America's Victory: The 1997 UPS Strike

[BanditV8racer]

FUCK UPS AND TEAMSTERS...UPS NEVER HIRES, AM I RIGHT OR AM I WRONG

[ronnycj]

@BanditV8racer YOU ARE DEAD RIGHT,,,, I WORKED WITH UPS/TEAMSTERS FOR 4 YEARS IN ONTARIO CALIFORNIA,,,, WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE,,,, FUCK THE UNIONS

[5788Ash]

Teamsters= lazyness

Getting paid 55 bucks a month to strike well your business agents roll around in brand new cadalacs with new rims while regular employees suffer to pay bills is funny

[96shox]

Just a bunch sheep who want more money for being more lazy. UPS at management needs to go on strike now and destroy this BS union crap.

[curbsein]

Let's get rid of Hoffa, and elect Sandy Pope. We need a President who's willing to fight Corporate Greed!

[AwwCrap66]

I still work at UPS at Louisville, Ky. Of course we got pissed at ron carey when he came down to visit local 89 we surrounded him and made sure he heard our disappointments. Today,, Brian Hamm is our so called business rep(local 89) his most common response to our money grievances "it is Unwinnable". I pay almost 33 bucks in union dues a month and for what...... nothing ,,,now they  are trying to jack up the union dues. Teamsters is just another greedy corporation.

[lamulatona06]

@AwwCrap66 they never do nothing for me either

[PositivelyBored]

@AwwCrap66

They are another greedy corporation, but Ron Carey won much more than Foffa ever will. He helped us win solidarity and a great contract. Watch out 2013.

[AwwCrap66]

I was gung ho about the strike,,,after that strike My union lost my loyalty,,,there are several reasons,,,1. Union supports lazy fucks. 2. A lot of the teamsters did not walk the picket line or showed up - they were giving strike pay. 3. The strike was all about the union getting control of Central states pension plan,,,it wasn't about us. 4. The full-time jobs they offered us-the union agree that we get a 2 to 3 dollar pay-cut and lose our seniority,,,that was back then.

[adobepoopscript]

This is a horribly edited video.

[imadonkeykickme]

I work for UPS and I must say I really really fucking hate the Union. It's a pain in my fucking ass. It's a part time job yes but Im just happy I have this job. I hate it so so much haha. I think it really blows that if I want to get on full time, I have to be there for I think 16 years. They say we don't have to be in the Union but we have no choice. God UPS is fucking horrible and so is the Union.

[Blindjohn]

@imadonkeykickme Vist browncafe and read how UPS really works the writings there are from their own employees.

[PositivelyBored]

@imadonkeykickme

The union is the sole reason you HAVE a job

nevermind that, a job with FULL TIME benefits for a SMALL initiation and union dues at most 50/mo if you are part time....

you probably would not be working at UPS if you did not have a union.

[imadonkeykickme]

@PositivelyBored no good sir you are wrong. I have a job because UPS hired me on to there company. The Union has nothing to do with me having my job. They write out our contracts that we work under, and thats about all our union does for us. They don't help at all if you have a problem they just give you the run around. I don't need to pay to get told there is nothing that the union can do to help me.

[PositivelyBored]

@imadonkeykickme

Wrong. UPS and the Union write our contracts.

You are the union - you need to stand up for yourself because that is what the union is - it is not something to fall back on when you have a problem - it is a process that you need to represent and help yourself.

The union is the reason you and I have a job **with the benefits and perks that we have. Look at FedEx and what those employees recieve. practically NOTHING!  No real pension, expensive benefits, ....

[PositivelyBored]

@imadonkeykickme

I think you are understanding what I am saying. UPS hands out nothing - they would be another Wal-Mart or FedEx with extremely poor and in some cases illegal working conditions.

the union "giving you the run-around" is impossible because they are LEGALLY REQUIRED TO REPRESENT YOU, you will also learn that there are policies and procedures in place to force the union to do the right thing. Maybe you give the union the run-around by not filing grievances?

