Unions?

[mixednut]

I've just recently been an rca for a year.  Was an rca for three or four years before that and never joined the union.  I'm thinking of finally joining.  Can anyone tell me of experiences that they are super glad they joined and what are any other advantages they offer that you have utilized?

[Vax]

   In Va there is no advantage to join, a right to work state, union has to represent you anyway, most of my office going to quit 22 carriers, see no advantage to paying dues, and getting shafted on a regular basis, state does deacent job, national stinks, most of us work 6 days a week, fss office, 90% h routes now, short on subs, hard to get a day off, Union has done very little here! It stinks

[west of nowhere]

I am curious as to what you would like the union to do. If someone let me wave a magic wand to make the changes I would like I would make all routes 40 hrs,change the 1hr rule back to 2 hrs, and have the mail count back in Sept. Forty hrs would be a nice raise for many carriers in my area. Our box count is going down so we could hold our pay at the same level a while longer, and we don't always get back the time we lose for the snowbirds being gone. My guess is none of this would go over to well with those of you that have routes over 40, carriers in growth areas, or those of you that get the advantage of our snowbirds. If the union would need to represent me I think I would have a little more faith in the amount of effort put forth to handle my problem if I am a member and not just being represented because the law requires it.

[bob1]

Vax wrote:

   In Va there is no advantage to join, a right to work state, union has to represent you anyway, most of my office going to quit 22 carriers, see no advantage to paying dues, and getting shafted on a regular basis, state does deacent job, national stinks, most of us work 6 days a week, fss office, 90% h routes now, short on subs, hard to get a day off, Union has done very little here! It stinks

While I will agree that our union leaves a lot to be desired, by NOT being a member you lose any "voice" you would have otherwise had.  Simply dropping out or not being a member allows things to continue just as they have been going.  By not being involved you are putting your future in the hands of many people who are totally out of touch and some who have been retired many years who are clueless.  There was a 95 year old voting delegate at national this year.....how much do you think they knew about what is going on today?

By not being involved on a local, district, state and national level, you are only adding to the problems.

You say the union has done very little.....that is because the apathy and complacency of the rural carriers themselves (both memmbers and non-members) has ALLOWED it to happen by NOT being involved.  Complaining on here is not going to fix anything.

Your choice as to whether or not to be a member but you are only adding to the problem, and not fixing it in any way, by not being a member.

[Vax]

    The last convention I went to, I saw how they squeezed out any folks who wanted change, had a state pRES RUN FOR nATIONAL pRESIDENT, HE WARNED OF THE DIM FUTURE, RURALS WOULD HAVE SOON, ONLY TO BE REBUFFED BY NATIONAL LEADERS AT THE TIME , HE WAS A TROUBLE MAKER, AND COULDNT HANDLE ASSOCIATION problems of new contract , they thought he had a support so they ran two more folks against him to split support, so nothing changed we went down the path of , the PO will do what is right by us, we have always been a lap dog to the Post Office, and they have no respect for the NRLCA, our managers have no respect for national, only folks who fight for us are our states, and they sure could use better support from our big boys!

[WV Rural girl]

Mixednut, While I agree with both the previous posters,  I do believe that the only credability we will have while negotiating is our numbers. Why would the postal service listen to an association who represents us when only X% (not 100%, but don't know how many are actually members) belong to this union. As an RCA, your dues are very small. Only a couple bucks per pay period. And if you don't work that pay period nothing is deducted and you are still a member in good standing. I think the RCAs could make a huge voting block if there were enough involved. I urge you to get a dues withholding form and join up.

[John]

I second WV .....NUMBERS at this point probably have the most meaning to the USPS.  We need to show unity and joining will do that.  But having MANY on the rural pay but smaller numbers in OUR Union does not impress the USPS....