Teamsters Local 89 UPS Ground District

Transcription

1 Teamsters Local 89 UPS Ground District

2 Welcome to the Teamsters Teamsters Local 89 is a branch of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). All Teamster Local Unions across the country report to the IBT. You can liken this relationship to state and federal government where a Local such as 89 would be a state government, while the IBT would be the federal government. Founded in 1903, the IBT now has 1.2 million members with approximately 222,000 members working for UPS. Local 89 is made up of 15,000 members across 200 companies in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. In the UPS Air District we have approximately 8,800 members and another 1,900 members in the UPS Ground district. Local 89 represents the largest number of UPS employees of all the local unions throughout the United States. General meetings are held at the Local 89 Union Hall on the 2nd Friday of each quarter (March, June, September, and December) at 7:30 P.M. All members are encouraged to attend in order to stay up to date on what s happening within the union.

3 President Fred Zuckerman Secretary Treasurer Colvin John Bolton Teamsters Local 89 Union Hall 3813 Taylor Boulevard Louisville, KY UPS Ground Business Agents: James DeWeese Mike Rankin Website: Facebook: Twitter:

4 What is a union? Union is the everyday term for Organized Labor which is a group of workers who bind together so that their voices can be heard. Where alone a single employee may not be able to affect what happens at the company around them, when combined with many others they can have a strong impact. A union allows workers the power to bargain with the company they work for to obtain safer working conditions, better pay, better benefits, better vacation time, and job protection. Initiation Fees and Dues Initiation Fees and Dues are used to fund the Teamsters union so that we can continue fighting for your rights. Some examples of what dues are used to pay for include: the expenses of maintaining the Local 89 Union Hall, salaries of the officers, business agents, and staff of Local 89, supplies and materials to represent the members, legal fees and arbitration expenses, and per capita expenses of the IBT in Washington D.C. To put it another way, think of dues and union membership as a kind of "workplace insurance" policy. We all have car insurance and other forms of protection we pay for. Being a member of the Teamsters is like having an insurance policy that ensures you will have a voice to fight for raises, healthcare, vacation, and will defend you if anything ever goes wrong. When you think of it like that, your dues is a very small fee to pay for an outstanding set of benefits. In order to become a member of Teamsters 89 you must first pay a one time initiation fee of $100 dollars. This is split into five payments of twenty dollars per week.

5 When your initiation fees have been paid you will then begin paying dues. The dues rate for part time employees making less than 11 dollars an hour is: 2 x hourly rate + 1 Example: An employee making ten dollars an hour would be 2 x = 21 The dues rate for part time employees making more than 11 dollars an hour is 2.5 x hourly rate + 1 Example: An employee making an hour would be 2.5 x = The 1 dollar added to the dues rate for each employee is put into a strike fund for the region which gives a greater monetary benefit to Local 89 members if there is ever a need for a strike. Part time employee s dues currently stop at 30 per month, which is a special low rate that was granted to Local 89 in order to help our part time members. You owe dues for every month in which you work at least one day, including the first month when you were probationary. Because dues are not deducted at the same time as initiation fees this will lead to you owing several months worth of dues payments by the time your initiation fees are finished. It is normal to see dues come out of your checks for three to four weeks in a row after the initiation fees are completed. After you have paid your initiation fees, dues will be deducted once a month on the third week of the month and are paid in advance (July dues would come out in June, etc.) If you leave Local 89 for any reason be sure to call or visit the union hall and request a withdrawal card. With a withdrawal card filed, if you ever came back to UPS or any other Teamsters job you would not have to repay initiation fees or any back dues owed during your time away. The withdrawal

6 card will cost (.50) fifty cents to file at the union hall and would save you another $100 dollars if you ever joined the Teamsters union again. Seniority Your seniority is one of the most important aspects of being a member of a union. Your seniority date is what affects your benefits, raises, vacations, transfers, full-time job placement, and your right to work. Always be sure to memorize your seniority date. Once you obtain seniority it can be considered broken (Terminated) and you can be cleared for one of the following reasons. If you resign voluntarily If you are discharged and not reinstated through the grievance procedure. If you are laid off for 3 years, or length of seniority, whichever is less. If you fail to report to work for three consecutive days and do not notify the employer by the beginning of your start time on the third day. Contracts A union contract is a binding legal document that exists between a union and a company that determines everything that can or cannot be done. Your yearly raises, benefits, vacation time, seniority rights, and countless other rights are outlined in the contract.

