Local 89: The Cost of Neutrality in the Workplace
I have worked at UPS Worldport for 7 years collectively, and in those 7 years I have had some experiences that have changed my outlook on our union for the worse. One such incident that constantly repeats itself is the feeling that the union only saves people's jobs that are “bad workers” or “lazy workers”. I have also noticed how many workers the union saves.
With my first hand experience with the process, I know that the union has very little to do with saving someone’s job most of the time. What really happens when an employee is terminated is they are presented with a choice, supervised and watched over by a union steward, from upper management to either 1) take the termination or 2) fight the termination by “grieving it” or filing a grievance with the union. A grievance is an official way to use the union as what is essentially a legal defense that could cite specific articles in the contract to potentially get your job restored.
The thing about filing a grievance is that a lot of union stewards and union representatives within the organization are very pessimistic and undetermined to use the union's organizational power against the company. I have had to go through this process 2 times in my 7 years and both times the union steward was either so incompetent at their job that they didn’t speak up at all in my defense or straight up told me they were against me and I shouldn’t even try to fight it. So when fellow Teamsters claim that the union only saves the jobs of “lazy” or “bad” workers, in reality it’s the company doing 99% of what it is that’s accredited to the union or union steward.
If the union isn’t willing to use the power that it has as leverage against the bosses then “why have a union in the first place”, as some of my fellow union members profess. As a union member and member of the CWP, the use of the union is clear, to use the already existing structure of the union to use the strength of the organized working class against capital, within the workplace.
The workers of Worldport and beyond often know how the company operates and are best able to remove inefficiencies that persist within the corrupt and morally bankrupt union higher ups and the bosses they are in bed with. We as the workers at this company should be the ones to control every aspect of the production process. It shouldn’t be left up to one business agent or one CEO to decide that, it should be a democratic majority that decides the fate of their fellow worker, not a single person or board who aren’t out working on the floor. That’s why I joined the CWPUSA to bring a more equitable and democratic system to replace the evil and corrupt capitalist system exploiting me and billions more of my fellow workers.