SPEAKER_02 0:23

Welcome back to another episode of That's Delivered. I'm your host, Truck and Ray, and today we have another great show for you. As always, we're talking with people who work in the industry and also keep things going in the industry, keep it moving. Today's guest is a returning guest. It shows he brings thoughtful perspective from a union, a local Teamster 638 in Minnesota, Scott Wilkie. He's a business agent that since the last time we've been on the show, he stepped up to a bigger role, president of Local 638. Scott has been deeply involved in the labor movement for years, advocating for workers, helping organize new groups, and pushing conversations about the future of trucking and transportation. Last time we were on the show, we talked about union organizing victories, concerns about automation, and how the labor movement is adapting to a rapidly changing industry. But a lot has happened since then, trucking and labor, and honestly, just in the country in general. So today I wanted to check in and get caught up, talk about the things that are that are standing that we, you know, we want to make sure we get covered and what's going on. Maybe we can get this ground covered with when it comes to leadership, what it looks like in a new role and where he thinks his things are headed. Scott, welcome back to the show. Scott, welcome to the show. Glad to have you on. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Glad to be back, man. Thanks for having me. There's been a lot that's uh that's happened since we spoke last.

Organizing Surge Across Industries

SPEAKER_02 1:54

I know, man. Big things happening. And I'm sure you're also a part of that as well. I mean, you're doing a lot of great things out there for the local 638. And uh wanted to get caught up since we last talked. Last thing that we talked about was some major organization movements, momentum, the conversations helping inside labor. And since then, what have you seen uh on the ground? Have the conversations around union organizing or worker engagement continue to grow for helping things shift in maybe in a maybe a surprising way that maybe people weren't expected?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, well, we see you know, at our local, we're a general local, so we have the the blessing of being able to, you know, organize a variety of different industries. We're not we're not pigeonholed by a you know one we have a lot of drivers, but we're you know, we're not just you know logistics, right? So we're we're fortunate that you know we're able to organize in a variety of of industries with different employers, and and what we've seen is is what a lot of people are feeling right now, which is some some economic concerns. And I think what happens when when you see maybe a dip in the economy or or you know, life gets more expensive, you start looking for ways to to give yourself and your family a leg up. And what people have have realized is that one of those avenues is you know a union contract. And I bet you in the last year, the amount of folks reaching out to you know, want to be union, want to be teamsters. I mean, to put I bet you it's increased fivefold from what it was a year ago. We're having folks reach out from all sorts of different industries, especially in North Dakota now, which you know most people know North Dakota is a red state. And typically in in those right-to-work states, you know, unions aren't as as popular. But I think what we've seen over the last year or two, especially from the leadership at our IBT, is that you know, unions are not a partisan issue. You know, you're you can be a you can be a union member and and be a Republican, you can be you member be a Democrat or an independent or whatever. It's not a political thing. And some people try to make it a political thing, it just really isn't. And I think folks are starting to realize that, especially younger workers. And in North Dakota, we've seen a huge uptick in all sorts of industries that want to to organize and become become Teamsters. Most recently we had a group of folks who are like construction workers who build, build and repair water towers, who who uh we I think I'll have to talk with Tony, who's the business agent who's organizing it, and Hannah, but I think they've they've got cards signed now, and it was something like 90% of the folks voted, they've turned in cards already. So it's it's pretty cool to see. We're we're we're on this cusp right now of trying to meet the moment, though, where we've got a lot of organizing interest, and we have to make sure that those folks get the the full service of local 638 right away, right? Because if you're gonna dip your toes in in into the union world and you're not you're feeling a little apprehensive, right, then you know you might not have the best experience. We want to make sure that folks feel like they're getting they're getting all of us. So we're right now trying to shift some of the work around, which there's there's a lot of it, which we'll talk about, I'm sure. But there's a lot of work being done already at the local, but making sure that those folks who are who are wanting to become union who are saying, yep, I want to be a part of this, they're getting all of us and getting a good experience right out of the gate. So we've partnered with our joint council, which if you don't know what that is, it's essentially the all the locals here within the Midwest, so North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, a little bit of Wisconsin, and all of Minnesota here, where we're hiring organizers that are going to work for the joint council and essentially help us, you know, with these folks that want to be a union. Because meet here in Minneapolis today, it's a bit of a jaunt to Williston, North Dakota to meet with folks, you know, face to face and and build those relationships as they start this, you know, this new chapter of their career at their employer. We got to make sure that they get you know everything that they deserve, you know, right out of the gate and then throughout the contract process. So yeah, there's a lot of efforts being put into organizing. And I think, you know, sometimes bad employers or tough economies make organizing work a little bit easier. But, you know, we're we're excited to help these these these folks out. And a lot of these folks, they haven't gotten raises in a long time, and among other things. And so yeah, we're seeing an uptick in in in folks who want to be union right now, and and we're just trying to meet the moment.

What New Members Expect First

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Nice. What's um what's one of the things that people can ex or I guess they expect from the union when they first sign up? Maybe that they're they're a little apprehensive and it's like, man, I don't know what to expect. Uh what's some things that they just at least the minimum that they expect?

SPEAKER_01 6:40

So I think you know, change is is hard for folks, you know, and and when you've been, let's say you've been at an employer for a long time, you know, you might have this sort of relationship with the boss that yeah, maybe you don't get along, but it's still like they're your boss, and and you know, we're we're all people at the end of the day. We don't want to like make life harder on our on our boss. And I think that's what sometimes people feel like you know, becoming union does. But the expectations I think folks have right away are different depending on the situation that they're in. Sometimes, sometimes they feel like they want the representation out of the gate, like we want you to come here and do this and that. And it's like, well, we gotta we gotta be able to represent you first, and they don't understand the processes as far as like you know, the NLRB kind of got gutted with this new administration, and so things are a little slower right now. And and the expectations sometimes are for some folks, they're like, I want things now, I want it right away. And it's just, you know, it's it's sort of not the reality. But I would say a minimum expectation is if they call you, they get an answer, right? If if if somebody calls me, they you know, they're not waiting, they're not waiting more than 24 hours to get a response back at a minimum, right? I ideally I can answer their call on the first ring, but people aren't left hanging, and you know, they have access to to me or whoever they're working with, especially when the Liz folks work like I represent nurses for one of the contracts that I represent and they work overnights. And so, you know, if they get if they get fired in the middle of the night, you know, maybe they'll wait till the morning, but maybe not, you know, and so they're gonna reach out. And you know, ideally I can get in touch with them as soon as possible. So they want they want good communication. Uh uh every single group that we have wants good communication with their local, right? If they need you, you know, that's what they that's what they want is they want they want to be able to reach out and and get their their issues resolved or at least have the information that they need to work through whatever issue that they have. And then they want information, you know, they want to know how the process works, how does contract negotiations work? What could my employer potentially do, if anything, you know, to retaliate against us, you know, what what are those scenarios and what do they look like? And what are my rights in that situation? You know, what are my protections? Because I think some people get a little bit fearful of maybe, oh gosh, if we vote to become union, then all of a sudden, you know, it's gonna change my work life somehow. And then, but they don't realize that a the process to becoming union is pretty simple as far as like what it takes to do it, the but it's very complicated as far as just getting everybody in the group on the same page. It's like, you know, it is a simple thing, and we can do this. This isn't this unattainable thing. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

All right. Well, becoming president of Local 638, I mean, I'm sure there's a story behind that you like to share since we talked class. I mean, congratulations on that. I mean, for a lot of people listening and not understanding what that role involves, what is being the president like for their local? And actually, what does it mean day to day? I know you guys still answer all those calls and help answer all those questions, but what also is added to the plate?

