- The Weld County District Attorney has dropped all criminal charges against a Fort Lupton UPS driver who admitted to chopping down two cottonwood trees on city property that the DA now admits were nothing more than sucker growth or weed trees.
“I’m still upset. It never should have gone to this level,” said Larry Plooster, a UPS driver who has spent a year and thousands of dollars fighting the charges.
The case against Plooster began June 28, 2008. He had complained to city officials that wild cottonwood trees growing around a pond at Coyote Creek Golf Course were obscuring his view of the course. After more than a year of complaining and waiting — and believing he had the blessing of city officials –Plooster scaled the fence in his backyard and cut down two cottonwood suckers that were between 5 to 7 feet tall. He never hid or denied what he did.
“I really didn’t do anything wrong. I was told I had permission to cut them’,” said Plooster.
But the City of Fort Lupton disagreed. Police arrested him charging him with felony mischief saying the cottonwood trees had been planted by city workers and were worth thousands of dollars. Plooster spent a night in jail and had to post $20,000 bond.
Plooster hired a licensed tree expert who came to the scene and examined the damage. The arborist concluded Plooster had cut down “water sprouts and sucker growth, not planted cottonwood trees. No monetary value,” concluded the arborist. Even though Weld County prosecutors were provided with that information, they pressed their case.
Last December, prosecutors dropped the felony charge but in May, re-filed a misdemeanor criminal mischief and criminal trespass charge against Plooster.
District Attorney Ken Buck refused to discuss the conclusion of the case. A spokesman for Buck, Jennifer Finch, wrote that “During the follow up investigation of this case, this office received information from an expert arborist that the plants in dispute were not individually planted on the golf course but rather were the result of seeding and/or were runners from other trees on the course.”
“This new information from the expert raised a question as to whether the value element could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore this office concluded that the charges should be dismissed. We have no further comment.”
“These were weed trees is what they are saying,” said Larry Plooster. “It took over a year to say that and thousands of dollars on my part. They damaged more trees with paperwork than I did.”
News4
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Calling In Sick
A new survey shows 80 percent of employees frequently show up to work while sick. Meghan McNeeley, Division Director for Office Team in Colorado, sorted through the results for us. She says a mere eight percent of respondents said they never come into the office when feeling under the weather. Survey respondents were asked: “How frequently do you go into work when youre feeling sick?” In a separate poll of 150 senior executives — including those from human resources, finance and marketing departments — just 21 percent of respondents said they thought sick employees came into work very frequently when ill. Executives were asked: “How often do you think employees come to work when they feel sick?”
Their responses:
Very frequently: 49 percent
Somewhat frequently: 31 percent
Somewhat infrequently: 12 percent
Not at all: 8 percent
McNelley says managers acknowledge that ailing employees often come into work, but the practice may be more common than many realize.
Their responses:
Very frequently: 21 percent
Somewhat frequently: 51 percent
Somewhat infrequently: 25 percent
Dont know/no answer: 3 percent
Many employees fear they’ll be disciplined if they stay at home when they’re not feeling well, according to McNeeley. However, she says its preferable to take a day or two to recuperate rather than risk exacerbating a condition or passing an illness on to coworkers.
With greater flu concerns this year, many companies are actively encouraging sick employees to stay home. McNelley believes managers should let employees know that staying away from the office is the right thing to do when they are ill. Actions often speak louder than words — if supervisors show up when they’re feeling poorly, employees may feel pressure to do the same.
9NEWS
KA-CHING
UPS Makes $445 Million in 2nd Quarter
UPS announced after-tax profits of $445 million for the second quarter of 2009, up from $401 million in the first quarter.
In the worst economy in our lifetimes, UPS made $846 million in after-tax profits in the first six months of the year. By comparison, FedEx lost $779 million from December 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009–the most recent six months for which the company’s earnings info is available.
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Remember this report is provided to you to let you know this company is making this kind of money even though you are all lieing, cheating, theiving, time stealing, dishonest drivers. At least that is what they think of you. Yes they say it all of the time.
Don’t You Miss It?
