STRIKE!!!!

Have I got your attention?

Strikes are serious business.  They are serious for companies, they are serious for workers, and they are serious for Unions.  But not all strikes are the same.  And that is a very important issue.

But don't worry, I'm not trying to scare you, I just want to provide you with some facts about strikes.  And you don't have to take my word for it, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will tell you the same things right HERE.

ECONOMIC STRIKE:  If the object of a strike is to obtain from the employer some economic concession such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better working conditions, the striking employees are called economic strikers. They retain their status as employees and cannot be discharged, but they can be replaced by their employer. If the employer has hired bona fide permanent replacements who are filling the jobs of the economic strikers when the strikers apply unconditionally to go back to work, the strikers are not entitled to reinstatement at that time. However, if the strikers do not obtain regular and substantially equivalent employment, they are entitled to be recalled to jobs for which they are qualified when openings in such jobs occur if they, or their bargaining representative, have made an unconditional request for their reinstatement. 

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE (ULP) STRIKE: Employees who strike to protest an unfair labor practice committed by their employer are called unfair labor practice strikers. Such strikers can be neither discharged nor permanently replaced. When the strike ends, unfair labor practice strikers, absent serious misconduct on their part, are entitled to have their jobs back even if employees hired to do their work have to be discharged. 

THE UNION CALLING A STRIKE:  It sounds awfully sketchy, why would a worker choose to put that level of authority in the hands of someone with no skin in the game?  Calling strikes to save face, potentially forcing you to honor the picket line, subjecting you to all manner of 

TRIALS,  DISCIPLINE, and FEES!!!! 

This Local Union does NOT call strikes.  We, as individual members, engage in the democratic process at all times.  This includes strikes.  If the decision is made to go out on strike, that decision will be made by you and your fellow MBI Drivers.  Nobody else.  That means a majority (and we are talking about a vast majority) of drivers have chosen to strike. If the majority of drivers do not vote to go out on strike, there is no strike.  Do not believe for a moment that this decision is made by somebody else.  It is made by you.

Now wait a moment: did your employer just send you a letter that starts out saying "the Union or its supporters" may tell you "that the Company will try to 'scare' you with strike talk" and then try to scare you with strike talk?  Why did they not mention the ULP Strike IF the Company wasn't trying to scare you?  Why would the company represent strikes as something you have no voice in determining IF the Company wasn't trying to scare you? Why would the Company suggest there are no protections for striking workers, when there are many, IF the Company wasn't trying to scare you? 

Of course the Union is going to tell you that the Company will try and scare you with talks of strikes. That is what companies do during organizing campaigns and this campaign is no different: they try and scare you into submission.  And it works.  Talk of closing the doors next Monday if the workers vote to organize on Wednesday, that is trying to scare you.  Saying they'll sell off the trucks and close down is trying to scare you.  Suggesting you will lose independence, or job security, or your hard earned wages are all attempts to scare you.  Suggesting that this Local does not follow through on grievances, or has no concern about timely negotiations are attempts to undermine our character, make us look shady.  If we are discredited, then our solutions are suspect.  Perhaps some of you recall a lively discussion wherein we predicted precisely what would be said about Local 222 and Unions? 

We want you to enjoy your rights.  And we are willing to tell you the truth to get you there.

Union Solutions, rooted in a democratic setting, protecting your due process, may seem to good to be true, but it is true.  And over 3,500 Utah Teamsters enjoy these rights, and their voice, both at work, and in their Union, everyday.  

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Teamsters Local Union 222 at 801.972.1898 and ask for Britt, ext. 17.