Reasons For Choosing the APWA As Your Union

I’m sure what I’m about to say will sound odd coming from someone promoting a union. I am extremely sorry that your company was bought by UPS. It is my understanding that for the most part you were happy working for a company that was fair to its employees, whose management tried to get along with its employees and had a secure pension plan. As far as I can tell the pension plan is all that is left of Overnite.

Overnite is gone; the blue and silver is quickly being replaced with the brown and gray. It would be nice if that was all that has changed or will be changing soon but my 27 years with UPS tells me that is not the case. It is my honest belief from my many years with UPS that you are going to need a union. The only question is which union should you choose?

With this in mind, I would like to explain to you the difference between the APWA and the IBT. First and foremost the APWA will not hound you at your gate or follow you down the road trying to get you to join. We will NEVER call you names whether you join us, stay without a union or join the IBT. You certainly will not have to worry about the APWA throwing cinder blocks through your windshield, much less shooting at you. Violence is never the answer; if that is what it takes to win you over then you will never be part of the APWA. In short, we will not force ourselves upon you. We will, however, be delighted to come and speak with you good people IF you invite us.

If you decide that a union based on honor, founded on integrity with justice for ALL its members is attractive; then I would encourage you to consider the APWA. The APWA understands that it works for its people; that the people do NOT work for the union.

It is my understanding that at a recent convention an IBT leader made the remark that HE would go and negotiate the contract for the UPSF people because they do not know what they want. The APWA gives you more credit than that. The following are some ideas we have concerning UPS Freight (UPSF). Please keep in mind that we are not the IBT; therefore these ideas are flexible and must be massaged to reflect exactly what YOU – the people of UPSF – want. Then we will work as hard as humanly possible to see that you get what you want.

We suggest that you take control of your pension fund. We suggest a pension board that is made up of an equal number of current employees, retirees, APWA officials and UPS management people. Current employees should be on the pension board because you are working to make the pension better. Retirees should be on the pension board because they MADE the fund in the first place. APWA officials should be on the pension board to look after the interests of everyone. Management people should be on the pension board because management is an integral part of the plan. We feel that with all four groups represented as trustees, there is no way that your pension can become a disaster like the Teamsters’ Central States Fund.

The APWA is receiving advice from the very best pension fund managers in the country. These people will work for you if you choose to go with the APWA. Our current plans call for you to be able to go on line weekly and to see that ALL of your pension money made it into the fund. Each quarter you will see the earnings that your money made. At year end you will see that one tenth of one percent was taken from your fund to manage it. I know that this makes your pension safer and more secure because you can see from day one if something is going wrong. By the way, would you care to guess what the IBT charges to manage the package side (Central States Fund) fund?

We also suggest that your pension be held in a fund specifically for UPSF people. We would NEVER dream of suggesting that you dump your 102% funded pension plan into the Teamsters’ Central States 62% funded pension or any other group plan for that matter. It would only drag your fund down; but that’s exactly what you hear the Teamsters want to do with your pre-retirement money!

None of us in the major pension funds managed by the IBT can retiree before we are 62. In addition to the cuts proposed do you think the IBT can allow you to retire at 62 when the 1.4 million other people whose retirement fund they manage cannot? Rest assured there is no way in hell the APWA would advise you to put your solid pension in the Teamsters’ Central States fund that the package side is stuck with. What we have is certainly not what you want but, again, that’s what you hear the Teamsters want to do with your money.

The APWA also wants you to have QUALITY affordable health coverage now and when you retire and will settle for nothing less. We will do everything in our power to see that you have the best health care we can find. UPS pays for ALL of the package people’s health care and we see no reason why they will not pay for yours as well. I understand that at UPSF it is now different but today UPS pays MORE than enough to pay for the best health care available for the package people and we believe they will for you too if you allow us to represent you.

It is also our belief that at the very least your union should represent you. We can show you many examples where IBT representation was questionable. We will be happy to discuss these situations with you so that you can draw your own conclusions.

We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have assembled the very best pension fund managers, health care professionals and attorneys in this country just for you. The pension fund management is solid, wise, clear and transparent. The superiority of our health care plan will be apparent from the first claim that you file. APWA attorneys will fight to the gates of hell for you. Nobody connected with the APWA is for sell to anyone at any price, for any reason, period.

Should you and your co-workers like to learn more about the APWA, we would be pleased to conduct a meeting with you. Should you decide to have the APWA represent you; it would not only be our honor but a privilege.

We believe that the more you look the more you will see that the APWA is The Better Way!!