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NEWS & LETTERS, July-August 2010
Inhuman work hours
Elmhurst, Ill. -- Members of Teamsters Local 710 at vending company Compass surprised many on July 6 by voting down the company’s “last, best and final offer” for a new five-year contract. Going into negotiations, it was the route drivers who expressed the loudest dissatisfaction, over longer and longer work days. Since the last contract five years ago and all route drivers became commission drivers, no longer paid by the hour, the average route work day has gone from eight to ten hours then to 12, 14, even 16 hours, with the occasional horror stories of a 20-hour day in an emergency.
The inhuman hours were not addressed in the contract we voted on -- we were told that assignment of work was a management prerogative. Somebody posted the paragraph from the contract about management’s right to manage. The way Compass chose to manage was to hire not at all or very reluctantly even as business increased and as fed-up drivers with 20 or 30 years seniority quit -- they did not want to make payments for new drivers into the union health plan. The company expected that raising the sales commission rate would overcome the anger over endless working hours.
-- Teamster
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