I had someone ask me the other day if I missed UPS. I retired last Fall and I walked away and haven’t looked back. Do I miss it? I didn’t have to think too long before I said emphatically, “NO! I don’t miss it.”
But the question made me think. What would I miss about it? Would I miss the long hours? I don’t think so. I’ve been working a couple of days a week for a local florist. It’s about 3 hours as day and it pays $6 a stop delivering bouquets. I can take home about $100 a week and that pays for my health insurance that I get through my pension. I’ve gotten used to the hours, going in at 10 and getting home by 2. I don’t miss the hours at UPS.
Maybe I should be missing the heat of driving a brown solar oven all day long. And that light-weight, cool summer uniform. My floral delivery truck is air conditioned. I don’t know how I lived through so many summers at UPS. A summer in a UPS truck is cruel and unusual punishment. People get arrested when they leave their dog in their car in the summer, we should have the same concern for the UPS man.
Or what about that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from working for a boss that respects and appreciates you? Oh wait…that’s not how it is at UPS. It’s more like crazed fear. It’s an angry feeling that never seems to go away. No, I don’t miss that either.
So what do I miss about UPS?
I miss a feeling that we used to have when the job of driving was a thinking man’s game. We left the building entrusted with $10.000 worth of boxes that had to be delivered the fastest way possible within a defined area. We juggled time commitments with the customer’s needs and the company’s demands and we made it happen. We set it up and we ran it off. Everyday. We would look through the truck, set ’em up, and we could remember what stops we had as we drove down the street. We knew our next 5 stops. We were constantly fine tuning our daily plan to find the quickest and best way to get things done.
And the company knew we were the best drivers on the street and they respected us. Our own company respected us. Imagine that. And our customers loved us. The company was profitable, the stock was private and the value was stable. It was a good time to be a UPS driver. I had pride in my job, in my company and in myself. It was a great feeling. That’s what I miss.
But I’ve missed that for a long time, not just since my retirement. That feeling has been gone from UPS almost since the strike in ’97. That’s when the camaraderie between management and the workers went south. Then the stock went public in ’99 and the corporate focus turned away from the workers and the stockholders became the most important people outside Atlanta. Then PAS came along and the company told us to stop thinking. Telematics makes us into robots.
There is nothing about the job today to miss. The money is good while you are working but you pay a price for it. A big price. It’s called “a life.” I haven ‘t looked back since my retirement because I’m too busy with life. It’s a good feeling, I highly recommend it.
Ken Hall’s Letter to the Washington Times: Rules apply to FedEx
Your editorial “The fate of FedEx” (Opinion, Thursday) mischaracterizes a House amendment to Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. The bill is now before the Senate.
You describe the House amendment as a measure that would apply “only to FedEx Express.” This suggests that the House singled out FedEx Express for unfair treatment — an interpretation that is exactly backward.
FedEx Express has for years taken advantage of a loophole sneaked into legislation at the 11th hour. The loophole lets FedEx Express evade the labor law that its 46 competitors must follow. FedEx Express is the only company in the freight and package-delivery industry that is given such a preference. Congress is set to restore fairness even as the company resorts to threats and intimidation to keep its special status.
FedEx has a long history as a bad corporate actor. The company is fighting efforts by Congress to make it play by the same rules as its competitors. Meanwhile, it also misclassifies thousands of drivers in its Ground Division as independent contractors, forcing taxpayers to pick up the costs for their unemployment and health care. Last month, eight state attorneys general sent a letter to FedEx questioning the way it classifies its Ground Division drivers.
Now FedEx is leveraging American jobs and threatening to cancel a $7.7 billion contract with the Boeing Co. if Congress forces it to operate under the same rules as every other package-delivery company in the country.
FedEx undoubtedly will try again to win favored treatment by making lavish campaign contributions to lawmakers and touting its track record of appointing them to its board when they retire.
The Teamsters have seen firsthand how a company can be profitable and live up to its corporate obligations to take care of its workers. Many UPS employees are represented by unions and are earning good wages and benefits. UPS still delivers packages on time.
