Fighting Work Performance Harassment and Discipline
Teamster employers have many ways to wring greater production out of workers. United Parcel Service and grocery warehousing both have high levels of productivity demands. Many of these suggestions for dealing with production harassment will apply to any workplace.
1. Beef up contract enforcement overall.
Production harassment can flourish when management is given free rein. Members may feel they have to give in to pressure because the union is weak. An ongoing campaign of contract enforcement can show management (and coworkers) that the union is willing to fight.
2. Target contract violations by management that indirectly boost production.
Supervisors working is one example. Another, from UPS, is violation of the over-70-pound package provisions. Overtime protections, if in the contract, are another area. Health and safety standards can be especially effective, as speed-up often rests on a foundation of safety hazards.
3. Go on the offensive.
Stewards and locals that are willing to just say no to performance standards can take some heat off members.
Elements of an offensive plan could include the following:
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Set up a rank and file production standards committee. Get members working together. Do safety and health inspections on a routine basis. webmaster [at] tdu.org (Contact TDU) for suggestions. File OSHA complaints to deal with hazards. Use information requests to get ammunition and to tie up management (see more on this below). 4. Enforce Weingarten RightsAnyone brought into the office should insist on having a steward with them. The steward is there to try to prevent management from putting you on the spot about work performance. Your right to do this is protected under federal labor law, and is called your Weingarten right. Management can refuse this request only if they assure you that the discussion has no connection with potential disciplinary action. Enforcing this right can prevent a worker from being bullied into making incriminating statements or agreeing to boost their production. 5. Educate coworkers about dealing with production demands.The local or rank and file committee can organize special meetings or classes on this topic. New workers should be brought up to speed quickly. Emphasize that working quicker while being observed rather than meticulously following safe and proper procedures will only come back to haunt them later. UPS drivers need to understand how to act during full-day ride-alongs by supervisors (OJSs). Ask right at the start whether your performance during a ride or other evaluation will be used as a standard for future performance. If the manager says no, ask them to put that in writing. Either way, let the manager know that you’re going to accept no help. No cherry-picking of easy drops, no help spotting parking places, no held doors, and no help sorting, carrying, or delivering. 6. Make note-taking a routine: order and use TDU Log Books.Taking notes consistently can save jobs, and is an important part of an offensive against production harassment. When confronted with possible warning letters for not meeting standards, the individual or steward must be able to show why the ride-along day(s) went unusually well (better parking, lighter packages) or why case counts were lower on a certain day (equipment problems, product not available). Were there roadblocks on the relevant days that the picker didnt get down time for? TDU’s Log Books are made for exactly this purpose. Order them and get coworkers using them. 7. Use information requests to go on the offensive.Grocery warehouse production standards are based on time studies and flow charts that have been combined to establish standard times for every type of picking situation. Its the stewards right and responsibility to demand the information that went into these calculations. You can and should ask for: Copies of all flow charts showing the current standard times for each Key Volume Indicator (KVI), and any updates to these. All Master Standard Data worksheets used in these calculations. Copies of any unavoidable-delay studies, summary sheets, and calculation worksheets so you can see how the unavoidable delay allowance was calculated. Copes of any written policies or statements regarding rules for downtime (or indirect time), and who authorizes it. A detailed description of all underlying methods and conditions used in calculating the standards. Explanations for any of these materials you dont understand. Important: If a member is written up for falling below production standards, demand evidence from management right away. Computer data is often dumped after one week. 8. Ask the right questions in disciplinary grievance hearings.If work performance pressures lead to the worker being disciplined, the steward or member should be getting the answers to these key questions: Was the method or standard clearly communicated to the employee? When? Did management make it clear that violation of the standard could lead to disciplinary action? Did the disciplinary action start with the lowest level of discipline reasonably related to the offense? Was there another way to help the employee modify their behavior? What is the employees length of service? What is their previous performance record or disciplinary record? Are appropriate allowances being made for seniority, physical condition, or age? Is the method or standard reasonably related to carrying out the employers business? Is the employee being singled out for any reason, such as union-related activity? Have other employees with the same numbers been treated similarly? 9. Fight for contract protectionthen implement the guarantees.Set long-range goals for winning contract language that protects workers from production harassment. Set up a production standards committee and contact TDU about a workshop or other help with production standards or contract campaigns. And come to the TDU convention in November and meet with other activists who are dealing with these same issues! |
Southern California Grocery Agreement Settlement
October 5, 2005: The negotiations covering approximately 8,000 members in the Southern California grocery industry have concluded. The five-year agreement contains wage increases of 50 cents, 45 cents, 50 cents, 45 cents and 50 cent; pension contribution increases of 10 cents, 0, 10 cents, 0 and 10 cents: and maintenance of benefits over the life of the agreement.
