There’s nothing wrong with protest and expression of ones views. Let’s please be honest about our motivations. The Young Turks video talks about the Tea Party and it’s real motivations. The attack should be on our government that won’t represent the interests of the people. The problem is about corporatism. Listen, and shake your head, as I did.
UPS Humble Beginnings
What’s Wrong with the Tea Party??
‘Tea party’ activists: Do they hate liberals more than they love liberty?
Rockville, Md.
Many “tea party” activists staunchly oppose big government, except when it is warring, wiretapping, or waterboarding. A movement that started out denouncing government power apparently has no beef with some of the worst abuses of modern times.
Unfortunately, there is scant evidence that most tea partyers have studied the copies of the Constitution they generously hand out to bystanders.
At a Tax Day tea party in Rockville, Md., the speaking venue was draped with a huge banner: “Tired of Big Government?” Members of the “Tyranny Response Team” stood near the front of the rally with their official blue T-shirts. Giant American flags and ones with “Don’t Tread on Me” (with a coiled rattlesnake) were carried around by men with tri-corn hats. Political campaigns busily sold “9/11 Remembrance” bracelets.
And yet, the crowd of 300 seemed most outraged that the US government is not being sufficiently aggressive in using its power.
Ken Timmerman, the author of “Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America” and other hawkish books, declaimed that the US government must take every step to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Mr. Timmerman denounced the Obama administration for being soft on Tehran and urged support for legislation to impose harsh sanctions on Iran. Timmerman previously advocated a US naval blockade of Iran, which he claimed was planning a nuclear attack on the United States.
Running through a litany of President Obama’s greatest failings, Timmerman denounced him for forcing US agents to “stop using enhanced interrogation methods. Has that made us safer?”
“No!” the crowd hollered indignantly.
Jeffrey Kuhner, a local talk-show host, sneered that Obama “has found his inner Muslim” and raged against his bowing to foreign leaders and kings. He complained that Obama has “taken over college loans,” and warned that illegal immigrants could be “the shock troops of Obama’s socialist revolution.” The crowd ate it up.
One of the MCs gushed about how he and everyone else in the crowd loved the police. There was not a word spoken about the video released earlier that week showing a nearby horrendous police beating of an innocent University of Maryland college student.
The rally featured a string of Republican candidates praising fiscal responsibility and denouncing the national debt. One would have thought that it had been 50 years, rather than 15 months, since the Republicans controlled the White House.
There was almost no dissent from any of the 300 attendees. One 50-something man in a faded green T-shirt walked around with a handmade sign declaring, “Stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – Bring Our Troops Home Now!” He told me that almost no one he’d talked agreed with his message.
Much more in tune with the crowd was the 20-something woman carrying a sign: “PROUD to be the Military Super Power.”
The fact that the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq thus far roughly equals the projected cost of the first decade of Obama’s health-care program is irrelevant. Military spending is viewed as holy water by many activists who otherwise despise Washington. While tea party activists rage over Obama’s alleged lies, they ignore the Bush administration’s deceptive justification to attack Iraq.
None of the speakers criticized the warrantless wiretaps that the National Security Agency began during the Bush administration. The feds’ vacuuming up thousands of Americans’ phone calls and e-mails without a warrant seems to be a nonissue for these folks. Perhaps some tea party leaders hope that Republicans will soon be in position to use such powers to surveil the left.
There are many decent Americans who understandably feel that the government has become too powerful and oppressive. Yet, seeking enlightenment from most tea party speakers is like searching in a dark room for a black cat that isn’t there.
Many of the attendees seemed to hate liberals far more than they loved liberty. A CBS/New York Times poll conducted in April showed that two-thirds of tea party members have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, and 57 percent have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush. Denouncing big government while approving of President Bush is like denouncing immodesty while sunning oneself on a nude beach. After all, it was Bush who championed the prescription drug benefit for seniors that adds $7 trillion to Washington’s unfunded liabilities.
Some of the Republican incumbents endorsed by tea party organizations have been champions of “enhanced interrogation.” As long as the feds don’t announce specific plans to begin torturing card-carrying conservative activists, why worry?
If tea party activists cannot vigorously oppose torture and other high crimes, then counting on them to stalwartly resist any government policy that doesn’t mulct their paycheck is folly.
