cybersteward.net

Oh wait, we do:

But UPS is thousands of jobs short of the 20,000 full-time combo jobs required by the contract. And every day management is eliminating more of these jobs.

President Hoffa has bragged that our union has a “Hammer” to stop employers in egregious cases like this: the Right To Strike on deadlocked grievances.

No one needs a strike, especially before the holidays including UPS. What we do need is to send a clear message to every Teamster employer that our union is serious about protecting members’ jobs.

Is it time to remind management that we’ve got the Hammer? (read more)

Now if we could only use it to help UPSers like Mary Seumaala:

Mary Seumaala went on strike in 1997 to win a full-time job at UPS. Now UPS has taken her full-time job away.

…

And Mary is not alone. UPS has laid off forty Article 22.3 Teamsters in Seattle—and hundreds more across the country. In all, UPS is short-changing thousands of Teamsters out of full-time jobs. (read more)

Those familiar with this site know these concerns aren’t new. In the Willow Grove hub where I work, there are over a hundred Article 22.3 full-time employees, many with families to support and bills to pay.

Many employees, both full-time and part-time have come to me with concerns. And while I have no crystal ball to predict the future, I’ve done my best to calm their fears. But that’s made at least a little easier because our hub appears to be in a slightly stronger position than UPS facilities elsewhere.

While those of us in Willow Grove may not be in the direct line of fire, all UPS Teamsters need to grasp the importance of what is happening, even if it isn’t happening to us personally.

It’s about Solidarity. That’s the idea that we’re all in this together, and it’s the central operating principle of any union worth a damn. It’s the idea that we can’t stand idly by while others are hung out to dry.

And while it may not seem like a practical concept to some, it’s vital to our survival, not just as union members but also as human beings. Why? Because if we stay silent while others are violated, that silence will lessen the number of voices who speak out for us when we’re being violated. It’s a concept that could have prevented genocides throughout history, if only those with the ability had stood up for those without.

If we have no concern for those who are threatened now, who will there be left to speak for us if someday our jobs are on the line?

Take an interest. Hold your union officials accountable so they will hold UPS accountable.

Filed under: 2008 contract, I.B.T., Rank-and-File, Teamsters Local 384, UPS, jobs, rights, solidarity, strikes, unionism