September 11, 2018
Dear Joint Council 28 UPS member,
We are writing this letter to impress upon you the magnitude of the vote you are about to cast. As you are reading this letter you will have received, or will receive in the next couple days, a “Ballot Package” containing the proposed changes to each level of your contract, a letter from Union Chair Denis Taylor and the General President James P. Hoffa, a summary letter from us and instructions with a personal pin number to cast your vote online.
I have been a member of each of the last five National Negotiating Committees serving with General President Ron Carey in 1997 and General President Jim Hoffa for the last four. I have worked with great Union leaders from across this Country and have worked with some that I questioned how they ever got elected. Ted has been a member on each of the last three National Committees as well as the last five Supplemental and Rider committees. So when we speak to you about this contract and what we were able to achieve with this offer, we are speaking with direct knowledge of where we came from.
This is by far the richest offer in every area of the contract that we have ever brought to the members for ratification including the 1997 contract, and again, we walked a picket line with little pay for fifteen days to achieve those contract gains.
Personally, the most frustrating issue this time around is the amount of pure untruths and misinformation surrounding this contract and what the members will be voting on. The reason for that started after the ratification of the last Agreement five years ago and the way that negotiation was handled. From that debacle was born the “Vote NO” movement and they have been in full campaign mode ever since! This group has decided the only way they can achieve their real goal of taking control of the leadership of this International Union is to convince you that this contract is not worthy, have you reject it and go on strike! Then they will sit back and say vote for us because we would not have done things this way.
We want you to understand these are the same folks that have been with President Hoffa from the beginning. Now they want you to believe they had nothing to do with him. The truth is they are now running for general President and other leadership positions in the International Union so they are gambling with your careers and do not give two cents about your future.
Playing politics with our member’s jobs is completely irresponsible. We have never run Local 174 or Joint Council No. 28 in that manner and will condemn anyone who believes the path to leadership is through dishonesty and manipulation.
We also want you to understand that we are you. We grew up working at UPS just like you and only stuck around to finish what we started and to tend to some unfinished business. That is what is at stake here. A “NO” Vote destroys everything we have spent more than twenty years trying to accomplish. Ted Bunstine, President of Local 174, and I have been trying to lower the monthly premium for Retirees since 1995. With this offer we have done that!
If this offer passes on the first vote, the new premium will save a married couple six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) a year – and more if dependent children are involved. If you vote no, that is off the table and will not come back.
This contract is full of improvements and you would be hard pressed to find any meaningful concession. There is something for everyone as is my responsibility, from the newest part-time employee to the most senior retiree and everyone else in between.
We are taking an affirmative position in this vote because it is too important to reject it under blatant misinformation, go on a prolonged Strike and change the Company forever costing many of you your jobs.
We are asking you to continue to trust in your leadership and trust in the fact that at the end of this Agreement you will have a loaded rate just under $70.00 dollars an hour as a package car delivery driver, more opportunities for full-time jobs for part-timers, the end of poverty starting rates, greater healthcare coverage, an incredible increase in your annual pension benefit and so many more improvements to a contract you approved with no hesitation five years ago and a tremendous improvement to the contract we struck for fifteen days in 1997 to get.
To help you sort through some of the misinformation we are attaching four short video links so you can see the facts for yourself.
- A Financial Analysis of UPS: https://youtu.be/L40RUu4a61o
- Q and A about Financial Analysis: https://youtu.be/iZlZYaPDWPU
- Further Q and A about Financial Analysis: https://youtu.be/OKu9sSVPyE8
- Debunking the UPS “Vote NO” White Board: https://youtu.be/WxvtHfiHsKE
So when the ballot packet arrives please take the time to read the offer, consider your options and make an informed decision. We recommend a “YES” vote on all three sections.
In Solidarity,
Rick Hicks, President Joint Council 28 Ted Bunstine, JC28 UPS Director
Union Chair JC28 Rider / Sort Union Co-Chair JC28 Rider / Sort