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.
4 comments:
I was talking to a co-worker the other day and he said he could not afford the the union dues if we became organized here in Fontana.I told him that I am paying $95.00 a month now. Union dues as explained on this blog is two and a half your hourly pay of rate, which for me would be $56.00 a month!
THE TIME TO ORGANIZE IS NOW!
FedEx Freight West annoused today that we would be paying more for our medical insurance next year. This is a slap in the face. They give us a 2 & half percent raise and then charges us more for medical. This company is showing big profits. Where not happy in Portland. Time for the TEAMSTERS to come in..
In working we all try to provide for our families and children. We strive to be free from harassment and persecution from employers, but somehow it seems inevitable that the management at Fedex Freight are trying to divide and undermine Union activity through illegal means such as harassment and surveilance. The employees are blinded from the simple fact which is a Union is designed to benefit the employees and since the Union would divde power and ultimate authority from management the Fedex management is steadfast against it. The management comes at employees with two faces one face behind closed doors and with employees who don't support the Union is a behind doors attitude of screw those pro Union employees and if the Union doesn't succeed then we will fire the employees who are for the Union. But the attitude the Fedex Freight management displays outwardly towards the pro Union employee is an attitude of false interest in their personal life while they are handing the employee a write up and smiling at the employees while their foot is kicking the employee in the behind straight out the door with constant barrages of write ups for ticky tack offenses such as not taking a lunch on time or not waiving a lunch. Last I knew wasn't it the supervisors responsiblility to inform the employee of the hours the employee needs to work for a given day. The kiss ups getting promoted will always happen and is almost impossible to avoid without the help and scrutiny of a Union watching your back. How many times has Fedex Freight management came to you with a paper to sign such as a safety roster or meeting sign in sheet and how do you know if the Fedex management could staple your name to another papaer which acknowledges wrong doing? Then you would be terminated for no good reason. The Fedex Management wants to be an eye in the sky with all their cameras and watchdog personnel checking up on drivers day to day activities, but what they cannot take away from us is a determination to work and provide for ourselves and our families to better ourselves. The two face act is getting very old, but then again their attitude of constant harassment and scaring the employees is commonplace. Is that all our years of service are worth a smile and a write up?
This is an awesome discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of unions and I commend all of you for your thoughtful responses.
I just want to make a couple of points.
We can talk about globalization as an inevitability, but I don't think we can blame unions for American jobs going overseas. We can look at things like NAFTA, but mostly we can look at American corporations who show no loyalty to their home country and actively seek loopholes in order to not hire American workers. We can look at the Wal-Marts out there that, after driving out smaller outfits, and thus decent paying jobs, from local communities, say that a 28-hour work week is full time so they don't have to offer benefits. Yet, they have $4 generic prescriptions, a sort of roundabout apology for busting everybody's block.
Speaking of healthcare, how many more Americans couldn't afford it without belonging to a union that ensures they have it? You know, growing up, my parents probably couldn't have afforded to pay for me to have braces -- cosmetic, I know -- or maybe they'd have had difficulty paying for my asthma medication. But this isn't some kind of sob story, they could afford it, and made sure I had those things, mostly due to union-ensured benefits.
Because many employers see bottom lines and not people -- and we're not discussing small business owners as much as we are major corporations that can afford it but have shareholders to answer to, who don't know the people affected and don't care if a kid in Kentucky gets asthma meds and braces. And that's kind of a sad state of affairs, really, when neither employers nor the government seems willing to take care of their own.
FedEx employees keep on fighting for your rights and demand to be recognize as future Teamsters.
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