Even though members overwhelmingly ratified the offer, many were disappointed by the paltry pension increases and by the leadership’s inability to negotiate improvements in other areas.
Huge issues face workers in the grocery industry: Unreasonable production standards, harsh attendance policies, disregard for seniority and parity.
“I work for the largest company and we have the worst contract. While the industry standard is 7 to 1 for part-time ratios we have a 2 to 1 ratio. We make 33 cents less an hour than the average for the industry. We don’t have Sunday Premium, averaged vacation pay or the overtime optional provision”, says Frank Halstead, member of Local 572 employed by Ralphs Grocery (Kroger).
With the big employers still recovering from the UFCW strike/lockout, the opportunity existed to resolve some of these issues. Instead of patting themselves on the back and saying “It’s the best contract in the Southern California grocery industry ever; the biggest and the largest that’s ever been bargained” as Paul Kenny, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 630 and Co-Chairman of the negotiating committee put it, our leaders should have used the leverage we had to make the improvements members have requested for years. The Chairman, J.C. 42 President Jim Santangelo said “we’re very happy with this deal, because the employers were generous.” But this “generosity” is going to result in less buying power, lower pensions and fighting the same old issues for five years.
Coalition Launches Rival Federation
The other Change to Win unions include the SEIU (service employees), UNITE HERE (hotel and garment workers), UFCW (food and commercial workers), the Carpenters, Laborers, and the United Farmworkers.
The Laborers and Farm Workers remained in the AFL-CIO and will participate in both organizations.
This gives the Laborers the right to continue to participate in union structures in the Building Trades. What the Teamster pullout will mean for Teamsters in construction is uncertain. Our construction locals rely on these structures to coordinate and settle disputes with other unions in the building trades
The IBT will save about $9 million a year in per capita dues payments to the AFL-CIO. Half of this will now be spent on dues payments to the new Change to Win federation. The Hoffa administration says the other $4.5 million will be spent on new organizing in our union’s core jurisdictions.
Do you have comments on the Change to Win Coalition? Send you thoughts to:
Teamster Viewpoint
Convoy Dispatch
PO Box 10128
Detroit, MI 48210
Click here: Changing to Win at Overnite?
Click here: AFL-CIO Split? No One Asked Rank and File Teamsters!
Click here: Teamster Viewpoint: Leaving AFL-CIO Threatens Union Solidarity
Who Is Running the Teamsters Union?
Tarpinian is a labor consultant in New York. He attached himself to Hoffa back in 1996 when he campaigned for him, along with another consultant, Richard Leebove of Detroit. He’s wiggled upward ever since.
His long time close associates have eased into key positions of power. Leo Deaner, a Tarpinian associate for many years, is Hoffa’s new Executive Assistant.
Another Tarpinian partner for decades is Dan Kane, an International rep with three sons on the payroll. Another is Jeff Farmer, who came from the SEIU to take over the Teamster Organizing Department. Farmer is the brother-in-law of Sue Mauren, director of the Central Region Public Employees Division. Ron Carver of IBT Strategic Campaigns is another decades-long member of the Tarpinian club.
This crew, who were buddies before they ever met a Teamster, have made quite a home for themselves at the top of the Teamster power structure. They move others out of the way when it suits them.
Mary Hardiman, Director of the Teamster Education Department, with the IBT for 28 years, was summarily fired in August as part of a Tarpinian restructure plan.
