Really ?
XPO | Xpo Union Thread.
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Trucker 206
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No reason not to believe that. All I know is what I experienced working there for three years, and what some good buds of mine that STILL work there tell me regularly. And that is that things are not good and morale has been in the toilet for several years now.
Hollywoodz
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Dude...I like working here. That's why I'm fighting so hard to make it WHAT IT SHOULD BE. You guys act like a union is going to put this company out of business. Far, far from it. They have plenty of money , not only to pay their executives and shareholders, but to take care of the people who ACTUALLY DO THE WORK. That would be us. Every time a terminal votes no, these guys are having a champagne party in both Connecticut and Michigan...laughing at us all the way to the bank. They count on guys who are willing to accept a bologna sandwich while they dine on steak and lobster. Of course there are worse companies. Does that mean we measure the quality of our working conditions based on the worst company? Or is it smarter to measure our working conditions based on the BEST company? We work just as hard as UPS or ABF. We deserve what they have. There are two reasons why this campaign has become so difficult. The first one is that it's not a terrible job or a terrible way to earn a living. There are much worse. The second one is that their union busters and company shills have been able to scare the :
: out of you, lying to you about the consequences of your actions. The only consequences are a better compensation package, a great health care plan and a grievance and arbitration process that eliminates the kangaroo court SRB and replaces it with an independent 3rd party arbitrator who will fairly judge whether or not your discipline will stand. I'm betting you'll like working here a whole lot better with a Teamster contract.
If you measure your standards based on the bottom.
I like my job. That’s why I press so hard to make it better not only for me but for you and others. It’s not all about me.
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I am really surprised at the responses you have gotten to this question. As we see in there responses they all had there reason and only one has said, ScotchNeat, "I didn't want to work in a union shop". One, Hollywoodz, even begged to work here now he bitches that were he work doesn't pay OT after 8 and he even requested to transfer their. Sucker666 called you "gullible" are you? Another said it was "a lot closer to home" and the last said this was the only place that would hire him full time. They like everyone else came here on there own free will and with their own reason. Some were lied to and others begged to come, but in the end they all came and have stayed at there own free will. Yes, they have every right to to form a union shop, just like others have the same right to vote it down, but when you vote it down you are wrong in there eyes. The call you company cheerleaders, or company shills because they do not respect you rights to vote NO or want no part of the union.
In repose to you question:
I came here to be home every day. I took a pay cut and took over three years to get back to were I was at my last job. The benefits are better here then at my last job and always have been even to this day.
One last thing you can retire from this job I know some that have.
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So what you are saying is that should be able to leave here and start with another LTL company and get everything you have here at your new job???? Do you think thats fair? I sure you would be screaming to high heaven if your barn hired someone with 6 months more driving exp. then you and gave them your top pay, run, truck, peddle, pump jack and dolly, and put them above you the list. The industry didn't do it the Teamster did with what they call the seniority list. God forbid the company rates there employees on there work proformance
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I'm a shareholder and I receive nothing from the company. XPO at this time does not pay a dividend to it stock holders.
I tried to go to FedEx about a year ago. I tried to get top pay rate, I was willing to give up everything else. The manager there said he wished he could, that the idea had been floating around, etc, to get experienced drivers.
For the past year or so I've been suggesting that we should try to offer experienced drivers to start higher on the pay scale, right up to the top. So, no, I'm not one of those "I've been here 30 years, screw that guy!" types. I do think seniority should be respected.
Trucker 206
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The seniority list exists to ‘reward’ those that have had the patience and fortitude to get to, or near, the top. By ‘reward’ I mean first, or close to first, on bid times and vacation selection. We never bid routes, we bid start times at my terminal. Although, it was an unspoken understanding that the top guys got the better runs. Those ‘top guys’ were BOTTOM guys at one time, and worked their way up. They had all the ‘slop’ at one point in time. We had our share of lazy-asses at my terminal, one being the top guy...as luck would have it. Gave himself the gravy runs ALWAYS. Not to mention those out-of-town U-Packs that, magically, took ‘all day’ while the rest of us worked our tails off in town. So I feel your pain on being rewarded for merit. This fellows shenanigans wouldn’t have been so obvious to spot had it not been for the guy that proceeded him, who was the TOTAL opposite. His motto was: “I won’t continually send you guys out on routes that I wouldn’t do myself.” And he was 100% correct on that, as I saw him take out some junk many times. I missed him a lot after he retired, and still speak to him on occasion. Much respect.
Just to be a bit more clear, I see no reason not to offer jobs which start at higher or highest pay scale to drivers with good records and applicable experience.
My terminal can't hire anyone and we are in need of 3-5 drivers (plus one new guy looks like hes going to quit, so add one more). Our TM keeps asking us to talk to drivers from the other LTLs and recruit them. With what, a pay cut and night runs? Lol. This company wants good, experienced workers, they better pony the hell up. Either that or accept the trash that they've been hiring who maybe one out of ten hit the one year mark before quitting or being fired.
Seniority, to my mind, should remain as it is. I've never heard anyone argue against that but I'd be willing to at least listen.
