I hear you about benefits but will you also be working on working conditions( example: days off and vacation system)?

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I hear you about benefits but will you also be working on working conditions( example: days off and vacation system)? Let me explain.At the call center since its so busy when we have to take a day off for doctors appointment, we have to swap days with someone in the call center willing to do so. We all know that many people wont want to swap some days with someone that has a weekend shift or a late day shift ( finishing at 1800) for example. There is usually another solution for us called "The give away hours" meaning to just give your hours to a part timer as long as you don't create a overtime situation.However is not an option at the moment because FedEx says that its busy. They want to keep those part timers available for them in case they want to ask them to work additional hours. But its Busy like 11 months out of 12 months.So how can we manage? we endup having no other choice but to take a sick day when that would be our last resort.However it penalizes us in the review for our raise because you would have many sick days for example even with a doctors note. If we take sick days off authorized by a doctors note saying i cannot work for a week due to a high illness and that we actually get penalized for it. In our pay and i was confronted to be told that i might get fired almost due to that . Is that something that you also work on? Also i believe because its busy( an it always is) people in the call center were unable to ask for an unpaid day off for important things like their wedding day. for example. Basically i want to know if your able to switch around some of the policy that is around in regards to certain unfair i should say for the employees. Will you change the way that we are reviewed every year for any raise in salary? how will that work? Thank you for answering my questions.

Teamsters Response:

Thank you for your question!

I didn’t know you got penalized for being sick? I have never heard of such a thing....are you serious.

When it comes to issues such as wage progression, days off, personal days, vacations and the issue of being penalized can all be negotiated if that’s what the workforce wants.

To be a little more detailed on this “review” thing. Most collective agreements have a probation period of two to three months where the employer can decide if the employee if satisfactory to the company. If the employee passes probation he/she then starts his/her wage progression which is spelled out in the contract. I am not aware of any contract that allows for raises to be held back and I would be surprised if any group of workers would be in favor of such a thing.

Info on union busting

While the right to join and form trade unions is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),[1] union busting actions subvert the organization and continuation of unions by sowing discord amongst union members, challenging unions via law courts, strike breaking, lockouts, violent suppression, the sponsorship of anti-union organizations, or the creation of employer-controlled trade unions. Find out more on Wikipedia's union-busting page.