America needs real champions of freedom – not poorly informed Republican accomplices. Either tea partyers should become more principled or they should ditch their Gadsden flags and wear T-shirts of the lobbying group that organizes the rally they attend.
James Bovard
If you are an avid Tea Partier and the above article doesn’t give you pause for thought, then try this one on the founder of the tea party and his other job, corporate lobbiest.
Becoming a Steward?
Are you thinking of becoming a Union Steward? Does the idea of making the company listen to you, and maybe some of your gripes about the way they treat people, appeal to you? Do you carry the ‘secret wish” to make them sorry they ever messed with you in the first place? Do you want to pay them back for the warning letter they tried to give you over production last year?
Maybe you’re a candidate to become a steward!
By the time most drivers reach their two year anniversary with the company, they suddenly decide they do not care for the treatment they get on a day to day basis. They get tired of the excessive hours. They get tired of the ridiculous splits. They get tired of busting their ass only to have management claim they didn’t do it fast enough, or they got a customer complaint, or whatever dozen reasons the company can give for badgering, and harassing them. What’s a good driver to do?
Become the steward, and pay them back!
Of course that idea is usually easier said, than done. Most drivers have little contact with the Local Union, (that’s a discussion for another day!). they also probably are relatively unknown to the Business Agent for the Local. Given all that, how does a potential steward get noticed enough to actually become the steward?
The easiest way is to attend some of the Local general membership meetings. The dates, and times should be posted on the Union bulletin board somewhere in your center, or building. You will become familiar with the Local officers, and you will also learn a great deal about where your dues money goes. Of course the officers will also become familiar with you, and so will your B.A. Don’t be shy about raising your hand, and asking questions. Many Union members do not realize that these officers work for the dues paying members of that Local Union. (Sometimes the officers forget that also.)
Once you have familiarized yourself with the Local Union, the next step would be to get involved with any steward training seminars offered by the Local, or Locals in your area. Even though you may not be a steward at the time, most Locals will allow you to attend in the hope that you will be easy to slip in as a trained steward should the occasion arise. The seminars will give you a basic knowledge of the Union contract, and the applicable supplement for your region. They will also discuss your rights as a steward in many situations that arise daily. That information is probably more important even than specific contractual language. You need to know what you have the right to do, and what you better not do.
All of the contractual stuff can be fixed tomorrow, if you make a mistake. If you call for a walkout, or a sickout, etc. you can be terminated on the spot, so it’s important to know your rights as a steward.
Often becoming a steward is just being in the right place, at the right time. At the risk of telling an “old guy” story I can tell you how I became a steward 30 years ago. I started as a loader part time when I was going to school. In my desire to move ahead I took a position as a part-time supervisor for a couple of years. In those days you could move from management back into driving, so I became a driver at the first opportunity. The company gives management “labor relations” training, so that management knows how to get around the contract, and how to use and abuse their employees. I was well trained by the company. After learning that I needed to sell my soul to stay in management, I decided that staying a driver was the place for me.
After hitting the proverbial two years, an opening came for an alternate steward. My having a good background on the contract already made me an instant candidate. I thought being an alternate steward was no big deal, so I said OK. Little did I know that the current steward of the time, was closely involved with the Local politics, and when the “wrong people” were elected into power, he up and quit. Suddenly I was the heir apparent, and was thrust into being the steward after only 2 months as alternate. I finally had to retire 31 years later to stop being the steward. (The one thing I hated to leave).
My point to you is to pay attention to the situation in your center. If there is an alternate position empty and available, fill it. There is no better way to learn than by doing. Do not fear doing anything wrong. You will gain huge respect from your cohorts for trying. My first rule of being a steward is, “do something, even if it’s wrong”.
Coming forward as a steward can be one of the most rewarding things you will do. It also gives you a sense of purpose in what can otherwise be a demeaning, degrading job situation. Other people’s future can come to be placed in your hands. You will be able to take pride in helping your fellow drivers get through their careers, even if no one ever says thank you.
I was nuts, and did it for 30 years, and enjoyed every minute, (OK every other minute), of it. I encourage you to do the same.
Two Questions
First this from Tips-Q: Today, President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. Since she happens to be an unmarried woman who has not publicly commented on her sexuality and supports LGBT rights, many on the right are making assumptions about her personal life — and therefore her fitness to serve as a justice. Last month, CBS News published an online column by GOP operative Ben Domenech, which called Kagan the “first openly gay justice.”
