charged with unfair labor charges instead of the busters!

They say that the Teamsters will come to your house and make you sign a "union card". I have had a visit from them and not once during their visit did they ask me to sign a card! Did you hear that Whittier, Bandini, and you managers at Gardena!?

"All they want is your money" I personally have no problem with that. That will give me representation, which Joe Nuno didn't have, in case FedEx or a manager is trying to get rid of you for his own personal reasons, you got that Mira Loma? Besides, union dues are tax deductible!

What really gets me is how management is calling "pro union" employees,” disengaged employees”. And that the "engaged employees" should let management know who these employees are? These people who report to management can also be considered "spies" for the company and get themselves in very big trouble on behalf of the company!

So the next time management says their entire BS about the Teamsters, ask them to put all the things they are saying down on paper and sign it! If they're so sure of it, they shouldn't have a problem doing that for you.

Beside management and the rest of the tools say, "educate yourselves about the union" right? So if a Teamster and a committee member come knocking at your door let them in and "educate yourselves" and ask as many question that you like! If you ask a lot of questions at work, management will tell you, "not now later", see me in my office. Watch out, you might be considered “disengaged!”

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

UPS Boosts Profit 26 Percent | Journal of Commerce

http://www.joc.com/parcel-package/ups-boosts-profit-26-percent

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Change of Operations Announced in Mira Loma Today 7-26-11

Change of operations in Mira Loma will take place in September of this year. These changes will also effect San Bernadino and Fontana service terminals. SBO will get (we hear) HP and North Ontario, the mall. FTA, Apple, Uline and Volkswagon.

If anyone knows more, feel free to comment.

Rudy

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

FedEx Package Handlers to Vote on Teamsters Patrick Ayers |  July 19, 2011

If 71 package handlers at the FedEx Ground warehouse in Brockton, Massachusetts, win the union election scheduled for August 3, it will be the first time ever for package handlers at the giant non-union shipper. They’re facing a fierce anti-union campaign.

A top issue is poverty wages; all the workers are part-time, starting at $10.50 an hour with a maximum wage of $14.50 after four years. “Since there’s no seniority,” said one worker, “personal friends of managers typically get the full-time jobs or promotions.”

He said workers have to load packages that include 150-pound engine blocks, working in trailers that go down to 2 degrees in the winter and 115 in the summer.

Brockton workers looking to unionize contacted Teamsters Local 653 and signed up 75 percent of their co-workers. They kept the union drive hidden from management for months.

FedEx fights tooth and nail at the legislative and judicial levels to keep unions out, defending its misuse of “independent contractor” status for their drivers at FedEx Ground, for example. The practice places them outside the protection of numerous labor and employment laws.

The Senate passed a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration bill last year that excluded a provision making it easier for FedEx workers to unionize.

The Teamsters and UPS had supported a bill that would level the playing field by putting FedEx under the same labor laws that cover UPS. Since the legislative failing, the International union has shifted its attention to FedEx over-the-road drivers in the freight division.

Full Court Press

The company has flown in its top union-busting executives to Brockton, to try to kill the union with a sudden kindness not known before. Ninety percent of workers are black, and all supervisors were white. Now the white supervisors have been replaced by nice African American managers; the workers have been treated to cookouts and finally offered some basic benefits.

One worker said, “Before the union drive we had no health insurance, no vacation time, no sick days, no paid holidays, and we worked with broken and dilapidated equipment.”

With the union drive came (worthless) health insurance that’s offered after a year and a half, one week of vacation time, paid holidays, and brand-new equipment, the worker said.

At the same time, managers spread misinformation about unions to whip up fears. According to the FedEx worker, managers are organizing hour-long meetings with human resources, “reading off anti-union fliers every single day.”

Management harps on initiation fees and fines. But workers say the local charges no initiation fees to the first group unionizing, and no member of Local 653 has ever been fined.

Workers say managers have been flown in from all over the country to help beat the union, including the Eastern Division VP, who told everyone that “we have ways to keep the Teamsters out.”

