More importantly, did you know we could fix much of the problem simply by learning how our safety committees are actually meant to work?

Time for a quick summary of some very important facts most UPS employees don’t even know about the safety committee:

1. The union members on the committee represent the safety interests of the union and its members first and foremost, not the interests of the company..
2. Eligibility to serve on the union side of the committee is ultimately decided by the union, not by the company.
3. The union co-chair of the committee is chosen by a vote of the union members on the committee, not by the company.

Far too many employees (and committee members) believe that the safety committee is a company committee. It is not — it is a co-chaired committee with members from the union and management sides, respectively. The basic guidelines are set by Article 18 of our master contract.

But if you read the “safety” boards in our building you will notice that the co-chairs of each committee are labeled as “management” and “non-management.” See what they did there? By mislabeling the union side of the committee, they’ve made it easier to forget who the union side of the committee represents. Whether by design or dumb luck (which is all too often the case at UPS), that’s exactly the effect their selective mislabeling has had.

Union members on the committee aren’t there to spread company propaganda about time limits for injury reporting or to find ways to blame workers for getting injured. Union members on the committee are there to report potentially hazardous conditions and help investigate, present concerns raised by other union members and find ways to solve these problems. Article 18 even states that a safety concern should be presented to the safety committee prior to a filing grievance, making each union safety committee member a quasi-shop steward.

The company does not get to run the committee. The company does not get to steamroll concerns raised by the union side of the committee. The company does not get to tell union employees whether or not they can serve on the committee. The company does not get to choose the union co-chair. The company does not get to do any of these things — unless we let them.

And sadly, we’ve been letting them for far too long. I would like to see that change, and I’m guessing the majority of my co-workers, especially those who’ve been harassed for reporting injuries, would also like to see it change.

If you’re one of those who wants this to change, I hope you’ll be part of the change. If you’re a current committee member, I hope you’ll seek concrete ways to change the atmosphere on the committee from within — maybe you’ll even run for co-chair. If you’re not on the committee, I hope you’ll consider putting yourself forward for membership on the committee — not for the free food, paid time in meetings or time away from your work area during the shift. That last item, joining the committee, is one I’m going to be looking into myself.

Maybe you’ll join me, in whatever way you can. It’s going to take a concerted group effort to turn the tide.

In the next installment of Why Safety Is a Joke, we’ll discuss a few of the lies that are sometimes spread with the unwitting assistance of union members on the safety committee.

The memo bears the title “March Cost Cutting Initiatives.” It even talks about laying off Article 22.3 Teamsters. Click here to read more about it.

Click here to download the memo.

For now, the rumors have subsided, at least in part, as the company is backing off some of its more egregious propositions regarding the Article 22.3 employees. No doubt the volume of calls to the Local Union from concerned members played a part in that shift — one reason why now is no time to stop with the pressure.

We have seen and heard threats to our jobs and talk about guarantees being shredded by a company making billions in profit. One thing most UPSers don’t seem to be thinking about is the violation of our contract that has been happening for months now. I’m talking about the 20,000 jobs UPS is required to maintain under Article 22, Section 3 of the UPS Master Agreement, as well as the documentation they are required to provide:

The number of full-time jobs created under Article 22, Section 3 of the 1997-2002 and the 2002-2008 Agreements shall not be reduced. Within sixty (60) days of the ratification of this Agreement the
Employer shall provide the International Teamsters Union a report detailing and identifying the full-time jobs which will need to be maintained pursuant to this paragraph.

The deadline for the last wave of those 20,000 jobs was last August, but there has been no indication that this language has been satisfied. So how exactly is the company able to eliminate jobs when they have yet to prove they’ve met this obligation?

And why isn’t the International Union proactively engaged in distributing the above mentioned list to locals for a nationwide audit process to see exactly how far away the company is from its obligation? Without complete information, there is no way to verify the extent of these violations. The company can dissolve a position from one location then claim it has gone elsewhere, but without verification, we have no way of knowing whether those claims are true. It is the essence of a shell game — an ages old con.

Are you a current Article 22.3 full-timer who has been afraid your job might disappear? Are you a part-timer who hopes one day to have a full-time job? If so, UPS’ disregard for contractual obligations directly affects you. But again, it affects all of us who call ourselves Teamsters. We all need to care about this rampant violation of our rights, because taking away the rights of even a few of us diminishes the rights of all of us.

In the coming days and weeks, I hope to be doing even more to get my fellow members involved in ongoing efforts to stop the shell game. Hopefully, some of you will join me.

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
and then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
and then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
and then… they came for me… and by that time
there was no one left to speak up.”
- attributed to Martin Niemoller

This past week in the Willow Grove UPS hub, some disturbing things have been happening. While we’ve known for a while about layoffs, the new developments revolve around the company reportedly trying to redefine some key terms in our contract.

The company announced, on rather short notice, plans to layoff certain inside workers. While any layoffs are disturbing in their own right, these layoffs are structured quite differently than past staffing reductions. In particular, these layoffs have targeted higher seniority, Article 22.3 employees, who have been kept from their guaranteed work hours while lower seniority employees have been permitted to keep working in the same operation.

