All posts by George

UPS

Crazy or Right On?

I have been reading many of the complaints that are included in this site (Consumer Complaints Board) and would like to share and sympathize. I worked for UPS from 1985 until 2002 as a delivery driver. UPS changed dramatically after the death of its founder Jim Casey in 1987. From that day forward nothing mattered to management other than the almighty dollar. Customer service is a joke. Employees are treated like slaves. Working conditions are third world at best. UPS had a solid reputation during the late 80’s and early 90’s but there was a dramatic shift to the bottom line at all costs. Early on management was promoted from within but as all companies move toward a lower wage this trend stopped. This is by far the worst place I ever worked in my life. Supervisors who are in way over their heads is the norm. Safety is a afterthought. Most centers need to be audited by OSHA. But employees who speak up or take action are targeted for suspension and termination. Work weeks of 55+ hours for drivers is a regular occurrence. Let me explain in detail. As a driver you could start work at 8:30am and will not be off the street until 9:30 or 10:00pm. Fatigue is commonplace. During my time I nodded off routinely when I was driving. Safety at UPS is a smokescreen. Prozac is taken like candy by drivers, divorce is ramped, hypertension is common, production levels are unrealistic, management is unskilled and combative, and injury is considered weakness and lazy. I spent 17 years at this “hell hole” and was paid very well for my services. But I came to the realization that it was just not worth it. I quit and am happier for it. Most complaints that you may have are a direct result of a poorly managed company where stress is used as a tool for greater production, no matter what the cost to employee or consumer.

Consumer Complaints Board

Union

10 Mistakes a Steward Should Never Make

        1.  Miss your deadline. You know what the contract says, but somehow you forget to file the grievance within the specified time. The grievance, in almost every case, becomes history. Two pieces of advice. Keep a calendar diary with dates marked in red so you won’t miss deadlines. And if you need more time, ask for an extension from management and get it in writing.
        2.  Never get back to the grievant. This usually happens when the steward determines that the member has no grievance. Rather than be the bearer of bad tidings, the steward disappears. This is irresponsible. If the issue is not grievable under the contract, see if it can be resolved in another manner. If not, tell the member that the issue cannot be written as a grievance, and give him/her the reasons.
        3.  Bad mouth the union. If you have a problem with the way things are done or with your leadership, discuss the issue(s) in a rational manner. Get off the soapbox and see if the difference can be resolved. There’s plenty of room for discussion and disagreement. But when it spills out on the shop floor or at a meeting when management is present, such disagreements can permanently weaken the union. A house divided against itself will fail.
        4.  Drop the routine fly ball. You are the steward with responsibilities outlined by the constitution and by-laws. You should not make basic mistakes. Grievances should be written correctly. Information should be shared. You should know your rights. If you are unsure or don’t know the answer, ask.
        5.  Sit down and shut up at meetings with management. In your role as a steward you are the union advocate. This role is an active one. You are the equal of management. You may ask questions, ask for and get records to process grievances, and even raise your voice at meetings when necessary.
        6.  A major no no. You or a member may be baited at a grievance meeting so that you will get angry. A steward who argues out of anger and not facts will lose the grievance. Period.
        7.  Write long grievances. Grievances should be short and sweet. Management is being paid big salaries to supervise. Don’t do the work for them. Your grievances should identify the grievant, outline the problem in a sentence or two, state what article of the contract is being violated, and what remedy you want to make the grievant whole. Save the arguments for the meeting. A good poker player never tips his/her hand.
        8.  Meet the grievant for the first time at the grievance hearing. If this is the first time you’ve met the member, you are inviting trouble. Big time. You should talk to the grievant face to face when you investigate the grievance and write it.
You should also talk to the grievant prior to the hearing to familiarize him/her with the process. When they walk into the room, they should feel as comfortable as possible. They should know that yes, no, and I don’t know are acceptable answers at a hearing. Describe the room to them, who will be there, and what they will be asked.
        9.  Wait for the member to come to you with the problem. If you do this, you will never gain the respect of the membership you represent or the management you must deal with. Problems can often be resolved before they explode into grievances. And members may not be as aware of contract violations and grievable issues as you are.
        10.  Forget to take a breather. This is intense work. Stewards work a full-time job and then take on their union responsibilities. This kind of existence is rewarding but is fraught with burn-out. Take time for yourself and your family.

