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mbadriver · Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 357 Location: I94 Exit 69

Anyone know anything about the Teamsters? I got a chance to join a company and become a Teamster. Do the Teamster's operate like other Trade Unions, where if you relocate you can go to the "Local" and find work?

Or is the Teamster's a company specific deal like the UAW, where you join the UAW at GM in Spring Hill, TN and can't necessarily say I'm moving to Lordstown, OH and want my same job there.

I have never belonged to a Union. And I really don't know how they operate. But I have a friend in the Construction Laborer's Union. If there is no work here, he can go to another local and sign up. He'd be on the bottom of the list, but still eligible for work.

Just wondering if there is any benefit to being a Teamster? Prefer responses from actual Card Carrying Teamsters :wink:

Kurbski · Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 374 Location: Water World FL

This guy tells it like it is. :shock: :lol: :lol: 8)
http://www.theguyfromboston.net/Rant%20Pages/New%20Gas%20Tax.htm

Walking Eagle · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

Basicaly it is a scam to get work !! I lived in Alaska for 35 years and the only way to get a driving job (even if you owned your own truck) was to join Teamsters Local 995. They built these real neat complexes in Anchorage and Fairbanks with swimming pools and weight rooms and Bistros but the only problem was if you drove enough hours to qualify to use them you didn't have time to use them. A business agent perk ?? They just had to have 4 Lear jets to fly business agents around the state and to meetings in Hawaii, Nassau etc. Then when Pipleline trucking started to go down and guys were at an age to retire they said "Well we don't have the $$$$$ would you accept 50% or 40% of you pension"
Total ripe off. You will never get back the "Dues" you put in.

Snowman7 · Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 1042 Location: the Buckeye

mbadriver wrote: Anyone know anything about the Teamsters? I got a chance to join a company and become a Teamster. Do the Teamster's operate like other Trade Unions, where if you relocate you can go to the "Local" and find work?

Not really, other than the "buddy system" or "who you know" kind of thing. It might help having a contact.

mbadriver wrote:

Or is the Teamster's a company specific deal like the UAW, where you join the UAW at GM in Spring Hill, TN and can't necessarily say I'm moving to Lordstown, OH and want my same job there.

That's it. Your ability to transfer depends on your company policy.

mbadriver wrote:

I have never belonged to a Union. And I really don't know how they operate. But I have a friend in the Construction Laborer's Union. If there is no work here, he can go to another local and sign up. He'd be on the bottom of the list, but still eligible for work.

I've heard they try to do this but usually if one company is slow everyone is slow. You would probably only work for one company unless you werent getting enough hours and needed a second job.

mbadriver wrote:

Just wondering if there is any benefit to being a Teamster? Prefer responses from actual Card Carrying Teamsters :wink:

Knowing what company/type of trucking you're looking at could help. Basically they are your negotiating agent and then assist in making sure management follows the agreed to contract. They do negotiate better pay and bennies usually. But then the non-union companies will match them to keep their employees from organizing. Management hates unions because they dont want to be told how they can run their business. Just like anything else in life some people on both sides of the agreement want to twist the words around and make trouble. Other people find ways to get along. There are good union shops, bad union shops, good non-union shops and bad non-union shops. My attitude is if I like my job I stick around and if I dont I find another one, life's too short to be miserable everyday.

Chasing Daylight · Joined: 23 Oct 2007 Posts: 131 Location: SE Arizona

The Teamstera are a labor union, not a trade union. Big distinction there.

To answer your first question, no, the Teamsters are not a "call local." Meaning, you find the job then the union comes into play, if you leave that job, you go find another. They have no book system, no traveling privileges, if you leave a teamster company you are on your own finding a new job.

There are other big differences. For starters, the Teamsters will negotiate with an employer for health and welfare benefits, pensions and the like, which the employer will then be forced to set up. You will then get these benefits from your employer. This is how labor and industrial unions work. Trade unions, on the other hand set up there own health and benefits plans and pensions and negotiate with companies to pay into them. The union runs the programs not the employer. This is significant in a few ways. For starters, when the union runs the program, the program stays intact for you even if you switch companies. Much more important is the structure of the program as a going concern. Look at the UAW, a labor union, they negotiated pensions with the automakers who then set up the pensions, which are now largely bankrupt. In the trade unions, the unions set up the pensions and the employers paid into them, and every one of them in the country is still solvent and paying out.

The long and short of it is this: if you want to be a carpenter or a plumber, then union is the only way to work. If you want to work in a factory, or drive a truck then union membership often has little to offer you. Unless they have negotiated wages substantially higher than the non union shops in your area, they really have nothing to offer, as the benefits they negotiate are unstable at best. In the end, the decision is yours and it could be good or bad depending on the individual contract. But don't compare your Teamsters offer with your friends Laborers union deal. Comparing a labor union to a trade union is apples and oranges.

mbadriver · Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 357 Location: I94 Exit 69

Thanks for the clarification!

Chasing Daylight wrote: The Teamstera are a labor union, not a trade union. Big distinction there.

To answer your first question, no, the Teamsters are not a "call local." Meaning, you find the job then the union comes into play, if you leave that job, you go find another. They have no book system, no traveling privileges, if you leave a teamster company you are on your own finding a new job.

There are other big differences. For starters, the Teamsters will negotiate with an employer for health and welfare benefits, pensions and the like, which the employer will then be forced to set up. You will then get these benefits from your employer. This is how labor and industrial unions work. Trade unions, on the other hand set up there own health and benefits plans and pensions and negotiate with companies to pay into them. The union runs the programs not the employer. This is significant in a few ways. For starters, when the union runs the program, the program stays intact for you even if you switch companies. Much more important is the structure of the program as a going concern. Look at the UAW, a labor union, they negotiated pensions with the automakers who then set up the pensions, which are now largely bankrupt. In the trade unions, the unions set up the pensions and the employers paid into them, and every one of them in the country is still solvent and paying out.

The long and short of it is this: if you want to be a carpenter or a plumber, then union is the only way to work. If you want to work in a factory, or drive a truck then union membership often has little to offer you. Unless they have negotiated wages substantially higher than the non union shops in your area, they really have nothing to offer, as the benefits they negotiate are unstable at best. In the end, the decision is yours and it could be good or bad depending on the individual contract. But don't compare your Teamsters offer with your friends Laborers union deal. Comparing a labor union to a trade union is apples and oranges.

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