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Sure. I'll tell you the story real quick of how this happened because I I don't I think it's probably one of the most unique situations I could I could think of for how somebody comes becomes president of local. So typically what happens is you know, somebody retires and then you you hire within, you know, to to or or within the e board even of your local for who's going to replace that that person who retired, right? Or the other way it happens is through an election process. Maybe the past the the previous president wasn't doing the job very well, and so somebody ran against and got more votes, and you know, they won through the democratic processes. For me, it was our e-board going into this last like election over three years cycle looked very different than the executive board that was approved you know through the membership three years ago, because we had Trevor Lawrence, who's our secretary treasurer, retire, Tom Booker, who's our president, retired, uh, Steve Sebiola, who was our recording secretary, then vice president retired, and then Jeff Deedy, who was a trustee, he got uh really aggressive cancer and died in less than a year from his diagnosis. So we had a huge change of what that picture looked like at the beginning of this e board's election versus three years later. So going into this this fall, when we're up for re-election again, the e board said, Well, we we don't want our membership to have a we want it to be as consistent throughout the next three years as possible. Okay. And you know, Scott Lisi, who's our principal officer now, is uh likely gonna retire at, you know, I don't know, I haven't asked him officially. He doesn't have a date yet, but like in like a year, right? Sometime over the next three years for sure. He won't be on the e-board when we're up for re-election at the end of three years. So we know that change is gonna happen. And they wanted to uh I the the executive board wanted to put me in the president role sometime in the next three years. So what what happened was is is John, who's our was the president of the local, he's one of my best friends. We we drove together, you know, we've known each other since the beginning of 2013. Or sorry, 2010. Beginning of 2010 when we started working together. You know, we've been together a long time, really good friends. Part of the reason that I got to be, you know, on the staff in general came to me and said, hey, you know, we want you on to the executive board in the president's role, but we don't want to do it after the election because then it'll kind of look like, well, you know, a year ago we voted on John to be the president. Now Scott's a president. That's not fair to the membership. And he's right. Additionally, when John came onto the president role, Tom Booker, who was the previous president, had retired and he went on long vacation with his wife out of the country. They wanted to travel and was unavailable for John to ask a lot of questions, right? And and and Trevor Lawrence at the time was negotiating the EPS contract, so he wasn't in the office, you know, that much when he was doing central region stuff. So John, in that new president role, was kind of feeling out a lot of things and didn't have a lot of supports. I mean, he did, but he didn't have, you know, what I think would have helped him get the job figured out a lot faster. So John said, Hey, look, we want you in the president's role. I will step down and until Scott Leasey retires as vice president in order to sort of be your mentor in this and help you figure it out faster than it took me to figure it out. And a lot of these just little things every single day, you know, things you need to do, things you need to think about, people you need to be reaching out to, et cetera, et cetera. Additionally, you know, Scott Leasey being in the Secretary of Treasury role for the next year or so will be able to kind of like mentor me to take over for him when he retires, right? So John took a demotion for a year in order to like get my feet wet in the president's role and show the membership that I'm gonna be there for you know a long period of time and we're not switching these roles. John was already on the eboard, Scott was already on the e board, right? So we're not bringing somebody new on before the election. And then when Scott retires, you know, he'll have the ability to have shown John the job and I've had mentorship. So essentially it creates a sort of like Venn diagram transition to allow our e-board to be and me, you know, to be more successful. So it was it was just a really, you know, incredible gesture to be able to take a demotion. You know, people in the Teamster world or organizations in general typically don't give up titles, you know. So for John to say, hey, I'm gonna give up my title for you in order to help you be successful because that's what's gonna help the local be successful, you know, just says a lot about John. And and also it keeps you know some consistency with the membership as far as our eboard, you know, leadership throughout, you know, for these three years and hopefully, you know, far beyond that. So so yeah, it was the it was a really cool thing. When as I will tell you though, and I told this to the members at their first meeting, I said, when John brought this to me, I was a little concerned. It's like, are you sure you're like you're not dying? Like, is your health okay? Because I, you know, you know, this isn't something that normally happens, you know, typically people will never give up their titles or you know, their positions that you know, because it just it just doesn't happen. But you know, John's a really selfless guy. It's not about him, it's about the local. And so he just wanted to, you know, make sure I was successful and the local was successful and the membership had consistency, and that's you know, that's the way it played out. And and additionally, you know, Damone ED was our vice president, and he took a demotion too, so that way this could happen. So both John and Damone said, Hey, well, we're gonna step back for a year in order and then we'll step back in, you know, in order to get your feet wet. So yeah, really cool on those guys to to do that, and we're really thankful and speaks speaks highly of both of those two guys. But um, as far as like the the job now, I'll tell you, first month of it sucked. So January, the January sucked, you know. So I started January 1st, and then, you know, volume drops off at UPS, which is our biggest employer after Christmas. So the work slows down, we got layoffs, and then on top of that, Metro surge happens. And so we've got a lot of, you know, especially our Hispanic workers who are afraid to go to work or to stop going to work, quit their jobs, some of our employers, and we're so we're dealing with that. We took a stance on ICE, we're the first Teamsters local to do that, and put out I put out a press release on it. It got 350,000 views on our Facebook page in four days, and I got all sorts of criticisms for it, and that's okay. That's what I signed up for. But some of them from the far, you know, left of the pendulum, which was, you know, this is you know, this is BS, you're not doing enough. What a weak stance, what a weak president to the other side of it, which was, you know, you commie MF or I'm gonna find you and choke you out and death threats and stuff. So it got pretty wild pretty quick. And I I realized what I'd signed up for at that point is you know, calm sea is never made for a skilled sailor, right? So here we are, we're in the middle of it, and and you know, I wanted the I wanted to be in a leadership role, and and damn it, I got it. So we we got through that though. And I think, you know, after everything, you know, kind of settled down looking back on it. I'm glad I made that decision and and our members are glad that we made that decision. And it was just one of you know many things that we're gonna, you know, we're gonna navigate in this role because sometimes, you know, the the the the role of labor is not necessarily just worker related because you know, workers fall into a lot of different buckets. And at the end of the day, you know, my job uh in this position is to represent, you know, our members as a whole and all of their needs and progress their their needs and and wants and issues. So that's what I'm gonna do no matter what the what the circumstances. But yeah, I learned a I learned uh a lot of skills and and a lot about this this role and what it's gonna mean in that first few weeks on the job. And you know, I'm thankful for it now, but you know, it was a tough, it was a tough, tough few weeks, especially at the end of January. I was like, what the hell did I get myself into? But but uh but we're good now and and and I'm thankful for it. I've got really good, really good members that are local, you know. I'm really, really blessed to have you know folks like yourself and so many others who who just just give a damn about about this union, the labor movement, and taking care of each other and you know, whatever issues that we face, I think when we get back to those values, then we just we'll figure it out because because you know the for the folks at 638 through and through just want what's best for everybody and and and that's that's sort of our our you know our northern north star, you might say that's our compass, right? That's what we try to bring ourselves back to whenever we're facing facing a challenge.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah, that's a lot. You know, think about your role and all that you're you're supposed to do, and then add that on top of that layer. I mean, that's um, I mean, leadership in itself is very difficult. Sometimes it's a a job that's impossible. I mean, yeah, and that's you know, you're trying to get a job completed, you're trying to get goals reached, but then add those layers on it. I mean, that is a lot to handle. And then, you know, I think about the city, you know, it's like you're put right in the middle of like a turf war, and people are gonna react differently, you know, their bodies are gonna do things differently than the other person. You can't all they're not all be expected to act the same.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