Simply quitting and finding a better job is not an option. Brockton has one of the highest unemployment rates in Massachusetts, and the job market is only getting worse.

A union would enable workers to bargain for living-wage jobs in Brockton. And a victory at FedEx—the Wal-Mart of the trucking industry—could inspire other young workers to stand up to their bosses.

Supporters are holding solidarity actions at FedEx Office store locations in Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, Minneapolis, Madison, and four locations in Washington state this Saturday.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

About Part One

UNION DUES:

Are two and a half times your hourly pay per month.

They are for Administrative needs, B.A., negotiations, arbitration etc...

No dues are paid until a contract is made.

Dues are tax deductible.

Monday, July 11, 2011

7/22 FedEx National Day Of Action-FedEx workers organizing into the Teamsters in Brockton, MA: WE ARE TAKING ON A GIANT! | Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

http://transportworkers.org/node/1849

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Sequence To a Constructive Termination Joe Nuno

1st offense;
Joe was dispatched to Best Buy in Chino Ca. to do a pick up. Best Buys has four shipping areas. Joe went to the 1st shipping and picked up x amount of pallets. Next he went to the 2nd,3rd and 4th shipping areas where he was told that there was no freight here to pick. He checked back to the 1st door and was told he picked up what they only had already. Joe let his dispatcher know what was happening. Dispatch gave him other pickups to do. When he returned to the terminal, he was confronted by management that he missed the pick up at Best Buy?

2nd Offense;
Joe was dispatched to Best Buy to make a pick up. The pickup is monitored by security there at all times. You bring an order (pallet) up and you and security count the pieces on the pallet, sign the bill of lading, than load the order into your trailer. Ten days following that pick up, Joe was told that there was a pallet in that trailer he used to pick up Best Buy, which was not manifested or signed for. Joe asked management where the bill of lading was and they told him that the freight had been moved on to its destination. No foul, no harm. Right? Joe was suspended! He challenged this with HR, but to no avail he was denied and lost. He was suspended.

3rd Offense;
Joe had multi dr's at a delivery on a Friday. On the following Monday he was asked if he had any dr's that he did not turn in. instead of lying, like a few of the drivers I talked to have, he turned them in. Tuesday Joe was put on administrative leave for two dr's? On Thursday afternoon, an hour before we were to speak at the Teamsters Convention. He got a phone call from Mark Link that Joe's services at FedEx were over.

The attending Teamsters in the audience were told what had just happened to Joe, but even after this blow to his personal life, Joe went out spoke with pride. Why? Because this is a man with pride and conviction! Not like that "Coward" on the phone!

By Rudy Hernandez

Thursday, July 7, 2011

The End Of The American Dream

Snap Shot aka Constructive Termination

On June 30th, Joe Nuno was terminated from his driver position at the Mira Loma, CA terminal by none other than the infamous Mark Link. 

Joe received the call informing him about his termination during the first day of his vacation.  

This shows all, that none of us, no matter how disciplined we are at work,we are all under an “AT WILL” employee at FedEx. And we need to have Representation and Collective Bargaining at the workplace.

What happened to Joe this past week will not be a deterrent to the cause we are fighting for. But should be a motivation to take us to the next level!

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE BEG!
BE WISE AND ORGANIZE!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Friday, July 1, 2011

The TURK Said ...

NOW is the time for us to rise!!

NOW is the time to wipe the spit from our eyes!! The disdain & disrespect that this company imposes on it's workforce on a daily basis is a call to arms!!

But sadly, so many of my brethren who complain about their treatment, complain under their breath. What holds them back is Fear, Fear of the unknown, the Fear the company instills in them with mantra like, "you're lucky to have a job".
Well, I for one am tired of getting pissed on my face, and being told it's raining by Fred Smith. There's an organizing meeting on July 10th. If you're TIRED of being afraid, if you're TIRED of having our jobs OUTSOURCED, if you're TIRED of having management arbitrarily make up the rules of employment, but mostly if you're TIRED of being an at-will employee, then you need to attend this meeting. THIS revolution WILL be televised!!!

BE WISE!! ORGANIZE!