Here is a little something to think about this Christmas season as you and your family go out to do some shopping. MSNBC has posted up an Associated Press story that 
shows what happens when you speak your mind in China. One of their citizens co-wrote an ariticle calling for free elections, freedom of religion and free speech. He was thrown in jail without charges and has sat there for a year. His wife has been allowed to see him twice.
These are the freedoms that we like to beat our chests about. These are the freedoms our boys are fighting and dying for in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are freedoms we would kill for.
If you read the ariticle, you’ll see that the average citizen in China is unaware of what’s happening because of a “news blackout and Internet censorship”. These are a couple more things that Americans would consider repressive if they were happening anywhere but China.
And why is that? Why do we march off to war in Iraq and then go shopping at WalMart where 80% of the goods on the shelves are “Made in China”? Are we really that morally weak?
Yes, I think we are. Think about that when you go Christmas shopping this month. It’s really kind of sickening.
All posts by George
Engineers Strung Up by Thumbs
United Parcel Service is said to be thumbing its nose at the once much acclaimed DIAD IV. While smaller in size and loaded with gizmos, DIAD IV has proven to be a real honker. In a business where time is money and keystrokes are measured in dollars, drivers are fumbling away the company’s profits.
Problems first began to arise when engineers, more concerned about size than function, put letters and numbers on the same keys and added a “shift” button. “Size is everything,” design engineer Richard Head explained. “I’ve finally proved that smaller is better.”
But the shift key has proven to be a real boondoggle, with drivers often having to break, stand off to the side and fumble with the keyboard. What was once a smooth delivery routine has turned into a battle of the thumbs, with some drivers even having to void out their previous work and go back and try it again. Communicating with DIAD IV has become a real challenge, drivers often typing lengthy messages only to accidently erase them with a single keystroke. “It’s a nightmare,” one driver recently complained as he threw his DIAD down, “whoever designed this thing ought to be strung up by his thumbs.”
Apparantly UPS had the same idea. A recent audit of time being wasted using DIAD IV showed that the placement of the button that turns the signature screen around costs the company over a million dollars in lost time every month. It seems that one out of every 20 customers hits the button when they take the DIAD to sign. That causes the driver to take the board back, punch through the screens to return to the signature mode, and hand it back to the signer with the warning, “Don’t touch that button.” Placing the only active button during the signature process in the exact location where everyone holds the board was the last straw for UPS.
Following in the Chinese tradition of simply executing anyone who causes emabarassment and financial loss, next month UPS will string up the entire engineering department by their thumbs. “It’s fitting,” a UPS spokesman boasted, “the punishment fits the crime.”
Seasonal Pay
Seasonal drivers make the starting driver wage which in Denver is $16.10/hr.
Driver helpers are paid $12.88/hr.
Corporatist’s, The Next Step in the Takeover of the World
With the takeover of NBC, the Corporatist mentality is rising to the top in America again. The huge Corporatist takeover of the world continues through the process of brainwashing on the media airwaves. The television and “news” media has become the new propaganda machine. Today there really is no “news”. With the editorial control, through ownership, of the TV, Cable, and print 
Have a conversation with a “ditto head”, somewhere. These people will spout verbatim the spewings of a fat, anti-social, radio head, that makes millions of dollars, and has no clue what it’s like to be a working class person in todays America. He is able to convince these people that the Union they work with is somehow an evil entity that wants to steal their soul. Yet without that union these people wouldn’t have a pot to piss in. If you ever notice, it’s many of these very same “ditto heads”, that have lost their job, or their health insurance, or their pensions in the last 10 years of the takeover. These “ditto heads” are the first people in line at the unemployment office, or the welfare office, with their hands out demanding their rights as an American. The hypocrisy is astounding.
Ownership has it’s privileges. What better way to change the debate than to broadcast the same lie, over and over and over and over and over and over. You get the idea. If you don’t think it’s a reality, look at Nazi Germany. How did Hitler win the unwavering support of the German people prior to WWII. He controlled the Media, of the time, and used it to convince his people that he was some kind of God. Without the people behind him, he was just some funny looking, skinny guy, with a caterpillar on his lip.
These Corporatists are not about the American people. Hell Murdoch is an Australian. These, and I use the term loosely, people, are not about the working class. They are not about small business. They are not about American freedom.
They are about control. They are about money. They are about monopoles. They are about “one” bank. They are about “one” airline. They are about “one” Media outlet. When you have only “one” of anything, you have total control. No radicals, no rebels, nobody doing their own thing. No competition.
For those of you that have supported the latest batch of politicians in Washington, what I have said is the most obvious. They stood up in front of us, and told us how they were going to return America to the people. How they were going to provide us all with health care. How they were going to get us out of the ridiculous wars we are in. How they were going to bring back “American jobs” to Americans. We believed them, and we voted for them. Now it’s obvious why the big money corporatists give money to both sides. It’s so they can control the debate.
Notice how the health care debate has become about the insurance companies, and what they can afford, and what they can provide. Where did the people go in that discussion. The public option was about the people. Look at how many of them have turned their back on the people.
Notice how the war debate has gone from getting us out of Iraq and Afghanistan to the same old “National Security” crap that Bush handed to us. Look how the debate is now about the Military industrial complex, not the people.
