Reality Check EP 032

Garfield and Jeff discuss various topics in this episode. They talk about the importance of submitting 8-hour requests on time and following the contract's guidelines. They also discuss how seniority plays a role in these requests. The hosts emphasize the need for drivers to be aware of the rules and not let the company take advantage of them. They also mention the wage increases for both full-time and part-time employees according to the new contract. The hosts discuss the two-hour penalty payment that drivers are entitled to if they are taken off their bid routes. They stress the importance of filing grievances when necessary and holding the company accountable. They conclude by encouraging listeners to adapt to the changing times and continue pushing forward. Teamster Power 767 Reality Check with Jeff Schenfeld and Garfield Hooper. How's it going today Garfield? It's going pretty good. Yeah? Yeah. I'm having a good day. In person today huh? In person. Yeah. Me and you. Alright. Yeah. We have to do that right? Once in a while we do. Alright. So today we're going to be talking about a couple of things. The first thing is 8 hour requests and companies holding you know drivers to doing it exactly by the contract. Now you should always do it anyway but in the past you know they you put it in a decent amount of time but now they're really getting specific so Garfield's going to read the exact language so you know when you have to get this 8 hour request in. Yeah. So this is a good this is an important tool for you know keeping like if you've got something going on you want to you've got the seniority and you want to grab you know an 8 hour day but here's what it says an employee who desires to be relieved from overtime on a particular day must make a written request on a form furnished by the employer such a request must be submitted no later than the start of their shift on the third workday preceding the day being requested. A signed copy of the request form stating approval or disapproval shall be returned to the employee by the end of the employee's next working day. Such requests shall be granted or denied in accordance with the terms of this subsection. If a request is denied on the above reference form the employee shall receive a 2 hour penalty pay at their double time rate if the request should be granted at this time based on the criteria set forth in this subsection. This 2 hour payment shall also apply if the employer approves the request and later informs the employee they cannot be relieved of overtime provided the request continues to meet the criteria set forth in this subsection. So basically you know you get that 2 hour penalty you know and so what happened the other day is you know my center the you know there was different languages yeah you know they they would do it by loop right if they're more you know a certain amount of people in a certain loop that's not there yeah okay what's there is you know 10% on any given day okay and they didn't want to approve one of the drivers and we're like no no we kept talking about like no no they they have to I mean it's it's 10% so it's 100 drivers that's 10 drivers yeah okay and they thought it was the loop well they probably knew it wasn't the loop but they were trying to is it based on the number of drivers or is it based on the number of routes it's not a drivers okay so if there's 100 drivers in the center but there's only 85 routes it's still 10 drivers yes yes they base it up the amount yeah absolutely so you know it's it's and they kept saying no no no no no and we're like oh wait a minute you know and they say see everything and all these this has to be done by seniority as well yes okay but you know there was also you know the request was given a month before and then he had less seniority than a person who just gave it in you know this past week so that's you know that's one of those things where he asked for it before and you know they gave to but it was all moved yes guess what both of them were able to get it yeah but the company wanted to do their own thing yeah so it's important that everyone knows that it's you know it's 10% and you know it's not about the loop it's you know how many how many people are in the center the drivers are in the center we want to make sure that you know people know that because you know the company played around and they could have you know if people didn't know what they were talking about they could have you know because I said no so let me give you so let me ask you this um you know you said that that other driver had come in and said um that other driver that's higher seniority it can be like a week prior and said hey I want to stay on and say that bumps him down to under 10 to like above the 10% the company still pays out for that no I mean it's it's they yeah they approved it yeah they did approve it approved it yeah yeah and I think the fact is what happened here if it was a month before it was it's kind of too soon yeah see that's the problem there's a couple of things in there you know the bottom line is you know there you do have to base it on seniority yeah and you do it in the time frame like we said but it was all moved yeah because I mean it's it's they had to do the 10% yeah they both were able to get it but see they wanted you know what they did was kind of pitting drivers against each other members against each other that's surprising no not here no not one bit not