So how we're he's gonna add one more thing is on uh yeah, so when when we're trying to like keep the group as as a whole, right, not succumb to you know getting pulled this way or that way, right? Bring it back to the center. It's trying to remember that we're all humans trying to navigate this or whatever situation we're faced with from different lived experiences, right? And trying to see each other, right? My my lived experience is gonna be different than yours, it's gonna be different than his or hers or anybody in our locals. And so when we come to our meetings, you know, we're trying to resolve these these problems at our general membership meetings, or just work through it. We have a very diverse group of people with different opinions. And I think that helps us land at the right decision on most topics, is when we can bring in a lot of different people with different experiences, and that kind of keeps that that coalition right. Because, like for me, you know, I'm navigating this as not only like you know, a business agent, a president of a labor union, but also as like a dad and a husband who, you know, my wife goes, she works in St. Paul, so she's you know going to work and seeing these things, and and her patients are dealing with these things. And my kids' school is now closed because they go to a very diverse elementary school. And so now, you know, ICE is in the neighborhoods and by the parent pickup lines and stuff. And we, you know, the parents are like, I don't, even if I don't want my kids to see that, right? My kids don't need to understand and and know about these things, or they can't possibly compartmentalize what ice is and what they're you know doing, what you know, and so my kids' school goes to e-learning, and so now we're navigating, you know, everybody's navigating different layers to what took place, right? And trying to understand what people are going through and experiencing and how that's gonna affect them, right? Because our younger, you know, our younger members are gonna feel it different than our older members, and our members of color are gonna feel it different than our members who aren't of color, and and uh, you know, it's just it and our parents are gonna feel it differently than folks who are maybe empty nesters, never had kids, right? So listening to everybody's, you know, thoughts and and taking those into account to try to land on the right answer is is something that you know we'll always have to do. But it was very evident and necessary to keep the unity of the local throughout that metro surge operation.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Yeah, it's almost like people have the instinct within them to, you know, they want to A, probably look for answers, try to figure this thing out, or B, they're just they need someone to put the blame on, or you know, C, they want to join a cause. They want to make sure that they can be a part of that movement. And sometimes they do a little bit of both. So yeah, we can't expect everyone to just do the same thing. And you as the president, I mean, that's got to be a lot to put on your shoulders. So as far as what the leadership goes, uh looking ahead for local 638, I mean, there's a lot of industries that it's not just UPS or nurses. I mean, it's quite a few array of workers out there that you have to speak for. Uh, how do you balance all of those? And what's some of the biggest topics that you see coming up in the future? Maybe automation, uh, maybe the conversation is going the wrong way, and you got to help bring that to the attention of lawmakers. Is he this is important for labor.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, so that's so on the topic, I'll touch on that automation one first just because it's it's it's pretty hot right now as far as where we're at. We met with we met with the governor and the attorney general. I I did, and so did other members of of the joint council here uh last week. I think it was a week ago today, actually, to sort of like touch base on on where everybody's at. Now I will just say this that from a bipartisan perspective, I think the majority of the people that that we talk with, and it's both sides of the aisle, are opposed to companies like Waymo coming in and taking jobs away from from folks in in Minnesota, right? Because what happens is, you know, I Waymo vehicle. Now it had a driver in it right now. They can't be driverless at this point, I don't believe. I I have to check and see where the legislation is at this point. Uh, but a company like Waymo, right? He's owned by Google. They send in their lobbyists and this team of people into these cities that they want to like sort of infiltrate, we'll say, for lack of a better word. And they try to convince folks that this is going to be so helpful and beneficial. And you know, it's not gonna, it's not gonna take jobs away from from, you know, whether it's Lyft or Uber or whatever else you use, that this is gonna be just fine. But it's not. And we see that in all these other cities where it's been implemented, that it is, it's the the you know, part of the iceberg effect here that we're seeing of slowly, slowly we're we're seeing this automation kind of infiltrate different industries and take jobs away. And the problem that I have, and and every single politician can understand, is that it essentially takes away the tax revenue that we need to operate the state, right? So, you know, you and I go to work as truck drivers, we're paying taxes that help fund our roads and our schools and our police and our fire and our EMS and all these structural things that the cities and communities need to operate, right? And if we don't have that tax infrastructure money here in our communities to pay for the things that we need in my county, in your county, in our state, if that money from a company like Waymo is just going back to tech billionaires in this small little section in California where they all, you know, all the their companies are held, there's trillions of dollars of of money in this one little section of like 54 square miles in California, then how do we fund the things that we need? You know, if we're taking if the people who are working here no longer have those jobs, and those jobs and the money associated with that income is being sent elsewhere by people who largely don't pay taxes, then what happens? You know, well, I think what happens is a huge increase in the wealth gap, which is the worst wealth gap we've had since the 1800s in America, where you have the haves and the haves nots, and it's a slippery slope. And I and right now, I think we touched on this before, is Tesla is trying to automate the trucking industry. And could you imagine if, you know, I I have a view of 94 where I live, and my daughter, who is she was sick with the flu recently, was looking out at the highway and she was counting like there was a semi-truck every four seconds going one way or the other on the highway, right? Think about that. Think about if all those CDL jobs became automated companies like EPS and FedEx, but also like Ruan and Holland and all these freight companies no longer have to pay drivers and and all these middle class, good paying jobs with benefits and pension plans often, you know, they go away. What what what what happens? You know, what there's no way that we can say they'll find a like-paying job with like-paying benefits, you know. So it's it's a slippery slope, but I but fortunately the politicians, especially, you know, that that we communicate with here in Minnesota are adamantly opposed. And so, you know, we as an organization are working with those people uh to make sure that they're you know doing the work for the people at our our local and state government so that way we don't deal with this crap because I don't think we we fully understand the effects that this is gonna that this is gonna have on the short and long term. And and now that we're talking about automation in the trucking industry, you know, we represent a variety of workers from warehouse workers to healthcare workers, right? We talked about that a little bit. But the the the the job loss through automation right now is affecting most industries. I would say I have a friend, a good friend of mine who's an orthopedic surgeon who's very concerned that robots are going to be taking his job away, that these minimally invasive surgeries that they that they frequently do are going away because robots have now figured out how to do them faster, more you know, more efficiently than humans can.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

