Campaign Epidode 002

The Teamster Power 767 campaign podcast is dedicated to educating Teamsters and discussing their concerns. The host expresses displeasure with how the current administration handled the previous contract negotiations. They organized a gathering to inform members about the contract but didn't tell them how to vote. They believe the contract could have been better and members should have had more say. The host feels pressure to vote a certain way is unfair. They also criticize the administration for pushing members to vote yes without providing all the necessary information. The host believes members should have been trusted to make their own decisions. Welcome everybody to the Teamster Power 767 campaign podcast. This is a new podcast solely dedicated to the Teamster Power slate running for local 767 office in November of 2024. Regardless of the outcome, we intend to continue the Reality Check podcast dedicated to the education of the members locally and across the country. Our goal, in or out of office, is to educate as many Teamsters as possible. How's everything going today, Garfield? Oh, you know, it's just another day in paradise. Yeah, yeah, so we were talking a little bit beforehand. You have some things to say today. I'm going to let you have the mic and speak your piece. Yeah, you know, this is obviously going to take a little bit of a different turn than our normal podcast. So we're, you know, this is more focusing on, you know, what you're going to do in the future. I wanted to express some of my displeasure with how the current administration handled things, especially during this previous contract. Because like you and I, I think from our other podcasts, we've both been able to put out there that, you know, we're all about educating people. We want people to have more information about the contract so that they can make informed decisions and they can hold the company accountable. And it's, you know, during the negotiations when everybody was worried, you know, are we going to go on strike, are we not, this, that, and the other, you know, I wanted to inform the people in my building. And I have some great guys in the building. Great other stewards and just other members in there. We, you know, some of them got together and they wanted to make sure people were informed. So they got together for a weekend on one Saturday, a couple of weeks before the original deadline was. And, you know, we invited people from preload, local sorts, obviously a lot of drivers. And, you know, there was probably about 50 or 60 people out there. We got food cooked out, just at one of the parks in McKinney. One of our drivers set the whole thing up. It was great. And obviously they had the stewards out because they wanted us to talk about the things we saw in the contract, the things we liked, the things we didn't. You know, one of the drivers brought up a little PA system so we could talk, we weren't screaming over a thing. And, you know, me and the other stewards got up and we talked about the things that were in the contract. But the thing that we didn't do, and something that I pointed out as soon as I got up there on the microphone, was that I'm not going to tell anyone how to vote. If you ask me how I'm going to vote, I'll tell you. If you ask me for the reasons why I'm going to vote the way I'm going to vote, I will tell you why those reasons are. And obviously I feel passionately about this to where, you know, I feel so. When you ask me how I'm going to vote, I'm going to try to convince you that this is my feelings on the subject. But when it comes down to it, you have to vote the way what's best for you and your family. Absolutely. And I don't want anybody to feel pressured to vote one way or the other. You know, obviously you and I have made our feelings clear that we think we should have gone back to the table on this last contract. I voted no on it and a supplement. And a lot of my center voted no on it, despite the fact that our administration, our administration sat up outside and told everybody to vote yes, and conveniently invited the stewards that were not vocal about voting no to come out and represent those people. So, like, myself and most and none of my stewards on my side of the building got those phone calls to come and be like, hey, we need you to come out to inform people about the contract. They were the people that would say, hey, we're telling these guys to vote yes. So those are the stewards they called. And, like, I'm not disparaging those stewards that came out. They voted their conscience. And that's fine. Yep. But I don't like people telling me how to vote. And I don't like people telling my drivers, my members how to vote. And that puts a bad taste in my mouth, Jeff. Oh, I know. I know you. I could tell. I mean, you were rip roaring. And let me ask you a question. Just ask your question. People knew that you were going to vote no. Did you tell people to vote no? No. Absolutely not. I encouraged people to vote no. I encouraged people. And, like I said, I wanted them to have the information that I have, that I felt we could have we could do better than what we got. Yeah. This contract, unequivocally, was better than the previous one, the previous one that our current administration thought was a great contract. That's very true. You know, we were in a level of unprecedented support amongst the general public, things that haven't been seen in decades amongst the general public of America, with unions and with workers' rights. We were in a position to go back to the table and get things like, you know, the extra days off. We were, you know, get, you know, raises that actually kept up with inflation. We were, you know. The leverage was there. Yeah. We could