[imadonkeykickme]

@PositivelyBored Man I filed 4 grievances on my last supervisor, each for a different thing. And guess what he never once got moved, suspended, fired anything, He had no union to protect him. I was not the only person in my area to file a grievance on him, nothing happened. The only way we got ride of him was because they finally switched everyones sups. There is a lot of illegal working conditions, fire hazards, un secure work tools, stuff like that. It goes unattained to and nothing is done,

[PositivelyBored]

@imadonkeykickme

Here is what I (we) do.

File a group grievance if a supervisor or manager is hostile and inappropriate. You need signatures from everyone in the area that is a witness. That is how you take action. I know it seems hard but we've done it.

Also, you have a cell phone right? Get pictures of all of the unsafe conditions, egress, broken work equipment not red-tagged....etc., Document everything! They do, so do we.

[imadonkeykickme]

@PositivelyBored Well yes I do have a cell phone but I am not allowed to take it into work. But it does not matter anymore, I quit about a week ago.

[Remedyz21]

Douchebag union workers. Yea this is great back when maybe people cared to work. Now haha your union just protects these shit employees. Strike now, watch these assholes not picket.

[mcpduffs]

air walker where are you hottie?

[12107170]

Just form your own shit.

[bassassasinAZ]

This will never happen again.

[jeremy8080]

Don't want a part time job?

Go work somewhere else then!

Unions are a dying breed!

[bassassasinAZ]

@jeremy8080 Damn straight.

[netscorcher25]

@jeremy8080 Spoken like a true supervisor!

[cnrails]

If people do not like part time jobs then quit and go get a job somewhere else? Since when does an employee tell a company how to oprerate and how many full time people and part time people to put on the books? Unions are chicken shit and so the members who are crybabies. I would be happy just to have a job rather than pissing and moaning like some kinda bitch.

[CelticKraut]

This is a 9 and a half hour FedEx commercial.

[thedude5454]

@CelticKraut No its not. At least UPS has a union. FedEx has struck down any attempt of employees to organize.

[CelticKraut]

@thedude5454 That's why I use FedEx every time. :P

[jeremy8080]

@CelticKraut

Its only nine minutes and 31 seconds!

[GQOfficial]

How is this great for everyone? UPS lost a lot of buisness. They controled ALOT of the packaging buisness. So the union just destroyed their own company. Really. Some people got money, but a lot of people lost money.

[vb6josh]

@GQOfficial Before the strike, almost every shipper that shipped UPS only shipped UPS and USPS. After the strike, I saw Fedex, DHL, averet express etcc machines at their sites as I worked on their machines. They had to do what they had to do. As UPS grew after the strike, little by little UPS began to outsource everything that was non union, Customer Service, Support desk(all 6 regions) etc... Guess all that was part of the Union negotiations.

[joshx022]

I'm a 22.3 Combo guy. 8 years with the company and working through my 3rd contract. I'm one of those employees working under a contract loophole. I have two pay rates... and theres a near 7 dollar difference in pay. My position as an air driver has been threatened by layoff the entire year and this contract hasn't helped me one bit. Last minute settlement contracts are lame and we should have been on the line.. We lost too much and pay more. Only in America.

[PositivelyBored]

@joshx022

Agree...same deal here, 10 years in 22.3 combo almost 5 years....7/hr difference. Worst contract ever for those jobs that Carey helped us win.

[joshx022]

@PositivelyBored I was laid off driving in November...2 days notice...given options of unemployment or displacement inside inside job...took the job...had kids telling me what to do...so when my vacation weeks came through...i just didn't go back. I've broken from that crap they call Teamsters..I joined a real union, the printing union...and i'm told i'm going to get TONS of overtime and they hope i can handle 60/70 hr weeks... THANK GOD I LEFT UPS...ON >>MY<< TERMS!

[PositivelyBored]

@joshx022

Congrats on getting out.  On your terms is the icing on the cake!

[edpoulsen9191]

I've been working at UPS for four years now, I know thats not even close to how long some of the others have been there, but when I started I was promised a full time job in a year and a half. Now I'm making 12.00 an hour, and lucky to get 3.5 hours a night with chronic back problems and a family. All the union reps do is to keep telling me to hang in there, don't know how much longer I can.

