Unions. I love 'em. Sure, they have the reputation of being bastions of greed, but in the long run drivers will be far better off if they're represented by a union.

It's tough to organize drivers, sure. But I'd drive my personal vehicle from Salt Lake to Chicago for a simple election if I had to. Yeap, don't worry about finding me, my teamster brothers. I'll come to YOU if and when I get back into driving.

One reason companies will hire from all over the place is because such a practice isolates drivers. Isolated drivers are on their own--they can't even get together for a simple meeting, let alone an election. These drivers are thus much more vulnerable to abuse. More than likely those drivers are dumb enough to put up with it, so nothing changes.

I know that not being represented is gonna come back to haunt me when I get old. Screw the guys who hate unions and have bought into all the anti-union propaganda. Join me up, Teamsters!

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

While i belive in unions in theory, the simple truth is they are one of the bigest reasons for outsourceing peroid. They drive up the wages so the companies cann't compete.
I know some of you might say that you do not care about the business owners, but the truth is we all suffer when a single job is outsourced.

I guess they are ok as long as you are all for the teamsters. I for one will never convert after my experiences with them. I was not for them coming into a company I was driving for, we were treated very well at the time, as well as we did negotiate for our contract. We were a brotherhood and it was working out very well. Those of us who were not interested in voting for the teamsters were treated very bad by the teamster reps. They used scare tactics like crazy. I had one of them on my step while I was at a red light, I called the sheriffs department as the light turned green and I was driving away attempting to get this jerk off of my truck! I had sever flat tires on my personal vehicle during that time, as did some other brotherhood represtitives. I ended up parking my personal vehicle at the shop so they could watch it for me. Some of these people also almost hit the truck my husband was driving because they were waving a teamster jacket out the window of a car and swerving all over the road.

I am sorry, but I dont want to be a part of an organization who allows their rep's to act in that manner.

Maybe other local's are better, if I remember right this was local 952 several years ago.

I hope that other locals have better and more respectful behavior.
I am sure that with some companies union representation is necessary, I just do not think that is the way to get votes.

__________________
FunnyFarm04

Secondary strikes are the main problem I have with the Teamsters. Getting third parties involved who are simply bystanders is a big no-no to me.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Unions are just a scapegoat for outsourcing. If there were no unions the job would still be outsourced because union or no union an American worker isnt going to work for less than 2 dollars a day lol.

I know companies like to throw the "Mexican threat" in your faces when you talk about going on strike, but throw this back 'em:

Are those Mexi drivers that are supposedly coming up to the USA in droves going to have to wear those leg bracelets to keep track of their every move? Will each have to call a "probation" officer each and every day to let that officer know his whereabouts? It will have to be one or the other, or a form of both.

And this tracking is going to cost money. If these imported laborers aren't tracked, you know they're going to take full advantage of their free rides to the USA and leave the trucks sitting. Yeah, what a nice way to add to our illegal immigrant problem.

Today Mexicans are so desperate to come up here and stay they're willing to pay several thousands to agents for (illegal) transport. They're even willing to risk death by walking across the deserts in the summer time. Some of these guys would love to get hired by a US trucking company, come over the border, and make a run for the fields of Idaho and other places after abandoning their newly-acquired driving jobs. After all, digging potatoes doesn't require a CDL, a random drug test, or being away from family for weeks on end.

Besides, a Mexican driver will be harder to control, assuming said driver doesn't jump off his truck as soon as he gets to the USA. If and when his company threatens him in some way or rips him off, he'll just give the company the middle finger salute and go back home to Mexico. Yeah, it'll be hard to force a Mexican to unload, sit around waiting at docks, or accept any other BS. Even if he has a wreck, he'll simply go home and forget about the US trucking industry. To a Mexican driver, a driving job here won't be a "career" like it is to an American driver. If an American loses his driving job, it's an economic loss to him personally. This helps keep drivers in line. If a Mexican loses his driving job, he couldn't care less. He can always go back to his home country and throw his CDL in the trash.

Yeah, bring on those Mexican drivers, US trucking companies. I'll stand back and watch the mess unfold. But I bet it fizzles out before your grand effort even gets started. Not many Mexican drivers will want to hire on at American trucking companies and then wear the leg bracelet or make those daily phone calls to immigration. Most who hire on to be your drivers will be looking for a free ride up here. When they get it, you'll be going to fetch the trucks they abandon.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Tip - how does one join the union?

I will get my CDL next week - do you just call them up and say 'I want to join your union?'

thanks

__________________
Currently a 53 year old computer programmer considering a career change!

It's probably about that easy. I quit trucking before I had a chance to join the teamsters, so I never did. I think now I maybe should have joined and stayed in a union, even though I threw my CDL away when I quit the industry.

Joining the teamsters may not help you much if you're in OTR, TruckLoad. However, the teamsters are all about "connections". It's in their interest their members succeed. If you joined, they'd find you a nice union job somewhere. You may have to move across the country, but they could get you set up. And if they're truly worthy, they'll make you prove yourself first, meaning you'll be working on a dock for a while when you start out. After you've worked a year or so doing that, they'll hand you the keys to a union truck.

If I get back into driving, the first thing I'll do is join a union....probably the teamsters. And I don't care if they send me to Mars for a good union job. I'll do it. No more BS, non-union, slave-driving, OTR driving jobs for me that don't offer pensions and even expect me to give away 10% of my miles. That ####'s over for me FOREVER.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Any body that have ever loaded off of a union dock knows what I'm saying. UNIONS SUCK!

Only once have I ever been loaded or unloaded by a union job source in a timely manner. All the rest of the time its been a 5 hour or longer wait. While you sit there waiting to be loaded or unloaded you can see at any given time 5 or more union workers standing around jaw boning doing absolutely nothing while trucks stack up deeper and deeper to be attended to. Hour and a half lunch breaks, 45 minute regular breaks, and smoke breaks 3 times an hour. While I'm sure that a union is good for them so that they can be lazy all day and get paid for it, a union IS NOT good for any body else.


One other thing about union strikes. They go on strike for higher wages or what ever. When the company finally gives in and pays them their higher wage they never make up what they lost striking until the union demands the workers strike again. Its laughable the lack of brain power that goes into that stupid plan.

__________________

Heck there waiting there time out to get there Union trucks. It seems like everyone worry about the Mex coming across the border taking driver job in the United States. But it seems like our own people on these docks screw the drivers more. We need clean this dock issue up before we can worry about the Mex. No I am not for them to come across or I am saying every dock worker waste the driver time but it seem like there to many of them do.