Frankly, I’m a little surprised that such an outspoken advocate of free-market economics as The Washington Times would side with FedEx on this issue. FedEx has long enjoyed the advantages of an uneven playing field. Now the Senate is considering a bill that could remove government interference from the freight and package-delivery industry and put all 47 competitors on an equal footing.
It’s time for Congress to restore fairness to the overnight package delivery industry and make sure that all competitors play by the same set of rules.
KEN HALL
Vice president
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
It’s Simple
It’s simple. Do the job, by the book, or you will be fired. That is the message given to the drivers at our AM meeting yesterday. The last statement is if you are fired the company simply will not want you to work here. We have harped to you all on these pages about doing the job. Don’t falsify your delivery records in any way, shape, or form. Don’t be where you’re not supposed to be.
You will certainly get into many arguments with management over the nickels, and dimes of time under Telematics. What will cost you your job is playing games with the air commit times. Playing games with saying you are delivering at an address you aren’t at. The company has taken the attitude that you are the highest paid in the small package industry, and you will perform at the highest level.
I’m not making any comment here about that, it’s just the way things are today. Get used to it. Or as the company so politely says:
Get another Job!
Who Stands Up for You and Me?
Each year the FBI issues its Crime in the United States Report, which documents murder, robbery, assault and other street crimes. They don’t, however, publish a yearly report of corporate crime committed in the United States. Most corporate crimes and violence go undetected because, unlike other criminal groups in the United States, major corporations have enough power to define the laws under which they are held accountable.
The casualty rate for working people in the United States is higher than many people realize because the media focuses on interpersonal crime. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that over 11,000 workers die in their workplace each year. Another 50,000 working people die prematurely from occupationally related diseases, in addition to 1.8 million job injuries annually. OSHA cited that most workplace deaths are caused by poor safety standards and lax enforcement of workplace laws. When corporations speed up production or cut back on staff, exhaustion and stress are dangerous threats to working people.
Despite the relative weakness of OSHA, Washington lobbyists representing the business elite are actually trying to eliminate OSHA. The National Association of Manufacturers and United Parcel Service are the leading corporate lobbyists against job safety standards and enforcement. The right to a safe environment for all workers was won by pressure from consumer advocates like Ralph Nader and unionists. OSHA has only 1,800 inspectors for more than six million workplaces. With roughly 90 million workers nationwide, this averages out to one inspection per workplace every 70 years. Nevertheless, big business vehemently opposes OSHA.
The public’s perception of crime and criminals is painted by a media controlled by monopoly corporations. Fox News Corporation, owned by wealthy Republican contributor Rupert Murdoch, has nightly features on Fox TV like “America’s Most Wanted” and “Cops” to glorify law enforcement’s targeting of poor and disenfranchised drug users. Most of what people see on corporate-controlled television are dramas about serial killers, hidden video “caught on tape” shows or police busting minorities in the “ghettos.” Never on television or in reality are there law enforcement agents busting down the doors of corporate executives who knowingly violated workplace safety laws, or who robbed their employees of millions of dollars.
Corporate crime is rampant not only through a lack of enforcement of the law, but also because crime is built into the economic system. Corporate criminal behavior could be looked at as oversocialization of amoral capitalist ideals. The only concern of capitalist America is to squeeze as much profit value out of labor power as possible. Every dollar a company spends on safety for workers and consumers is one dollar less in profits. From a capital accumulation standpoint, it is a rational—although villainous—business decision to skimp on safety.
Sarah Turner
Be Prepared-Start Today
In order to be prepared for Telematics, you need to start today. Practice running your route exactly by the book without a Supervisor on the car. You will then be prepared, ready, and calm when they do ride with you. You will know what is reasonable, and how much you should do in a given day. You will also be able to spot their games, such as a massaged load, areas removed, etc. You will then have a fighting chance when they drag your butt into the office to discipline you for failing to meet their imaginary numbers. If you are prepared, your life at UPS will become easier. You won’t have to sweat their harassment. Do it or else!
Guilty as Sin
UPS likes to take drivers into the office and tell them that they have vioalted the methods or violated the contract and that they are guilty as sin. Management will use the opportunity to rant and rave about integrity, implying the company has lots and the driver has none. But in reality, the company violates the contract every day. They can’t see their own shortcomings, or they don’t want to, because violating the contract works to their advantage.
