How do companies get away with not paying bonus, etc.?

Recession > bonuses.

 

More like you should be thankful to get a check. After all, slaves usually are not paid.

 

They got me on a quarterly safety bonus at Central.
I thought I had the miles for it, I did not.
I took vacation at the end of the quarter. I was supposed to be in Conley to fly to FL on Sunday. Had my tickets and everything.
They got me to Conley on Friday. I requested to do some short local loads or something to fill my time, but they said they had nothing.
So I got the tickets changed and flew out Friday.

I found out a few weeks later that I was just under 100 miles short for my safety bonus. That was 500 bucks I did not get due to getting vacation early.
I wrote it off as a loss, but it was frustrating.

 

See and folks are crying that unions are of no use... I work under a collective agreement that states what I earn per hour, and when over time is paid.. and what I am paid for etc...
per hr
ot after 8 hrs and after 40 hrs reg in a week.. I get paid 1 hour if I have to chain up..
If I am gone for more than 16 hrs I get a 42.00 sub payment
so if im on the road 4 days I get it for every 16 hrs i'm away
All of us driving the patch are hourly paid.. so when I head to the NWT its a 18 hr out travel plus unloading on location (at the drill rig) then what ever time to travel back to terminal

 

If your going to roehl dont count on the bonus pay. you have to jump threw hoops to get it, and the company controls every thing. your bonus and future raises are determined by 1- making the mininum mileage quota, 2- attending all safety meetings, 3- idle time percentages, 4- no accidents/ tickets, and last but not least no service failures ( no late deliverys). other than that you should have no problems !

 

Our bonus system is pretty straight forward. You have to be here a year to be eligible. Our only criteria is no accidents, no cargo claims, no workmans comp claims, no driver faulted late arrivals(weather doesnt count) and no excessive equipment damage(hit a deer not your fault, run engine low on oil, thats on you). They put it in the drivers hands on whether or not we get our bonus.

 

I can earn as much as I want without having to bid on any run... I can take a load paying $5.00 cwt or wait for one paying $6.25 cwt. Or I can bobtail home if i want a week off... I don't have to rely on a seniority list to see when I can go on vacation.

I don't have anyone crying to the union stewards if I take a load that somebody else thought THEY should have... whether they would actually take it or not.

I like first in-first out dispatch.

I don't have to worry about the guy in the wash bay filing a grievance against me because I picked up a wash brush to clean my window while he was sleeping in his usual hide out (my experience). And then calling me a scab because I was a seasonal employee (paying union dues) not a driver with seniority.

I don't have to worry about the local business agent threatening the retirement that I worked 30 years for because I became an independent trucker after I retired from a freight company (happened to my father-in-law).

And I don't have to worry about the union trying to force me to pay for my initiation fee FIVE times... my employer had to demand my $$$ back after my local refused to refund it to me.

And I won't be disappointed when my union turns their back on me after a employee of one week makes an unsubstantiated harassment charge and allows the company to terminate my employment despite 5 years of a perfect employment record (happened to my friend).

I don't go to work everyday hating the company I work for.

You union guys can extoll the virtues of the Teamsters all you want... there ARE some good things about having a contract with a faceless conglomerate like YRC (and others) BUT the country could never be as productive as we are today if we all had to operate under the restrictive union contracts like the LTL carriers have to put up with.

I've worked for some of the finest employers I could ever hope for in the 38 years since I first took the wheel... and working as an O/O in this industry allows me the freedom to work where I please when I please... and make as much money as I like.

I have a Teamsters withdrawal card sitting in my desk right now... I doubt I'll ever need it again.