My first question is: Does the above statement make a fair assumption?
My second question involves UPS founder Jim Casey. We all know he never married. I cannot say unequivocally that he ever had a girlfriend. He happened to be an unmarried man who did not publicly comment on his sexuality and he supported LGBT workers by hiring them into his company. So the question is:
Was Jim Casey gay?
Using good old Republican logic, I would have to say he was.
Illegal Immigrant Issue Inside the Company
The rise in interest over illegal immigration brings to mind an experience I had while attending the panels. While there, I was able to observe a case where an employee had provided the company with false I.D., and a false Social Security number. The employee worked a number of years for the company under the cover of the false information provided. He also was a college student, and was married during his time with the company.
The issue arose when he was able to go through the citizenship process and obtain a valid Social Security number, and documents giving him real citizenship. He then had to reveal to the company that he had provided false information on his initial application.
The story that never gets told is the personal side. The employee had proven himself a hard worker, and also was a union steward. He had a new baby, and was very dependant on his job.
Telling this story is not about defending illegal immigration. Employers would love to bring illegals into the workforce to reduce wages and the cost of benefits. The right wings attack on the left is that they gain voters. The reality is, the real citizens, of this country, are under attack by the multi-national corporations. The problem is not about illegal imigrants, it’s about illegal employers. Until the people take back the government from the corporations, the danger of being replaced by slave labor is ever present.
The end of the story was, “claim of the union upheld”.
Due to a technicality, and the company’s reluctance to take out a decent employee, the worker was put back to work. The compassion on the company’s side was very obvious, and thanks to a loophole, they were able to save face without relenting from their “we control our world”, mentality. Sometimes there is still just a little of James E. Casey’s compassion for the workers left in the company. It is quickly disappearing sadly.
The story shows even illegals need the Teamsters.
FedEx Drivers Aren’t Pilots
Ever had a FedEx package delivered to your door by airplane?
Of course not!
Check out this video showing the absurdity of the claim by FedEx CEO Fred Smith that FedEx Express is an airline. The video is part of the Teamsters campaign launch in support of leveling the playing field in the package delivery industry.
For more information, visit FedExDriversArentPilots.com.
Is UPS “Too Big To Fail”?
With all this talk these days about banks being too big to fail and most of us agreeing that that’s probably a bad thing, we have to ask ourselves, “Is UPS too big to fail?”
Too big to fail at one time meant that a company was so large and so diversified, that if one branch or another went south on them, the whole operation would not go under because the rest of the company could shoulder the losses of one division. That was thought to be a good thing. A secure thing.
But these days being too big to fail means that if bad management puts a mega-corporation in the ditch, the US Government will pull it out before the crash turns into a multi-car pile up and lots of people get hurt. And a Government bailout means taxpayer money going to save an irresponsible private enterprise. Now “too big to fail” is viewed as a bad thing and the idea is circulating that maybe corporations that large should be broken up.
Where does UPS fit into all this?
The strike of ’97 gave us a little glimpse into just how big UPS is. Newspapers reported that 8% of the Gross National Product was circulating through our system at any given moment and that’s a lot of product. And when shippers large and small looked around for another way to ship and receive their goods, they found there really was no other good way. The Post Office is just not up to the job and FedEx is too expensive. DHL made a run at getting into the business, but couldn’t stand up to UPS’s omnipresence.
Now with UPS heavily involved in transporting goods worldwide, who knows how much of the world GNP is in our system. Not only would the US economy crash and burn if UPS folded its tent, but other nations would suffer too. Could the bankruptcy of UPS cause a world wide depression? That could not be allowed to happen.
Is UPS so big that it should be broken up like Standard Oil was at the beginning of the last century?
Whether you think UPS is fine like it is or should be taken apart to facilitate competition in the free market economy, I think we can agree on one thing. It ain’t gonna happen anytime soon. We have the best government in Washington that money can buy and UPS has a lot of money to spend.
What is White Privilege?
Imagine if Tea Partiers were black, or Arab-American, and showed up in the hundreds or thousands, angry and well-armed, talking revolution.
“Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it….White privilege is the ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic no matter what you do, and never to be feared as people of color would be if they tried to get away with half the shit we do on a daily basis.”
