Friday, December 12, 2008

Notice

We have gotten several calls from people who have crossed the picket lines and went back to work. They said they’ve realized the terrible mistake they’ve made.

People don’t realize that, if you cross the pickets, you no longer have protections on the job. The company can fire you for any reason or no reason, and without a Union Contract in place, there is no grievance procedure or any way to regain your job. The Union can’t help you once the strike is over, either. It will be permanent.

You have the lawful right to honor the picket lines. You can tell your Supervisor you have re-thought your position, and you are honoring the picket lines, and your Constitutional right to strike will be protected. Of course, this must be done BEFORE the company fires you.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you've already crossed the pickett line I don't have any sympathy for you. You made that bed, you sleep in it. Someone on an earlier posting put it exactly right when they said "You are drinking from a well you didn't help dig." You who have crossed should have considered the short term as well as the long term effects of your actions prior to crossing. I may seem hard-hearted but there sould be consequences for your decision.

Anonymous said...

Yeah,They want to run back to the Union after they are fired. Well its to late then.

Anonymous said...

I'm writing in reference to the strike against Vought on Briley Parkway in Nashville. As I'm sure you know members have been on strike since September. Friday there was another negotiating meeting which lasted just under 2 hours. The company left and sent word that they would meet again on January 13, 2009. I'm writing you asking that you do what you can to help. With the economy as it is, there is almost 1,000 out of work due to the strike, thus causing more loss in spending in Rutherford County and other counties. Vought has hired contractors to come in and do the job of skilled workers at higher pay than that of their regular workers. Only a small portion of that income will be spent in Tennessee. The contractors will be sending their income back home to their families, resulting in loss revenue in Tennessee.

Optimist said...

I want to send out a special thanks to the younger workers. I know how hard it is trying to raise a young family and I know many of you were hired in with low wages and still have a long way to go in progression. It’s especially hard on you but your standing tough and we are standing with you.

Don’t listen to any negative grumbling. We will be going back and we will all go back in together and we will be stronger than ever but we have got to hold that line. That is the only way we are going to win this thing. It’s the only way. We’re in a strike. There is only one way to win a strike; we win a strike by sticking together and sticking it out.

This will pass. The company can only bleed so long. Get out and go to work doing whatever you can. Watch your spending. Remember to hug your wife and we’ll get through this together.

Tim Ramsay
N/C 1998

Optimist said...

Shame on the workers who have crossed over. Every person who crosses that picket line makes it that much harder on all of us. This company will not negotiate with our committee until they see the numbers holding. That is the responsibility on every member. And the support we get from our spouses is vital.

Now hold that line. Get up and march when the scabs try crossing it. That picket line should be the first thing on their mind when they wake up each morning and they should dread crossing it every night as they go to bed. If we just sit there and watch them pass by, we are telling them that we don’t care. Even if no one else gets up and marches, you do it and show the rest of us how it’s done.

If you are on a gate that is over crowded and there is nothing going on, go to another gate where the cars are flowing through. It doesn’t do any good to be down there on the G4 gate with 6 other people when the scabs are driving in through the east and west gates unchallenged.

This union is made up of 860 members. We need about 2 people on every gate unless cars are flowing through. If you don’t believe me, do the math. Everyone else needs to be on the hot gates during the times that the scabs are coming and going. That is our plant! Those are our jobs! Those picket lines are our responsibility! We have got to make it as uncomfortable as we can for those scabs. They need to know that we are not going away and that we are PI$$ED.

Look around you when you are on the picket line. If there are only 2 of you on a gate and there is nothing going on then your gate is in good shape but if there are only 2 of you on a gate and there are cars flowing through, call your strike captain and ask for reinforcements. Ask him to tell the other picketers that you need help holding the line. That’s what we are out there for! It ain’t a weenie roast! It’s a scab roast!

They are stealing from us. We are the ones who have earned those jobs and benefits and they are the thieves. Lets treat them like the lowdown, selfish, chicken $!##, suck-A$$, check-whore thieves that they are! And let’s get this thing done. Our wives and children are counting on us. Bring them to the picket lines with you. We have got to put more pressure on this company and the harder we work those picket lines, the faster we can get life back to normal.

This is not just my personal opinion; this is common sense! Now let’s all man-up. This is war!

Tim Ramsay
N/C 1998

Anonymous said...

STS is hiring in Dothan, AL. 1 1/2 hours from Panama City, Florida.
It's a little over 6 hours from our area.