Here are just a few ways that UPS is guilty of violating the contract.
Art. 17…The Employer will not allow employees to work prior to their start time without appropriate compensation. Every center has drivers who come in early and go through their cars. The company ignores it because it’s cheaper than paying them to go through their cars later or paying the preload to do the job right.
Art. 3…..The Employer agrees that the function of supervisors is the supervision of Employees and not the performance of the work of the employees they surpervise. Anybody who doesn’t think the company violates this provision on a daily basis is deaf, dumb and blind. UPS is probably vioating this article somewhere in the world as you read this.
Art. 37…The Employer shall not in any way intimidate, harass, coerce or overly supervise any employee in the performance of his or her duties. Like this never happens!
Art. 21…..nor shall there be any discrimination against any employee because of union membership or activities.That means there shall be no retaliation for filing a grievance. If you don’t think the company violates this article, file a grievance tomorrow and watch what happens.
These are just a few of the areas where the company is guilty of violating the contract. I could list more but my doctor has advised me to avoid thinking about things that make my blood pressure go through the roof. But the next time management gets up on their high horse and talks down to you, point out a few of these things.
If you read your contract book, I’m sure you will find a few more too.
Calling All Stewards!
Calling all UPS Teamster Stewards!
The attack on the hard working people at UPS has begun with Telematics. The first shots have been fired in a number of locations around the country. The intent to eliminate senior drivers is becoming more evident everyday.
Telematics is being used by management as a harassment tool. They will soft speak you during implementation, telling you it’s being put in for safety, not to be used for production, or harassment. The fact is it’s only purpose is to eliminate management, and make the surviving sups. more powerful amongst the drivers. Sups. can sit at a desk and monitor 30 or more drivers at a time. They can pick the fly-sh-t out of the pepper of every minute of every day. They will do all of that.
Every steward out there needs to make a call to his or her Business Agent and tell them they are afraid of what is going to happen with the implementation of Telematics. The Teamsters have been very complacent about the systems implementation, I feel, because they are wrapped up with legislation to organize Fed-Ex and get EFCA passed. While both of those issues are extremely important, the company is letting the dog in the back door. The Teamster officers and BA’s just aren’t up on the new technologies, so their reaction time is very slow.
You can be terminated and slam dunked through the panel system before you even know what hit you. The Teamsters on the other side of the table at the panel hearings have a “well that’s pretty solid information”, attitude when they hear a case. They think the system is infallible, and they are buying into the, “we are all cheats, and thieves”, mentality of the company. See the company can show them some fancy chart, manipulated to demonstrate whatever point they are trying to make, to show in fact that the driver sitting in front of them is a cheat and a thief. Our Teamsters union is allowing this to go on.
The first plan of attack is for every one of you Stewards to be squeaky clean in your delivery day. I’m not talking about production. I’m talking about delivery methods, times, and reasons for being where you are. Keep a notebook if you have to unless you have an excuse at the tip of your tongue for everything like some of us. Practice you area as if that sup. is sitting there so you feel you have a grasp of what is a “fair day”. Do that practice, because once Telematics is implemented, that Sup. will be on the car with you, every minute, of every day! Next you must begin to train your people the same way. Meet with them as much as you can, whenever you can, to help them understand what is coming.
Directing them to Denver Brown.com can be a very big help.
The final suggestion is to contact your BA’s and let them know you are concerned about what is happening to you at UPS. Quiz them to see if they even understand the level of scrutiny you are going to have to endure. Many of you will find that these people have never even heard of Telematics, or they have some perspective of it that has grown out of the old freight days of the Teamsters.
My feeling is, this is the greatest attack on the Teamsters Union membership since replacement workers were allowed during a strike.
It allows a company to selectively target Union members.
It’s frustrating for me, because as I watch, nothing will happen till many good, caring, senior people, lose their jobs. It’s simply a call to arms. Educate yourself as a steward. Become vocal. You will arm the people around you.