This article simply stated, lay down who negotiates this contract.  More importantly, this article explains that the individuals who negotiated this contract are doing so in good faith, meaning the “Back Door Deals” members and management a like go against what these individuals were negotiating in the first place.  Another way of explaining this article, is follow the contract, do not make a deal, because if you do, then your are in theory taking the place of the persons who negotiated this contract and making your own deal.  That is a big deal.  Your breaking the contract and creating a separate agreement.

  Problems:  Side deals may work out in the short-term, but in the long run, will burn you.  It is easy to give scenarios of deals gone bad.  The problem with a deal gone bad, is who do you turn to in order to rectify (fix) your situation?   The shop steward?  Or if the deal goes bad, then you are at the mercy of management, because they will not hesitate the throw you under the bus for making the deal in the first place.  If you take the time to understand the contract, plus all the other benefits that are available to you, is possible to discover that making the deal was not necessary, as whatever you were trying to accomplish may have been the very thing you already had the right to as a Teamsters Member.