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Note to Whittier Service Manager And Regional Manager ...

I would like to bring to your attention something about, Cesar Cuevas. He called for a meeting on Monday 9/17/2007 before the A.M shift had started, that the break bulk side needed extra help. I volunteered to help, but was sent home. On that same day, five people went to help and ended up working more hours. Some of them worked 9 hours to 11 hours. At the end of their shifts, Cesar signed their time cards knowing that some of them had less seniority then I have. I feel that I am a victim of favoritism on the dock or is this company policy here at Whittier. Is this discrimination or favoritism? I think it is both. I have heard talk about bringing in the Teamsters to this company and the more I see what is happening here at Whittier and the more I learn about unionizing. We have a lot to gain becoming Teamsters with a contract then working under these conditions on day-to-day bases.

FedEx Abandons Single Vehicle Contractor Model in California

’This is the beginning of the end of the contractor scam at FedEx Ground,’ says Jim Hoffa. FedEx could pay between $26 million to $33 million in severance costs alone for abandoning its illegal contractor model in California. FedEx and Fred Smith calls this abandonment a ‘transformation.’ But this is a retreat from the company’s contractor model. And a termination notice for about 1000 FedEx Ground and HD drivers in California who won’t take on additional routes.

Read More At FedEx Watch.org

ABOUT UNION DUES ...

1.4 million working men and women are dues paying members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Dues provide the resources to stand up for good jobs and benefits, decent working conditions and a better future for our families.That's why union members in private industry earn 38 percent more on average than than nonunion workers. They also receive 54 percent more in benefits.None of this would be possible without the strength that comes from our Teamsters dues.Management knows the power of Teamsters unity. That's why companies try to distract and deceive you with lies about union dues.Let's look at the truth:

FACT: Teamster Union dues average two-and-one-half times the hourly wage rate. For example, if you make $10 an hour, dues are approximately $25 per month.

FACT: Initiation fees may or may not be charged depending upon the bylaws of the local union.

FACT: Most of our dues stay with the local. Dues fund activities that give workers more power at the bargaining table, in the statehouse and in the community.

FACT: The membership pays union dues to provide for organizing expenses, office equipment, telephones, training and regular administration expenses.
Union dues help pay attorneys to assist in negotiations, grievances and arbitration.Membership dues also support research into companies and industries to gather information for negotiations and organizing. It also pays for accountants to analyze the company’s books.Members receive information about the expenditure of dues money at regular monthly membership meetings. The International Union publishes its annual audited financial statement in the Union magazine, which is sent to every member. Local unions file annual reports with the U.S. Department of Labor.

DISCRIMINATION ALIVE AND WELL AT FEDEX FREIGHT IN WHITTIER ...

I am being discriminated at FedEx in Whittier. Some supervisors at Whittier are favoring the one's that like to kiss a… and giving them more hours, why do some part time employees get more hours than me. I have been there longer than most of them. What is FedEx trying to do? Why is favoritism ok to do here? Why should any employee go the extra miles for FedEx? I’m beginning to see your point of view irudedog and if organizing is the right thing to do, then I’m behind you all 100%!

JOE NUNO said..

8 TEST OF JUST CAUSE !!!

1. IS THERE A RULE?
2. DID THE EMPLOYEE VIOLATE IT?
3. WAS THERE NOTICE OF THE RULE?
4. IS THE RULE REASONABLE?
5. WAS THE RULE APPLIED UNREASONABLY?
6. WAS THERE A FAIR INVESTIGATION?
7. EQUAL TREATMENT WITH OTHERS?
8. IS THE DISCIPLINE-UNREASONBLE?

September 9, 2007 8:01 PM

Mexican Trucks Crossing Otay Mesa Border & Meetings in Whittier About Devore Terminal ...

Good reliable sources have reported that they witness FedEx Freight trailers crossing the Mexico border this past Thursday 09-06-02, not with FedEx drivers, but with independent drivers and equipment! Please contact your Senators and tell them that this has to stop now!

The next job you save may be your own!

Also meetings were held on the Whittier dock this past week about the new Devore terminal in San Bernadino,CA. Supervisors were telling the dockworkers if they want to work at Devore that they would have to reapply for work there! If you are already an employee of FedEx, why in the world would you have to reapply again? Sounds like a way for our employer to weed out pro-union employees from going to Devore. If we were already organized, they would not be doing this my fellow employees!

BE WISE AND ORGANIZE!

THE TIME TO ORGANIZE IS NOW!

Patrick Kelly On Border Crossing Today, 9-6-07

Secretary Treasurer Patrick D. Kelly

September 2007 Report

Stop Cross Border Trucking! Call or e-mail your U.S. Senators and other Representatives and urge them to defeat this travesty (Senator Barbara Boxer 213-894-5000 www.boxer.senate.gov and Senator Diane Feinstein 310-914-7300 www.feinstein.senate.gov). If you live in Nevada contact Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at 702-388-5020. Be sure to register to vote and sign-up for DRIVE. This is nothing more than union busting directed at the Teamsters Union, ILWU and ILA. Thank you for your support of our Executive Board and our Local Union.

Organizing Meeting ...

There will be a meeting this weekend at:

Local 63
323 Valley blvd. Rialto, Ca.
At 10:00 am

Everyone is invited to attend. Come and get
educated on what the Teamsters have to
offer and ask questions that you would liked
answered.

THE TIME TO ORGANIZE IS NOW!

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A Brief History of Labor Day

The origins of Labor Day are more than a century old.

The first Labor Day parade in New York City was held in September 1982. Two men are credited with playing an important role not only in bringing about the parade but the holiday as well. Matthew Maguire, a machinist from Paterson, N.J., and Peter J. McGuire, a New York City carpenter who helped found the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, are said to have suggested a holiday to honor working people in the United States. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday, and in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making Labor Day a national holiday.

How unions help all workers

by Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters

Unions have a substantial impact on the compensation and work lives of both unionized and non-unionized workers. This report presents current data on unions' effect on wages, fringe benefits, total compensation, pay inequality, and workplace protections.

Some of the conclusions are:

• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.

• Unions reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.

• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.

• The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages.

• The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.

• Unionized workers receive more generous health benefits than nonunionized workers. They also pay 18% lower health care deductibles and a smaller share of the costs for family coverage. In retirement, unionized workers are 24% more likely to be covered by health insurance paid for by their employer.

• Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28% more toward pensions.

• Unionized workers receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays).

Unions play a pivotal role both in securing legislated labor protections and rights such as safety and health, overtime, and family/medical leave and in enforcing those rights on the job. Because unionized workers are more informed, they are more likely to benefit from social insurance programs such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Unions are thus an intermediary institution that provides a necessary complement to legislated benefits and protections.