Tarpinian gets big bucks to do dog-and-pony shows at the IBT Convention and Unity Conferences, and he’ll get a lot more PR and “education” money now. In return, he holds banquets in New York to give awards to Hoffa and Tom Keegel, who sign the checks to his consulting company. What goes around comes around. What’s going around is your money.
Tarpinian wrote the plan and the script for the Teamsters to leave the AFL-CIO and join Change to Win, which also pays Tarpinian big bucks.
Most importantly, he is guiding the direction of the Teamsters Union. Remember when Jim Hoffa charged that Ron Carey had outsiders (“SEIU”, “mineworkers,” etc.) in positions of power?
Now we have a New York consultant running our union, who only bothers to speak to Teamsters when he has his hand out for money.
Submitted by a Teamster official who prefers to remain anonymous.
TDU Wins Changes in Election Rules
On Aug. 31, U.S. Attorney David Kelley submitted revised Rules to federal judge Loretta Preska for approval, with four changes from the proposed rules issued in May.
All four were proposed by TDU and submitted to the U.S. Attorney by TDU counsel Barbara Harvey.
These improvements are:
• Candidates will now have the right to distribute campaign materials by email, under guidelines to be established by the Election Supervisor. This means that Accredited Candidates can send materials to Teamsters using email addresses held by the union.
• Campaign literature from candidates that appears in the Teamster magazine, in the “battle pages” that TDU originally proposed and won in 1991, will now also appear on the Teamster website.
• To Protect privacy, members will not have to sign their full social security or social insurance number on petitions and other forms, but only the last four digits. This victory was announced earlier.
• Election protests can be filed by email, as well as by fax or regular mail.
TDU’s submission, made on June 2, contained other proposals as well. Most notably, TDU called for a debate between the candidates for General President, to be recorded on a DVD and mailed to all Teamsters. Hoffa successfully defeated this positive proposal, which would certainly increase the percentage of members who vote.
TDU counsel received permission in early September to submit additional Rules proposals to Judge Preska.
We urge all Teamsters to get informed, get involved, and participate in the upcoming democratic process that will shape the future of our union.
Click here: Cracks in Hoffa Unity
Click here: Prepare Now for Winter Delegate Races
Click here: Committee for New Leadership Lays Groundwork for Campaign
TDU Wins Positive Changes in Election Rules
On August 31 U.S. Attorney David Kelley submitted revised Rules to federal judge Loretta Preska for approval, with four changes from the Proposed Rules issued in May. All four were proposed by TDU and submitted to the U.S.
Attorney by TDU counsel Barbara Harvey.
These improvements are:
• Candidates will now have the right to distribute campaign materials by email, under guidelines to be established by the Election Supervisor. This means that Accredited Candidates can send materials to Teamsters using email addresses held by the union.
• Campaign literature from candidates that appears in the Teamster magazine, in the “battle pages” that TDU originally proposed and won in 1991, will now also appear on the Teamster website.
• Members will not have to sign their full social security or social insurance number on petitions and other forms, but only the last four digits, to protect members’ privacy. This victory was announced earlier.
• Election protests can be filed by email, as well as by fax or regular mail.
TDU’s submission, made on June 2, 2005, contained other proposals as well. Most notably TDU called for a debate between the candidates for General President, to be recorded on a DVD and mailed to all Teamsters. Hoffa successfully defeated this positive proposal, which would certainly increase the percentage of members who vote.
On September 1, TDU counsel Barbara Harvey requested Judge Preska to allow time for TDU to consider whether to submit comments to the court about additional changes to the Rules that would help level the playing field and involve more members in the democratic process.
TDU is proud that we have won improvements which make our union more democratic for all members, especially the right of candidates to provide campaign information to members via email addresses held by the union. We have fought long and hard to win improvements in the Rules, and have successfully done so in each Teamster election.
We urge all Teamsters to get informed, get involved, and participate in the upcoming democratic process that will shape the future of our union.
Cracks in Hoffa Unity
The divisions in the Hoffa camp don’t end there. O’Donnell circulated a letter charging that Hoffa “never knew the real purpose of the International. But then how could he. He was never a Teamster.” This from the IBT vice president who has raised hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars for Hoffa.