[bigmogan]

funny how things change. ups now controls the pension. pay raises went from one lump sum per year to 2 smaller ones. and weight limits went from 70 lbs to 150 lbs, with not extra help from lift machines. but the union doesn't mind taking that $19 from paycheck every week. hell i cant tell you the last time i have seen a union rep in my center, but when the uprise of ups employees were talking about leaving the teamsters, there was a rep at my center every week. union not what it use to be.....

[OrlandoClassWar]

We should have walked on this last Garbage contract.

Strike action wasn't even discussed as Hoffa and the dead generation were bought off by pension protection...while important we should have gone farther.

No created 22.3's was disgusting.

Would have loved to get the 3.5 minimum increased to 4...would love it now that the shifts are at best 3.5 hours anymore.

[PositivelyBored]

Thank God for Ron Carey and R.I.P Ron. I have a great full-time job at UPS, 22.3, and I owe it to him and the Teamsters for striking in 1997 and not giving into this crooked company known as big brown.

[IcemanExplorerNinja]

uh oh! at 9:10 hes lifting by the straps... thats a no no!

[slick0101]

I've worked for UPS for 7 years now and appreciate the Teamsters for keeping my benefits this past contract. Its funny thought how UPS now controls the pensions and its something they didn't want back then, and no new full time jobs were created this past contract but they fought for 20,000 then. Funny how things change.

[Oriole8]

All the Teamsters did was draw money from my paychecks each week for dues for many, many years. Then when I was holding a picket sign the money wasn't there 5 days later. Where was that protection? They drew thousands from my pay and then I got nothing for walking.

[whiteheadk3]

The men in brown, clown! lol

[scotter420wigb]

Fuck UPS and the crooked Union. Glad i quit 8 years ago and got into construction where u are paid for how hard u work and have benefits with insurance. union protects lazy assholes, i dont know why, and UPS hasnt raised starting pay of 8.00 or 8.50 for over twentyfive years. Both suck each other off. What about Ron Carey and the strike fun disappearing back in 96? Blow me assholes...

[airplanebuilderman]

And with the economy the way it is now. Do you still have a job in construction?

[scotter420wigb]

Yeah i do , i'm a lead concrete flatwork setup-finisher and do the sales and estimating as well.

[lagsetsfire]

At 9:10, right after the safety bit, driver lifts pkgs by the straps

[ce1estia1]

saw that

[otto3391]

i hope we go on strike this year it is bullshit how management treats us we want more pay and want our medical and dental

[raw420x]

I'm A Teamster local 396 UPS and now Local 399. I marched in the strike line made the cover of the L.A. Times foothill edition......

[stelvis40]

where can i get that song at the end, it jams!!!

[brian2878]

I am a 22.3 UPS full-time, started in 2001 part -time and now make 22.77 / hr straight time 40 hours a week, and 34.15/hr any OT. God Bless the guys the people that made UPS deliver!

[adotoa]

If you're fed up with corporate America (as many people seem to be) than organize. And if you are organized and don't like your union, shake it up and demand change.

A democratic workplace is integral to a democratic nation.

[Niche79]

I got so fucked by this contract so they can screw themselves. Whoopie jo blow next to me whos been there 2 months longer make 1.60 more an hour than me and he does the same job...gg teamsters for saying seniority before Aug 1 97. So now i just slack my ass off and work the system. And I LOVE how the union couldnt even pay what they said for retirement! Now look who runs the retirement?? mm UPS THATS WHO!!! Did nothing for the part timers in my hub. Typical, only fulltimers matter.

[PositivelyBored]

"I got so fucked by this contract so they can screw themselves. Whoopie jo blow next to me whos been there 2 months longer make 1.60 more an hour than me and he does the same job.." i know this was from a year ago, but youre supposed to get a "catch-up" raise so you make more than the new hire. Ask a steward or even better BA!

[george6852]

down hill after that strike

[Stranger941]

Go Dave Murray!

[Stranger941]

wow.... You guys just don't get it. If UPS didn't have a union then the workers would make more money, for instance, FedEx starts their workers at 11.85/hr compared to UPS' 8.50/hr. Lazy workers benefit from the union and hard workers get screwed over. Without a union you could get a promotion based on your work-ethic... not your dam seniority. I work for UPS and I can't get a promotion even though I work my ass off... I'm making just as much as those lazy workers who don't even try.

