why ooida, why not the TEAMSTERS??

[already gone]

yeah, doesn't sound like such a coincidence now, does it? It was not the Teamster's fault that a company bit off more than they could chew, while they extended their former contracts.

I doubt taking any cuts would have helped either, if they were losing 700 million a year saving a little on wages wont replace it. Sounds like they should have kept the Airborne Express management and just painted everything yellow and red, and hired a SALES team.

If they were doing THAT bad, at least you got an increase in pay for the short time you had left, it would have tanked either way it sounds like.

[JasonTheRock]

Originally Posted by already gone

yeah, doesn't sound like such a coincidence now, does it? It was not the Teamster's fault that a company bit off more than they could chew, while they extended their former contracts.

I doubt taking any cuts would have helped either, if they were losing 700 million a year saving a little on wages wont replace it. Sounds like they should have kept the Airborne Express management and just painted everything yellow and red, and hired a SALES team.

If they were doing THAT bad, at least you got an increase in pay for the short time you had left, it would have tanked either way it sounds like.

Our pensions increase was about $2 and hour and the wages increases were .50 cent every 6 months (I think) plus we had a COLA of about 5-15 cents. I cant remember how many unionized employees there were (clerks were also included in the contract) so it had to be in the high thousands. Health care (health,vision,dental,etc.) per member was $1400.00 per month, regardless of the size of the family. we paid none of that! That was all paid for by DHL. We only paid out $62 a month union dues. We also had a clause in the contract that if health care costs went up DHL had to pay the cost increase. Every year it goes up about $75.

Those were the days!!!!!!!!

And yes even if they had made that cuts are start making some money they would have probably ran it into the ground. Our teamster man (chuck mack) even said that he had never seen a company run the way DHL was and he has been in the union biz for almost 40 years.

[southernpride]

IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION: first OOIDA is an association legaly they cant organise a strike,second they do a lot of good with bad comopany and legislation in washington and yes as the name implys they are for owner operators and drivers and NOT THE UNION dont thin you will find many independents that think much of the union why because the union is for the union and no one else years ago when we needed help the union turned there backs and ignored us and most of us that have been out here awhile have ignored them ever sense WE DONT LIKE UNIONS PERIOD thats why were INDEPENDENTS we do just fine on our own and we dont have to pay anyone for the privaledge of working . now like most union people this may make you mad but it is true.
SOUTHERNPRIDE

Originally Posted by already gone

Why do company drivers join the OOIDA? I am not a member, and i don't know the specifics of it, but isn't it mainly for OWNER OPERATORS? Do they negotiate on behalf of owner operators directly , or is it more like a loose knit association, taking donations and issuing occasional press releases?

I have been noticing OOIDA stickers on Werner, Schnieder, Swift, Prime, JB Hunt trucks recently. And I read and watched and listened to a bunch of big company drivers talk about strikes in the last year.

You have no rights to strike if you are not union. the OOIDA is not a union. Havent they said that repeatedly? If you get a contract, you have the right to negotiate, as a democratic unit, and strike with real force, because you are no longer an at will employee, and the employer's HAVE to negotiate in good faith. If they do not, then it is an automatic NLRB unfair labor practices charge.

I know companies in the last 20 years have lobbied like hell to take away workers rights, such as allowing permanent replacements, and allowing double breasting(starting a non union side of the company and growing that, giving all the work to the non union side and starving out the union side), but even with those problems, you are left in a much BETTER position with a union contract backing you, instead of a small, unknown to the average person, association.

If you want to run a successful strike, and if you REALLY want to improve your conditions, wouldn't you want to gain them through a LEGALLY binding contract? As long as you are an at will employee, If you participate in any of these strikes for better conditions you can be fired. You will have no recourse, and the NLRB will not be able to help you.

Why does the OOIDA not start working with the Teamsters Union? Without a solid legal backing, it seems the OOIDA is merely making suggestions.

The Teamsters already work with the longshoremen and they have taken over the rails. So it is not like they aren't willing to form a partnership to better the conditions of workers.

I am not saying that everyone should lobby to turn their truckload carrier into an LTL carrier, but it help everyone if one or more of the big 6 or 7 carriers signed onto the USF Glen Moore contract. It is a good contract, and it would definetly help out anyone currently on the road in a sleeper cab truck.

Hell, it couldn't even be THAT hard for Schnieder drivers, if they wanted to get loud enough, they STILL have a contract in Milwaukee for their Schnieder Transport drivers, if enough National drivers got together and called up Milwaukee's local, I would bet that they could RE-OPEN that contract.

[boone315]

Two reason why I think there will never be a succesful strike by truckers. 1st, Truckers are like the dairy farmers I was raised around, you can not get more then two of them to agree with eachother on any one thing at the same time, even if they agree, they will disagree just for the sake and enjoyment of disagreeing. 2nd, big companies would love a strike to swoop in and replace the carriers who lost their contracts with their customers because of the strike. Even if they did not have the drivers for the trucks, they would get the A.T.A. and their paid for politicians to get the trucks filled by foreign drivers or have the president force the drivers back to work under some home security law (like Reagon did with the air traffic controllers). And this does not take into account those drivers who could not afford to miss work 'cause they owe to much $$ to the company store.

