Message from Ernie & Andy

[spanishjonny]

Just the way it is......doesn't make it right!

[John Eadicicco]

Hey Spanish Johnny. What do you think I did when I started 24 years ago! Took me 7 years to get off trips! Went to manhattan more times than you will know! Before I started the trips were put on the bottom runs. The ONLY way I vote yes on new contract proposal from Neil is if we go back to that! Post all runs without trips. If company needs 150 routes for trip coverage then when there are 150 runs left on board, they are trip runs. It's called seniority my man. This new contract proposal hurts senior drivers MUCH MORE than juniors drivers. Educate yourself before you jump to snap judgements that everybody should  be doing trips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[grimreaper]

 

[PROUD MEMBER]

I read these comments on this site and it's a damn shame. The Mayor & Neil r really laughing now. Fellow Union Brothers going back & forth at each other instead of getting together and trying their best to get this Local back to where it belongs.

[Rock Steady]

I don't know what the contract proposal is, there are so many rumours out there I cant keep up with them.  Last I heard we were losing Easter, February, and one day per summer vacation check.  For a senior man getting 5 weeks, thats about  $3,600.00.  If we're going to lose any more than one day per summer check, it's NO vote from me too, and I know lots of people who feel the same as I do.  Even a person getting 4 or 3 summer checks it's a massive financial loss to have to deal with all of a sudden.  I don't care how Ernie breaks it down to us, it's NO !!  My heart really goes out to Ernie . . . . . it reall does.  Now, as far as the comp cases go, Neal only has to blame himself for that.  When you hire a sick fuck like Owen to treat his employees like shit . . . . . thats what you get.  Listen, it doesn't take a genious to manage a school bus company, it's not like your balancing a multi-million dollar budget, he only have to harass the men.  A manager of a Mcdonalds or Taco Bell has a tougher and more involved job than Owen.  When your people feel harassed and pissed off . . . . they slip and fall. Especially with the yard in the winter, it's always a sheet of ice.  Any way, to make a long story short, if I'm losing to many days, it's NO.

[worker341]

For me a single dime out of my check and its a no no no to the bullshit contract. people post your no's he reads  this site too. NO NO and NO. and go to hell.

[Buzz]

I think some of you give Owen too much credit. The spike in comp cases occurred coincidentally following the strike/imposed contract. Apparently some people experience loss of muscle coordination and balance control caused by their wallets becoming suddenly lighter.

[PROUD MEMBER]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it is a multi-million dollar budget. With a lot of those millions going to Neil.

[driver]

What is the big rush with this contract?? The new mayor said he would sit in on union negotiations.. If the new mayor puts the epp back in for future contracts we don't need Neil,let him loose his work, we will just follow the work into the next company. Didn't the board of ed just have a master pick for 150 escorts and drivers?? Our union should have one contract for all 1181 drivers not separate ones. I vote NO for this so called new contract...  Did Cordiello take a pay cut?? Doubt it... I smell a rat.....

[Buzz]

What is the big rush with this contract?? The new mayor said he would sit in on union negotiations.. If the new mayor puts the epp back in for future contracts we don't need Neil,let him loose his work, we will just follow the work into the next company. Didn't the board of ed just have a master pick for 150 escorts and drivers?? Our union should have one contract for all 1181 drivers not separate ones. I vote NO for this so called new contract...  Did Cordiello take a pay cut?? Doubt it... I smell a rat.....

Again, it's not the union that's rushing it. The sooner we make less, the sooner they make more. What the new mayor may or may not do is fodder for the future. We have to deal with the here and now, like it or not. Michael, Eddie and Ernie have been working many, many hours to get us a palatable contract. It may not be what we want, but it will be the best one out there ... only possible because they are negotiating with each company individually.

[terminator]

it is just so funny how a guy will vote NO because he will have to work election day and get the same pay as a guy 'home in bed' BUT when someone brings up the idea of how this SAME guy is home while others are doing trips...he gets mad and pleads seniority!..LOL It is laughable! Is that what the contract is all about...worrying about someone else is doing? As we all know when you pick a run - you look at what days the schools are off/etc...not exactly rocket science! I think guys should start getting the message that Ernie/Andy are telling us concerning the real important contract issues!

[Andrewcappa]

Hey guys, too much rhetoric, sounds like a bunch of old woman sitting around playing mahjong. Really, you got to be kidding, where does this information about the contract come from. I just don't get it. So much bitching, we shouldn't give this back, we shouldn't give that back, really, let's face it, there is going to be give backs, whether we like it or not. I don't like it, but lets be realistic, and all this bitching about the union. Hey guys, guess what, if we didn't have a union we probably would be out of a job by now. In case you didn't know it, the union saved your jobs. Bet you never heard that before. That's right, the union saved your jobs, there I said it again.  I know the strike was a disaster, but we made it a disaster. In case your forgot, the union didn't vote on a strike, we did. Hello.  We were weak, we even had people telling me that they were going to cross the picket lines. Others were calling me on my phone night after night, asking me to tell the union to end the strike. The union finally gave in to our demand and ended the strike. When we went back to work, we went back with an imposed contract, it was terrible, money coming out of our weekly salary, no accrual checks, no OT, now we had a worse situation than before, I had people telling me, I need my job, let them take this, and let them take that, as long as I have a job, but guess what, everyone went to work, everyone did their job, it was amazing, we had gone backwards, but everyone was doing an excellent job. Well the union sucked it up, took a deep breath and attacked the bleak situation, and I got to admit to you, the higher ups in the union were very skeptical, but never the less, went forward.  You may not have agreed on their strategy, and you may not liked their approach, but they won every court decision there was, in the NLRB, and Federal Court. So now after the union wins all these decisions,  all of a sudden we grow balls, we're all over the internet with demands, we don't want to give up anything, what a year will do, even bitching about trips, what the hell is that all about. It's too bad we just can't all be on the same page. Please wait for a contract to be offered to us, read it, study it, talk it over with your buddies, lets talk it over with everyone we work with, and if we don't like it, well  you know the rest. It's up to us, but remember,  it's YOUR decision not your friends, it's what is good for you and your family. Oh yeah, some of the people bitching, are people that would not opt back into the medical.

[PROUD MEMBER]

Well said Andy. Guys lets take his advice and stop all this nonsense on the internet. As Andy stated wait for the contract offer then talk it over with ur family and coworkers and make ur decision. I'm mad,  I'm nervous and aggravated and I want to make sure that WE ALL make the right decision. AGAIN WELL SAID ANDY!!!

[Buzz]

Thanks for the much needed reality check, Andy. Yes, the union made their mistakes with the strike, and the loss of benefits was a big cause for lack of support, but I believe they have vindicated themselves by staying the course and patiently and methodically facing the problem with their successful legal attack ... not always the easiest thing to do in the face of so much criticism.

The in-fighting is ridiculous. We were all junior men once and all paid our dues with the trips. I see no sense in that dividing us in any way.

Not fair to have to work on a public school holiday without extra pay? No, it's not. Would it be any better it were solved by NOT paying those who didn't have to work? (Effectively eliminating the 40 week guarantee.) Of course not. Let's hope some middle ground was reached on this matter.

Nobody wants give-backs but we have to realize that these are different times. Better to be flexible to a point, than to be total hard-asses without jobs.

p.s. Andy ... only edited your post for some grammatical errors, as I know you would have wanted. Thanks for the post.

[terminator]

As always...THANK YOU ANDY!
With all the bitching and moaning they hear -
I have NEVER met more dedicated people than Ernie and Andy!
Thanks guys!