Division Managers I Have Known
Over the years, the personalities I have experienced in every aspect of “The Company” has been educational. As a steward for 30 of those 34 years, I had to deal with a number of “interesting” individuals. Most of the drivers deal daily with the Center Sup. or the Center Manager, but as the steward, (and an active one), we were always “going upstairs” to the Division Manager’s office. Unfortunately, as in most cases, a person remembers the worst of the bunch. I just thought I’d talk about some of the more memorable personalities I’ve seen.
The very first one that comes to mind is the screaming, yelling, walk up and down the belt with a “mad-on” attitude. While this guy came across somewhat “Coach Like”, he was too indiscriminate about who he chose to take on. He didn’t care anything about the employee he would scream at. It could be the hot dogger, hump and dumper of the year. The guy that just delivered 400 stops. If the driver’s shoes weren’t polished or his shirt wasn’t tucked in, he was all over them.
As a steward who grew up yelling, this guy was the most fun. It was a blast to bait him into an argument in front of everybody. You could hear the battle echoing throughout the building, usually with no resolution. Just the steward walking away with everyone’s respect for taking him on, and the Division Manager looking like an idiot. Of course his ego let him go on to scream another day.
The next memorable Division Manager was the “Sneaky, Conniving, Stab in the back, Hide out in the office type”. These are the guys that have “wet dreams” over Telematics. The Division Manager I remember would sit in his office pouring over yesterdays reports looking for time gaps, and indicators on all of the reports, looking for anyone that might be stealing from the company in any manner. He also would sit in his office and think of ways to screw the drivers over lunch breaks, paid breaks, or any other time as his attitude was, every driver was stealing every second from the company. The ironic thing about this guy is that he was a lying, sneaking driver, on his way up. He knew all of the tricks, because he had pulled all of those tricks, as a driver. He used to “Knob” packages with the best of them. He used to go “off area” with the best of them. He used to take “extra lunchbreak” with the best of them.
As a steward, dealing with this guy was fun also. While he could come up with some interesting twists and turns, reminding him of his past was the best defense for keeping him from terminating someone. Helping him remember the temptations that are out there on the street, was the best defense. He also had a knack for catching the “kiss asses” as they were the ones that usually cheat the system the most. That’s how he got where he was, he just never was caught. He really didn’t take people out, but he would put the fear of the “Lord and Master” in them.
The next memorable Division Manager was the, “I’m from Montana, and I’m an asshole” type of Division Manager. He came in with the flourish of “I’m going to get every one of you for anything I can get on you”. What the guy didn’t understand was that he had run into some of the most experienced, and awesome stewards at UPS. He had never seen such a tight group of stewards in Montana, where most of the centers were small, and very distant from each other, and pretty much out of touch with the real world. He found that taking on any of the drivers, took a great deal of effort, and time, and cost. The stewards showed him that they could rise to the occasion, and make his life just as miserable as he could make the driver’s.
Dealing with this guy was really pretty easy. He had never seen what the grievance process could entail when used properly. The stewards used the “pile on the paper” technique for getting him to leave people alone. The stewards also were ever watchful of this guy’s behavior, and a pattern of racism began to show, with his singling out black drivers for more severe discipline than the white drivers. When that issue was brought to the surface with upper management, the place suddenly got quiet. All due to the diligent work of the stewards.
Of course I would be remiss in not mentioning the decent, hard working Division Mangers that took care of people, and gave those driver’s the chance to straighten up their act before taking them out. The manager that cared about people in general, and was all about everyone’s success, including the employee’s, and the company’s. Of course most of those guys were usually soon out the door in this day of “cutthroat management”, and the “race to the bottom line”.
Talking about these guys, and the many more personalities, is more about showing the “behind closed doors” work the stewards do for the rank and file driver. They get to know the inner workings of these Division Manager’s heads, and they adjust how they deal with them in the many cases that “go upstairs”. A quality steward is not just about knowing the contract, and past practice, it’s also all about dealing with personalities, and negotiating on the behalf of the rank and file with the Division Manager. It takes toughness, it takes fairness, it takes a desire for the success of the company, as well as the success of the workers. One goes with the other, and many of the managers get too close to the success of the company, they forget about the success of their people, which directly affects their own succes.
It’s up to the steward to remind them!