7 The contract between Local 89 and UPS is a combination of three separate documents. National Master Agreement This contract covers all of UPS across the entire country. Raises and benefits are outlined in this contract. This is the largest union contract in the United States Central Region Supplement This contract covers a large portion of the country including Kentucky. Holidays and many work rules are outlined in this contract. This is the second largest union contract in the United States. Kentucky Rider This contract covers UPS Teamster members in Kentucky. In the event that there is language on a specific issue in two or more of these contracts they are used in the following order. Kentucky Rider > Central Region Supplement > National Master Agreement. The length of the contract between UPS and the Teamsters is determined during negotiations. Negotiations typically begin about a year before the expiration of the current contract and continue until a new contract is established. When both sides have come to a tentative agreement ballots are mailed out to all UPS Teamsters employees and it is up to you to vote on the contracts to determine if they are accepted and put into place, or rejected and sent back for further negotiations. In a union the power is always in the hands of the rank-and-file voters. Job Security Job security is one of the things unions are best known for. The longer you stay at UPS the more you will hear stories about an employee who made a mistake and the union helped keep them out of trouble. While this may be the thing people see us doing the most it is actually only a small part of what a

8 union does. Many problems are addressed with management before the average employee ever knows it existed. The better the union is doing at its job, the less you will actually notice us. That said, there are some very important aspects of job security that you should be made aware of. Weingarten Rights Weingarten is one of the most important aspects to the union that exists. In simple terms, Weingarten gives you the right to refuse to participate in any interview with a member of management until a union steward is present to make sure you are properly represented. If you are ever being interviewed by management and you feel that you need a steward present you may invoke your Weingarten Rights at any time. Management should immediately stop any questions until a steward arrives. If management continues to question you without your steward present, Weingarten gives you the right to refuse to participate any further in the interview. You are advised to always request your union stewards presence if you feel in any way that an interview could lead to discipline. Note: Under our contract the company must make a steward available once they have made the decision to give discipline on an employee. Regardless, always invoke your Weingarten Rights at the start of an interview rather than waiting to see what the outcome will be. Remember, everything you say or write can be used against you. - Central Region Supplement, Article 17

9 Union Waiver Form In rare instances where you are being interviewed by the company you may be asked to sign a union waiver form. This means that the company can begin to question you without a steward present. If you sign a waiver form you can still revoke it at any time during the interview and request a steward, however Local 89 strongly discourages any member from signing this form at all, and instead encourages you to request a steward any time you are being interviewed. Refuse To Sign (RTS) Because you are a member of a union you have the right to Refuse to Sign (RTS) anything that is not required by law or by the contract (typically documents required: FAA, D.O.T., hazmat training documents, etc). Aside from the previously mentioned exceptions, you have the right to RTS anything that is in your PITS (pitts is the common term for the employee file your part-time supervisor keeps for all employees), or any other document that the company gives to you that you disagree with. Attendance At UPS any late, call-in, or no-call is referred to as an occurrence. Having too many occurrences will lead to progressive discipline for attendance, and eventually the loss of your job if you are unable to correct the problem. An occurrence drops off six months after the date it occurred. For example, if you were to call in on January 15th that occurrence would drop off of your record on July 15th. Always be mindful of when your occurrences are dropping off your record so that you can avoid attendance discipline, this is a record you write for yourself.

