Twist and Shout

It’I Hate Yous been an interesting week. The company never fails to seaze on an opportunity to increase profit and production. The fun part this week was the earnings announcement. Yes we shouldn’t make assumptions about the future! Yes things could be worse tomorrow! Yes the world may end! The reality is big brown is still making tons of money. They love to keep you in a state of fear much like the Bush administration did for the last eight years. They get to control you thought process, and it makes you easier to buffalo. The big thing is the battle over nine fives. Management has been telling drivers they don’t have the right to file if they didn’t plan an 8.4 hour dispatch. Their new rule is you have to plan 8.4 and run scratch before you have the right to excersize your rights under the Union contract. Huh? When did that happen? They think we’ve forgotten that many of the areas have not been time studied since 1948. Many of our allowances do not reflect the specialized delivery requirments of today. I made a few phone calls to the union this week just to be sure we were all on the same page. All 9.5 rules remain as they were. Obviously we advocate a fair days work for a fair days pay. Do your job correctly, safely, and to the best of your ability. If you continue to be dispatched over 9.5 hours, file! For those of you that don’t mind the overtime, let them know. For those of you that do not want the overtime, let them know. Just don’t ask for one thing then do another. Don’t make your steward crazy by getting your dispatch reduced, then working over 9.5 hours anyway. Also don’t make your steward crazy by telling them you’ll work over 9.5 hours then filing after your 20th 9.5. They have made it clear that they intend to harrass anyone filing a 9.5 hour grievance. Be consistant in your work methods, (we’ve discussed that here), and know what is a reasonable dispatch for you. Be upfront about what you think is reasonable, but don’t expect something for nothing.