On Friday, February 6, 2009, several Article 22.3 workers were kept out of work in this fashion. Inquiries made to the Local Union were met with claims that the Union had no involvement in the layoff selection process, which is in itself a serious violation of contractual rights. Furthermore, Union officials maintained that they were “completely against” what was happening.

How did the company get away with laying off full-time workers while junior employees were allowed to work in the same operation? Good question. Maybe it’s because they attempted to redefine seniority by insisting that Article 22.3 employees are in a totally separate classification from any part-time employees (even when full and part-time employees are both doing the same exact work).

While that may seem like a gross violation of the terms or our contract, it gets worse when you find out the company also claims the displaced employees have no right to bump. And how do they get away with that? Apparently, they do it by claiming that each day laid off is its own separate layoff. You see, in our supplement, most laid off workers with seniority have the right to bump after a specified number of layoff days. If the company is only laying off for a day each week, they will claim the count of days laid off is reset every week, even if their intent is to maintain a reduced work schedule for several weeks at a time.

Perhaps the company feels this is ample justification to deprive Union employees of some of their most basic rights, but it’s pretty clear the spirit of the contract doesn’t mean what they want it to mean.

The question now is, what are we going to do about it?

I say “we” because, aside from concepts we’ve already discussed in this post like seniority and bumping rights, there is an equally important concept we all need to embrace for our Union to be as effective as it needs to be:

SOLIDARITY

Solidarity is the one word answer to any misguided Union member who feels that violations committed against other Union members don’t affect them. It’s the one word retort to anyone who sees a Union brother or sister being violated and responds by saying, “It’s not my problem.” And it’s the only effective way to answer injustice that will otherwise spread to effect all of us.

And it will spread. What you mistakenly believe is someone else’s problem today will someday become your problem, too. And that day may come sooner than you expect. The only way to be ready for it is to stand by your fellow Union members.

Otherwise, it may turn out the way it did for people like Martin Niemoller (quoted at the top of this post), who mistakenly believed it wasn’t their problem when the Nazis went after other groups of people.

As I type these words, I know there are people in our Union who believe that what’s happening to others isn’t their problem. Because they don’t see themselves in the line of fire right now, they keep quiet — maybe because they don’t think the company’s sights will ever be turned on them, or maybe because they’re afraid that by standing up for others, the company will target them next. Whatever the case, if we don’t stand by our fellow Union members, who exactly do we expect will stand by us when it is our turn to be targeted?

Management depends on this kind of foolish indifference and apathy. They hope we’ll selfishly let them pick off our brothers and sisters so it will be even easier to target the rest of us in the future.

Think about it — before it’s too late.

No other details or reasoning were given, and employees were told that corrections would be made in the following week’s pay — despite contract language requiring shortages of this size be paid within two business days following the company’s awareness of such shortages.

One cannot help but wonder how such a “mistake” could have been made, especially considering rumblings earlier in December of alleged management intent at UPS Freight to deprive employees of holiday pay due to a layoff day. That plan was reportedly averted, though with a similar layoff day imposed on workers at UPS, the possibility of company payroll misinterpreting the company’s obligations and voiding holiday pay does exist.

Though no express contract language provides for an automatic penalty for such a widespread shortage, an investigation into the company’s failure to meet payroll obligations may be in order.

UPDATE: Most Christmas payroll shortages were corrected a week after the shortage, though some employees (mostly Article 22 full-time workers) had to wait an additional week for their money. A small number of employees (those who filed grievances for late payment penalties) should be getting penalty payments the week ending January 31.

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.

I’ve heard grumblings from several contacts across the country that there hasn’t been any evidence the company has filled the last round of 2,500 article 22.3 jobs (slated to be filled by August 1, 2008). There’s supposed to be a master list of these existing jobs available to the union. As of yet, I’ve heard no firm answer on whether we have that list or how to obtain it.

If you’re a Teamster working part-time at UPS wondering when (or if) your full-time job opportunity is going to come, you can make a call or write to your local union. Let them know you want to see the proof that UPS has lived up to its end of the bargain.

If not, maybe this guy might be able to help us out:

*Thanks to Tom for the heads up on the video

**I once quoted a statement from Norman Black (the media relations manager who appears in the above video) to a sort manager with whom I was discussing a grievance. He shrugged off Mr. Black’s statement. I countered that Norman Black was an official spokesperson for the company, so his statement (which favored the member I was representing) should count for something. The sort manager looked at me, smiled and said, “I don’t care what Norman Black says. He’s an idiot.” Interestingly, that’s pretty much how he looks in the video.

UPS has eliminated dozens of full-time Article 22.3 jobs in Washington State. In many cases, long-time full-timers are being forced to go back to part time.

The company eliminated nearly 40 Article 22.3 full-time jobs in Seattle Local 174 in the Boeing Field, Redmond and Seattle buildings. Six more full-time Article 22.3 positions have been eliminated in Spokane.