one bit so just a little info on that we also wanted to talk about the on the new contract we got we got some wage increases okay and so for full-time wage increases all full-time employees who have obtained seniority as of August 1st 2023 will receive the following general wage increases for each contract year so for 2023 it was 275 2024 75 cents 2025 75 cents the 2026 $1 look 2027 225 yeah so they got attacked that big number on the end yes yes and you know I mean that's that's a separate conversation I know I know you're looking at me and I know where you want to go but we're just gonna we're just gonna leave it so what about the part-timers Garfield the part-timers got the same wage increases as us all part-time employees who've attained seniority as of August 1st 2023 will receive the following general wage increases for each contract year the total wage increases for each year will be as follows two dollars 75 cents for 2023 75 cents for 24 75 cents for 25 a dollar for 26 and 225 for 27 okay I mean that those are the numbers yeah um we'll just we'll just keep it to that yeah that's that's that's what we got and those those wage increases will you know will be yours on August 1st of every one of those years yes absolutely whether that August 1st comes up in the middle of a week or not I know a lot of people ask are they just going to change on the pay period it's like no like if Tuesday is you know July 31st and August and Wednesday is August 1st then that's when you'll see your wage increase on August 1st absolutely yep those days in that week that we're after you know as of August 1st so but that was another thing um and I know we're just going around with just these these small little things that you know that pop up in the in the contract um also another thing okay if any package drivers pull from their bid route to cover another route they are entitled to two hour penalty payment at their straight time rate of pay yes and you know they've been you know on Mondays or whatever day you know they break down your route and I'm saying to people I'm like you know they're breaking down your right making you do another route now whether it's arbitrary or the work isn't there whatever they're taking you off your route yeah to do another route doesn't that seem like you that's a two-hour penalty it's worth the grievance it's absolutely worth the grievance it's always worth the grievance we need that heard yeah right I mean I can't even imagine a you know a president or a or a or a BA saying otherwise that'll be crazy right yeah okay just uh just wanted to go over those couple of things they're important I mean every everything's important uh-oh here we go it's also important to note that um if you're a if you're a cover driver yeah and you bid on a vacation on like a route that's a weekly route a weekly route yeah and they take you off of those uh-huh you also get that two-hour penalty absolutely absolutely it's if you're taking out off your bid route whether yeah I've had um drivers and I believe we've paid this out um a driver that is a not that does not own a bid route and did not get the opportunity to post to bid because the company failed to post the vacancy bids uh-huh yep he filed for two hours for each day because he didn't get the opportunity to absolutely and I believe the company has paid that out yeah I mean you know if they don't afford you the opportunity and it probably should have gone to you or what either way they didn't afford you the opportunity so you know what you're going to pay every single day and and in the time that we're in now where every little thing is being brought up every little thing is leading to discipline or hard termination we got to do the same you know that's just part of being a part of the union yeah like it's not only to protect you it's to protect your brothers and sisters yep two people can play at this game you know they've got paperwork they want to throw at us we've got paperwork we can throw at them yeah and we should be you know they anytime you do something wrong they were not going to hesitate to write you up absolutely and you can't hesitate to file those grievances no like they're not your friends oh no absolutely no you can talk to you know you've got your supervisor buddy that you talk football or hockey or whatever with you know I'm not asking you not to be cordial with them but if they're going to do something wrong you got to hold them accountable because they're certainly going to hold you accountable if you do something wrong absolutely and we have to adapt to that times are changing yep and what the company's doing we need to adapt to that yes and everybody needs to adapt to it okay they have to understand that you know they're they're coming they're coming hard after us and we need to do likewise go back at them okay so that was a good point Garfield I mean it's always we you know let's adapt let's do this and keep pushing don't ever stop all right so for myself and Garfield have a good day we all deal with national language but on this podcast when it comes to supplemental language we deal mostly with the southern region and as always it's best to get advice from your local stewards or business agents if you would like to reach out to us with any questions we have an email address 767realitycheck at gmail.com that's 767realitycheck at gmail.com and remember strong people stand up for themselves but the strongest people stand up for others