have leveraged that strength. We could have leveraged our labor. Yes. Yes. To get a contract better than what we had. We had that power. Yes. But certain people within the organization, especially within our local, thought, oh, well, this is as good as we're going to get, so we shouldn't try. Everybody should just vote yes. So I'm just going to – I just have to say something, because this is kind of the part that bothered me, and I knew it, and I think I told you that if they say this when the contract comes out, I'm just going to blow my top. Oh, this is the most lucrative contract. Of course. Every contract that comes out, the next contract is going to be more lucrative. It's more money, inflation. Of course it is. I mean, yes, it's going to be more lucrative. I mean, I just – that's an obvious thing, but it was a ploy just to get people, you know, to vote one way. Sure. Plus, the last contract was a horror show. And anything was going to be better than that. And it was just like, okay. And here's the thing also. It was like we had Stockholm syndrome. True. No, it is. It is. I mean, I'm not saying the contract's bad. There were some good things in this contract. But should we just accept basically a first offer? Should we just accept, okay, we're just going to take this? I mean, I'm not trying to be greedy. I think we get paid well, right? Absolutely. I'm not going to complain about those. That's good. But with this unprecedented, you know, with this leverage and this and that, could we have tried for more? I mean, listen. It was one of those things where they were just pushing people to, you know, to say yes. And if they would have just been like, okay, you know, just, hey, here's the information. You do what you want with it. Listen, when you're telling a member, as a steward, and you're speaking to them, you can't tell them what to do. You lay out everything for them. And you say, here's everything that you need to know. I can't make this decision for you. Right? Yeah. I mean, that's it. But, you know, what happens is, you know, when people are on the negotiating committee, they are kind of, they almost have to push for it. Right? They almost have to. Yeah. And it's a bad situation that it's like that. You know? And I just, like I was saying, it wasn't as if the contract was bad. It was just some things. You know, the language really wasn't touched at all. No. I mean, God Almighty, was it not touched. Everybody focused on the money. Yes. And the thing was, like, you remember when it first came out, everybody thought the money was better than it actually was, because of the way they worded it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I mean, it was all, it was like a smoke and mirrors almost. You know? And, you know, if you just let it, I think if they trust the members, if they trusted the members to make an honest decision, I think they would. I mean, you know, just, okay, here's the information. Not, you know, vote yes. Oh, look, vote yes. You know, just put the information out there, and we'll decide. I mean, I just, we didn't have that opportunity. No. It really was just, you know, it was just thrown in our face. And, you know, I just kept telling people, here's this. They would ask me about specific articles. We'd go over it, and it was just like, okay. And, you know, and the thing is, that's, like I said, I know you were frustrated on that, and, you know, especially with the last contract with some of the same people at the local. I think it's just, it's about free will, right? Yeah. I mean, people have to be able to make choices. We should have had a little bit more of that. So, but, I mean, so why the picketing, though? You see what I'm saying? Yeah. Like, if we kind of knew what was going to happen, what was with the picketing? You know? And, yeah. I mean, in the morning, I remember the, you know, I was still out on injury when all this was going on, but I was still going up to the center to kind of coordinate, because I was one of, I was going to be one of the, what do they call them, strike leaders, yes. But the morning it got ratified. They came back from their sabbatical or whatever the fuck it was. Before lunch. Yeah, like, and before lunch, they were like, oh, yeah, this is good. Congratulations. You know, I was there that morning signing people up, trying to get the certain times filled up so we'd have as many people out there covering the picketing as we could. And, you know, everybody was asking me, what do you think? What do you think? What do you think? I was like, I don't know. And I would tell them, I said, I think if we hear anything, it will probably be later in the week. And then here I am with eggs in my face before noon. I know, I know. I was getting calls, too. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. So all the time they spent, you know, going, I mean, in a heartbeat, they would get a bunch of BAs to go out to the buildings to push people to vote yes. But they couldn't get BAs to go to the buildings to do the shop visits, just go out to Gates and, you know, basically you know what they were doing. And it just didn't make sense to me. So we basically didn't have, for a year, we didn't have BAs. I mean, I know we did, and I'm just saying, though, that they were more focused on that, you know. And I'm not saying they shouldn't have been focused, but it was like everything stopped, you know. Things have to go. Things have to keep moving. I mean, nothing, you know, nothing just stops. Sure, we're dealing with it. Just because we're in the middle of a negotiation doesn't mean people, members don't have problems they need resolved. I mean, that's exactly it. And the pushing yes on top of it was like almost an insult, you know. I mean, it's, and that's