In early September, Hoffa got a cool reception from many officials at the Eastern Region meeting. A large minority of the officials present broke ranks and sat silently without clapping when Hoffa and Keegel spoke. The bulk of local officials in New Jersey Joint Council 73, where Hoffa won 69% of the vote in 2001, are ready to get off the Hoffa train, along with some others around the Eastern region.
The cracks in Hoffa’s official unity are not just in the east, but also in the central and southern areas. Discontent is widespread among officials in freight locals who feel that Hoffa has given up on the freight industry. Some are campaigning for IBT Vice Presidents from freight to break with Hoffa and run their own slate.
At the recent Teamster National Black Caucus (TNBC) annual conference, there was almost no open support for Hoffa. Instead of lining up support for Hoffa, TNBC delegates were talking about increasing African-American representation at the top of the union. Hoffa’s General Executive Board has only one voting African-American member.
Two international officers were recently pressured to resign their office: Ron McClain of Iowa and Joe McLean of Ontario, Canada. Several others will not be running on the Hoffa slate, either because they have been tossed off or are leaving on their own.
In fact, when Hoffa launched a candidate accreditation petition in August by pressuring international reps and local officers to gather signatures, his “slate” consisted of just two candidates: Hoffa and Tom Keegel. Hoffa-Keegel got the signatures required to become Accredited Candidates.
Click here: Prepare Now for Winter Delegate Races
Click here: TDU Wins Changes in Election Rules
Click here: Committee for New Leadership Lays Groundwork for Campaign
Changing to Win at Overnite?
September 25, 2005: In a recent interview with the Associated Press, James Hoffa said that leaving the AFL-CIO would make the Teamsters more successful at organizing the nonunion competition because “we’re more nimble and we don’t have the big bloated bureaucracy.”
Skeptics might wonder if it’s really John Sweeney and his AFL-CIO bureaucracy that has held back Hoffa’s organizing ambitions. Four months have passed since UPS announced it was buying Overnite and the nimble, bureaucracy-free Hoffa administration still hasn’t unveiled its “comprehensive plan to both organize and win a good contract at Overnite.”
It took Hoffa two months just to issue a press release promising a plan. Two more months have passed and local leaders as well as UPS and freight Teamsters have been unable to discover this plan. The IBT billed a special meeting in Chicago as the place where officers would hear the Hoffa administration’s strategy for Overnite—but officers came away empty-handed. In fact, Overnite got just ten minutes on the agenda.
A month later, Parcel Division Director Ken Hall came to a meeting of all the New York state joint councils to brief local officers on the IBT’s Overnite strategy—but the plan, if there is one, remained a secret.
“All Ken Hall told us was that the IBT was really going to need the support of the locals to be successful. No details. No specific requests. Just a general plea for support.” said Sandy Pope, President of Local 805 who attended the meeting. “There were 100 local officers in that room and every one of us understands that UPS-Overnite is a fight that will determine the fate of our union. But we can’t beat America’s number one union buster without direction or leadership from the IBT.”
Core Industries
At the Eastern Region meeting this month, General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel boasted the IBT was “restructuring to become an organizing machine” that would focus on our core industries. Keegel mentioned parking garages and janitorial services—but never trucking.
Asked about organizing targets, Hoffa told the AP, “We want to identify jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.”
Overnite is hardly the only trucking company that won’t be moving its operations to China, but it may be the most important. The fate of Teamster members’ bargaining power in the 2008 UPS and freight negotiations—and the future health of our pension plans—depend in no small measure on the IBT’s ability to put a successful organizing plan into action at Overnite.
Thankfully, some locals are starting to take the lead. In Seattle, Local 174 is forming an Overnite Task Force of UPS and freight Teamsters. The local distributed leaflets to area Overnite workers to give them a union welcome to UPS. Chicago Local 705 is organizing UPS feeder drivers to do outreach to Overnite workers about the importance of having a union behind you when UPS is your employer.
Other locals are organizing similar activities. But it will take more than good local initiatives to organize UPS-Overnite. We need a national plan.
Prepare Now for Winter Delegate Races
You need to get a copy and get involved. By running for Convention Delegate—or supporting reform candidates for delegate—you can strengthen our campaign to dump Hoffa in 2006.