[malone23kid]

@Stranger941:

You're the one who 'doesn't get it.' Does fedex give you sick/option days? how about pay $7.00 per hour to your pension fund? Benefits? Full-time UPS drivers make $28.35 per hour, 100% pension after 30 years and free family health insurance. Not many jobs without a college degree will give you any of those things. FedEx drivers buy their own trucks and are owned by their bosses.

Lastly, UPS loves brain-dead hard workers; why would they promote you if you'll work fast for 8.50?

[hamace]

True and not for nothing, but wasn't Bill Clinton getting full union support as he signed our jobs away with NAFTA. Our gov is working hard to eliminate our way of life, i have no reason to believe obama will be any different

[edwardups]

The seniority system does away with the "brown nose" system. I also work at UPS...20 yrs. and understand your frustration. The key is this: Dont worry about whether your buddy next to you is working or not. You dont get paid to see others perform. That is for the supervisor to keeps tabs on and not your job. Remember, everyone works different and we are all different. There are no two people alike. If you dont like your work environment, well then quit UPS and apply at Fed Ex.

[Fymious]

I've been working for UPS for 12 years and I met Ron Carey and Jim Hoffa Jr.

[1974rail]

Iam part of local 705 and i will be damed that the fultime drivers take away our benifits!

[1974rail]

Hi i work for ups in northbrook Illinois if we part timer get a crapy contract i will say no and i hope that we will go on strike.

Its a crock that they want to give us a 20 cent raise thats bull and i hope that all part timers will say no to crapy raises.

[jaredtf]

If you know anything about ups and life in general you know that there are good and bad both ways, there are snakes in management as well as in the union, but there are good guys in management and in the union too. I;ve done both and am union now but I've seen good and bad on both sides.

[Fymious]

I'm a Teamster too (also shop steward) I've seen both sides of UPS management and Union bureaucracy. So understand what your saying. but I'd rather stay a Teamster than go into UPS management.

[jaredtf]

I agree.

[Vudrin]

Management contradicts everything that they say and so does the union

[nyisle79]

THis strike paved the way for drivers god bless the teamsters im a member for 10 years

[Fymious]

I'm a member for 12 years...and I'm proud of it too!

[shaggs112887]

we should have another one

[buttonman74]

damn right,at both ups/ups freight!

[bagga1129]

See what happens when you stand and fight together.

GO UPS and all teamster brothers and sisters

[StanAalbers1]

Video doesn't work with me.. Correct?

[durbansmok]

The Teamsters will be the downfall of UPS. Its just a shame that their members continually promote a safe-haven for poor work performance.

[nyisle79]

How do u figure that ive been a driver for 7 years tell me how u figure that

[buttonman74]

let me guess,your an asshole ups supervisor that never worked a real job,and did a days work,right?what a dillweed !

[durbansmok]

Hey buttonman, I worked for UPS, as a teamster, for years. I put in a fair days work for a fair days pay, right. The problem is too many of the teamsters have this attitude of "fuck management" without really knowing why they say it. Everyday, I see people who's poor work performance is rewarded with union protection from termination. Go pound sand asshole!

[petesrcmodelyachts]

your a lying shitsack,if someone was realy not performing,they would'nt be there!

[RodThaBod]

You compare the current UPS Teamster driver to what the FedEx guys do. Case closed! I put off more packages at my first stop of the day than the FedEx guy deliveres all day! He looks in my truck and shakes his head and says " No way I would have your job. "

[RodThaBod]

" Part time America just won't work."

[RodThaBod]

Wish Ron Carey was back as Teamster President.

[cruzine]

We cannot a have a part-time out sourced no pension America anymore. Thank you for this example of what we can do together. Stop globalization. Read Outside the Box! ORGANIZE AND WIN!!!

[mardel1932]

Excellent Video. There should be more like this.

[BigBrowz]

Thank You Ron Carey.

[rdsathene]

Bravo, the most important labor action of the 90's documented in excellent fashion. Just as heartening is this decade's ILWU/Teamsters/Machinists victory over trash behemoth Waste Management.

[ILRBuffalo]

This is a very good and well done video. It highlights the struggles labor continues to face around the world. Bravo to the Teamsters and the makers of this fine video.

[jubileeshine]

union up!

seize, dont split the aflcio.