Notice how the debate about job creation has gone from bringing jobs home, to getting along with China, (who owns us by the way), and creating off shore trade policies. A .01 % decrease in unemployment gives all of the politicians a hard on, when in fact they are just manipulating the numbers to benefit the overall picture. People are still losing their jobs. I loved the way the media presented it as “only 11000 people lost their jobs this month”. Were any of those “11000” you?
Again it’s all about phony media numbers, and the presentation. It’s about challenging you to get the facts on your own. They have no obligation to tell the truth, as Fox News found out when they were sued for lieing on air. The courts said they have no legal obligation to tell the truth.
Until the people regain ownership of the airwaves, and the media, this country will remain in the grip of the Corporatist.
So go ahead. Try to start that small business. Go ahead. Try to get medicine for your baby. Go ahead. Try to get a decent paying job. Go ahead. Try to retire in your lifetime. Go ahead. Listen to a Teabagger tell you what is really going on in the world. Go ahead. Keep hiding your head in the sand.
They’re coming after your livelihood next!
Option Days, 8-Hour Days and 9.5 Language…Peak Rules
The rules for 8-hour days, option days and 9.5 grievances change during the peak months of November and December.
We cannot request Option Days from Thanksgiving through December 25.
We cannot request an 8-hour day from Thanksgiving through the week of Christmas.
We do not have 9.5 language during the months of November or December.
Giving UPS the finger
Have you ever wanted to give UPS the finger but were afraid to?
Well, here is how they do it at Local 177 in New Jersey.
What Type of Pension Do You Have?
Do you know the difference between a defined benefit and a defined contribution pension, which kind you have and which is better? Every driver at UPS should know the answers to these questions because every driver would retire today if they had the opportunity. The money, the insurance and the pension. That’s why people work at UPS. I don’t know anyone who stays because they enjoy it. 
As a retiree, I know quite a bit about the pension. I’ve jumped through all the hoops and tried to ask all the right questions. I’ve struggled to understand the insurance and I’ve searched for that open door at UPS where I could go in and sit down get all my questions answered. That door doesn’t exist, of course, and in reality it’s really difficult to get information about the pension because the company has no website or local pension experts. I’ve heard people speculate that the reason UPS doesn’t talk about the pension is because they plan to convert to a defined contribution as soon as possible.
Liz Pullium Weston has written a great article What’s killing pension plans? Maybe you and in concise terms it tells you why you have the best type of pension and what you should be willing to do to keep it. Nothing in this world worth keeping is free anymore. As workers across America lose their jobs, their benefits, and even their homes, UPSers feel insulated and safe. But are we?
I think a smart and united workforce could give UPS a run for their money as we enter this new millinium of corporate power. But when push comes to shove, will UPSers be too scared to stand up? I reached a point where I couldn’t stand back and watch UPS steamroll over all the employees around me. I stood up. I began to fight back. I became a steward. I started a website.
If you are reaching that point too, a good place to begin would be the pension article I mention above.
Knowledge is power. Grab it.
Hits Home for Some
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio …
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:”
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month..
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ”In five years, will this matter?”..
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
34. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood..
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42.. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44… Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
Alternative ERI – The slightly different survey on UPS´employee relations
The UPS ERI survey has been suspended due to the economic crisis.
When it comes back, it will be called EOS, and it is stated that it is going to help management to improve workplace atmosphere and teamwork in your local plant.
Others consider the ERI survey to be an instrument of control and manipulation. Especially the circumstances under which ERI is taking place, the PCMs and informal talks that go with it and the subsequent ERI-meetings are widely criticised.
Therefore we (a network of rank and file UPSers and trade unionists not only from Germany) are offering an alternative ERI for the third time now, despite the crisis.
Our survey will end on December 12th. The results will be published here soon after.
You may add your comments and your location at the end of the survey. We are grateful for any comments, suggestions or criticisms. Thank you for participating and have fun completing the survey.
Alternative ERI – The slightly different survey on UPS´employee relations.
The “Low Information” Union Member
As stewards we watch how these people never get involved, bad mouth the union as a bunch of crooks, until they do something that gets them terminated. Suddenly they are the Union’s best buddy. The hypocrisy of these people is obvious when, upon the resolution of their case, they return to being the “low information” Union member they were before.
Somehow they have come to the conclusion that it is the steward’s and the union’s obligation to baby them. The steward somehow is obligated to see to it that the company stays off their ass. Of course the minute they disagree with anything, (usually without any information), they think they have the right to confront and belittle the steward and/or the union.
It’s amazing to me that the most anti-union members, are also down right stupid when it comes to where their livelihood comes from and what their dues pay for. They are also the people that are the most likely to be fired, I feel, because they are basically dishonest and are generally to stupid to know when something is wrong. I feel it’s because they think they are owed a living, and that everyone else was put on this earth to take care of them.
I have watched from a political standpoint as well. These same selfish bastards are the first ones on welfare, the first ones on unemployment, the first ones on medicare, the first ones to demand their pension, and the most vocal about how bad their “Union job” is. They continually bite the hand that feeds them. They bad mouth the organizations that fight the corporations, that keep them from becoming slave labor, without health care, without retirement, without pensions, etc.
It’s obvious they think with another part of their anatomy, not with their brain!
“Low Information” Union Member= Self Serving Hypocrite.
