Protecting The Members

A Message from Division Director John Williams

At the recent Warehouse Division meeting, there was an interesting combination of discussions, first about industrial engineering, and next about automation.

Many of the attendees began their careers performing warehouse work, which included picking orders under production standards. The engineers during their presentation discussed that they were able in many situations to achieve a greater fairness in the reasonableness and accuracy of production standards.

The next day, the presentation revolved around automation in the warehouse industry where 90 percent of the product in grocery warehouses is being picked by a machine in certain locations, with more under construction. It was a sobering presentation.

Even though we have been successful in preserving the jobs involved in operating and maintaining the machine, automation nevertheless reduces the number of employees significantly.

The cost of such an automated warehouse is likely in the range of $100 million for a large grocery facility and the longevity of the machine has not yet been established. We believe that the Teamster membership working under a fair standard can be a better alternative for the industry than the automated alternative.

In either event, the Warehouse Division commits to continue to seek fairness in protecting members working under engineered standards and, when faced with automation, to assist locals in preserving as many jobs as possible.