10 Under our attendance policy if you reach the 6th occurrence in 6 months the company may issue a warning letter. On the 7th occurrence the company may issue a suspension. On the 8th occurrence you can be terminated. You may call in 3 consecutive days for the same reason and it be only one occurrence. Calling in Call in only when absolutely necessary and when you do, be sure to record the name of he person you spoke with. All of us eventually have a serious situations in which we have to call in, but if you waste your undisciplined call-ins then you will have none available when you really need them and you will start to receive discipline. Local 89 wants to see you have a long career as a Teamster. Therefore do yourself and your fellow members the favor of avoiding any attendance problems. When you call in it effects EVERYONE. No-Calls In addition to counting as a normal occurrence as stated above, no-calls also have a separate form of attendance discipline as follows. 1 no-call = written warning for no-calls 2 no-calls = suspension for no-calls 3 no-calls = working termination for no-calls 3 consecutive no-calls = ID shut off & terminated

11 Grievance Procedure A grievance is one of the most powerful tools you have available to you as a member of the Teamsters. In layman's terms a grievance is a complaint against the company. These are most commonly filed when an employee is in trouble for attendance or other issues, but that is not where they stop. Grievances can be filed for pay errors, harassment, intimidation, seniority violations, safety concerns and many other issues. Never be afraid to talk to your steward about filing a grievance if there is something you are unhappy about. A common fear that newer employees have that prevents them from grieving is concern about retaliation. The company is strictly prohibited from retaliating in any way against a grievant by both the contract and federal labor law. You are well within your rights to file a grievance if you feel the need to and you will be fully protected if you do. You have five working days to file a grievance from the time you learn of a contract violation, or ten calendar days to file if you are issued discipline. BIDS As a member of a union one of the most important things you have is your seniority. One of the many things seniority entitles you to is being able to move into better jobs. After you have obtained one year of seniority you have the right to put your name on the job bids. Job bids and seniority list are located on the bid board in your building (ask where your board is located). These jobs include, but are not limited to; primary, secondary, preload, small sort, and FDC just to name a few. Bids, transfers & moves will be offered in seniority order.

12 Safety By contract, every area with union employees present has a safety committee. This is to make sure that all union members in that building are kept as safe and healthy as possible. Safety committees are made up of union members who have volunteered to serve as safety representatives, and have been approved by Local 89. The safety committees are responsible for making sure that the building is safe and that any concerns are addressed. To this end the committee can be split into smaller sub-committees. Two examples of these sub-committees are Wellness and Mentoring. Periodic inspections of the facility are performed to ensure that there are no safety hazards present. Any employee may bring a safety concern to the safety committee at any time. Those concerns are then addressed in periodic committee meetings and are recorded into the meeting minutes. Any concern brought to the company by the safety committee that is not addressed is subject to the grievance procedure. National Master Agreement Article 18, Section 20.4 Healthcare Excellent healthcare is one of the many things unions are well known for. Every day unions across the country are fighting hard to obtain the best healthcare possible for their members. Nearly 80% of unionized workers receive employer provided health insurance compared to 40% of non-union workers. Those numbers, while staggering, don t even factor in the much higher quality of healthcare that a union member receives in comparison to non-union.

13 For us in particular, in contract negotiations throughout the history of UPS the Teamsters have fought for and won the right to have some of the best health insurance in the entire country. Our healthcare is also widely considered to be the best plan for part-time employees. In fact, after just twelve months when you qualify for it you will immediately have a better healthcare plan than a full-time employee at Ford. The Teamsters union has fought hard to win and maintain this high quality plan in order to make sure our members have access to the best healthcare possible. While non-union, and even some union employees at other company s, are struggling every day with the rising cost of healthcare, you continue to receive the best in the industry and you pay nothing per week for it. That is only possible because you are a member of the Teamsters. -National Master Agreement Article 34, Section 2 Disability Disability benefits are paid for an off the job injury or illness. You must be eligible for your medical benefits to be eligible for disability. Benefits are a minimum of $150 per week for a maximum of 26 weeks. Benefits begin on the first day missed due to an accident, or on the fourth working day missed due to an illness. Notify the UPS HRSC (855) immediately so they can start the process necessary to put you on disability. Workers Compensation Workers compensation covers you in the event of an on the job injury. You are covered on your first day of employment. Weekly benefits are 66 and 2/3 of your weekly pay for the highest quarter average over the last year.