IBEW Local 1613

UPS

Surviving the Holidays

This was my report after the peak of 2007. You are so lucky it’s not like this anymore.      

      OMG !!  We survived another Peak Season. It was touch and go there at times, but we all pulled through. There was so much work to be done that I would think UPS would just stand back and let the workers go at it. But they can’t do that. They’ve got to be in there mucking things up. Here are a few examples of things that happened this Peak that I’m still scratching my head about and wondering……..why?….

        Early in December, IE was cutting routes like mad and there were days off to be had for some lucky drivers. That’s nice, but at the same time other drivers were pushing 11 hours a day and anyone who went over 11 was called on the carpet. If you didn’t have express permission from your manager, then you got a warning letter. Maybe that would not have been a problem if they hadn’t cut so many routes.
        Sheeting mistakes got to be a big issue, like sheeting a business as closed between noon and 1 o’clock. If you had been talked to about it before, then that became a warning letter too. If a driver had a bad day, he could easily get 2 warning letters the next morning. That gets you off on the right foot !
        The dress code became the pet peeve of some managers with nothing better to do. Shoes and hats were favorite targets. T-shirts of the wrong color were hot items too. We hoped they would send us home if we had on the wrong color t-shirt but they just told you to change it. Or leave your hat in the manager’s office for the day. Or don’t wear those shoes tomorrow.
        In our center, the manager stooped to posting the WOR as a shame list on the bulletin board for all to see. At first he listed the top 5 production drivers and then the last 6 or 7 according to the over/under numbers. Someone tore down the worst list the first day. The next day he posted the whole center report showing how everyone ran. As the steward, I raised Cain that it was low-ball management. He countered that everyone was looking at it. I said the interest was morbid and for some, embarassing. People stare at a car wreck too, they watch Jerry Springer. It’s vulgar. It’s dirty. It’s not how management should be operating.
        As our cars got more full every morning, you would think that IE would have SPA’d the Next Day Airs all up on the 1000 shelf. But they continued to SPA Next Days deep into the load and every day I had some in the 2800 or 2900 sections. That put them in about the middle of a packed car on the lower shelf. There is no way to dig those out and get them delivered before 10:30. Anyone who has ever driven would know that.
        Another way to shame drivers was dreamed up this Christmas and it was used on any driver who ran 3 or more hours over allowed. Management would pick a city that’s 3 hours or 4 hours away, like Grand Junction and feigning righteous indignation, they would exclaim. “How could you be 4 hours over, Hell, I could drive to Grand Junction in 4 hours!!!”
        We were working Peak Week under a 12 hour curfew and a lot drivers were bringing stops back every night. One driver forgot to punch out his board, went home and an OMS punched out his board and he was over 12 hours. They wanted to fire him the next morning, but decided against it. A bunch of us were hoping they would send him home because that’s the kind of termination you can easily get reduced to a suspension and we were all going to “forget” to punch out that night too. I’d take a 3 day suspension during Peak Week anytime.
        With the 12 hour curfew of course came missed pieces every night. Some drivers were bringing back 50 to 100 stops a night. Soon management was browned up and running routes, working as helpers, etc. You can’t have it both ways, you can’t restrict driver hours and have management working. Management would meet drivers at 8 o’clock at night and take everything they had left and send the driver in to get off the clock under 12 hours and management would stay out and do the stops themselves. Gee, I wonder if that will generate a girevance?
        I arrived at work one day just as an ambulance pulled away from the building. Unfortunately, someone had slipped and ruptured 2 discs in his back. They rushed him into surgery that very morning and he’ll be out for quite some time. That’s a heck of a way to get out of Peak. The rumors flying around the building were that a driver had looked in the back of his truck and had a heart attack. It wasn’t that hard to believe.
        I would think that UPS would focus a little more on getting our pickups covered during Peak because having to do pickups in the afternoon just kills us. Not only does it take valuable time away from delivery, but it fills much needed space inside the truck. Then when we stay out till 8 or 9 o’clock, the pickups don’t get unloaded and sorted in a timely mannner and the twilight goes down late, then the midnight sort runs late, and then the preload is not done when the drivers come back to work the next morning. Then we leave late and the cycle repeats itself. 
     
      UPS never seems to be able to take a good plan for Peak and save it and build on it the next year. They have to reinvent the wheel every December.
      Why is that???