All posts by George
Sad Day for UPS
Hyundai, Kia labor unions vote to strike
SEOUL, South Korea—Labor unions at Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors said workers voted to strike after talks with management for increased pay and benefits collapsed. Hyundai union spokesman Kwon Oh-il said Wednesday that management refused all demands by the union during three months of annual talks. The union wants workers to get improved benefits, including 10 million won ($8,900) support to help children of unionized workers seek jobs instead of entering college, a 130,000 won ($116) increase in monthly base income, bigger bonuses and full reimbursement of medical expenses if workers are diagnosed with cancer. Kwon said 46,000 Hyundai workers will determine the extent of the strike early next week. Kia’s 30,000 workers are taking a similar step. Hyundai said it had offered to resume talks with the union on Friday. “We regret that the union has begun preparations to strike despite the company’s proposal to outline its offers in the next round of talks. There are also many aspects of the union’s demands that are hard to accept from the company’s point of view,” Hyundai said in a statement. Kwon said Hyundai’s proposal was insincere and short of a full response to the union’s demands. Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world’s fifth largest automaker, have been plagued by disputes with their unions for the past two years. Hyundai’s latest earnings were hit by its union’s refusal to allow overtime for three weeks earlier this year and by the rising popularity of foreign cars in South Korea. European and U.S. carmakers lowered prices after free trade deals took effect. The maker of the Elantra said the industrial action resulted in lost output of 83,000 vehicles worth 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion). The company estimated it lost production of 82,000 vehicles worth 1.7 trillion won due to 92 hours of walkouts by workers in 2012. With labor strife at home and waning demand from Korean consumers, South Korea’s largest automaker has increasingly looked abroad to ramp up production. Hyundai is considering increased production in China, its chief financial officer said last month.
FYI
Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told The Associated Press the A300 plane crashed on approach to the airport before dawn. The plane was en route from Louisville, Ky., to Birmingham as UPS Flight 1354, Bergen said. Toni Bast, a spokeswoman for Birmingham’s airport authority, said the cargo plane crashed near Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Bast said the crash site is outside the airport’s perimeter fence and has not affected airport operations. Neither Bergen nor Bast had any information on injuries. A photo from the news site al.com showed a plume of smoke rising from the site in an open field. Several fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were lined up on a narrow road nearby. Representatives for Atlanta-based UPS could not immediately be reached Wednesday morning.
FAA: UPS jet crashes in Birmingham, Ala.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A large UPS cargo plane crashed early Wednesday near an airport in Birmingham, Ala.
Who’s Buttering Their Own Bread?
A Sad Story
COYLE, Oklahoma – A UPS truck driver died after crashing the truck into a pole in Coyle Tuesday afternoon. According to Coyle police, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene after his truck hit a pole on Cottingham Street in the town of Coyle, located in Logan County, Oklahoma. The driver’s identity has not been released. The cause of the collision is unclear at this time. 
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9 NEWS
Hold up that wing
Management Retaliation?? UPS wouldn’t do that…
A jury in New Jersey has awarded a Flemington man one million dollars in compensatory damages after finding that his bosses at UPSide Down Brown illegally retaliated against him because he complained about possible fraud in the northern New Jersey district. Mr. Battaglia, 51, was demoted from his position as a manager to a supervisor and assigned to the night shift after lodging his complaints in October 2005, according to the law suit he brought against UPSide Down Brown. Mr. Battaglia still works for the company. Following a month-long trial before Superior Court Judge Phillip Paley, the jury awarded Mr. Battaglia $500,000 for his economic losses and $500,000 for emotional distress on Friday. The jury found UPSide Down Brown violated both New Jersey anti-discrimination laws and laws prohibiting retaliation against whistle-blowers. The 8 person jury returned to the courtroom and decided Mr. Battaglia was not entitled to any punitive damages. Mr. Battaglia’s attorney, Ms. Binetti, indicated that Mr. Battaglia was told by his bosses if he reported the alleged fraud “we’re coming after you.” “You have to send a message to UPSide Down Brown that that will not be tolerated,” Ms. Binetti told the judge. “Mr. Battaglia gave 20 years of his life to UPSide Down Brown and is still doing that job. Nothing has changed, and he’ll never be promoted.” Mr. Battaglia protested that managers were doing things that he thought violated UPSide Down Brown policies, including misuse of corporate credit cards and making derogatory comments about women, according to Ms. Binetti. He also filed a complaint about the fraudulent credit card use on a special complaint hotline UPSide Down Brown had established. Ms. Binnetti said in retaliation, the managers “set him up and subjected him to a sham investigation” claiming he had leaked information from a manager’s meeting that wasn’t supposed to be revealed. He was demoted to supervisor, put on the night shift and put in charge of training new employees. “The people at the highest level of this district were involved in this retaliation,” Ms. Binetti told the jury today. “Not one witness who did this (took the actions against Mr. Battaglia) expressed remorse, only utter contempt for Mr. Battaglia as if he was the scum of the earth and made all of this up.” The attorney who represented UDB, said that UPSide Down Brown “has accepted responsibility in this case.” “Several people made decisions and you found that those decisions were wrong and illegal,” Bissinger told the jury today. “They are just managers and supervisors. UPSide Down Brown is not the evil empire. This is a company that does good things, but management made mistakes.” Ms. Binetti said she expects UPSide Down Brown will appeal the jury’s $1 million award. Ms. Binetti said the lawsuit was filed in Middlesex County because UPSide Down Brown has an operations center in the county.
Posted on July 18, 2013 by Special Guest @ UPSide Down Brown
Looking Good
Read and Initial
You’re allowed to believe in a god. You’re allowed to believe unicorns live in your shoes for all I care. But the day you start telling me how to wear my shoes so I don’t upset the unicorns, I have a problem with you. The day you start involving the unicorns in making decisions for this country… I have a BIG problem with you.
Matthew Schultz