A message to management.

What a timely thread. I feel my job performance is constantly good. I am always on time and always have the hours needed to be in a position to be on time when problems arise. I have great relationships with everyone and love what I do.

Two days ago I was asked If I would commit to stage and turn in backhauls for a driver who was banned from the DC where we pull from, for an extra $100 a week. Three times a week I would have to start my day early and loose buffer time just so this moron driver could stay on the account.

His job would be easier and mine harder. He would be rewarded for bad behavior.

Why they even asked is beyond me...

My answer--

 

An extra $100 per day .. sure.... $100 per week.... no way

 

That would be a good deal for everybody. Except you. Good answer.
We don't do LTL but we're a small company and sometimes there are four or five rock trucks on short hauls around and around all day. If somebody is dragging their feet it shows up quick. It slows everybody down and it makes the guys who are doing their share grumpy. We deal with it quick because we can't afford to put up with it.
Your bosses aren't looking past the end of their nose. The guy they're trying to protect will poison a whole crew.

 

Good on you! "I missed the part where that's my problem." That's what I would tell them.
The real irony of this type of situation is, if the roles were different, and you suddenly were banned from a customer, which caused the threat of your employer losing an important account, they would probably hang you out to dry. They wouldn't expect that kind of behavior from you, probably because of your reputation for being responsible. I'll bet they let this moron get away with this kind of crap all of the time, and instead of a confrontation, they just find a work around like yourself, and everything's fixed from their point of view...

 

I even see this at the small truckload carrier im leased to that is comprised of mostly company drivers ...most don't give a Schmidt and do the bare minimum ...but management has a large part in that too.

 

This is exactly what several of the crusty old Teamsters at my first trucking job at Consolidated Freightways told me when I was barely 21. Instead of slowing down I delivered a couple more stops the next day. I wasn’t originally working hard to show them up, but I was after they got in my business. I now understand how my 56 year old body wouldn’t peddle freight like my 21 year old body did, but I also wouldn’t tell a 21 year old to slow down.

 

Yes, and that is a big part of why our government agencies are so inefficient. Unions were a good idea when they started. They were formed originally to address inequities and horrible working conditions. But somewhere along the line, they became overly selfish and aggressive with unreasonable demands. My buddy worked at Eastern Airlines back in the day as a baggage handler. He would tell me how his supervisor forced him to take breaks every hour because the unions demanded it. Today you can go to any Walmart, and you will see the floor employees constantly checking their phones.

Our government agencies protect mediocrity. They promote and pay based on TENURE, before MERIT. The reason I quit the SSA is because there was NO WAY I was going to get paid 50% less than people that I out-produced by over 100%. That just wasn't fair. And I wasn't going to compromise who I was by purposely slacking. Once you go that route, it can become a habit and infest other aspects of your life. On top of that, I had to drive 35 miles each way in horrible traffic? NOPE. I already had two other jobs and was getting worked to the bone. I sometimes had to stop on the side of the expressway heading home in the afternoon because I was dozing off at the wheel. I tutored a Saudi Sheikh while he attended the University of Miami, and I was the Sportsbook Director on a casino boat that left Miami Beach daily. Guess which one paid me the least? And it's a shame, because the SSA is a career-type job. So one of them had to go.

 

You and I can agree to disagree on our like or dislike of unions. My co workers laziness was not a union thing, it was a lazy thing. Similar to my lack of laziness being a work ethic thing. I have worked with just as many lazy F@@@ers in non union jobs. I am a strong supporter of unions and don’t have the desire to debate you on my opinions or yours. I am also a strong supporter of doing your job regardless of being union or non union. I have been both and am currently a non union owner op working exactly the same way I did when I was doing the same job but was represented by the Teamsters union. The Union I will receive a pension from in a few years.

 

You misinterpret me. I am not against unions. I feel that they are as necessary now as when they first started. If unions didn't exist, employers would run roughshod against the poor working man. I just don't like it when there are unreasonable demands. There has to be a balance. Pro sports is an example. Yes, whether a person is lazy or diligent comes from within. But a hard-working, diligent person CAN have his wings clipped through forced breaks and the like. It doesn't make him less diligent. A lazy person will always be a lazy person, unless he has some sort of enlightening inner change within himself.

 

Every single thing in life can be a negotiation which is where unions and contracts are good, in my opinion. I personally think that some of the benefits in union jobs is that what is expected from both sides is generally laid out in writing. I personally follow the rules, but I want them equally applied to everyone.
Enough about Unions as the mods will get irritated if politics or unions are talked about outside of specific forums and I am OK with those rules.