14 Benefits begin on the eighth calendar day missed, and after fifteen days reverts back to the first day missed. Funeral Leave In the unfortunate event that you lose a loved one you will receive the following: Up to three paid days for immediate family (spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, father, mother, brother, sister, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and step parents). One paid day for a brother-in-law or sister-in-law. If the funeral requires extensive travel then you will receive one extra paid day for travel time. You CANNOT be forced to use vacation time. - National Master Agreement, Article 29, Section 2 Raises In order to get a raise at most jobs you would have to sit through a performance review with a member of management and your raise would be based on the score they give you. It is not uncommon in those situations for very good employees to get a raise lower than what they deserve, sometimes simply because they are reviewed by a supervisor that doesn t like them. As a member of the Teamsters union you will never have to sit through a performance review. You will never have to brown nose in the hopes of getting a good raise. As a member of the Teamsters you are guaranteed the raises that are negotiated in the contract. You will receive your raise on the date it is scheduled for the amount in the contract every time without fail. This is an incredible right in such turbulent economic times. For employees who attain seniority after August 1, 2013.

15 All Others Preloader/Sorter Start date - $10.00 $11.00 Seniority + 1 year $10.50 $11.50 Seniority + 2 years $11.00 $12.00 Seniority + 3 years $12.00 $13.00 Seniority + 4 years $12.50 $ National Master Agreement Article 22, Section 5(b) Holidays The Teamsters and UPS have agreed to specific days throughout the year that are recognized as holidays. The recognized holidays are as follows: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day - Central Region Supplement, Article 15, Section 1 Holiday Pay Vacation As a member of Teamsters Local 89 you are eligible for Vacation after 1 year from your seniority date. Vacation days can be taken starting on December 26 th, and can no longer be taken starting on the Monday following Thanksgiving. One (1) Year - One (1) Week Two (2) Years - Two (2) Weeks Eight (8) Years - Three (3) Weeks Fifteen (15) Years - Four (4) Weeks

16 Twenty (20) Years - Five (5) Weeks Twenty-five (25) Years - Six (6) Weeks Vacation weeks are 20 hours Vacation time does not roll over into the next year. Any time not taken will be paid out at the end of the year. The way you earn vacation is as follows. Option Week Once you have worked one full year (Jan 1 Jan 1) you will earn an option week worth 25 hours of paid time off, or 25 hours of paid time off + time worked for that week. Central Region Supplement - Article 16, Section 1 Option Days You will earn 2 option days on seniority + two years. - Central Region Supplement Article 15-Holidays, Section 1 Credit Union Teamsters Local 89 is affiliated with the Beacon Community Credit Union. A credit union is similar to a bank but is set up as a non-profit organization. You and your family are eligible for membership at Beacon when you attain seniority. Beacon Community Credit Union 7910 National Turnpike Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Number: (502) Toll Free: (800)

17 Other Local 89 Benefits Legal consultation on Mondays for general legal questions. Legal consultation on Tuesdays for Worker s Compensation questions. Teamsters fitness gym is available in the basement for all Local 89 members to use during business hours. Notary service Copies / Fax Christmas Dinner with free food and a gift for all members. Discounted tickets for the Louisville Zoo for the Labor Day Picnic Spring and Summer discounted tickets for Kings Island Yearly bass fishing tournament Yearly golf scramble

18 Conclusion When we refer to Teamsters Local 89 we are not just talking about the stewards or the officers at the union hall. We are talking about all of us. Every single member makes up the Teamsters union. A popular union saying is United we bargain, divided we beg. and nothing could be more true. We are the Teamsters. All of us together, whether you are a rank-and-file member or an officer of the union, we all fight as one to ensure that we are treated fairly and receive everything we deserve for working hard for this company. The power of a union is in how many voices we have. One voice is quiet, a thousand is loud. At Local 89 we have over 10,000 voices at UPS. We are deafening.