[wwfd1220]

although i cannot relate to anything that the teamsters have done, or are doing. i have been involved with a union for the better part of 8 years. i was in the I.U.O.E. for 2 years and i have been with the I.B.E.W for 6 years now. the one thing i see happening in "unionland" is that the unions are actually working more closely with the damn companies. my current union even has an office in the regional utility providers main complex. and slowly but surely what is happening is the unions are working more for the companies than they are the employees. now if i remember right isnt it suppose to be the other way around ??? yes, they pay very well, and i have very good insurance and a great pension. but, what i have seen happening in the last few years is that we are beginning to lose bargaining power. the union is actually getting bullwhipped by the company, and it is scaring the union heads a little. meeting after meeting all we are hearing is "we have to make consessions or the utility may just go non union". in closing what i see happening, the unions are losing there clout... and big companies are aware of this. the u.s truck driver IF they would band together are the strongest non-union, union in this country. if it could be coordinated, you could make your voice heard bad economy or good. strength in numbers fellas...

[RickG]

Originally Posted by already gone

Its nice you only halfway research DHL. DHL is a German company that bought out AIRBORNE EXPRESS, who were already Teamsters. They did NOT vote in the Teamsters for the first time, as you suggest with your quotes, but these were EXISTING Teamsters working for a company that was bought out by another, and keeping what they already had.

Looks like it says first national contract to me .

WASHINGTON—The Teamsters Union said last week that more than 7,000 of its members at DHL Express ratified their first national contract.

The Teamsters said in a statement that the contract augments wages and benefits, improves working conditions and also firms up job security for drivers, freight handlers, warehouse workers, and clerical call center representatives at several U.S.-based DHL Express locations

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
And how nice . It firms up job security .

[already gone]

RickG, if your company was bought out and you had a contract, they would pull the same statement once the contract was re-signed by the new buyer. it was explained above by someone who actually worked there, but hey, whatever, if you want to pick and chose, its up to you.

And any jobs' security is only as good as the company management makes it, although i'm sure while they were running the company into the ground, no one got fired for some bs reason. So in the end, YEP, the contract was providing job security, ALL the way up until MANAGEMENT was in too deep to do anything.

[already gone]

Originally Posted by southernpride

IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION: first OOIDA is an association legaly they cant organise a strike,second they do a lot of good with bad comopany and legislation in washington and yes as the name implys they are for owner operators and drivers and NOT THE UNION dont thin you will find many independents that think much of the union why because the union is for the union and no one else years ago when we needed help the union turned there backs and ignored us and most of us that have been out here awhile have ignored them ever sense WE DONT LIKE UNIONS PERIOD thats why were INDEPENDENTS we do just fine on our own and we dont have to pay anyone for the privaledge of working . now like most union people this may make you mad but it is true.
SOUTHERNPRIDE

southernpride, if you are "independant", and "do just fine on your own", then why are you in a trucking strike forum? It doesn't sound like you are doing "fine on your own". It sounds like you are just another owner op who does not understand how a union works in the first place.

I know some independants who run for my company right now, they are trying to organize and join our union because of better BENEFITS. We don't need to pay to work either, but when you look at what else is out there, 42 dollars a month is NOTHING compared to other jobs where i DON'T have to "pay to work".

You can pretend that i'm "paying to work" all you want, but when i get full health, dental, and vision, and a pension that can't be beat, and the ability to have a vote where i work( I'll buy the arguement that you can negotiate on your own when pigs fly), and overtime pay, you compare that to your work hours every week, your health insurance payments, your retirement contributions, and the hours every week that YOU have to sit and calculate where the money is going, and where it needs to go, and then YOU TELL ME who is PAYING to work.

[RickG]

Last year I read literally thousands of posts on forums about poor service by DHL drivers , especially on Amazon forums . DHL drivers would toss packages like paperboys delivering newspapers . When one customer was out searching for a package because online tracking showed it had been delivered the DHL driver drove up with the package . When questioned he admitted when he scanned a package earlier he went ahead and scanned others also while the scanner was in his hand . Many businesses lost customers because they used DHL for shipping . You can still find page after page of these complaints . Amazon customers did the dance of joy and said good riddance when DHL pulled out of the U.S. domestic market .

[already gone]

wow, nothing like beleiving unsubstantiated claims by someone who obviously doesn't like unions. It's ok, I sort of figured instead of responding to my earlier comment, you would come back with something that has nothing to do with what we were already talking about. nothing like a witty "drive by" changing subjects.

Sort of figured you wouldn't respond to the fact that AIRBORNE EXPRESS was ALREADY union. DHL signed to the same basic contract, and you are telling me that since DHL bought out AIRBORNE, it was their FIRST contract? I'm sorry DHL might have had unrealistic expectations, but if DHL had any problems with delivery, it was the same reason they had problems MAKING MONEY!! #### management.