where, you know, for us, you know, on the Teams to Power 767 slate, we, you know, this was a long time coming. You know, it was a process, you know, just speaking to people. I spoke to hundreds, if not even over thousands of people, you know, just trying to get the slate together, doing it the right thing, getting my ideas across. I mean, speaking to everyone because I want this, it has to be different. What's going on is not working, and it's like the administration doesn't trust the members. They use information as a weapon, and they don't even give any information. That's the problem. There's no communication, and we're almost out here to fend for ourselves. I think the members need to know they need to be communicated with constantly. I try to do that. You know, you try to do that, and, you know, we're doing, you know, things with the podcast. You know, we're trying to, you know, with the reality check one, trying to get people to, you know, just educated, and it's like, guys, I mean, I just, it's like they don't want to, they want to do it their way, and if they would just do the job instead of putting on a show, you know, maybe things, you know, would be different, but that's not who they are. And I'm not here to just beat on them. My point here is they had every opportunity to do the right thing. I mean, this is just a fact. This is, you know, why didn't they go inside the buildings more? Why didn't they, you know, why haven't they done so many things? Why didn't they listen to the members, you know, when the members said, oh, this VA is an issue, or this is that? Just anything. And that's where you have to, the membership, that's who, that's what this is about, and you're not involving the membership. So that's kind of, that's what we want to do. Everything is about involving the members. Everything is about involving the members. You know, we, you know, no matter what, the regular podcast continues, the reality check, we get in there. We're going to make that part of our weekly thing. So we can answer questions for members. That's important. We're not stopping at it, you know, and it's all about the education, the empowerment, and, you know, reinforcing stuff to the members. And it's like we were told that was a plan. I'm still looking for that plan, you know? Yeah, and it's, again, these are facts. This is fact. And, you know, oh, look, we're just all here to beat them up, but we're not. And, you know, they had every opportunity to do the right thing, and that's what we're trying to say. You keep it about the members, not about yourself, okay? And I think that you've just got to put the right people in the right places. A lot of that doesn't happen. A lot of things they said they were going to do, they're not. And, you know, I just, it's frustrating. I mean, that's why you have to have a plan. You have to have, you know, what you want to do, you want to execute it. You know, you've got to be able to do everything with it, but you can't just be looking, like, right in front of you. You've got to be 10, 20 steps ahead. And, you know, that's what we're going to have. We're going to have, you know, for people to see what we want to do. And a lot of that is giving back to the members, taking care of the members. And, you know, first and foremost, let's take care of the members. Yeah. I mean, you know, all about getting new members, absolutely. But, you know, we've got to take care of the current members too. If we're just getting new members and not taking care of the, you know, current members, that's a problem. And, you know, we'll talk more about, you know, our plan, go into specifics. I'll have some other members of the slate. We're all going to talk about it because, you know, we've been talking a lot. And it's important, you know, that everyone out there hears from everyone on the slate as well. And we'll go into specifics. But I'm glad you were able to express yourself because I know you were expressing it, but you were holding it in too. And you couldn't wait to just get it all out there and say, you know, because it's happened before. And you're like, how could they not learn from their, you know, what they've done before, right? It kind of goes along with being a steward and being a representative. You know, I've got a problem with authority. I don't like being told what to do. And I especially don't like being told what to do when, you know, I know that in my heart that it's the wrong thing. Yes. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you telling someone what to do, I mean, it's just, I mean, that's really never good. And, you know, making decisions, we can make decisions. We make decisions all the time. Oh, yeah. And our decision on this particular topic was to let people make their own choice. That was our decision. Yeah. Because, you know, there was someone who said to me, you know, you got to be able to make a decision if you want to run for office. Yeah. That is my decision. I'm sticking by it. I'm going to let people make that decision. Okay. And you got to believe in your members. And that's sorely lacking. And that's pretty evident. But like I said, we'll go into depth in the upcoming campaign episodes about what we want to do exactly. And so there's nothing hidden, nothing. And we'll be able to, people will be able to see for themselves. And it's time for a change. Everyone has to be that change. It's going to take everyone. Yep. So, but that'll be it for today. But thanks for listening, everyone. Who needs a reality check? I got a check in reality, hey. There comes a time for everyone when they need a reality check. You know you are out there. It's time for your reality check. These are the campaign episodes. Who needs a reality check? I got a check in reality.