Let's talk about that a little bit. You know, you think about that, people say, oh man, that's that's just something people are thinking of that's on social media. That can't be real, that's not gonna happen. Uh what would you say that for that? I mean, you're you're talking about you're seeing someone personally, but what if someone were to come back with uh you're just getting caught up in social media?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Well, I think that's sort of like a natural, like human like defense mechanism to problems from times, is it's sort of like you know, water in the basement, right? Oh, if I shut the door to the basement and I don't go down there, maybe there isn't mold forming, you know, I just don't want to deal with it. The the problem with with that that take is that it is happening. And it's in and if and if we look at different parts of the country, especially in places that don't get blizzards like we just had last night. If we look at other parts of the country, like in Texas, where the money in politics for supporting businesses over people is so great. And the investments being made by these tech companies to automate entire industries and take away your jobs is so great. We're not as far away from this issue as I think people want to believe. You know, some you know some people I think have justified this automation thing is oh, it's it's just taking away simple entry-level jobs that those people could find other other work and you know fine, that that argument might work today, but if you're taking away somebody's career that you know pays pays$100,000 a year in taxes versus$20,000 a year in taxes, you know, that's that's a little different, right? And you look at whole industries going away because of automation, that's a problem. You know, our population is getting any.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

What do you think the the brakes is? What do you think the stopping point? What what slows it down?

SPEAKER_01 28:21

So I always say that you know the power is always with the people, right? And I think if the people get fed up enough, then they'll stand up and and demand the the changes necessary. I just hope that the damage that takes place isn't so great that it's not me apologizing that my kids and grandkids that our generation messed it all up, that we didn't we didn't get a handle on this before you guys had to clean up our mess, right? Like you could say the same thing about you know the environment right now and the damage that we're doing to our ecosystem in in climate change. I don't think that we totally have a grasp on that, and we're not making enough uh you know forward progress to combat those issues. But it but as far as economic and labor issues go, I I seriously think that we are so far behind where we need to be as far as like you know roadblock policy to to I don't want to I don't want to say force companies to do the right thing because I think then you know that gets away from this sort of like free market that that does benefit America in different different ways. But I do think that we need some some constraints, you might say, in order to keep workers working, right? Because we know we're union members, if we stop working, everything stops, right? The power is with the people. Like think about, and it doesn't matter what industry you're in, right? Think if every you know fast food worker, maybe let's just pick one Burger King worker didn't go to work today. You know, how that would affect, you know, different different people in different ways. You know, if people stop working or can't work, everything stops. Nothing matters if people aren't able to work. And that that can be true in different ways, but especially if you take away their jobs, if people can't work, people are gonna find ways to survive. Crime's gonna go up, right? People taking, needing, I shouldn't say taking, but taking part in tax subsidies, right? Because they can't afford to to make ends meet, you know. Companies like Walmart, you know, because they don't pay people a living wage, they take advantage of tax subsidies. And so the American taxpayer picks up the slack for what companies like Walmart don't want to pay their employees. But think about if there's less jobs and more people need to, you know, their income levels decrease to even zero because they can't find a job, then now all of a sudden, who pays for that cost that is necessary so people can eat and have shelter, et cetera. Like there's gonna be a breaking point. I just don't, I just don't want us to get to a breaking point that is gonna take so much repair and time and pain for people. I, you know, because it is a relatively simple fix, right? It's it's it's stop automating and taking away jobs for corporate greed.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I think about it when it reminds me of when I was younger, I was a little boy, and I didn't understand everything. So I asked questions with my parents, and it was this one intersection that was really dangerous. And people would go by and it would be driving fast, they were probably breaking the law, who knows? Stop and go, or it was a I think it was a flashing light. Down south, they had a lot of those yellow flashing lights. And actually, they would have a lot of accidents there, and people would be like, that's a dangerous intersection, you gotta be careful there, and then eventually I think somebody died, and then they put up a controlled intersection for stop and go light. This is my trucking illustrations, right? So I'm thinking, you know, maybe humans get in the jam, and maybe automation can help where, you know, if it's sicknesses or whatever, then they're not able to do so much. And then automation can step in kind of like a red light, green light. But instead of it always being green light for automation or just always green light for whatever people want, I get companies have to make money, but if we were able to come up with some solution where both can work together or one can make the job safer, I think it would be a better way to go in the direction versus, you know, hey, I just don't like this, you know, because other companies aren't gonna understand that and they're gonna look at revenue, they're gonna look at dollar amount that's gonna be spent on this on what they're saving. That's gonna make sense to them. But to the worker, I think if it's safety oriented, helping people be safe and happier doing their job, I think that'll be somewhere where we can push the conversation to go versus to say, hey, we don't like something. Because that a lot of times these business people don't understand what it looks like to slow something down. Uh they think that you're slowing down progress for humanity. You know, so think about that, you know, you're like, hey, you got to keep the flow of things going, you know, like that intersection and keep it moving instead of putting up a stop like to slow people down. What do you think about just, hey, maybe we can have it not so much regulated, but maybe more so controlled for when we need help as a human race to pick up the slack. Maybe that's a direction. What would you say on that?

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Well, I think I would agree, you know, technology in itself isn't, you know, bad. I mean, look at, you know, we've been the Teamsters have been through this before, right? Remember when uh, you know, none of us do, I should say, remember when, but when like vehicles, right, like were you know uh used to deliver versus you know horses, right? Because the Teamsters, if you know, if you haven't seen our logo, right? That that logo stems from Thunder and Lightning, which released two horses, you know, we used to be delivery drivers using horses and carriages essentially. So when trucks became, you know, this new technology, we thought it was going to take away all of our work. Well, in fact, it created more work, right? Because now this work can be done more efficiently efficiently, and there was more jobs created from it. The industrial revolution, same thing, right? We we see you know how technological advances can positively impact humanity. But I think that right now there's what's what's happening is this what you might call it an increase in you know technology is being sequestered by some to negatively impact others, right? It's not it's not this rising tide, you know, that's lifting all boats, right? It's it's benefiting some and hurting many. And I don't I don't think if if this can't be harnessed or understood in a way that's going to positively impact the human race and everybody, or as many people as you can possibly, you know, positively impact, I think what we're seeing now, and even this is this short sample size, is some making incredible financial gains and many feeling incredible financial impacts. And especially the way our tax laws are set up, where these folks who are making a lot of money, these corporations are making a lot of money, they're not paying their fair share back to you know the infrastructure that helps make America run. And that's a concern. So I I think it's just gonna be a matter of time until we really understand how these impacts here are affecting people in industries here, here, and here. And I do believe, you know, we can find so many examples of this over time in the story of America that if if the damage is too great or hits a hits a certain point that the the people stand up and and demand that it gets resolved, you know, because ultimately, you know, the the masses decide what happens in the United States and and across the, you know, across the world with the impacts the United States makes. So it'll be interesting to see. But like I said, I just hope the damage isn't too great before that has to happen.

