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APWU Drivers Will Continue to Press for Private-Sector Contracts APWU Web News Article #18-05, April 18, 2005 Approximately 170 APWU truck drivers who work for Mail Contractors of America have concluded their nearly three-week strike, going back to work for MCA in Des Moines, Kansas City, KS, and Jacksonville, FL, but vowing to press on for fair contracts. The APWU-represented motor vehicle operators, back on the job April 11, are seeking an end to unfair labor practices and policies the privately-owned MCA imposed last September that reduced the pay of some of them as much as $10,000 per year. They held out the option to strike again if MCA refuses to bargain. “We felt we had no choice but to strike,” said Tony Olson, an APWU steward and MCA employee in Des Moines. The company hired replacement drivers, he said, “but we made our point.” MCA is one of the nation’s largest private mail haulers; its collective bargaining agreements in Des Moines and Jacksonville expired in September 2003 (Kansas City drivers are trying to negotiate a first contract). Among the conditions MCA imposed on workers in all three cities last fall was that it stopped paying a portion of health insurance premiums, forcing drivers to assume the costs if they wished to maintain their coverage. The company also began denying the drivers pay for required rest breaks – breaks they were paid for in the expired agreements. “We were tired of working under the imposed conditions,” said Russ Gallion, president of APWU’s First Coast Local, which represents MCA truck drivers in Jacksonville. “When we saw that Kansas City and Des Moines went out, we decided to go out along with them.” Another large private mail-haul firm, Pat Salmon & Sons, has returned to negotiations with APWU-represented drivers. Hundreds of drivers and their families had their eligibility for health insurance cut off March 1 by the company as a collective bargaining agreement lapsed. The drivers, who work out of terminals in Arkansas, Texas, and three other states, had been paying as much as $11,500 a year just to be eligible for the company plan. The company refused to consider maintaining the insurance plan, for which it was paying less than 10 percent of the premiums for family coverage, and nothing at all for individuals. APWU representatives said that many contractual items had been agreed upon. A federal mediator was brought in to the talks in April. “They are remarkably insensitive,” said Bill Manley, Support Services Division NBA and lead representative for the APWU bargaining team. “It clearly isn’t about the money. The company has not complained about costs; it simply doesn’t want to talk about healthcare problems.” “The company has always been almost entirely dependent upon the Postal Service for its livelihood, and it’s been doing very well for more than 50 years,” Manley said. The drivers won their first labor contract in September 2003, following three years of negotiations, the filing of unfair labor practice charges, and a short but successful strike. The agreement covered Salmon employees at terminals in Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Memphis and Shreveport. |
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Mail still arriving despite strike (4/1/05)
MCA replaced 155 drivers who went on strike March 22 in Kansas City, Kan., and Des Moines, Iowa, without disrupting mail service, said Richard Watkins, a Postal Service spokesman. But when 70 drivers in Jacksonville, Fla., followed two days later, MCA wasn’t able to guarantee it could complete all of its routes as scheduled, he said. Both sides have ruled out another round of negotiations, which broke off in August. MCA is running newspaper classified ads in all three strike-affected cities seeking drivers. "They’re trying to say they’re going to replace the strikers," said Tony Olson, a negotiator for the American Postal Workers Union, which represents the striking drivers. "Instead of dealing with the problems, they’re going to replace us." The striking drivers oppose a contract MCA imposed in September, which they say requires employees to pay all future increases in health insurance premiums, reduces vacation time and requires drivers to be on the road for an unsafe number of hours each day. Pat Salmon is experiencing its own labor troubles. The APWU has authorized 800 drivers, including 100 in Little Rock, to strike. Bill Manley, the lead union negotiator, said a work stoppage is unlikely unless an April 5 negotiating session fails. Watkins said the Postal Service has a contingency plan in case both MCA and Pat Salmon drivers strike at the same time, likening such planning to preparing for a natural disaster. "We’re nothing if not one big contingency plan," he said. |
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Press Release March 22, 2005 For Immediate Release: Over 100 truck Drivers who work for Mail Contractors of America (MC of A) went on Strike at 7 PM Tuesday March 22. These drivers are represented by the American Postal Workers of America, (APWU) Local 44 Des Moines Iowa Area Local. Mail Contractors of America is one of the largest over-the-road U.S. Mail haul trucking companies in the United States. Late last year during contract negotiations, MC of A made their first economic their last and best offer, and walked away from the negotiation table. The company’s economic offer asked for major concessions from the drivers, including loss of previously negotiated benefits and an outrageous increase in cost for health benefits, and income reductions. The company stopped paying on the driver’s health insurance which added a $5,000 year additional expense to many drivers. They eliminated short term disability insurance, took away vacation days and personal days. The eliminated paid breaks keeping drivers on the road the same amount of time, but paying them up to $5,000 a year less. They have the drivers leaving the mail un-attended while they are on unpaid breaks. The APWU has made numerous requests to continue negotiations even through mediation, and MC of A has refused. The companies refusal to come back to the table and negotiate in good faith, along with the drivers concern for the sanctity of the mail, they have voted to strike MC of A due to their numerous unfair labor practices. The drivers represented by the Des Moines Iowa Area Local work out of the following terminals and offices: Des Moines (Urbandale), Kansas City Kansas, North Platte and York NE, Denver CO, Cedar Rapids and Dubuque IA, Milwaukee and Green Bay WI, Oakwood and Marion IL, Caldwell ID, Winnemucca NV, Detroit MI, Dodge City, Fort Scott, Concordia, Salina, Wichita, Topeka and Hutchinson KS, For more information you may contact Lance Coles at 1200 E Euclid Ave, Des Moines, Iowa 50316. 515-265-7372 (office) 515-669-8046. apwulocal44@msn.com. Lance Coles President DMI Area Local 44
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