Do you want to replace the Hoffa administration with strong, accountable leaders who will fight for working Teamsters? Reform delegates are needed to officially nominate opposition candidates and put a reform slate on the ballot.
Delegates will also vote on reforms to the IBT Constitution and proposals to hold pension trustees accountable to the members.
Get Your Local Union’s Plan
By September 30, your local must submit a Local Union Plan to the Election Supervisor, with the schedule for your election—including the date of nominations.
You can get a head start right now by requesting a complete copy of the Local Union Plan, which your local must provide to any member that requests it. This plan includes a full worksite list with the location of every employer in your local.
The place to be if you are running for delegate or want to be involved in the campaign is the TDU Convention in St. Louis, Nov. 4-6. Through workshops and member-to member interaction, you will learn how to run, win and participate effectively at the IBT Convention next June.
Member Action on Pension Pays Off
“I was featured in Convoy after I learned that the pension cuts were going to make it impossible for me to retire in November like I planned,” said Local 42 member Dan Faust, who is just a few months short of 30 years of pension credit “The next thing I know I got a call from my local officer and she told me the trustees had made changes because of all the fallout and I would be able to retire.
“I’m not saying it was all about that one article. The trustees heard from a lot of Teamsters who were furious and we won some positive changes as a result. I’m riding on cloud nine right now,” Faust said.
The news is not all good. For most Teamsters, the restrictions on 25-and-out and 30-and-out pensions before age 57 remain in place. New England Teamsters who did not have 25 years of credit by July 31, 2005 will not be eligible for their full special-service pension until age 57. Even if you had 25 years of credit by July 31, you will not be eligible for a Plan D special-service pension (30-and-out at $3,500/month) until you are at least 57.
“A lot of good Teamsters are still being hurt by these cuts and they are furious—and rightfully so,” said Faust. “Members understand that action has to be taken to protect our pension funds over the long term. But it shouldn’t be on the backs of hard-working Teamsters who have sweated all their lives to put money into these plans.”
Improvements Won
Under the original changes, Teamsters with 25 years who continued working after July 31 would have their pension frozen until they reach age 57. Then, at 57, the pension would snap back to the full rate. A member who had to retire before 57 because of injury or the closure of their company would get no additional benefit for their extra time worked.
The trustees have now eliminated this “snap back” provision. If, and only if, you had 25 years on July 31 and were eligible for a special-service benefit, then you will continue to earn the additional $150 per year or get to the 30 year/$3,000 benefit and be able to retire at any age. However, UPS, freight and other Teamsters working under a Plan D contract cannot receive their maximum benefit unless they wait until 57 to retire.
In a second victory, the trustees reversed a rule change that would have cut the pension accrual rate of all members covered by already-negotiated contracts that did not include annual increases in their pension contributions after July 31, 2005. This would have meant pension cuts for many New England Teamsters covered under multi-year contracts that were negotiated before the pension rules were changed.
Now, the Pension Fund will honor all existing contracts by maintaining the negotiated and promised accrual rate. When these contracts expire, the new contracts must include increased pension contributions of five percent a year to maintain the accrual rate.
More Changes Ahead?
The quick reversal on the part of the trustees raises disturbing questions. If the fund could afford the new revisions restoring some cut benefits, then why were the cuts made in the first place? Exactly what information were the trustees looking at or not looking at prior to making the cuts in July?
As Convoy goes to press, the fund still has not put out anything in writing about the rule changes, fueling speculation that more changes may be coming. Many members say these rule changes don’t go far enough. It remains to be seen whether membership pressure can convince the trustees to introduce stronger grandfathering provisions.
Accountability Needed
Teamster members and officers have won some improvements already by putting pressure on the pension fund trustees.
This success is an example of how our union trustees on the pension fund are indirectly accountable if we apply enough heat. What is really needed is direct accountability.
The New England pension cuts show the need for us to elect delegates to the 2006 Teamster Convention who will support changes to the Teamster Constitution to hold benefit fund trustees directly accountable to Teamster members—and to support candidates for International office who will defend our pensions from attacks by the employers and corporate politicians.