UPS Buyouts And Union Pushback

SPEAKER_02 35:57

Yeah, there's definitely damage already done. I mean, you think about uh people trying to just the First Amendment, you know, a lot of the things that people don't want you to say and do. So yeah, it's people are actually making progress one way or the other. So as far as the conversation when it goes to a big company like UPS, you got a driver buyout. A lot of conversation going around that for drivers and workers listening. If you don't already know or bits and pieces about it, you can probably explain what's happening, what it means for a union perspective. Because this is your show when you come on to us. So tell your perspective as to how you think this will affect a union.

SPEAKER_01 36:35

So it's there's a few layers to it, right? I'll take my I'll take my union hat off for a sec, here or I should say my my president of the union's hat off for a sec. I got into union work because I wanted to make the lives better of my co-workers and myself at at my employer, right? Um I I am somebody who doesn't mind mixing it up with with folks and and having disagreements and resolving things and and kind of going that extra mile. And and yeah, I'm a firstborn, so I've had that typical like firstborn trait of like trying to be a leader and like stand up, right? So that's why I got into this. And if if I'm being completely honest, right, the idea of giving people a better retirement package when they exit their you know career as an employer is something that we fight for, right? I want every single one of my members to be as rich as they possibly can be on the day they retire and then have you know a retirement with dignity and and financial security and benefits. I want the whole package for my members. The problem with this buyout is that they are getting to select who receives it and and when they receive it, and they're essentially buying your your seniority number. But they're not, at least at this point, they haven't said exactly how they're planning to implement it, right? So we in our contract negotiate the separation packages, right? You work for 25 years as a full-time driver. This is what you get for your retirement, you know, this is what you earned. But UPS is coming in saying we might select somebody with 20 years of service versus somebody with 30 years of service to get this buyout package. So even though you know you worked here 10 years longer, you know, sorry, right? Scott's gonna get an extra$100,000 and he gets to retire earlier than you because we decided that he's gonna get for whatever algorithms we so choose. You know, that's it's just not fair. They didn't negotiate this with the Teamsters. They're entering into individual agreements, which is a violation of Article 6. And we've got, you know, a grievance that was just heard at the national panel that I believe is an arbitration now at this point, or going to arbitration, I should say, at this point. But we're seeing the company selecting and choosing who gets to retire when and how. And it's just it's grossly unfair. And and we don't know exactly how many of these buyouts they're gonna get, who they're gonna give them to, what their algorithms are. If they would have negotiated these with us or at least asked for some level of input to make it even remotely fair, you know, of course, we want, because like I said, we want everybody to retire as as rich as possible. That's always our goal. Uh, you know, but I have an example in our local of a of a guy who he drove for he drove for like 28 years and then he just took an inside combo job, and then they rolled out this buyout package, so now he's no longer eligible. And so he's like, well, people people get how how does that work?

SPEAKER_02 39:35

People don't may not understand it. How do you pre-select or cherry pick someone?

SPEAKER_01 39:41

So they're the the company is basically deciding how who and how they're gonna you know offer this buyout to. Not everybody who applies for it's gonna get it. I'll give you an example of one thing they might do. Let's I'll just use you as an example here, okay? So let's say you've got 30 years of service, okay? You're a 30-year circle of honor driver, meaning you've never had an accident, okay? And I'm a 15-year driver, and I get hurt every damn year, and I've been in a bunch of accidents, and they're gonna say, let's get Wilkie off the fucking payroll because he's causing us a lot of financial issues, and this this guy's you know gonna continue to you know file work comp claims and stuff like that. They might offer me the buyout and not offer you the buyout because we're like, why would we get rid of Ray? He's got no issues, you know what I mean? He he gets he's never been injured, never been in an accident, he's probably a few years from retirement anyway. Why would we spend the money on somebody who's already you know doing it the right way and on the way out? Is that fair to you? Absolutely not, you know, and for and for you know, the example I just gave previously, you know, is it fair that somebody who put in 28 years and then is now just took a different job inside the building, they're no longer a driver because they're only offering this to drivers, right? And they work as an inside combo employee now. So now what? They just took this different job inside the building, and so they don't get the buyout offer because they have a different, they have a different pay code? That's not fair. So that's you know, there's there's just several layers to why this this buyout program just it just sucks. And ultimately the goal is to reduce you know the unit membership, right? So, you know, if if we lose you know a significant amount of members, right, that that weakens our strength at the bargaining table the next time we have a contract in you know less than two and a half years that goes into effect into in August 2028 for UPS. If if they significantly reduce our numbers, right, that significantly reduces the strength that we have to fight for a better contract. And they know that. So by reducing the amount of Teamsters going into that contract fight, it essentially, you know, may make it easier for them to, you know, offer us worse raises than we would have maybe won, or or benefits packages or or language regarding XYZ issues, right? Because we have less we have less strength at the bargaining table. So that's that's the macro concern that we have. And the concern I really have about the long term is is is if we reduce the number of members in our local, you know, can we guarantee strong contracts every single you know five years? Well, you know, we're gonna have to keep growing in order to do that, right?

SPEAKER_02 42:17

So I know you're not with that legal team, so uh the case is still like active. Uh because people are like, well, the UPS uh teams just lost, the company won. Is that what's the status update on that?

SPEAKER_01 42:30

So we it's it's yeah, there was a headline, I think it was in freight waves that kind of made also oversimplified it. Because we have a grievance process, the the I think it was the judge in Massachusetts, and I don't have all the information so I don't pretend like I do, but I believe the j it was the judge in Massachusetts that said we're gonna let the the the grievance process play out first, right? So because we have, you know, if if you don't have union representation to your employer, right, if you have an issue with your employer, then you're gonna have to go through legal processes, hopefully, to try to resolve it. So when when the IBT filed a lawsuit against the company, effectively we're being told we have to go through the grievance process first, right? And this happens a lot. I mean, if you get if say you get fired from work and you're like, well, I'm gonna hire a labor attorney, the the first thing that the the attorney is gonna say is, well, what happened with your grievance if you're a represented employee, right? We have to go, we you have to go through your grievance process first and let your your union you know fight for the issue. So we have the grievance filed for this most recent buyout, but we actually have the the last buyout that's going to arbitration. I think it's gonna be, I want to say May or June is the arbitration date. Or it's the I don't have my notes in front of me. I I I apologize. But we should we should have an answer on that before summer, I would imagine, with that, with that um that arbitration case. So yeah, we're fighting it in different ways. And you know, some folks on the negative side are say, oh, well, it's just you just care about keeping members, and you don't want your, you know, you don't want your people to to get this money. And I'm absolutely not. I want everybody to get as much money as they can. I'm just concerned that I've got members who are are not gonna get it, who who should be getting it based on their years of service, and that we have got some people who the company's selecting to essentially get an extra. retirement package on top of what we you know we've negotiated outside of you know their years of service in different positions so that's that's ultimately where I personally stand on it but I know a lot of people have different opinions I actually I'm looking over I this is my this is my first buyout they sent me one Ray they sent me a buyout offer originally so it shows you how much I'm worth to these people framed it I liked it so much wow yeah well I mean that's another topic that you're stuck in the middle offer too yeah what's that yeah I said they sent me the last buyout offer too you know because I'm still on this the seniori list and you know it's some folks that have are looking at like hey this is a chance for me to you know leave and go do something else and and some folks are looking at it like man I can't believe this is all they think I'm worth you know or they think that I would actually take this when you know my my benefits you know and my annual income is is is and and all that this job provides right is worth so much more than that. So but yeah I was that first buyout offer was so damn insulting I decided to I went to I went to I don't know where grabbed a frame for like five bucks and I'm like I'm gonna put that up on the wall to to remember that for the rest of my career what they think I'm worth then. So here's a tough one I mean what if you're already going to leave and you should you turn it down I mean that's a tough place to be maybe you just don't want to be at UPS per se or I'm already leaving I'm already retiring what would you say there yeah I mean like I had somebody call me up and said hey you know Scott I'm retired I was retiring this summer anyway like I got I got plans I'm going like is it cool if I take the buyout and I said look you you do whatever you're gonna do you know I I want people like I said I I want people to have the best retirement possible you know and and and get everything you can out of this job and if this company is gonna you know write you a check on the way out the door then hey you know good for you yeah I don't want to I think that's amazing turn it down just because you know your unit president says it's it's illegal well it you know or it's a contract violation I I I don't want anybody to ever think that I don't have their best interest right I and so if if something is in your best interest then ultimately you know I don't want people to I don't want people to have a a bad taste in their mouth because they you know they did you know the right thing at the time by by not accepting it. You know there's pe there's folks a lot of folks who are going to retire you know pretty quickly here anyway if those folks are already going to retire then hey that that that you know that's that is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 46:52