Under the contract, UPS is required to maintain 20,000 Article 22.3 full-time jobs. The company is not allowed to lay off any combo employees if the layoffs bring the total number of Article 22.3 jobs nationally below 20,000. There is no exception for “loss of volume.”

UPS is thousands of positions short of the 20,000 jobs required by the contract. The deadline for creating all of these jobs was Aug. 1.

Article 22.3 of our new contract obligates the company to provide a list of the 20,000 jobs that had to be maintained pursuant to the contract. With jobs shifting from place to place (in our local, some of the combo job vacancies have been shipped elsewhere), the only way to ensure that UPS is keeping its word is to see the details. I have asked for this information, but as of yet I haven’t seen it. Still, I encourage other UPS Teamsters to request some kind of verification on the required job creation and maintenance.

Read the full story and find out more about holding UPS to its word at Make UPS Deliver

Aside from bigger deficits and lower taxes on the wealthy, there’s one more linchpin of the McCain agenda that would absolutely raise taxes on millions of working people — if we let him get his way.

You see, lost in all the pretty words of McCain’s so-called “straight talk” on healthcare reform, is the simple fact that he plans to count employer-based healthcare coverage as taxable income. That means that people like me (and you, if you work for any company that offers health benefits) will suddenly be paying taxes on thousands of dollars more a year in “income” – despite that fact our actual salary won’t have increased. Matthew Yglesias writes about what he calls “McCain’s Health Care Tax Hike”:

…at the moment, compensation you receive from your employer in the form of money is subject to income tax, but compensation you receive from your employer in the form of employer contributions to health insurance premiums is not taxed. McCain proposes to change this and start subjecting those benefits to taxation. Some people, obviously, don’t have employer provided health insurance in which case this won’t make any difference to them. But for those of us who do get insurance through work, this is a very big increase.

A big increase indeed. Of course, those who admit to this policy and actually defend it will argue that the end result is to help with tax credits for uninsured Americans. But their mission is going to be financed by the increase on Americans who get their health insurance through work – which is fine by the McCain camp, because they admittedly want to discourage employer-based health coverage, as per USA Today:

McCain’s plan aims at eliminating “the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance” by offering tax credits for individual plans, according to his campaign website. The credits would be $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families. Those amounts would be subtracted from the final tax bill. Families, the campaign says, should be able to buy nationwide policies that can move from state to state.

And while the idea of trying to help the uninsured afford coverage is a nice idea, this one does little to curb the rising cost of healthcare. Additionally, it doesn’t come close to matching the financial expense of purchasing independent coverage. Again, from USA Today:

Such write-offs have limited value because average family health care plans cost about $12,000 a year, says Ken Thorpe, a health policy professor at Emory University in Atlanta. Also, many insurers won’t accept individuals with pre-existing medical problems, he says.

There’s already too much information flowing from the McCain campaign that goes unchallenged. Too many lies and threads of misinformation. Too many things that get ignored while we get distracted by the Sarah Palin circus. And that’s dangerous, because by not paying attention we as working people get screwed by politicians with plans to turn our lives upside-down.

So if you think John McCain is the guy who will cut your taxes, you need to pay more attention to what’s really happening.

And I honestly hope you will.

• AFL-CIO: McCain’s Health Care Proposal Will Increase Costs and Reduce Benefits [PDF]
• Center for American Progress: John McCain’s Radical Prescription
  for Health Care [PDF]

UPDATE 9/11/08: Jason Lefkowitz at CtW Connect has a little more to add to the issue in one of today’s posts.

*
Make UPS Deliver follows the story sparked by CNBC host (and Philly guy) Jim Cramer when he said UPS “pantsed” the Teamsters in the 2008 contract. Just a taste of what Cramer had to say:

I can’t overemphasize the importance of this contract to UPS. Personally, I love unions. But professionally I love companies that have crushed unions. And UPS, you know what they just did: They pantsed the Teamsters!
(Read the full story at Make UPS Deliver)

If you were reading this site last October you were already aware of the issues involving the “unborn” (refer to a quote in the Cramer story about “hosing over people who aren’t members yet”), and that there were several voices (including my own) who warned of the potential negative effects of this contract. Click here to read three articles from Cybersteward.net in particular.

**
Shining the bitter light of contrast on the gains not made in last year’s contract negotiations are the gains that have been made in Local 705′s recent strike threat (read more here). When approached by several part-time UPS members I represent about the news of 705′s victory (including higher raises, more vacation personal time, as well as other non-monetary gains), I told them we can still stand up for the contract rights we have – and remember to stand up next time our contract negotiations come around.

Standing up for the rights we still have includes not falling asleep on violations involving supervisors working and the creation of new full-time positions and the maintainence of existing positions.

The worst reaction we can have to contract concessions is to give up on the rights we still have. Let’s not do that.

And don’t forget that the new contract books are in, so if you need a copy, contact the union hall, your BA or your Shop Steward. Knowing your contract and your rights is the first and most vital step to standing up for those rights!