Quote from: faceit on February 22, 2013, 12:52:02 AM
Hey buzz between you and me I would have worked 3 days for 1 days pay just to get my benefits back. Oops did I say that out loud .

Yes, I know how important they are, especially for someone in your circumstances.

Glad to see you have a sense of humor! 

Please ... nobody tell faceit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote from: 4real on February 21, 2013, 06:00:22 PM
I have to agree with john and terminator, I spent many days as a shape and only getting paid for weeks on 1/2 day pay while drivers were covering runs, and more dishearting when one of Ernies " strike captians " is covering just 2 days back...WTF

Again, as a general rule I agree. There are guys who can't get on the cell phone fast enough so they can get an hour's pay when a shape is sitting there. I do feel, however, there are exceptions and times when it's warranted.

Quote from: terminator on February 21, 2013, 04:26:13 PM***Buzz..."modicum" really???...I had to look that one up! LOL

LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

Quote from: John Eadicicco on February 21, 2013, 03:11:31 AM
I will say this from the bottom of my heart with all conviction: NO One should should cover any work under any circumstances! The job of the delegates and the shop stewards on every property That I have EVER worked on ( and this is my 4th local I have worked in , in over 35 years) is to make sure that it's members are protected AND working! That means that on this particular job, if a bus breaks down, a shape picks up the work! END OF DISCUSSION!!!!!!

I agree with you in principle, but don't see it as all black or all white. If you totally dehumanize it, yes, you can say "end of discussion." But again, would you honestly not go to help if you knew it were your child or grandchild freezing at a bus stop? They may not be yours, but they are somebody's. (You are the one who said you treat them "like family" ... no?)

Quote from: faceit on February 21, 2013, 03:18:16 AM
thats all i was trying to say John thank you but buzz has to show he can still kiss ass on both sides..

I was waiting for that, especially since name-calling is something at which you are quite adept. Call it what you want, but I see our regard for Neil and the children we serve as a matter of human decency.

We all have our crosses to bear, (neither do you know what I'm going through), and I don't envy your particular situation. However, I don't see our personal hardships as justification for resorting to the kind of insensitivity you espouse.

Had Neil not gone along with the others, and Bloomberg pulled his contract, we would not have a job to go back to. Where would you get your benefits from then?

Apparently, as it stands now, we are not getting paid for Monday and Tuesday. The matter will most likely go to arbitration.

Quote from: faceit on February 21, 2013, 01:08:03 AM
What does that mean b uzz he can sign a shapes check to.. You are still union right?

Yes, he can (and does) sign shapes' checks and my comment was not specifically in response to covering runs which is why I did not include that when I quoted your previous post. While on the subject, however, if your child or grandchild were on a broken down bus in below-freezing weather, or waiting at a stop for that bus, would you be there in a minute or two if you could or have them wait a half-hour to 45 minutes for a shape in a spare to get there? Is our first obligation to to get kids to school in a timely manner, or to get a shape another 4 hours pay? (Not to say there are not times when that is entirely in order.) I'm not really looking for an answer. I guess it's mainly a matter of conscience.

To reply to your question, yes, I am still union. That does not mean that the person we work for deserves to be called "scumbag" as you did in another post. It's still there only because I have a certain disdain for censorship, not because I agree with your choice of words. I realize it was said at a time when frustrations were running high, and understand peoples' need to vent and try to allow that to happen unimpeded here.

Still, I think a modicum of respect and civility is due the person who provides us with a livelihood, weather or not we agree with some of the things he says and does. (And I don't.) Maybe I'm old fashioned, but there's one principle that I learned early on in life that I've always lived by ... "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Ernie says he needs the International's check receipt stub signed, dated and returned.

He will be picking up the local's checks tomorrow.

Then again, wasn't it a democratic governor who VETOED a bill that would have made the EPP law .... 

Ernie say they were reinstated as of today. I told him about your post and he said he'd check on it tomorrow and let me know.

Quote from: faceit on February 20, 2013, 03:33:20 PM... DONT FORGET WHO VOTED AGAINST YOUR MEDICAL BENEFITS...

Hmmm ... bit of a dilemma here ... it was the same guy who signs our paychecks.

What to do ... what to do ... 

This afternoon another driver told me he heard that 1181 Reliant employees were subsequently rehired. Haven't been able to substantiate either story, so if anybody finds anything concrete please post it.

I'm hearing that the scab workers hired at several companies are permanent replacements and they're not taking their 1181 employees back ... either some or all, depending how many were replaced. Reliant is the biggest of these ... the figures I've heard are between 179 and 300 drivers/matrons who have been "replaced" there.

I honestly feel ... the longer we stayed out, the more of us would have been replaced around the city. Time was right to go back IMHO.

Maybe they took the buyout!!