What's going to happen is when people don't get replaced you know and that's the hard part but they probably wouldn't replace them anyway you know yeah I just wanted them to hear that from you that you know you still have a heart you still have a understanding for what people are going through some people you know there's the business side of things and then there's also as an individual you see what's going on same thing with you know immigration uh we're still humans it's more so how things are being done that people have a hard time getting behind they understand what immigration is it's not a new thing it's how it's being done like like that lady saying they don't want their kids to see this stuff so you know it's it's just we can we can have choices or we can things can be enforced on us. I think too being also a union worker myself when someone asks me you know hey do you want to work versus they force you it's always a little different tone and I don't know why but it always just doesn't set as well when someone forces you to do something. So and then you got people that just want to manipulate the system so you can't ignore that too so but you know you're not getting death threats or anything for this contract are you?

SPEAKER_01 47:59

No I don't know man no the that stuff that stuff with with ice I think it was hitting it was hitting all sorts of buttons with folks and people were just kind of reacting and and you know I what I've realized too now is when when people have an issue that they're really passionate about they want to skip the steps right and just go straight to you know now when they go to our website and they say I need to talk to a whoever the president of this local is rather than actually talking with you know the their business agent first or or their business agent who represents the employer they might have the individual people just want to go up as far up as they can and my you know my contact information is pretty easily accessible. So yeah but as far as the the buyout stuff goes I've I I think after the people or I shouldn't say those people all of us got sent those those letters those folks who are interested in in the buyout I mean that was between all of us at the at the office I would say we probably took a hundred phone calls a day that first week but but if you take if you take everybody you know all six of us agents I mean we were it was it was pretty constant in because people had a lot of questions you know how does this affect my pension how does this affect my retirement you know my retiree benefits and you know my concern too is like if we have an influx of people take this buyout all at once and we lose you know membership how does that affect our our retiree health insurance coverage because it's essentially like a subsidy you know is the is the fund with the membership that we have able to pay for the fund plus the retiree health insurance on top of it if we have an influx of retirees I don't know we'll we'll I guess we'll see what happens with this buyout and how many people take it and then what happens with our health and welfare fund.

Family Life And 24 7 Representation

SPEAKER_02 49:40

Man that's crazy all the stuff you're juggling sometimes I sit back I think about you know the union stewards and all the phone calls they take and I get I get a lot of phone calls but man I can only imagine just as far as for all this stuff. I mean people can call you still even though you it may be bombarded you're still trying to be a dad father husband you know so how do you how do you juggle all of those conversations?

SPEAKER_01 50:04

I have a very so my wife is is a union nurse and so she understands you know understands the important of importance of you know union work in general is because she's a been a union member herself for you know 15 years. And my my mom's retired now my mother-in-law is retired now and so those without those three women I wouldn't be able to do this job not even close you know I don't know anybody else my age in this job I I think you know Tanner Fisher from local 90 in Iowa is president of that local is a young guy yeah he's I think he's probably about my age Robert Sandoval's from local 350 out in out in San Francisco is my age but neither one of those guys I don't think either one well I know Robert's not married and doesn't have kids and I don't think Tanner does either and so there's a reason why people are like oh it's a bunch you know the Teamsters the organization it's a bunch of old guys. Well there's a reason for that you know because this job same thing with politics the job takes a lot of time and energy away from home and away from your family to where you know you're kind of married to the job. And I and I'm just thankful that I've got you know a spouse who's super supportive of of me and this work that she knows this is you know my passion and and just trying to balance it as much as I can. You know I don't I don't sleep a whole lot I take work home with me a lot with you know if it's like a you know I was gone for we had national panel recently and I got back late Wednesday and seen the kids in like four days. So I brought all my work home with me so that way I could see the kids during the day and then they go to sleep and then I'm up from you know 8 till 2 a.m doing stuff that I didn't get to during the day. You know, uh until they get a little bit older and more self-sufficient. This is you know this is sort of what I signed up for. But I've got you know really supportive family that that you know helps out a lot. But it's still hard. I mean the kids will some days you know kids come to the I got a big whiteboard over in the back of the office and maybe they come hang out with me and they're you know whatever because I you know stuff just has to get done. You know I can't I can't call in sick because one of my kids is sick anymore because you have a termination hearing in the morning and we got to get your job back. So I'm gonna be there you know I there's certain things that I just can't not be at now. And so I it's been hard hard navigating some of those things just because it's new but you know the the gratification I get from this is so great like that it just fuels the tank to be able to you know navigate whatever I just this stuff gets in your it gets in your bones man and like being able to to make people's lives better is that that intrinsic reward is so great that it it I think it allows folks in this world of of union labor to to navigate a lot of a lot of different things that are that are challenges because the the reward for being able to make somebody's you know life better is it's so great.