Now I can for once totally understand you perspective on unions.
I have worked here long enough ( much longer than most) to see guys that do not pull their weight do not last long at all . If someone last 10 + years here they have earned what little seniority buys them.
I have heard the same argument from a bunch of lower to middle seniority guys over the years. We all have started at the bottom including myself .
When I was at the bottom of the list I did not like having last pick on start times or vacation. I worked hard, stayed accident free and slowly moved up in seniority.
If a guy doesn’t want to leave here on his own accord to go start at the bottom somewhere else does not mean he thinks he should start at the top somewhere else . He is simply stating the a reality.
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Fly-by-night
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So were you offered and refuse because they were unwilling to give you top rate?
So you either respect it or you don't. You can't have it both ways. You are talking out both side of you mouth. You want to keep seniority but yet give top pay for experience, but yet you are pro union. I kind of confused? For my answer to that I will quote what Trucker 206 and Sucker666 posted.
"The seniority list exists to ‘reward’ those that have had the patience and fortitude to get to, or near, the top." post #8989
"We all have started at the bottom including myself" post#8991
and don't let us forget you own post "Seniority, to my mind, should remain as it is" post#8990
You state the seniority is a right of passage to better start time/runs, well guess what so is the pay progression. The driver at the top and even you may have gone through, what was it, 5yrs to reach top pay? Yes you were willing to give all that up, except your top pay to go to FedEx. What would you think if you were the guy going through the pay progression at a company and some driver they hired a year after get put at top pay. You been there a year and know the ins and out of the company and some green horn with driving exp is now paid at top rate on his first day.
When I came here I had more driving exp then 90% of the drivers at my place, hell the guy who trained me in the city was still
ting in his diapers when I started driving. I knew what the it took and how long to get to top scale and didn't expect the company to vary from that. There are companies out there that pay more exp I just don't know any in the LTL world.The only exception I know of is when NEMF closed the Estes barn near me offered those drivers a step up on there pay scale not sure were but it wasn't top pay. I sure it didn't happen at the union carriers.
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What is my perspective on unions?????
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So were you offered and refuse because they were unwilling to give you top rate?
So you either respect it or you don't. You can't have it both ways. You are talking out both side of you mouth. You want to keep seniority but yet give top pay for experience, but yet you are pro union. I kind of confused? For my answer to that I will quote what Trucker 206 and Sucker666 posted.
"The seniority list exists to ‘reward’ those that have had the patience and fortitude to get to, or near, the top." post #8989
"We all have started at the bottom including myself" post#8991
and don't let us forget you own post "Seniority, to my mind, should remain as it is" post#8990
You state the seniority is a right of passage to better start time/runs, well guess what so is the pay progression. The driver at the top and even you may have gone through, what was it, 5yrs to reach top pay? Yes you were willing to give all that up, except your top pay to go to FedEx. What would you think if you were the guy going through the pay progression at a company and some driver they hired a year after get put at top pay. You been there a year and know the ins and out of the company and some green horn with driving exp is now paid at top rate on his first day.
When I came here I had more driving exp then 90% of the drivers at my place, hell the guy who trained me in the city was still ::
The only exception I know of is when NEMF closed the Estes barn near me offered those drivers a step up on there pay scale not sure were but it wasn't top pay. I sure it didn't happen at the union carriers.
I'm not talking out of both sides of my mouth at all. I'm being pretty clear, I think.
Point one: I don't care if a new guy goes right to top rate if it helps us get new/better help. In fact, I've advocated for it.
Point two: seniority for bids, picking vacation time, start times, etc should be honored by time of service (much like now).
As to FedEx, we talked, they said they can't do it, we shook hands.
And for the rest of your post, I've never been the guy who says "I went through it, so should you or it's just so unfair!!!! *waaaaaaaaahhhhh*" I just want better/more employees and if it takes bumping starting pay, I'm all for it.
"You state the seniority is a right of passage to better start time/runs" <- pretty sure I never said that.
If we certified as a union barn and the hard and fast pay scale, with no ability to adjust to particular needs like I've been talking about, was negotiated into the contract I'd be disappointed.
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I said I'd be disappointed in the post you quoted here. How is that hard to understand?
If I were in the negotiation I'd push for just such a rule. Yes, I'd almost certainly lose. Yes, I'd still sign on. How would it be worse than now?
One can be anti-union and disappointed with the status quo. The inverse of that can also be true.
Fly-by-night
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Yes you are correct that's my mistake.
But you did say this and please explain because the way I read it is. If they have exp they should get top rate and seniority. Are you saying there exp should get them higher seniority???? More or less screw the bottom guy that are putting in there time.
"This collusion is one of the primary reasons we can't seem to hire experienced driver over here (at my termina), despite having desperate need. If they have experience, then they have seniority, top rate, etc."
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Just think how much stronger the union would be if there OWN members did keep screwing the new hires. UPSF starts driver out at around $17 per hour and four year to top rate. The industry didn't colluded to make it extremely painful for somebody like you to change jobs within the industry. The union members did.
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