[lehighguy]

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What does your dad think about the situation?

Don't worry about your dad. Its very ususual for companies to hire permanent replacements for established unions.

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It seems like in a case like this that leaving the union should be seriously considered. I think remaining in a union that is not able to represent your best interests would be counter productive, but I have no idea what the realities are for working in this business without a union.

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My Dad will never leave the union. He is a huge union guy. He hates the way his union is acting, but he will never ever ever cross a picket line. My family has a long union history. My grandfather was a union organizer and a card carrying communist when he was young. My Dad will go down with the union, even if losing his job means he doesn't have a shot in hell of getting the diabetes treatment he needs.

What annoys the hell out of me and him is that the people from his depot didn't even show up. They had 150 drivers that were supposed to show up and only 64 did, most of them from NY. How in the hell does someone decide they don't have the time to show up to vote on a contract that will effect the next 5 years of thier live. They are not skilled workers. They drive a [censored] truck. They are gonna go from 80,000/year jobs with health and retirement benefits to 30,000/year jobs with no benefits if they blow this. How can you not show up to vote on that contract?