SPEAKER_02 53:06

So yeah rooting for you maybe um give you a little grace I mean I mean I can imagine sometimes you wake up out of your sleep and you try to talk on the phone sometimes you're not in the best best mindset all the time either. I mean that's um that's an emotional roller coaster.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

Well that's one of the reasons I I you know I stopped I stopped like drinking like I was on and I never really had like an issue with alcohol but it was like you know if I never want to take a phone call from a member and like I got like three beers in me on a weekend right because I represent people 247. You know I took phone calls last night at 945 took phone four or five phone calls on Saturday bunch of text messages on Saturday because there was a bunch of crap going wrong at UPS per usual right and so I was like here's what happened it was like my like I was on I I took a vacation about a year ago and I had I think I had like it was in the middle afternoon. I had a few drinks to me or whatever I was you know I had my kids around so I wasn't I wasn't anything above like a point one. But I remember thinking to myself I'm like I just got off the phone with somebody who had a work question and I wasn't in like my perfect headspace that's not okay. So so I stopped I stopped drinking alcohol I try to get more sleep so that way you know the stress of like I'm you know exhausted right now doesn't you know get injected into some situation that I'm dealing with or I don't bring my work home with me. You know, it's more that I can already do like I try to I try to leave myself from whatever I was doing at the door to try to be more present with my kids and try to like learn to compartmentalize these things. So those are some of the those some of the things that I've just been thinking about is like how I can be the best version of myself all the time. Getting more exercise I I when I first started this job I wasn't taking care of myself mentally or physically and then that started to like snowball. And so the last year I've been you know just actively making better decisions with you know my diet my sleep how much water I'm drinking how much exercise I'm getting like I said you know just saying I'm just not going to drink anymore because that's one more layer to that so just trying to be like the best version of myself so that way if if I am dealing with something, you know, somebody recently two weeks ago got fired at like 4 a.m and they're blowing up my phone and I'm like this is an emergency. So I you know I wake up I'm like hey what's going on I you know I just got harassed and I blew up back at them and they fired me and now we're dealing with something you know right now and and trying to be able to trying to be as present as possible for those issues when they happen because they will happen is just something that I've had to sort of figure out over the last couple of years but especially the last year I think I'm I'm just being more aware of how I can be better in in all these little situations as they happen.

UPS Rumors Roadie And Gig Misclassification

SPEAKER_02 55:51

Man that's that's a lot I mean that's a lot that humans have to deal with right now all of us in general are dealing with a lot and it's sometimes it can be overwhelming. So taking some things off the plate uh to make it easier is definitely a win. So I applaud that your efforts there me speaking for myself also yeah I I drink very little because you know like I said I'm trying to keep stay healthy trying to stay around for my family as long as possible. So I can slow that down you know I'm like hey let's push that off a little bit but also you got to be ready for whatever happens you're not sure what's going to happen. Every day it seems to be changing.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

I mean there's a lot of rumors going around the industry I know maybe you can um uh speak on that but uh maybe you can get ready for a new job position because uh they keep saying that Carol told me it's retiring yeah I hope that's true man it's just been a disaster and I think I think even if you talked with some of the some of the folks at UPS on the UPS management side you know candidly about about how they feel about Carol told me they all kind of feel the same way is is it hasn't been going well. They don't like the direction especially the old school folks who've been around for a long time don't like the direction because they they they know what works and what doesn't work at UPS and this isn't working. And it's not good for them. It's not good for the the the hourly folks either everything I mean they they don't you know the reason that this management pool this talent pool at UPS is so shallow right now is because they don't treat these these managers well anymore. You know the management job used to be used to pay better it used to have better benefits you know their healthcare sucks they don't get a pension anymore you know I don't I can find I anybody who want to do that job the way that essentially the way they treat them too. I mean it's a tough UPS management jobs are non-union UPS management jobs are tough no matter what level you're at and and if I'm just being honest I feel for some of these folks who who do that work and because they're not getting treated very well anymore and they're in they're taking away more and more of what used to get good talent into the doors at UPS for for their management side and they just don't have that anymore. And that's again because these corporate decisions that are being that are being made are just they're just not good.

SPEAKER_02 57:58

Yeah we sit and talk with some people that retire and they'll say hey where are you working there's a UPS and they're like oh blah blah blah and then and then you see their face change and you're like man so what's what's going on over there.

SPEAKER_01 58:10

Yeah yeah and you know retirees they're the retirees that I talk to UPS retirees are very concerned about the direction the company's going right now and especially with trying to shrink the workforce instead of growing the company you know that's one thing that you you know a contract just can't mandate or or write language on is a company actively you know self-employing you know it's you'd never see that in business. You know find me a business that says it says we actually you want to stop growth. We actually you know it just doesn't it it it makes sense when you think about you know trying to shrink the network and shrink costs and things like that. But it just really doesn't make sense that a business would want to do less and you know minimize their markets and and reduce their growth and close buildings you know it just it's it's not I know some people say it's a reaction to the overstaffing and COVID, but this is well beyond that, you know and and the in the in in this one since we're talking about pensions and and the retirees here it's funny I talked to a retired recently who was kind of telling me the same thing that they're on this sort of like health journey now or whatever because they're very active as the UPS driver and now they're very not active as a retiree and they said you know I want to squeeze I want to squeeze every ounce of juice out of this pension that I can get and I want them to be paying me a pension check when I'm 100 years old. So like they're looking at it it's like I'm gonna get every single cent that I'm worth and I'm gonna live for a long time so they got to keep paying me. So I'm like that's one way to go on a health journey for sure.

SPEAKER_02 59:34

Yeah there's a lot of people out there just trying to make ends meet as long as possible because the way the climate is out there it seems to be unpredictable. I mean many another rumor that's out there is they keep saying you know the smaller they make it maybe they're trying to get someone to buy the company what do you say on that?

SPEAKER_01 59:50

Yeah there's been some rumors about that I mean the one thing that we're concerned about right now is that company Roadie that UPS owns. So Roadie if you don't know it's essentially like last mile delivery service sort of like gig work you know if you use ship there were something like that from Target or Cub Foods or whatever you're at to to order groceries and things. So like localized last mile delivery service the problem is that if they're using UPS management people or UPS equipment or even you know UPS tracking labels and things like that. It's essentially UPS work that they're contracting out to a different company. And so there's one concern that essentially they're they they want this gig this gig worker model and this you know this employer model where you know you're a 1099 employee instead of 1098 employee right because it's highly profitable when you don't have to pay you know these benefits packages and retirement packages and you know it it it can be costly for you know economically too because you know I'm sorry union workers we pay taxes that help the economies move and if if we have you know a bunch of 1099 employees and we no longer have 1098 employees what are the economic impacts that that could have but we also have to think about if UPS is trying to shrink its networking and funnel more business to roadie this gig company you know is that going to continue to shrink the bargaining unit going into the 2028 contract I don't know. Right. So there's a lot of there's a lot of potentials you know when it comes to like the the UPS rumor mill I call it um I typically I typically will tell you know folks, you know, until I see something you know concrete then I just don't entertain it because I hear so many so many UPS rumors on a daily basis that I just I don't even repeat because if I repeat it then it gives it some sort of merit. And I always say too UPS on the things that are actually true that they actually try to implement oftentimes can't even do it anyway. So if if even if things are fact that they're this is what they intend to do they can't some of those things they can't even do anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:05

Yeah sounds like that business model. And FedEx already tried that didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:10

Well so the problem with FedEx and the like I have FedEx people reach out to me all the time I want to be union but the problem is they're they're misclassified like you're alluding to under the Railroad Labor Act. So under the RLA which they they don't really deliver anything by air or uh or the rail anymore because they're misclassified under that from decades and decades ago now their employees are independent contractors. And so Amazon uses this misclassification of its workers as well where you know if you have an Amazon package delivered to you it's not by an Amazon worker. It's by you know Ray's trucking company and Ray owns those routes and Ray employs those people. So guess what if that person files a work comp claim or wants to sue Amazon they don't they sue Ray because they don't work for Amazon even though they're driving Amazon trucks, Amazon packages Amazon uniforms. And so it essentially protects the company and the same thing is true with FedEx you know if you look at a like a white FedEx ground truck by the passenger door the driver's side door you'll see like you know SAM's home delivery and that's who they work for. They don't work for FedEx and so these companies really profit off of bad legislation and misclassification of their workers. And I think UPS with this roadie company is trying to dip their toes into that as well it seems like at least but we'll see we'll see what they do. We have grievances filed about a local 804 in New York regarding roadie and so we'll see where that heads too.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:33

Yeah thanks for coming on the show Scott taking your time I mean that's the one way we're going to be powerful is to be able to continue to talk these conversations and talk amongst ourselves share these things that are going to be making an impact on our lives and so that way it brings awareness like these quiet things that happen in the background where people are doing things but yet there's the loud things the things that are more obvious that are right in front of your face those two kind of work against each other it seems like there's some things that go on that we don't know that are that that the big money makers, the big players are doing like saying lobbyists and things like that. We don't hear those conversations we don't hear that work leaving. We don't hear those individuals filing for unemployment or looking for work but yet you're the voice of those things. You're bringing that awareness and so that people can be aware that hey there's things there's a shift there's a dynamic thing that's happening right now we need to be aware of so starting these conversations are going to be great. And like you said you're taking these phone calls I mean you're you're you're keeping the doors open where people can give you a call if they have any more questions or concerns so that pertain just to them and their family they can always reach out to you. Isn't that right?

unknown 1:04:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:40

Yeah and I appreciate you having me on and and discussing a lot of these things like you said you know a lot of folks that you know we all we all are living you know like this sometimes just trying to deal with the the stressors and the issues that are in front of us and so sometimes we're we're unaware of the moving pieces that are taking place but you know fortunately or unfortunately some days I'm in this position where we're working on these these these problems that are related to these problems here and the the cause and effect relationships regarding labor. So you know like if if we've got any you know folks who've got questions you know or or want to discuss these things further you know I'm an open book and and we're always pushing for things that are going to benefit the benefit the workers union or not. You know we just our goal is to make sure that you know workers in every industry you know are treated with you know dignity respect you know fair wages and and benefits packages that are going to increase their quality of life and ultimately create a better economy for all of us.

Staying Hopeful Through Community Action

SPEAKER_02 1:05:34

Nice. So yeah if we can all come together unite keep it try to stay in the middle where you know where possibly if you take care of that little guy uh then we're everybody I'll be taking care of so thank you for being a soldier for that. Thanks buddy appreciate you having me on yeah so you know moving forward anything for people to look forward to any final thoughts maybe wrap it up before we go maybe there's a broader question of you've been working on closely with drivers or workers for some time now what would you talk about to members to kind of help them stay hopeful about where we're at yeah so when we in my first you know my first general membership meeting that we had back in January I asked you know my my my sort of call to action to to our members but just workers in general is you know find out what you can do you know to benefit your workplace

SPEAKER_01 1:06:23

And and and if you're in a union, find out what you can do or think about what you can do to benefit your union. You know, we all have you know talents and abilities beyond just you know what our employer asks of us. And so if you have something that you know you can contribute that'll make life better or even just more positive with your work group or within your union, figure out what that is and then how you can apply it. And if if that's if that's talking with people and being social, then maybe you can, you know, create social groups that you know offer people an avenue to build relationships and and you know resolve issues at their workplace, that maybe you're an artist, but you can, you know, create something that'll you know make your your workspace or your union hall or you know, just a better place or environment to be in. You know, I think we all have things beyond our normal scope of work duties that we can offer to to better better life for ourselves and our our co-workers if if we're willing to you know just take a take a little step and apply it. So uh that's what I would just ask, is if if there's something that you feel like you you can be contributing that that that you're not right now, or you could do at a higher level, just you know, ask yourself, what what is that and what what can I do? I think if we all did that, we'd be amazed at how how much better our quality of life would be.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:42

So still one more question out of you before you go. Um helping people feel that when they maybe they're discouraged about the direction of things are going in the world right now, maybe it's the economy, the industry, or just a broader climate where we're you know, where we're living. Uh, what would you say to those individuals to keep their heads up?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:59

I think you're stronger than you know, and and we realize that you know, with going back to you know, the ice metro surge operation here in Minneapolis, is you know, your voice and and your community is so much stronger than you know. We had the cool one of the coolest things that I've ever been a part of recently was my one of my union stewards, Benji Gomez is his name. He has a Facebook page I'll plug. It's called uh Benji's Benji's Pantry Comunidad, and he created a food pantry out of his house. And just because he had neighbors who were afraid to go grocery shopping and and didn't want to leave home because there were ice vehicles parked out at the end of their street and they didn't want to go outside, you know, because if you don't know, like ice is just following people home and and racially profiling people, you know. My my brother got followed home by an ice vehicle like miles and miles and miles all the way until he got in inside his house and they left him alone. But, you know, I mean, I don't like I don't know, maybe I do, I guess, or maybe we do, you know, look, we're Native American, maybe we looked like we could be somebody who they needed to check into. But, you know, people felt like they weren't safe. So Benji stood up and said, Well, I'm gonna create a food delivery service, you know, just to get people groceries and he just took donations, said, Hey, you know, we we went to we went to Costco and got, you know, hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, but then people started taking notice and said, Hey, I I think that's that's a great thing. I'm gonna get involved. And he raised in in a month, he raised$200,000 and fed 700 families just by himself and volunteers, the people who just wanted to help run groceries, the folks who were afraid to leave home. And that's just one person to say, Hey, I'm just gonna do it. You know, so sometimes that's all it takes is saying, hey, I, you know, I know I'm just one person, but I'm gonna start doing it. And then that gives people the ability and courage to say, hey, I'm I feel that way too. I want to get involved. And then that, you know, that snowball effect of positivity can be really powerful. But it it takes it takes the ability to say that, you know, I'm gonna have the courage to to say what I feel here and do something about it. And and like I said, I think Benji realized really quick he's a lot more powerful than he knew uh at the beginning of all this.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:10

So that's awesome. That's a lot of reason why we do what we do here at the podcast. So thank you for telling your story. Everyone deserves to be listened to, uh, get their voice out there. You know, why why would we want to uh stop free speech? So that's a great thing. I'm glad you're able to come on here and tell your story and help other people see that, you know, not just yourself, but there's a team of people, and you mentioned your executive board. So you guys are getting together trying to make things better for your local, for all your members. So uh that's a tough thing to do. Sometimes it may be a mission impossible, but you gotta try. And I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:44

Thanks, man.

Wrap Up And Listener Callouts

SPEAKER_02 1:10:45

Appreciate you. Thank you. And so for everyone listening out there that's tuning into the Ask Deliver podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, I mean if you could subscribe, leave a review. Uh, if you have a question or concern you want to talk to us about and want to share it on the show, we would love to hear from you. So we got that we have uh Scott Wilkie from Local 638 on the show, president now for 2026 and beyond. Hopefully, uh we'll see some good things to come in the future. That's right. And if you share this episode with anybody so they can maybe they'll have some concerns and wonder what's going on at the local. So here you have it. Thank you for coming on the show, Scott. Thanks, buddy. Take care.